Convert string to datetime

[mcfly1204]

I have read through various posts on converting a string into the datetime format, but cannot resolve my situation. I have a string in the format of 'yyyymmddthhmmss.sssz' that I would like to convert to datetime. My previous attempts:

DateTime dt = DateTime.Parse(string);
DateTime dt = Convert.ToDateTime(string);
DateTime dt = XmlConvert.ToDateTime(string, format); where format = 'yyyymmddthhmmss.sssz'

I should note that the string value is being extracted from an Xml document. Any help would be appreciated.

[Lacutas]

I have read through various posts on converting a string into the datetime format, but cannot resolve my situation. I have a string in the format of 'yyyymmddthhmmss.sssz' that I would like to convert to datetime. My previous attempts:

DateTime dt = DateTime.Parse(string);
DateTime dt = Convert.ToDateTime(string);
DateTime dt = XmlConvert.ToDateTime(string, format); where format = 'yyyymmddthhmmss.sssz'

I should note that the string value is being extracted from an Xml document. Any help would be appreciated.

Just a quick thought, are you removing the surround tag elements from your string before you try to parse it?

[mcfly1204]

Just a quick thought, are you removing the surround tag elements from your string before you try to parse it?

I am using XmlResolver.CreateNavigator to extract string values out via the xpath, so only the contents of the given tag are being extracted, not the tag in its entirety.

[Plater]

I would recomend DateTime.ParseExact() (Normally I would say .Parse() or .TryParse() but it didn't look like they supported custom formats like that)

// "20080129P015750.100-5" <-you cannot get better format then that?
string format="yyyyMMddthhmmss.sssz";
//NOTE: I had to fix your format, as you had "2 digit minutes" specified in there twice
DateTime dt = DateTime.ParseExact(string, format, <some format provider>);
 

Have to check in on what format provider you wanna use, msdn should help.

[mcfly1204]

// "20080129P015750.100-5" <-you cannot get better format then that?

Unfortunately this is someone's idea of a "standard".

[Plater]

Did correcting the format string have any effect?
You could always write your own too if need be.

[mcfly1204]

Did correcting the format string have any effect?
You could always write your own too if need be.

It kept saying that the string was not a valid date format. I broke down and removed the extra characters so that it was simply 'yyyyMMddHHmmss'. Below did not work for me.

string = "20071026T120000.000Z";
IFormatProvider US_Format = new System.Globalization.CultureInfo("en-US", true);
string format = "yyyyMMddTHHmmss".sssZ;
RefDateTimeStamp = DateTime.ParseExact(string, format, US_Format);

[Plater]

Oh the Z was a literal and not the designation for gmt offset? The same with the T, it is not the AM/PM designator but ACTUALLY a T?
What is an example of the exact string you will be parsing?

EDIT: ok I found more problems with your date format string, and have corrected with the following example:

string s = "20071026A120000.000-5";//example string to parse
IFormatProvider US_Format = new System.Globalization.CultureInfo("en-US", true);
string format = "yyyyMMddtHHmmss.fffz";
DateTime dt = DateTime.ParseExact(s, format, US_Format);
MessageBox.Show(dt.ToString());
 

[leoiser]

Try this

DateTime.Now.ToString("yyyymmddthhmmss.fff tt")

tt for AM/PM

[leoiser]

string = "20071026T120000.000Z";

In the above string what is 'T' stands for?

If nothing works try the below

Dim s As String = "20071026T120000.000Z" //Assuming T stands for time
s = s.Insert(4, "/")
s = s.Insert(7, "/")
s = s.Replace("T", " ")
s = s.Replace("Z", "")
s = s.Insert(13, ":")
s = s.Insert(16, ":")

MessageBox.Show(Convert.ToDateTime(s))

Is it helpful?

It kept saying that the string was not a valid date format. I broke down and removed the extra characters so that it was simply 'yyyyMMddHHmmss'. Below did not work for me.

string = "20071026T120000.000Z";
IFormatProvider US_Format = new System.Globalization.CultureInfo("en-US", true);
string format = "yyyyMMddTHHmmss".sssZ;
RefDateTimeStamp = DateTime.ParseExact(string, format, US_Format);