C# String.Format DateTime Source Code Example

Posted by on Thursday, December 17, 2009 · Leave a Comment 

String.Format DateTime

Purpose: – Illustrates using in C-Sharp.

Prerequistes:

  1. Install C# (Express or Standard Edition)
  2. Install SQL Server Express
  3. Download Northwind and Pubs Databases
  4. Attach Northwind Database to Databases in Sql Express
  5. Attach pubs Database to Databases in Sql Express

Notes:

  • You can build your own library of syntax examples by using same project over and over and just adding new classes to it.

Instructions:

  1. Use C# 2008 (express or standard)
  2. Create new project;
    • Click File/New Project
    • Select Console Application Template
    • Select C-Sharp for Language
    • name of project could be CSharp_Syntax.
  3. Add New folder named “LanguageBasics”
    • Right-click project name in solution explorer;
    • add new folder;
    • name of folder could be: LanguageBasics
  4. Add Class named clsStringFormatDateTime to LanguageBasics folder
    • Right-click LanguageBasics folder;
    • add new item;
    • Select Class
    • Class name could be clsStringFormatDateTime
  5. Click on copy code in code below to copy code into class clsStringFormatDateTime.cs
  6. Click on copy code in second set of code below to copy code into Program.cs
  7. Click on green arrow in toolbar in VS or press F5 to run program.

Step 1: Click on Copy Code to Cut-n-paste code into clsStringFormatDateTime.cs

using System;
 
public class clsStringFormatDateTime
{
 
    public void Main()
    {
        //**************************************************
        //        Custom DateTime Formatting
        //**************************************************
 
        Console.WriteLine("Custom DateTime Formatting:");
        //Here are custom format specifiers y (year), M (month), d (day), h (hour 12), H (hour 24), m (minute), s (second),
        // f (second fraction), F (second fraction, trailing zeroes are trimmed), t (P.M or A.M) and z (time zone).
 
        //Following examples show how the format specifiers can be used.
        // create date time 2009-12-21 20:04:08.101
        DateTime dt = new DateTime(2009, 12, 20, 20, 4, 8, 101);
 
        // Ways to format year: "9 09 009 2009"   year
        Console.WriteLine(string.Format("{0:y yy yyy yyyy}", dt));
 
        // Ways to format month: "12 12 Dec December"  month
        Console.WriteLine(string.Format("{0:M MM MMM MMMM}", dt));
 
        // Ways to format day: "21 21 Sun Sunday" day
        Console.WriteLine(string.Format("{0:d dd ddd dddd}", dt));
 
        // Ways to format hour: "8 08 20 20"      hour 12/24
        Console.WriteLine(string.Format("{0:h hh H HH}", dt));
 
        // Ways to format minute: "4 04"            minute
        Console.WriteLine(string.Format("{0:m mm}", dt));
 
        // Ways to format second:  ' "8 08"            second 
        Console.WriteLine(string.Format("{0:s ss}", dt));
 
        // Ways to format fraction of second: "1 10 101 1010"   sec.fraction
        Console.WriteLine(string.Format("{0:f ff fff ffff}", dt));
 
        // Ways to format fraction of second: "1 1 101 101"   without zeros
        Console.WriteLine(string.Format("{0:F FF FFF FFFF}", dt));
 
        // How to display am or pm: "P PM"            A.M. or P.M.
        Console.WriteLine(string.Format("{0:t tt}", dt));
 
        // How to display timezone: "-6 -06 -06:00"   time zone
        Console.WriteLine(string.Format("{0:z zz zzz}", dt));
 
 
        //**************************************************
        //        Using date separator / (slash) and time sepatator : (colon).
        //**************************************************
        Console.WriteLine("\n");
        Console.WriteLine("Using date separator / (slash) and time sepatator : (colon):");
 
        //These characters will be rewritten to characters defined 
        //in the current DateTimeFormatInfo.DateSepa­rator and DateTimeFormatInfo.TimeSeparator.
 
 
        // "20/12/09 20:04:08" - english (en-US)
        Console.WriteLine(string.Format("{0:d/M/yyyy HH:mm:ss}", dt));
 
        // "20.12.2009 20:04:08" - german (de-DE)
        // date separator in german culture is "." (so "/" changes to ".")
        Console.WriteLine(string.Format("{0:d/M/yyyy HH:mm:ss}", dt));
 
        //**************************************************
        // Here are some examples of custom date and time formatting:
        //**************************************************
        Console.WriteLine("\n");
        Console.WriteLine("Here are some examples of custom date and time formatting:");
 
        // month/day numbers without/with leading zeroes
        // "12/20/2009"
        Console.WriteLine(string.Format("{0:M/d/yyyy}", dt));
 
        // "12/20/2009"
        Console.WriteLine(string.Format("{0:MM/dd/yyyy}", dt));
 
        // day/month names
        // "Sun, Dec 20, 2009"
        Console.WriteLine(string.Format("{0:ddd, MMM d, yyyy}", dt));
 
        // "Sunday, December 20, 2009"
        // two/four digit year
        Console.WriteLine(string.Format("{0:dddd, MMMM d, yyyy}", dt));
 
        // "12/20/09"
        Console.WriteLine(string.Format("{0:MM/dd/yy}", dt));
 
        // "12/20/2009"
        Console.WriteLine(string.Format("{0:MM/dd/yyyy}", dt));
 
        //**************************************************
        //        Standard DateTime Formatting
        //**************************************************
        Console.WriteLine("\n");
        Console.WriteLine("Standard DateTime Formatting:");
        //In DateTimeFormatInfo there are defined standard patterns for the current culture. 
        //For example, property ShortTimePattern is string that contains value h:mm tt for en-US culture 
        //and value HH:mm for de-DE culture.
 
        //Following table shows patterns defined in DateTimeFormatInfo and their values for en-US culture. 
        //First column contains format specifiers for the String.Format method.
 
        //Specifier DateTimeFormatInfo property Pattern value (for en-US culture) 
        //t ShortTimePattern h:mm tt 
        //d ShortDatePattern M/d/yyyy 
        //T LongTimePattern h:mm:ss tt 
        //D LongDatePattern dddd, MMMM dd, yyyy 
        //f (combination of D and t) dddd, MMMM dd, yyyy h:mm tt 
        //F FullDateTimePattern dddd, MMMM dd, yyyy h:mm:ss tt 
        //g (combination of d and t) M/d/yyyy h:mm tt 
        //G (combination of d and T) M/d/yyyy h:mm:ss tt 
        //m, M MonthDayPattern MMMM dd 
        //y, Y YearMonthPattern MMMM, yyyy 
        //r, R RFC1123Pattern ddd, dd MMM yyyy HH':'mm':'ss 'GMT' (*) 
        //s SortableDateTi­mePattern yyyy'-'MM'-'dd'T'HH':'mm':'ss (*) 
        //u UniversalSorta­bleDateTimePat­tern yyyy'-'MM'-'dd HH':'mm':'ss'Z' (*) 
        //    (*) = culture independent 
 
        //Following examples show usage of standard format specifiers in String.Format method and the resulting output.
 
        // "8:04 PM"                         ShortTime
        Console.WriteLine(string.Format("{0:t}", dt));
 
        // "12/20/2009"                        ShortDate
        Console.WriteLine(string.Format("{0:d}", dt));
 
        // "8:04:08 PM"                      LongTime
        Console.WriteLine(string.Format("{0:T}", dt));
 
        // "Sunday, December 20, 2009"          LongDate
        Console.WriteLine(string.Format("{0:D}", dt));
 
        // "Sunday, December 20, 2009 8:04 PM"  LongDate+ShortTime
        Console.WriteLine(string.Format("{0:f}", dt));
 
        // "Sunday, December 20, 2009 8:04:08 PM" FullDateTime
        Console.WriteLine(string.Format("{0:F}", dt));
 
        // "12/20/2009 8:04 PM"                ShortDate+ShortTime
        Console.WriteLine(string.Format("{0:g}", dt));
 
        // "12/20/2009 8:04:08 PM"             ShortDate+LongTime
        Console.WriteLine(string.Format("{0:G}", dt));
 
        // "December 20"                        MonthDay
        Console.WriteLine(string.Format("{0:m}", dt));
 
        // "December, 2009"                     YearMonth
        Console.WriteLine(string.Format("{0:y}", dt));
 
        // "Sun, 20 Dec 2009 20:04:08 GMT"   
        Console.WriteLine(string.Format("{0:r}", dt));
 
        // "2009-12-20T20:04:08"             SortableDateTime
        Console.WriteLine(string.Format("{0:s}", dt));
 
        // "2009-12-20 20:04:08Z"            UniversalSortableDateTime
        Console.WriteLine(string.Format("{0:u}", dt));
 
 
 
        Console.ReadLine();
    }
}

Step 2: Click on Copy Code to Cut-n-paste code into Program.cs

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
 
namespace CSharp_Syntax
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            //LanguageBasics
 
 
            clsStringFormatDateTime myStringFormatDateTime = new clsStringFormatDateTime();
            myStringFormatDateTime.Main();
 
 
        }
    }
}

Step 3: Click on green arrow in toolbar in VS or press F5 to run program.

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