problem while converting object into datetime in c#

Question

Hi, I am getting string value in object let say "28/05/2010". While i am converting it in to DateTime it is throwing exception as :

String was not recognized as a valid DateTime.

The Code is:

object obj = ((Excel.Range)worksheet.Cells[iRowindex, colIndex_q17]).Value2;
Type type = obj.GetType();
string strDate3 = string.Empty;
double dbl = 0.0;

if (type == typeof(System.Double))
{
    dbl = Convert.ToDouble(((Excel.Range)worksheet.Cells[iRowindex, colIndex_q17]).Value2);
    strDate3 = DateTime.FromOADate(dbl).ToShortDateString();
}
else
{
    DateTime dt = new DateTime().Date;
    //////////dt = DateTime.Parse(Convert.ToString(obj));
    **dt = Convert.ToDateTime(obj).Date;**
    strDate3 = dt.ToShortDateString(); 
}

The double star "**" line gets exception.

Answer 1

Use DateTime.ParseExact and specify the format string as dd/MM/yyyy.

Answer 2

The reason for your exception is that you have different culture set up for sql server and your application. So, you are getting the string from the database as "dd/MM/yyyy" and in your application this value is parsed as "MM/dd/yyyy". The 28 is invalid month, so it throws an exception. Use DateTime.ParseExact(dateString, "dd/MM/yyyy", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture); to get the right value, or use the same culture.

UPDATE: You can check windows settings from Control Panel -> Region and Language. For the sql server culture settings and how you can define culture for your application here is a good explanation http://alainrivas.blogspot.com/2008/09/aspnet-and-sql-server-globalization.html