DateTime.TryParseExactStringStringIFormatProviderDateTimeStylesDateTime

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Converts the specified string representation of a date and time to its DateTime equivalent using the specified format, culture-specific format information, and style. The format of the string representation must match the specified format exactly. The method returns a value that indicates whether the conversion succeeded.

For Example

CultureInfo enUS = new CultureInfo("en-US");
string dateString;
System.DateTime dateValue;

Parse date with no style flags.

dateString = " 5/01/2009 8:30 AM";
if (DateTime.TryParseExact(dateString, "g", enUS, DateTimeStyles.None, out dateValue))
{
   Console.WriteLine("Converted '{0}' to {1} ({2}).", dateString, dateValue, dateValue.Kind);
}
else
{
   Console.WriteLine("'{0}' is not in an acceptable format.", dateString);
}

// Allow a leading space in the date string.
if(DateTime.TryParseExact(dateString, "g", enUS, DateTimeStyles.AllowLeadingWhite, out dateValue))
{
   Console.WriteLine("Converted '{0}' to {1} ({2}).", dateString, dateValue, dateValue.Kind);
else
{
   Console.WriteLine("'{0}' is not in an acceptable format.", dateString);
}

Use custom formats with M and MM.

dateString = "5/01/2009 09:00";
if(DateTime.TryParseExact(dateString, "M/dd/yyyy hh:mm", enUS, DateTimeStyles.None, out dateValue))
{
    Console.WriteLine("Converted '{0}' to {1} ({2}).", dateString, dateValue, dateValue.Kind);
}
else
{
   Console.WriteLine("'{0}' is not in an acceptable format.", dateString);
}

// Allow a leading space in the date string.
if(DateTime.TryParseExact(dateString, "MM/dd/yyyy hh:mm", enUS, DateTimeStyles.None, out dateValue))
{
   Console.WriteLine("Converted '{0}' to {1} ({2}).", dateString, dateValue, dateValue.Kind);
}
else
{
   Console.WriteLine("'{0}' is not in an acceptable format.", dateString);
}

Parse a string with time zone information.

dateString = "05/01/2009 01:30:42 PM -05:00";
if (DateTime.TryParseExact(dateString, "MM/dd/yyyy hh:mm:ss tt zzz", enUS, DateTimeStyles.None, out dateValue))
{
    Console.WriteLine("Converted '{0}' to {1} ({2}).", dateString, dateValue, dateValue.Kind);
}
else
{
   Console.WriteLine("'{0}' is not in an acceptable format.", dateString);
}

// Allow a leading space in the date string.
if (DateTime.TryParseExact(dateString, "MM/dd/yyyy hh:mm:ss tt zzz", enUS, DateTimeStyles.AdjustToUniversal, out dateValue))
{
   Console.WriteLine("Converted '{0}' to {1} ({2}).", dateString, dateValue, dateValue.Kind);
}
else
{
   Console.WriteLine("'{0}' is not in an acceptable format.", dateString);
}

Parse a string represengting UTC.

dateString = "2008-06-11T16:11:20.0904778Z";
if(DateTime.TryParseExact(dateString, "o", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, DateTimeStyles.None, out dateValue))
{
   Console.WriteLine("Converted '{0}' to {1} ({2}).", dateString, dateValue, dateValue.Kind);
}
else
{
  Console.WriteLine("'{0}' is not in an acceptable format.", dateString);
}

if (DateTime.TryParseExact(dateString, "o", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, DateTimeStyles.RoundtripKind, out dateValue))
{
   Console.WriteLine("Converted '{0}' to {1} ({2}).", dateString, dateValue, dateValue.Kind);
}
else
{
   Console.WriteLine("'{0}' is not in an acceptable format.", dateString);
}

Outputs

' 5/01/2009 8:30 AM' is not in an acceptable format.
Converted ' 5/01/2009 8:30 AM' to 5/1/2009 8:30:00 AM (Unspecified).
Converted '5/01/2009 09:00' to 5/1/2009 9:00:00 AM (Unspecified).
'5/01/2009 09:00' is not in an acceptable format.
Converted '05/01/2009 01:30:42 PM -05:00' to 5/1/2009 11:30:42 AM (Local).
Converted '05/01/2009 01:30:42 PM -05:00' to 5/1/2009 6:30:42 PM (Utc).
Converted '2008-06-11T16:11:20.0904778Z' to 6/11/2008 9:11:20 AM (Local).
Converted '2008-06-11T16:11:20.0904778Z' to 6/11/2008 4:11:20 PM (Utc).

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