String to DateTime

string iDate = "05/05/2005";
DateTime oDate = Convert.ToDateTime(iDate);
MessageBox.Show(oDate.Day + " " + oDate.Month + "  " + oDate.Year );

Dim iDate As String = "05/05/2005"
Dim oDate As DateTime = Convert.ToDateTime(iDate)
MsgBox(oDate.Day & " " & oDate.Month & "  " & oDate.Year)

DateTime.Parse method supports many formats. It is very forgiving in terms of syntax and will parse dates in many different formats. That means, this method can parse only strings consisting exactly of a date/time presentation, it cannot look for date/time among text.

C#

string iDate = "2005-05-05";
DateTime oDate = DateTime.Parse(iDate);
MessageBox.Show(oDate.Day + " " + oDate.Month + "  " + oDate.Year);

VB.Net

Dim iDate As String = "2005-05-05"
Dim oDate As DateTime = DateTime.Parse(iDate)
MsgBox(oDate.Day & " " & oDate.Month & "  " & oDate.Year)

DateTime.ParseExact()

ParseExact method will allow you to specify the exact format of your date string to use for parsing. It is good to use this if your string is always in the same format. The format of the string representation must match the specified format exactly.

C#

string iString = "2005-05-05 22:12 PM";
DateTime oDate = DateTime.ParseExact(iString, "yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm tt",null);
MessageBox.Show(oDate.ToString());

VB.Net

Dim iString As String = "2005-05-05 22:12 PM"
Dim oDate As DateTime = DateTime.ParseExact(iString, "yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm tt", Nothing)
MsgBox(oDate.ToString())

The null(Nothing) parameter is the CultureInfo object that corresponds to the current culture is used.

CultureInfo

When numbers, dates and times are formatted into strings or parsed from strings then a culture (CultureInfo)is used to determine how it is done. If you know what specific culture that your dates and decimal or currency values will be in ahead of time, you can use that specific CultureInfo property, e.g. CultureInfo("en-US").

The CultureInfo.InvariantCulture property is neither a neutral nor a specific culture. It is a third type of culture that is culture-insensitive. It is associated with the English language but not with a country or region.

C#

string iString = "2005-05-05 22:12 PM";
DateTime oDate = DateTime.ParseExact(iString, "yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm tt", System.Globalization.CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);
MessageBox.Show(oDate.ToString());

VB.Net

Dim iString As String = "2005-05-05 22:12 PM"
Dim oDate As DateTime = DateTime.ParseExact(iString, "yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm tt", System.Globalization.CultureInfo.InvariantCulture)
MsgBox(oDate.ToString())

DateTime.TryParse method

DateTime.TryParse converts the specified string representation of a date and time to its DateTime equivalent using the specified culture-specific format information and formatting style, and returns a value that indicates whether the conversion succeeded.

public static bool TryParse(
	string s,
	out DateTime result
)

This method is similar to the DateTime.Parse(String) method, except that the TryParse(String, DateTime) method does not throw an exception if the conversion fails. Also, this method tries to ignore unrecognized data, if possible, and fills in missing month, day, and year information with the current date. The TryParse method is culture dependent so be very careful if you decide use it.

using System;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using System.Globalization;
namespace WindowsFormsApplication4
{
    public partial class Form1 : Form
    {
        public Form1()
        {
            InitializeComponent();
        }
        private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            string inString = "05/01/2009 06:32:00";
            DateTime dateValue;
            if (DateTime.TryParse(inString, out dateValue))
                Console.WriteLine("Converted '{0}' to {1}.", inString, dateValue);
            else
                Console.WriteLine("Unable to convert '{0}' to a date.", inString);
        }
    }
}

Looking for a .Net job ?

There are lot of opportunities from many reputed companies in the world. Chances are you will need to prove that you know how to work with .Net Programming Language. These .Net Interview Questions have been designed especially to get you acquainted with the nature of questions you may encounter during your interview for the subject of .Net Programming. Here's a comprehensive list of .Net Interview Questions, along with some of the best answers. These sample questions are framed by our experts team who trains for .Net training to give you an idea of type of questions which may be asked in interview.

Go to... .Net Interview Questions

How to to set datetime object to null ?

By default DateTime is not nullable because it is a Value Type, using the nullable operator introduced in C# 2, you can achieve this. More about..... Datetime object to null

How to find date difference ?

A calculation using a DateTime structure, such as Add or Subtract, does not modify the value of the structure. Instead, the calculation returns a new DateTime structure whose value is the result of the calculation. The DateTime.Substract method may be used in order to find the date-time difference between two instances of the DateTime method. More about..... Find date difference

DateTimePicker Control

The DateTimePicker control has two parts, a label that displays the selected date and a popup calendar that allows users to select a new date. The most important property of the DateTimePicker is the Value property, which holds the selected date and time. More about..... DateTimePicker