Converting string to date time

[eric.goforth]

Hello,

I'm trying to convert a string to a date time in a C# web service.

I'm passing in a string parameter and I have a localization setting in
my Web.config file:

My app is blowing up on the first line here, with a"Value does not fall
within the expected range" error.

CultureInfo ci = new CultureInfo("en-US",true);
ci.DateTimeForm at.ShortDatePat tern =
ConfigurationSe ttings.AppSetti ngs["DateFormat "];

try
{
DateTime myStartDate = DateTime.Parse( startDate, ci);
}

Any idea what's wrong? Is there a simpler way to do this?

-Eric

[Paul E Collins]

<er**********@g mail.com> wrote:

I'm trying to convert a string to a date time in a
C# web service. [...] Any idea what's wrong?
Well, what's the value that you're passing in?
Is there a simpler way to do this?

Why can't you pass in a DateTime instead of a string? It also won't
fail when you have to deal with locales outside the United States
(e.g. Europe and Japan, which each have their own different date
formats).

Eq.

[eric.goforth]

Hello,

My web service is a test harness to mimic the behavior of another
company's web service, so I have to use the API that's they use.

I don't think that it matters what I pass through, I'm passing in
"01.01.06". My app is giving me the Value does not fall
within the expected range" when I try to execute the first line:

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

Thanks,
-Eric

[Jon Skeet [C# MVP]]

<er**********@g mail.com> wrote:

My web service is a test harness to mimic the behavior of another
company's web service, so I have to use the API that's they use.

I don't think that it matters what I pass through, I'm passing in
"01.01.06". My app is giving me the Value does not fall
within the expected range" when I try to execute the first line:

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

That seems somewhat unlikely. What does the full stack trace look like?
Could you post a short but complete program which demonstrates the
problem?

See http://www.pobox.com/~skeet/csharp/complete.html for details of
what I mean by that.
--
Jon Skeet - <sk***@pobox.co m>
http://www.pobox.com/~skeet Blog: http://www.msmvps.com/jon.skeet
If replying to the group, please do not mail me too

[Paul E Collins]

<er**********@g mail.com> wrote:

I don't think that it matters what I pass through, I'm passing in
"01.01.06". My app is giving me the Value does not fall within
the expected range" when I try to execute the first line:

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

Sorry - read it too quickly.

"Value does not fall within the expected range" is the default message
for ArgumentExcepti on, which the CultureInfo constructor can throw,
but only if "<name> is not a valid culture name" - and your line of
code with "en-US" works fine on my machine here. I don't think it's
possible to make it fail by somehow adding or removing cultures,
because they're a standard set, regardless of what international
support the particular computer has got.

How are you determining where the error is? Do you have the complete
stack trace available? I've sometimes seen the debugger indicate the
wrong line (one above or below), so it *might* not be that first line.

Eq.

[eric.goforth]

I get the same thing when I try to execute the same line in a simple
Winforms application, here is the code for my Form1:

using System;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Collecti ons;
using System.Componen tModel;
using System.Windows. Forms;
using System.Data;
using System.Globaliz ation;

namespace WindowsApplicat ion2
{
/// <summary>
/// Summary description for Form1.
/// </summary>
public class Form1 : System.Windows. Forms.Form
{
/// <summary>
/// Required designer variable.
/// </summary>
private System.Componen tModel.Containe r components = null;

public Form1()
{
//
// Required for Windows Form Designer support
//
InitializeCompo nent();

//
// TODO: Add any constructor code after InitializeCompo nent call
//
}

/// <summary>
/// Clean up any resources being used.
/// </summary>
protected override void Dispose( bool disposing )
{
if( disposing )
{
if (components != null)
{
components.Disp ose();
}
}
base.Dispose( disposing );
}

#region Windows Form Designer generated code
/// <summary>
/// Required method for Designer support - do not modify
/// the contents of this method with the code editor.
/// </summary>
private void InitializeCompo nent()
{
//
// Form1
//
this.AutoScaleB aseSize = new System.Drawing. Size(5, 13);
this.ClientSize = new System.Drawing. Size(292, 266);
this.Name = "Form1";
this.Text = "Form1";
this.Load += new System.EventHan dler(this.Form1 _Load);

}
#endregion

/// <summary>
/// The main entry point for the application.
/// </summary>
[STAThread]
static void Main()
{
Application.Run (new Form1());
}

private void Form1_Load(obje ct sender, System.EventArg s e)
{
CultureInfo ci = new CultureInfo("en-US",true);

}
}
}

[Paul E Collins]

<er**********@g mail.com> wrote:

I get the same thing when I try to execute the same
line in a simple Winforms application, here is the code
for my Form1:
[... snipped example program ...]

I copied and pasted that exactly, and checked that it was reaching the
CultureInfo creation line, and it ran perfectly. There must be some
strange configuration problem at your end. Short of running it on a
different machine - or removing and reinstalling the Framework (which,
of course, isn't guaranteed to fix it) - I don't know what to suggest,
unfortunately.

Eq.

[Jon Skeet [C# MVP]]

<er**********@g mail.com> wrote:

I get the same thing when I try to execute the same line in a simple
Winforms application, here is the code for my Form1:

Just a hint for future examples - console apps make much simpler little
test apps. Does the following work on your computer?

using System;
using System.Globaliz ation;

class Test
{
static void Main()
{
Console.WriteLi ne(new CultureInfo("en-US",true));
}
}

--
Jon Skeet - <sk***@pobox.co m>
http://www.pobox.com/~skeet Blog: http://www.msmvps.com/jon.skeet
If replying to the group, please do not mail me too

[eric.goforth]

Strangely your sample app does work. When I comment out your line and
put in CultureInfo ci = new CultureInfo("en-US",true); it doesn't
work.

-Eric

using System;
using System.Globaliz ation;

class Test
{
static void Main()
{
//Console.WriteLi ne(new CultureInfo("en-US",true));
CultureInfo ci = new CultureInfo("en-US",true);

}

}

[eric.goforth]

Weird weird weird. If I copy and past your "new
CultureInfo("en-US",true)" to the right of my "=" sign it does work.
If I do a Ctrl-Z and step back though my code it doesn't. I guess
there's some kind of weird character in there or something?

This works:

using System;
using System.Globaliz ation;

class Test
{
static void Main()
{
//Console.WriteLi ne(new CultureInfo("en-US",true));
CultureInfo ci = new CultureInfo("en-US",true);

}

}

This does NOT work:

using System;
using System.Globaliz ation;

class Test
{
static void Main()
{
//Console.WriteLi ne(new CultureInfo("en-US",true));
CultureInfo ci = new CultureInfo("en-US",true);

}

}