I have a date/time string that looks like the following:
Wed Sep 21 2011 12:35 PM Pacific
How do I format a DateTime to look like this?
Thank you!
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1I use this guy's cheat sheet all the time: blog.stevex.net/string-formatting-in-csharpDave Ziegler– Dave Ziegler2011-09-07 21:20:06 +00:00Commented Sep 7, 2011 at 21:20
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3Is it always Pacific? Because I don't believe the .NET DateTime formatting will give you the time zone name.Jon Skeet– Jon Skeet2011-09-07 21:20:26 +00:00Commented Sep 7, 2011 at 21:20
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4 Answers
The bit before the time zone is easy, using a custom date and time format string:
string text = date.ToString("ddd MMM dd yyyy hh:mm t");
However, I believe that the .NET date/time formatting will not give you the "Pacific" part. The best it can give you is the time zone offset from UTC. That's fine if you can get the time zone name in some other way.
A number of TimeZoneInfo identifiers include the word Pacific, but there isn't one which is just "Pacific".
4 Comments
Brandon
Isn't it kind of redundant to give 24 hour time and the AM/PM? :P
Paul Stovell
+1, and an offset of -8 may not always mean Pacific - many named zones share the same offset, and DateTime/DateTimeOffset don't store it.
Jon Skeet
@Brandon: Yes, doh. Of course it's possible that it still is 24 hour - we can't tell. (There's already redundancy in the format with the name of the day of the week of course.)
Jon Skeet
@Paul: You're preaching to the choir :) Having said that, even Noda Time wouldn't have just "Pacific" as a time zone ID...
string.Format("{0} {1}", DateTime.Now.ToString("ddd MMM dd yyyy HH:mm tt"), TimeZone.CurrentTimeZone.StandardName);
//Result: Wed Sep 07 2011 14:29 PM Pacific Standard Time
Trim off the Standard Time if you do not want that showing.
EDIT: If you need to do this all over the place you can also extend DateTime to include a method to do this for you.
void Main()
{
Console.WriteLine(DateTime.Now.MyCustomToString());
}
// Define other methods and classes here
public static class DateTimeExtensions
{
public static string MyCustomToString(this DateTime dt)
{
return string.Format("{0} {1}", DateTime.Now.ToString("ddd MMM dd yyyy HH:mm tt"), TimeZone.CurrentTimeZone.StandardName).Replace(" Standard Time", string.Empty);
}
}
You can run this example in LinqPad with a straight copy and paste and run it in Program mode.
MORE EDIT
After comments from below this is the updated version.
void Main()
{
Console.WriteLine(DateTime.Now.MyCustomToString());
}
// Define other methods and classes here
public static class DateTimeExtensions
{
public static string MyCustomToString(this DateTime dt)
{
return string.Format("{0:ddd MMM dd yyyy hh:mm tt} {1}", DateTime.Now, TimeZone.CurrentTimeZone.StandardName).Replace(" Standard Time", string.Empty);
}
}
2 Comments
Joel Mueller
There's no need to mix String.Format and ToString at the same time. You can do it all in one call:
String.Format("{0:ddd MMM dd yyyy HH:mm tt} {1}", DateTime.Now, TimeZone.CurrentTimeZone.StandardName)Joel Mueller
Oh, whoops. The
HH should be hh for 12-hour time.Take a look at the docs about Custom Date and Time Format Strings.
Comments
Note this may be a bit crude, but it may lead you in the right direction.
Taking and adding to what Jon mentioned:
string text = date.ToString("ddd MMM dd yyyy hh:mm t");
And then adding something along these lines:
TimeZone localZone = TimeZone.CurrentTimeZone;
string x = localZone.StandardName.ToString();
string split = x.Substring(0,7);
string text = date.ToString("ddd MMM dd yyyy hh:mm t") + " " + split;
I haven't tested it, but i hope it helps!