DateTime DateTime Format DateTime.TryParse

`DateTime.Parse`

In C# DateTime.Parse() handles many formats. We get a DateTime from a string. When we know the format is correct, use Parse—otherwise, prefer TryParse.

We can parse formatted date and time strings. Formats from various databases and Internet sources can be handled. Parse, and ParseExact, are shown.

Format examples

DateTime.Parse works on various date time formats. Several time string formats were found on the Internet, and the DateTime.Parse method was used on them.

Tip DateTime.Parse is a static method. It returns a new DateTime instance, which is represented as a struct.

Tip 2 If you provide no time, the time "12 AM" is used. This means no time elapsed past the start of a day.

using System;

// A simple example.
string simpleTime = "1/1/2000";
DateTime time = DateTime.Parse(simpleTime);
Console.WriteLine(time);

// Taken from HTTP header
string httpTime = "Fri, 27 Feb 2009 03:11:21 GMT";
time = DateTime.Parse(httpTime);
Console.WriteLine(time);

// Taken from w3.org
string w3Time = "2009/02/26 18:37:58";
time = DateTime.Parse(w3Time);
Console.WriteLine(time);

// Taken from nytimes.com
string nyTime = "Thursday, February 26, 2009";
time = DateTime.Parse(nyTime);
Console.WriteLine(time);

// Taken from this site
string perlTime = "February 26, 2009";
time = DateTime.Parse(perlTime);
Console.WriteLine(time);

// Taken from ISO Standard 8601 for Dates
string isoTime = "2002-02-10";
time = DateTime.Parse(isoTime);
Console.WriteLine(time);

// Taken from Windows file system Created/Modified
string windowsTime = "2/21/2009 10:35 PM";
time = DateTime.Parse(windowsTime);
Console.WriteLine(time);

// Taken from Windows Date and Time panel
string windowsPanelTime = "8:04:00 PM";
time = DateTime.Parse(windowsPanelTime);
Console.WriteLine(time);1/1/2000 12:00:00 AM
2/26/2009 7:11:21 PM
2/26/2009 6:37:58 PM
2/26/2009 12:00:00 AM
2/26/2009 12:00:00 AM
2/10/2002 12:00:00 AM
2/21/2009 10:35:00 PM
2/26/2009 8:04:00 PM

`ParseExact`

You can use DateTime.ParseExact if you have a confusing or non-standard string. This is ideal when your date string could be interpreted wrong by .NET, but it is valid.

Tip Use the formatting characters to specify how ParseExact and TryParseExact work.

Note You need to use a format string that has letters in it that tell ParseExact where to read in the values from your string.

Warning If you change Mon to Tue in the example, it won't work, because Jun 16 was a Monday.

using System;
using System.Globalization;

string dateString = "Mon 16 Jun 8:30 AM 2008";
string format = "ddd dd MMM h:mm tt yyyy";
// Use ParseExact.
DateTime dateTime = DateTime.ParseExact(dateString, format, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);
Console.WriteLine(dateTime);
6/16/2008 8:30:00 AM

`TryParse`

Whenever you have a string containing a date and time that may be invalid in formatting or that never occurred, you can use DateTime.TryParse.

Tip It converts the string to a DateTime instance without raising an exception on errors.

using System;

string value = "invalid";
if (DateTime.TryParse(value, out DateTime result))
{
    // Use result.
}
Console.WriteLine("DONE");
DONE

`FormatException`

We see an exception when you specify a date that cannot exist. If Tuesday was the tenth of a month, you cannot make a DateTime where it is the eleventh.

Warning DateTime.ParseExact throws an exception, a FormatException instance, in this case.

Result The day of the week was found to be incorrect. DateTime.ParseExact can help with dates that DateTime.Parse doesn't handle.

But My experience is that you want to use DateTime.Parse or TryParse in most cases.

using System;
using System.Globalization;

// This date never existed.
string dateString = "Tue 16 Jun 8:30 AM 2008";
string format = "ddd dd MMM h:mm tt yyyy";
DateTime dateTime = DateTime.ParseExact(dateString, format, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);Unhandled Exception: System.FormatException:
    String was not recognized as a valid DateTime
    because the day of week was incorrect.

Dates from SQL

SQL date strings can be handed with DateTime.Parse. This is useful when you have database text-only data. DateTime.Parse works on the date time format in the MySQL database.

Note Consider the statements here. Each DateTime.Parse call here succeeds, and returns the correct value.

Important Normally, MySQL dates and times are stored in columns of types DATETIME, DATE, and TIMESTAMP.

using System;

// Taken from MySQL: SELECT CURTIME()
//                   SELECT TIME(...)
string mySqlTime = "23:50:26";
DateTime time = DateTime.Parse(mySqlTime);

// Taken from MySQL: SELECT TIMESTAMP(...)
string mySqlTimestamp = "2003-12-31 00:00:00";
time = DateTime.Parse(mySqlTimestamp);
Console.WriteLine(time);

// Taken from MySQL: SELECT CURDATE()
//                   SELECT DATE(...)
string mySqlDate = "2008-06-13";
time = DateTime.Parse(mySqlDate);
Console.WriteLine(time);12/31/2003 12:00:00 AM
6/13/2008 12:00:00 AM

SQL, example 2

With the examples from Microsoft SQL Server, the DateTime.Parse method will parse the string representations from the database.

Tip When using the valid date formats from MySQL and SQL Server, you can use DateTime.Parse to get the dates from the SQL strings.

using System;

// Taken from SQL SERVER: SELECT GETDATE()
//                        SELECT GETUTCDATE()
string sqlServerDate = "2007-04-30 13:10:02.047";
DateTime time = DateTime.Parse(sqlServerDate);
Console.WriteLine(time);

// Taken from SQL SERVER: SELECT SYSDATETIME()
//                        SELECT SYSUTCDATETIME()
string sqlSysDate = "2007-04-30 20:10:02.0474381";
time = DateTime.Parse(sqlSysDate);
Console.WriteLine(time);

// Taken from SQL SERVER: SELECT SYSDATETIMEOFFSET()
string sqlSysDateOffset = "2007-04-30 13:10:02.0474381 -07:00";
time = DateTime.Parse(sqlSysDateOffset);
Console.WriteLine(time);4/30/2007 1:10:02 PM
4/30/2007 8:10:02 PM
4/30/2007 1:10:02 PM

A summary

We used the DateTime.Parse method. We saw what strings it works on. The tester-doer pattern used in TryParse is probably the most effective in many real-world programs.