Hi there,
I was wondering, is there a way to create a timestamp in c# from a datetime? I need a millisecond precision value that also works in Compact Framework(saying that since DateTime.ToBinary() does not exist in CF).
My problem is that i want to store this value in a database agnostic way so i can sortby it later and find out which value is greater from another etc.
You could use the DateTime.Ticks property, which is a long and universal storable, always increasing and usable on the compact framework as well. Just make sure your code isn't used after December 31st 9999 ;)
I always use something like the following:
private String GetTimestamp(DateTime value) {
return value.ToString("yyyyMMddHHmmssffff");
}
This will give you a string like 200905211035131468, as the string goes from highest order bits of the timestamp to lowest order simple string sorting in your SQL queries can be used to order by date if you're sticking values in a database
Remember that you canno't use the time stamp for date time!
private String GetTimestamp(DateTime value) {
return value.ToString("yyyyMMddHHmmssffff");
}
remember that seconds go from 0 to 60!
This code is conceptually more correct and usable for your time span purpose. You can store the date time now and whenever you want you can find the Millisecond, Seconds, Day or whichever date unit you want to know how many time is passed.
var start = DateTime.Now;
//do your operation here!
var timeSpan = GetTimestamp(start);
private static int GetTimeSpan(DateTime value)
{
return DateTime.Now.Subtract(value).Milliseconds;
}
I believe you can create a unix style datestamp accurate to a second using the following
//Find unix timestamp (seconds since 01/01/1970)
long ticks = DateTime.UtcNow.Ticks - DateTime.Parse("01/01/1970 00:00:00").Ticks;
ticks /= 10000000; //Convert windows ticks to seconds
timestamp = ticks.ToString();
Adjusting the denominator allows you to choose your level of precision