How can a string timestamp with hours 0 to 24 be parsed

Question

I am trying to parse a string timestamp of format "yyyyMMddHHmmss" with DateTime.ParseExact(). The catch is I must allow for an hour value of "24" (i.e. hours can be from 0 to 24, where hour 24 denotes hour 0 of the next day (day + 1, hour = 0) Note: I can't control the input values.) and, of course, that results in an exception.
Are there any settings/properties I can set instead of manually parsing/using regex's? If not, any efficient parsing ideas?

ex.

DateTime.ParseExact("20120911240000", "yyyyMMddHHmmss", 
   System.Globalization.CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);

What does hour 24 mean? Hour 0 is midnight, so is hour 24 the following day at midnight? — Keith, Sep 11 '12 at 21:26
possible duplicate of [Parse C# string to DateTime](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/7580809/parse-c-sharp-string-to-datetime) — H H, Sep 11 '12 at 21:29
@HenkHolterman I hate it when people say "possible duplicate" before actually reading the question — Sam I am says Reinstate Monica, Sep 11 '12 at 21:30

score 3 · Answer 1 · answered Sep 11 '12 at 21:28

3

if you want to do it manually you can use String.Substring() to detect hour values of "24", then use String.Replace, to set that to "00", then parse your date, and then add a day if that's what an hours value of "24" means

answered Sep 11 '12 at 21:28

Sam I am says Reinstate Monica

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Thanks, I thought about that, but targeting the hours seemed to make it a bit messy. – user897052 Sep 11 '12 at 21:36

Trisped · Accepted Answer · 2012-09-12T17:48:55.130

1

Sam's solution is good, but since you are using yyyyMMddHHmmss I would do something like:

bool addDay = false;
DateTime result;
string dtToParse = "20120911240000";

if (dtToParse[8] == '2' && dtToParse[9] == '4')
{
    dtToParse = dtToParse.Substring(0, 8) + "00" + dtToParse.Substring(10);
    addDay = true;
}

result = DateTime.ParseExact(dtToParse, "yyyyMMddHHmmss", System.Globalization.CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);

if (addDay) { result = result.AddDays(1); }

edited Sep 12 '12 at 17:48

answered Sep 11 '12 at 22:22

Trisped

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@user897052 I added in your fixes. I did not actually test it, hence the simple problems. If this solved your issue please mark it as the answer. – Trisped Sep 12 '12 at 17:50
no worries, a good example any way; thanks
@Sam I am and Trisped: I used similar code, temporarily, as a solution. My next goal is to use something a bit more robust/dynamic, perhaps utilizing a custom IFormatProvider as Victor Ronin suggested. – user897052 Sep 17 '12 at 16:56

score 0 · Answer 3 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:03

0

There is no simple flag to do what you want.

However, here is the way to create custom datetime parser:

How to create and use a custom IFormatProvider for DateTime?

edited May 23 '17 at 12:03

Community

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answered Sep 11 '12 at 21:35

Victor Ronin

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How can a string timestamp with hours 0 to 24 be parsed

3 Answers3