How to check if DateTime.Now is between two given DateTimes for time part only?

Question

For my app I need to know if Now() is between two values.

The user can set a start- and an end-time so he will not disturbed by a notification (during the night for example).

So if have got two TimePickers (start- and end-time) that the user can set.

Lets say the user sets 22:00 for the StartTime and 07:00 for the EndTime (this would cover the night).

How can I check if the DateTime.Now is between the selected Start and End time?

EDIT: I only want this to work with the Hour and minutes part. So if the user sets the Start and End time this should work for every night.

I'm afraid that of the half-dozen answers, mine is the only answer that appears to work for your example times. — Gabe, Oct 21 '12 at 14:52

Gabe · Accepted Answer · 2013-08-19T03:09:36.383

First you need to convert everything to the same units (we'll use TimeSpan), then you need to see whether the start-end times cross midnight, and finally do your comparison based on the results of that check:

// convert everything to TimeSpan
TimeSpan start = new TimeSpan(22, 0, 0);
TimeSpan end = new TimeSpan(07, 0, 0);
TimeSpan now = DateTime.Now.TimeOfDay;
// see if start comes before end
if (start < end)
    return start <= now && now <= end;
// start is after end, so do the inverse comparison
return !(end < now && now < start);

Here's a function to do it for you:

bool TimeBetween(DateTime datetime, TimeSpan start, TimeSpan end)
{
    // convert datetime to a TimeSpan
    TimeSpan now = datetime.TimeOfDay;
    // see if start comes before end
    if (start < end)
        return start <= now && now <= end;
    // start is after end, so do the inverse comparison
    return !(end < now && now < start);
}

You would call it like:

bool silenceAlarm = TimeBetween(DateTime.Now, StartTime.Value, EndTime.Value);

score 10 · Answer 2 · edited Oct 19 '16 at 11:27

Since you are only gathering two times without dates, you need to figure out if the two times are from the same day or not. If you put the StartTime, EndTime, and Now into TimeSpans:

if (StartTime > EndTime) 
{
    // the range crosses midnight, do the comparisons independently
    return (StartTime < Now) || (Now < EndTime);
}
else 
{
    // the range is on the same day, both comparisons must be true
    return StartTime < Now && Now < EndTime;
}

Paul Fleming · Answer 3 · 2016-06-08T11:45:17.317

DateTime nowDate = DateTime.Now;
// set these to today + time from time picker
DateTime startDate = new DateTime(nowDate.Year, nowDate.Month, nowDate.Day,
    selectedStart.Hour, selectedStart.Minute, 0);
DateTime endDate = new DateTime(nowDate.Year, nowDate.Month, nowDate.Day, 
    selectedEnd.Hour, selectedEnd.Minute, 0);
bool isBetween = nowDate < endDate && nowDate > startDate;

Update 08-Jun-2016
Not sure why the downvote was appropriate as this is a working solution. The OP did ask specifically for DateTime, however I do recommend using TimeSpan instead as per the answer by @Gabe.

Here's a working function as per my answer:

public static bool TimeBetween(DateTime check, DateTime start, DateTime end, bool inclusive = true)
{
    var from = new DateTime(check.Year, check.Month, check.Day, 
        start.Hour, start.Minute, start.Second, start.Millisecond);
    var to = new DateTime(check.Year, check.Month, check.Day, 
        end.Hour, end.Minute, end.Second, end.Millisecond);

    if (inclusive)
        return from <= check && to >= check;

    return from < check && to > check;
}

Here's a working fiddle: https://dotnetfiddle.net/vZCXqv.

Full code:

using System;

public class Program
{
    public static void Main()
    {
        var start = new DateTime(1, 1, 1, 9, 0, 0);
        var end = new DateTime(1, 1, 1, 17, 0, 0);

        Console.WriteLine("{0} - Too early",                TimeBetween(new DateTime(2014, 1, 1, 08, 59, 59, 999), start, end));
        Console.WriteLine("{0} - On start time exclusive",  TimeBetween(new DateTime(2014, 1, 1, 09, 00, 00, 000), start, end, false));
        Console.WriteLine("{0} - On start time inclusive",  TimeBetween(new DateTime(2014, 1, 1, 09, 00, 00, 000), start, end));
        Console.WriteLine("{0} - After start time",         TimeBetween(new DateTime(2014, 1, 1, 09, 00, 00, 001), start, end));        
        Console.WriteLine("{0} - Before end time",          TimeBetween(new DateTime(2014, 1, 1, 16, 59, 59, 999), start, end));
        Console.WriteLine("{0} - On end time inclusive",    TimeBetween(new DateTime(2014, 1, 1, 17, 00, 00, 000), start, end));
        Console.WriteLine("{0} - On end time exclusive",    TimeBetween(new DateTime(2014, 1, 1, 17, 00, 00, 000), start, end, false));
        Console.WriteLine("{0} - Too late",                 TimeBetween(new DateTime(2014, 1, 1, 17, 00, 00, 001), start, end));
    }

    public static bool TimeBetween(DateTime check, DateTime start, DateTime end, bool inclusive = true)
    {
        var from = new DateTime(check.Year, check.Month, check.Day, start.Hour, start.Minute, start.Second, start.Millisecond);
        var to = new DateTime(check.Year, check.Month, check.Day, end.Hour, end.Minute, end.Second, end.Millisecond);

        if (inclusive)
            return from <= check && to >= check;

        return from < check && to > check;
    }
}

This will work regardless of the date right? So if the user sets the time and date this will always work? — Niels, Oct 21 '12 at 14:52
@Niels. Correct. If you store "start=Jan 10th 2012 09:00" the above code will still work for any day. — Paul Fleming, Oct 21 '12 at 14:53

score 3 · Answer 4 · answered Jun 26 '14 at 04:38

    public static bool isCurrenctDateBetween(DateTime fromDate, DateTime toDate)
    {
        DateTime curent = DateTime.Now.Date;
        if (fromDate.CompareTo(toDate) >= 1)
        {
            MessageBox.Show("From Date shouldn't be grater than To Date", "DateRange",MessageBoxButton.OKCancel, MessageBoxImage.Warning);
        }
        int cd_fd = curent.CompareTo(fromDate);
        int cd_td = curent.CompareTo(toDate);

        if (cd_fd == 0 || cd_td == 0)
        {
            return true;
        }

        if (cd_fd >= 1 && cd_td <= -1)
        {
            return true;
        }
        return false;
    }

score 2 · Answer 5 · answered Oct 21 '12 at 14:42

2

Just do straight comparison.

if(date > startdate && date < enddate)

answered Oct 21 '12 at 14:42

iefpw

6,816
15
55
79

How would you get the date? See Gabe's and yhw42's answers. – Arjan Oct 21 '12 at 15:52

score 1 · Answer 6 · edited May 23 '17 at 11:47

1

Dupe of Find if current time falls in a time range

DateTime start = new DateTime(2009, 12, 9, 10, 0, 0));
DateTime end = new DateTime(2009, 12, 10, 12, 0, 0));
DateTime now = DateTime.Now;

if ((now > start) && (now < end))
{
   //match found
}

Timespan, again, taken from dupe.

TimeSpan start = new TimeSpan(10, 0, 0);
TimeSpan end = new TimeSpan(12, 0, 0);
TimeSpan now = DateTime.Now.TimeOfDay;

if ((now > start) && (now < end))
{
   //match found
}

edited May 23 '17 at 11:47

Community

1
1

answered Oct 21 '12 at 14:31

Stan

25,744
53
164
242

1

I think the OP wants to only use the time part, ignoring the date part – CodesInChaos Oct 21 '12 at 14:34
This still is not okay; see Gabe's and yhw42's answers. – Arjan Oct 21 '12 at 15:51

score 1 · Answer 7 · answered Nov 15 '15 at 15:06

I use this, so you can pass DateTime directly:

        public static bool TimeBetween(DateTime time, DateTime startDateTime, DateTime endDateTime)
    {
        // get TimeSpan
        TimeSpan start = new TimeSpan(startDateTime.Hour, startDateTime.Minute, 0);
        TimeSpan end = new TimeSpan(endDateTime.Hour, endDateTime.Minute, 0);

        // convert datetime to a TimeSpan
        TimeSpan now = time.TimeOfDay;
        // see if start comes before end
        if (start < end)
            return start <= now && now <= end;
        // start is after end, so do the inverse comparison
        return !(end < now && now < start);
    }

Farshad Davoudi · Answer 8 · 2023-06-02T11:49:40.280

Update 02-June-2023:

There is an easier new way to accomplish it using the TimeOnly struct type introduced in .NET 6.

var nowTimeOnly = TimeOnly.FromDateTime(DateTime.Now);
var startTimeOnly = new TimeOnly(startTimeHour, startTimeMinute);
var endTimeOnly = new TimeOnly(endTimeHour, endTimeMinute);

if (nowTimeOnly.IsBetween(startTimeOnly, endTimeOnly))
{
}

The IsBetween method is a built-in method

Determines if a time falls within the range provided. Supports both "normal" ranges such as 10:00-12:00, and ranges that span midnight such as 23:00-01:00.

Hope this can help someone.

How to check if DateTime.Now is between two given DateTimes for time part only?

8 Answers8

Linked

Related