How to convert any date format to yyyy-MM-dd

Question

My app parses a string data, extracts the date and identify the format of the date and convert it to yyyy-MM-dd.

The source date could be anything lime dd-mm-yyyy, dd/mm/yyyy, mm-dd-yyyy, mm/dd/yyyy or even yyyy-MM-dd.

Other than attempting different permutations and combinations using switch case, is there any other efficient way to do it?

string sourceDate = "31-08-2012";
String.Format("{0:yyyy-MM-dd}", sourceDate);

The above code simply returns the same sourceDate "31-08-2012".

The problem with not knowing the input format is that `dd/mm/yyyy` and `mm/dd/yyyy` can be interpreted ambiguously. — StuartLC, Sep 04 '12 at 05:53
@nonnb Exactly! If you have "01/02/2013" what is the correct format? I think the OP should look back and try exploring the problem in more detail. — jfs, Sep 04 '12 at 05:55
also, is it truly ANY date format, or one of the 5 you mentioned? — Tony Basile, Sep 04 '12 at 06:13
Does this answer your question? [Format DateTime.Now to yyyy-mm-dd](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/38823758/format-datetime-now-to-yyyy-mm-dd) — Yousha Aleayoub, Jan 12 '23 at 10:43

score 21 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 04 '12 at 05:57

21

string DateString = "11/12/2009";
IFormatProvider culture = new CultureInfo("en-US", true); 
DateTime dateVal = DateTime.ParseExact(DateString, "yyyy-MM-dd", culture);

These Links might also Help you

DateTime.ToString() Patterns

String Format for DateTime [C#]

answered Sep 04 '12 at 05:57

Krishna Thota

6,646
14
54
79

9

It's giving an error saying String was not recognized as a valid DateTime. – Abhishek kumar Jun 02 '16 at 21:22

score 16 · Answer 2 · edited Sep 04 '19 at 14:46

16

Convert your string to DateTime and then use DateTime.ToString("yyyy-MM-dd");

DateTime temp = DateTime.ParseExact(sourceDate, "dd-MM-yyyy", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);
string str = temp.ToString("yyyy-MM-dd");

edited Sep 04 '19 at 14:46

Leandro Bardelli

10,561
15
79
116

answered Sep 04 '12 at 05:52

Habib

219,104
29
407
436

score 7 · Answer 3 · edited Sep 04 '19 at 14:46

7

string sourceDateText = "31-08-2012";
DateTime sourceDate = DateTime.Parse(sourceDateText, "dd-MM-yyyy")
string formatted = sourceDate.ToString("yyyy-MM-dd");

edited Sep 04 '19 at 14:46

Leandro Bardelli

10,561
15
79
116

answered Sep 04 '12 at 05:53

rezna

2,243
2
17
16

1

there is no DateTime.Parse(string, string) method. – Tony Basile Sep 04 '12 at 06:12
1

This won't compile, I believe you wanted to use `DateTime.ParseExact` – Habib Sep 04 '12 at 06:15
I ended up using DateTime.TryParseExact() – coder Sep 04 '12 at 06:36

score 4 · Answer 4 · answered Aug 27 '20 at 12:15

You can write your possible date formats in array and parse date as following:

public static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            string dd = "12/31/2015"; //or 31/12/2015
            DateTime startDate;
            string[] formats = { "dd/MM/yyyy", "dd/M/yyyy", "d/M/yyyy", "d/MM/yyyy",
                                "dd/MM/yy", "dd/M/yy", "d/M/yy", "d/MM/yy", "MM/dd/yyyy"};
            
            DateTime.TryParseExact(dd, formats, 
            System.Globalization.CultureInfo.InvariantCulture,
            System.Globalization.DateTimeStyles.None, out startDate);
                
            Console.WriteLine(startDate.ToString("yyyy-MM-dd"));
            
        }

Out of all the suggestions, this worked for me beautifully. This provides a way to cater multiple formats in one statement and can transform it to the desired format. Thanks — Kumar Shishir, Aug 23 '22 at 22:20

score 3 · Answer 5 · edited May 05 '18 at 08:11

3

You can change your Date Format From dd/MM/yyyy to yyyy-MM-dd in following way:

string date = DateTime.ParseExact(SourceDate, "dd/MM/yyyy", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture).ToString("yyyy-MM-dd");

Here, SourceDate is variable in which you will get selected date.

edited May 05 '18 at 08:11

perror

7,071
16
58
85

answered May 05 '18 at 07:46

Amit Singh

210
2
10

score 1 · Answer 6 · answered Sep 04 '12 at 05:54

1

You will need to parse the input to a DateTime object and then convert it to any text format you want.

If you are not sure what format you will get, you can restrict the user to a fixed format by using validation or datetimePicker, or some other component.

answered Sep 04 '12 at 05:54

Haris

915
1
11
28

It is an xml data parsed in wcf service and updates the database. There is no UI involved. – coder Sep 04 '12 at 06:32

score 1 · Answer 7 · answered Sep 04 '12 at 06:02

1

This is your primary problem:

The source date could be anything like dd-mm-yyyy, dd/mm/yyyy, mm-dd-yyyy, mm/dd/yyyy or even yyyy-MM-dd.

If you're given 01/02/2013, is it Jan 2 or Feb 1? You should solve this problem first and parsing the input will be much easier.

I suggest you take a step back and explore what you are trying to solve in more detail.

answered Sep 04 '12 at 06:02

jfs

16,758
13
62
88

You are right. I just now made it as a setting to avoid complications. The application now knows the input date format. – coder Sep 04 '12 at 06:34

score 1 · Answer 8 · edited Mar 04 '20 at 06:37

1

Try this code:

 lblUDate.Text = DateTime.Parse(ds.Tables[0].Rows[0]["AppMstRealPaidTime"].ToString()).ToString("yyyy-MM-dd");

edited Mar 04 '20 at 06:37

Raj Baral

661
6
19

answered Feb 12 '20 at 12:54

Ravi Sharma

362
1
5

score 1 · Answer 9 · answered Jun 25 '21 at 08:07

1

string sourceDate = "15/06/2021T00.00.00";
DateTime Date = DateTime.Parse(sourceDate)
string date = Date.ToString("yyyy-MM-dd");

answered Jun 25 '21 at 08:07

Rincy

19
1

Welcome to SO @Rincy. Your post ignores the main point of the original question and hence, does not really answer it. The main question is about an input where the format is not fixed. 07/06/2021T00.00.00 can be 6 July or 7 June. – Guy Levy Jun 25 '21 at 12:31

score 0 · Answer 10 · answered Nov 18 '20 at 10:33

0

if (DateTime.TryParse(datetoparser, out dateValue))
{
   string formatedDate = dateValue.ToString("yyyy-MM-dd");
}

answered Nov 18 '20 at 10:33

Massimo Gentile

1

Please don't post only code as answer, but also provide an explanation what your code does and how it solves the problem of the question. Answers with an explanation are usually more helpful and of better quality, and are more likely to attract upvotes. – Zahra Nov 18 '20 at 11:00

score 0 · Answer 11 · edited Oct 09 '21 at 05:39

0

Convert.toDateTime(sourceDate).toString("yyyy-MM-dd");

edited Oct 09 '21 at 05:39

Suraj Rao

29,388
11
94
103

answered Oct 09 '21 at 05:38

Sameera

41
8

score 0 · Answer 12 · answered Aug 05 '22 at 08:02

0

Convert.ToDateTime((string)item["LeaveFromDate"]).ToString("dd/MM/yyyy")

This might be helpful

answered Aug 05 '22 at 08:02

Akalanka Ekanayake

163
1
9

How to convert any date format to yyyy-MM-dd

12 Answers12

Linked