ASP.Net 2.0 C# DateTime IFormatProvider Using ParseExact

In the previous article C# Convert String to DateTime you learnt the use of Convert.ToDateTime function in C# ASP.Net 2.0. Following are 2 other methods to convert the DateTime format using IFormatProvider:

1. DateTime.ParseExact

2. DateTime.Parse

To use IFormatProvider you have to pass the culture info for DateTime format coz in different cultures DateTime format of displaying the sequence of month and date varies.

For French Culture use the following:

IFormatProvider culture = new CultureInfo("fr-Fr", true);

For US English use the following:

IFormatProvider culture = new CultureInfo("en-US", true);

Both cultures mentioned above accept the different DateTime Formats.

If you are using DateTime.Parse then you have to pass the MM/dd/yyyy hh:mm:ss format of DateTime for French culture and dd/MM/yyyy hh:mm:ss for US English culture. You have to check the format for different cultures by changing the position of month and day.

Using DateTime Parse

dt = DateTime.Parse(myDateTimeString, culture, DateTimeStyles.NoCurrentDateDefault);

Using DateTime ParseExact

dt = DateTime.ParseExact(myDateTimeString, "MM/dd/yyyy hh:mm:ss", culture, DateTimeStyles.NoCurrentDateDefault);

C# Code to ParseExact the DateTime String

string myDateTimeString;

myDateTimeString = "19/02/2008 05:44:00";

IFormatProvider culture = new CultureInfo("fr-Fr", true);

dt = DateTime.ParseExact(myDateTimeString, "dd/MM/yyyy hh:mm:ss", culture, DateTimeStyles.NoCurrentDateDefault);

Response.Write(dt.Day + "/" + dt.Month + "/" + dt.Year);

Using C# Function to Get Current DateTime and C# ToString Function you can format the DateTime values into the specified format very easily.