Format date time

Question

Hey there, I am extracting the date and time of creation of a file. the date should be 7/1/2010 2:08 PM but the format comes out as 2:08:07 01/07/2010 when called from my application. I would like it show as it does in the file explorer (7/1/2010 2:08 PM). How can I accomplish this?

    string createdOnCMM = Creationtime; //this returns the 2:08:07 01/07/2010 


// I think I need a modified verison of the following to reformat it

    DateTime dt = Convert.ToDateTime(createdOnCMM);
    String.Format("0:{dd/MM/yyyy HH:mm:ss}", dt);

Answer 1

Your compound format string isn't quite right. Try this:

string s = string.Format("{0:dd/MM/yyyy HH:mm:ss}", dt);

Alternatively, if you only want to format the DateTime, call ToString directly:

string s = dt.ToString("dd/MM/yyyy HH:mm:ss");

(That's a more readable approach, IMO.)

Note that this is very culture-specific at the moment. That may be okay for your intended use, but you should be aware of it.

Answer 2

If you just need to format with your current culture's short date string then use the g specifier as mentioned in Eric's answer.

If you need the exact format that you mentioned, regardless of your current culture, then one of the following should do the trick:

string formatted = dt.ToString("M'/'d'/'yyyy h':'mm tt");

// or

string formatted = string.Format("{0:M'/'d'/'yyyy h':'mm tt}", dt);

Answer 3

From Microsoft's Standard Date and Time Format Strings, you should be able to get what you want by using the g format string like the following:

String.Format("{0:g}", dateTimeValue);

That should yield the format you'd like.