Briefest way to display TimeSpan value as an elapsed time e.g. 1:45:33

Question

I'd like an easy way to display any TimeSpan as an elapsed time without using loops or custom logic
e.g.

hours : minutes : seconds

I'm sure there must be a .NET built-in or format string that applies, however I'm unable to locate it.

I found this but I am pretty sure it's specific to .NET 4 http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee372287.aspx — Josh, May 28 '10 at 22:48

CesarGon · Answer 1 · 2010-05-29T12:41:02.167

3

What's wrong with TimeSpan.ToString()?

EDIT: You can use a DateTime as an intermediate formatting store:

TimeSpan a = new TimeSpan(1, 45, 33);
string s = string.Format("{0:H:mm:ss}", new DateTime(a.Ticks));
Console.WriteLine(s);

Not pretty but works.

edited May 29 '10 at 12:41

answered May 28 '10 at 22:46

CesarGon

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Wouldn't ToString display milliseconds aswell? – James May 28 '10 at 22:50
Because I'm often getting fractions of seconds like `1:45:33.5060000` – John K May 28 '10 at 22:53
You will if your TimeSpan contains fractions of seconds, yes. I am editing my answer with a workaround. – CesarGon May 28 '10 at 23:05
The edited version displays `12:00:43` instead of `00:00:43`. – John K May 28 '10 at 23:30
@jdk: fixed that by using "H" rather than "h" in format string. – CesarGon May 29 '10 at 12:41

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

3

The question itself isn't a duplicate but the answer, I assume, is what you are looking for - Custom format Timespan with String.Format. To simplify your solution further you could wrap that functionality up in an extension method of Timespan.

edited May 23 '17 at 12:23

Community

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answered May 28 '10 at 22:48

James

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No extension methods in .NET 2.0 – John K May 28 '10 at 23:06

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered May 28 '10 at 22:53

1

You can use:

TimeSpan t = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(999);
string s = t.ToString("c");  // s = "00:16:39"

For custom formats, see this MSDN page.

answered May 28 '10 at 22:53

H H

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OK, and you did tag it as V2. Still a useful answer so I won't delete. – H H May 29 '10 at 12:57

JYelton · Answer 4 · 2010-05-28T23:33:15.630

0

Here is a method I use for custom formatting:

TimeSpan Elapsed = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(5025);
string Formatted = String.Format("{0:0}:{1:00}:{2:00}",
    Math.Floor(Elapsed.TotalHours), Elapsed.Minutes, Elapsed.Seconds);
// result: "1:23:45"

I don't know if that qualifies as "without custom logic," but it is .NET 3.5 compatible and doesn't involve a loop.

edited May 28 '10 at 23:33

answered May 28 '10 at 23:09

JYelton

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score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Oct 30 '15 at 17:59

Use This: .ToString()

According to MSDN, the default format this displays is [-][d.]hh:mm:ss[.fffffff]. This is the quickest and easiest way to display TimeSpan value as an elapsed time e.g. 1:45:33

If you have days, fractions of a second, or a negative value, use a custom format string as described in MSDN. This would look like .ToString(@"hh\:mm\:ss")

Example:

TimeSpan elapsed = new TimeSpan(0, 1, 45, 33);
Console.WriteLine(elapsed.ToString());             //outputs: "1:45:33"
Console.WriteLine(elapsed.ToString(@"hh\:mm\:ss"));//outputs: "1:45:33"

Briefest way to display TimeSpan value as an elapsed time e.g. 1:45:33

5 Answers5