C# C# Console

Custom DateTime Formatting in C#

This example shows how to format DateTime using String.Format method. All formatting can be done also using DateTime.ToString method.

There are following 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 demonstrate how are the format specifiers rewritten to the output.

You can use also date separator / (slash) and time sepatator : (colon). These characters will be rewritten to characters defined in the current DateTimeForma­tInfo.DateSepa­rator and DateTimeForma­tInfo.TimeSepa­rator.

Here are some examples of custom date and time formatting:

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.

SpecifierDateTimeFormatInfo propertyPattern value (for en-US culture)
tShortTimePatternh:mm tt
dShortDatePatternM/d/yyyy
TLongTimePatternh:mm:ss tt
DLongDatePatterndddd, MMMM dd, yyyy
f(combination of D and t)dddd, MMMM dd, yyyy h:mm tt
FFullDateTimePatterndddd, 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, MMonthDayPatternMMMM dd
y, YYearMonthPatternMMMM, yyyy
r, RRFC1123Patternddd, dd MMM yyyy HH':'mm':'ss 'GMT' (*)
sSortableDateTi­mePatternyyyy'-'MM'-'dd'T'HH':'mm':'ss (*)
uUniversalSorta­bleDateTimePat­ternyyyy'-'MM'-'dd HH':'mm':'ss'Z' (*)
(*) = culture independent

Following examples show usage of standard format specifiers in String.Format method and the resulting output.

 

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