Datetime format Issue: String was not recognized as a valid DateTime

Question

I want to format the input string into MM/dd/yyyy hh:mm:ss format in C#.
The input string is in format MM/dd/yyyy hh:mm:ss
For example :"04/30/2013 23:00"

I tried Convert.ToDateTime() function, but it considers 4 as date and 3 as month which is not what I want. Actually month is 04 and date is 03.

I tried DateTime.ParseExact() function also, But getting Exception.

I am getting error:

String was not recognized as a valid DateTime.

Can you post the actual source code that you have trouble with? — tafa, Apr 15 '13 at 11:34
Well how did you try `ParseExact` ? i guess you missed something for the format passed simple guess it would be `HH` instead of `hh` since you have 24 hr format — V4Vendetta, Apr 15 '13 at 11:34
@PranayRana I'm wondering which answer take the first upvote :) Or they ever will? :) — Soner Gönül, Apr 15 '13 at 11:49
@SonerGönül - whatever but point is OP must accept correct answer... — Pranay Rana, Apr 15 '13 at 11:52
Actually I was trying to use the format MM/dd/yyyy hh:mm:ss.But my input string was not containing ss part.That was the reason of error.Anyway,thanks every one. :) — Priya, Apr 15 '13 at 13:05

score 16 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 15 '13 at 11:38

16

Your date time string doesn't contains any seconds. You need to reflect that in your format (remove the :ss).
Also, you need to specify H instead of h if you are using 24 hour times:

DateTime.ParseExact("04/30/2013 23:00", "MM/dd/yyyy HH:mm", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture)

See here for more information:

Custom Date and Time Format Strings

answered Apr 15 '13 at 11:38

Botz3000

38,118
8
102
126

`str = "6"; dtm = DateTime.ParseExact(str, "d", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);` is failing for me. Any idea? – Si8 Oct 24 '16 at 15:26
@Si8 It's because "d" is a standard format string (short date). You can use "%d" instead. See here: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/8kb3ddd4(v=vs.110).aspx#UsingSingleSpecifiers – Botz3000 Oct 25 '16 at 06:12

Soner Gönül · Answer 2 · 2015-11-20T13:57:39.267

You can use DateTime.ParseExact() method.

Converts the specified string representation of a date and time to its DateTime equivalent using the specified format and culture-specific format information. The format of the string representation must match the specified format exactly.

DateTime date = DateTime.ParseExact("04/30/2013 23:00", 
                                    "MM/dd/yyyy HH:mm", 
                                    CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);

Here is a DEMO.

hh is for 12-hour clock from 01 to 12, HH is for 24-hour clock from 00 to 23.

For more information, check Custom Date and Time Format Strings

score 3 · Answer 3 · answered Apr 15 '13 at 11:38

try this:

string strTime = "04/30/2013 23:00";
DateTime dtTime;
if(DateTime.TryParseExact(strTime, "MM/dd/yyyy HH:mm",  
   System.Globalization.CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, 
   System.Globalization.DateTimeStyles.None, out dtTime))
 {
    Console.WriteLine(dtTime);
 }

score 2 · Answer 4 · answered Jun 16 '19 at 05:18

This can also be the problem if your string is 6/15/2019. DateTime Parse expects it to be 06/15/2019.

So first split it by slash

var dateParts = "6/15/2019"
var month = dateParts[0].PadLeft(2, '0');
var day = dateParts[1].PadLeft(2, '0');
var year = dateParts[2] 


var properFormat = month + "/" +day +"/" + year;

Now you can use DateTime.Parse(properFormat, "MM/dd/yyyy"). It is very strange but this is only thing working for me.

score 1 · Answer 5 · answered Apr 15 '13 at 11:38

change the culture and try out like this might work for you

string[] formats= { "MM/dd/yyyy HH:mm" }
var dateTime = DateTime.ParseExact("04/30/2013 23:00", 
     formats, new CultureInfo("en-US"), DateTimeStyles.None);

Check for details : DateTime.ParseExact Method (String, String[], IFormatProvider, DateTimeStyles)

Diorrini11 · Answer 6 · 2016-07-18T14:52:28.547

DateTime dt1 = DateTime.ParseExact([YourDate], "dd-MM-yyyy HH:mm:ss",  
                                           CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);

Note the use of HH (24-hour clock) rather than hh (12-hour clock), and the use of InvariantCulture because some cultures use separators other than slash.

For example, if the culture is de-DE, the format "dd/MM/yyyy" would expect period as a separator (31.01.2011).

score 0 · Answer 7 · answered Sep 30 '16 at 07:04

Below code worked for me:

string _stDate = Convert.ToDateTime(DateTime.Today.AddMonths(-12)).ToString("MM/dd/yyyy");
String format ="MM/dd/yyyy";
IFormatProvider culture = new System.Globalization.CultureInfo("fr-FR", true);
DateTime _Startdate = DateTime.ParseExact(_stDate, format, culture);

yogesh lodha · Answer 8 · 2019-06-24T13:56:44.640

0

You may use this type format (get formatted data from sql server)

FORMAT(convert(datetime,'16/04/2018 10:52:20',103),'dd/MM/yyyy HH:mm:ss', 'en-us')

CONVERT(VARCHAR,convert(datetime,'16/04/2018 10:52:20',103), 120)

edited Jun 24 '19 at 13:56

answered Jun 24 '19 at 13:49

yogesh lodha

161
1
4

Datetime format Issue: String was not recognized as a valid DateTime

8 Answers8

Linked

Related