How to: Convert a String to a DateTime (C# Programming Guide)
Visual Studio 2008
Updated: July 2008
It is common for programs to enable users to enter dates as string values. To convert a string-based date to a System.DateTime object, you can use the Convert.ToDateTime(String) method or the DateTime.Parse static method, as shown in the following example.
// Date strings are interpreted according to the current culture. // If the culture is en-US, this is interpreted as "January 8, 2008", // but if the user's computer is fr-FR, this is interpreted as "August 1, 2008" string date = "01/08/2008"; DateTime dt = Convert.ToDateTime(date); Console.WriteLine("Year: {0}, Month: {1}, Day: {2}", dt.Year, dt.Month, dt.Day); // Specify exactly how to interpret the string. IFormatProvider culture = new System.Globalization.CultureInfo("fr-FR", true); // Alternate choice: If the string has been input by an end user, you might // want to format it according to the current culture: // IFormatProvider culture = System.Threading.Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture; DateTime dt2 = DateTime.Parse(date, culture, System.Globalization.DateTimeStyles.AssumeLocal); Console.WriteLine("Year: {0}, Month: {1}, Day {2}", dt2.Year, dt2.Month, dt2.Day); /* Output (assuming first culture is en-US and second is fr-FR): Year: 2008, Month: 1, Day: 8 Year: 2008, Month: 8, Day 1 */
