DateTime.Parse

A String contains a date or time. Characters indicate the month, day and year. We want to convert it into a DateTime instance in VB.NET.

The DateTime.Parse Function handles many different formats of String dates. Many formats from the Internet can be parsed. The function is flexible and useful.

First example

To begin, we use the DateTime.Parse Function. You must pass a string value as its argument. You can assign a DateTime to its result.

Module Module1
    Sub Main()
        Dim value As String = "2000-02-02"
        Dim time As DateTime = DateTime.Parse(value)
        Console.WriteLine(time)
    End Sub
End Module
2/2/2000 12:00:00 AM

TryParse example

If a date format might be invalid, we should use the DateTime.TryParse function in an If-Statement. If the format is valid, we can use the parsed value.

Module Module1
    Sub Main()
        Dim value As String = "invalid"
        Dim time As DateTime
        If DateTime.TryParse(value, time) Then
            ' Use time if valid.
        End If
        Console.WriteLine("DONE")
    End Sub
End Module
DONE

Formats

Next, we examine the DateTime.Parse function using a variety of input formats. For completeness, I searched the Internet to find different DateTime format strings.

Module Module1
    Sub Main()
        ' Simple slash format
        Dim time As DateTime = DateTime.Parse("1/1/2000")
        Console.WriteLine(time)

        ' HTTP header
        time = DateTime.Parse("Fri, 27 Feb 2009 03:11:21 GMT")
        Console.WriteLine(time)

        ' From w3.org
        time = DateTime.Parse("2009/02/26 18:37:58")
        Console.WriteLine(time)

        ' From nytimes.com
        time = DateTime.Parse("Thursday, February 26, 2009")
        Console.WriteLine(time)

        ' From dotnetperls.com
        time = DateTime.Parse("February 26, 2009")
        Console.WriteLine(time)

        ' From ISO Standard 8601 for Dates
        time = DateTime.Parse("2002-02-10")
        Console.WriteLine(time)

        ' From Windows file system Created/Modified
        time = DateTime.Parse("2/21/2009 10:35 PM")
        Console.WriteLine(time)

        ' From Windows Date and Time panel
        time = DateTime.Parse("8:04:00 PM")
        Console.WriteLine(time)
    End Sub
End Module
1/1/2000 12:00:00 AM
2/26/2009 8:11:21 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
6/2/2010 8:04:00 PM

The DateTime.Parse function in the VB.NET language is useful in many programs where you want to convert a string into a DateTime instance. It works on many formats.

Some final notes

The DateTime type provides more options for programmatic use. The string type is more useful for input and output such as writing to files.