How can I convert seconds into (Hour:Minutes:Seconds:Milliseconds) time?

Question

Let's say I have 80 seconds; are there any specialized classes/techniques in .NET that would allow me to convert those 80 seconds into (00h:00m:00s:00ms) format like Convert.ToDateTime or something?

Curtis Shipley · Accepted Answer · 2017-08-09T20:09:09.033

For .Net <= 4.0 Use the TimeSpan class.

TimeSpan t = TimeSpan.FromSeconds( secs );

string answer = string.Format("{0:D2}h:{1:D2}m:{2:D2}s:{3:D3}ms", 
                t.Hours, 
                t.Minutes, 
                t.Seconds, 
                t.Milliseconds);

(As noted by Inder Kumar Rathore) For .NET > 4.0 you can use

TimeSpan time = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(seconds);

//here backslash is must to tell that colon is
//not the part of format, it just a character that we want in output
string str = time .ToString(@"hh\:mm\:ss\:fff");

(From Nick Molyneux) Ensure that seconds is less than TimeSpan.MaxValue.TotalSeconds to avoid an exception.

`using System;` The class resides in `System.TimeSpan`. – fbmd Apr 08 '15 at 16:14 — fbmd, Apr 08 '15 at 16:14

Inder Kumar Rathore · Answer 2 · 2020-03-31T02:43:18.633

96

For .NET > 4.0 you can use

TimeSpan time = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(seconds);

//here backslash is must to tell that colon is
//not the part of format, it just a character that we want in output
string str = time .ToString(@"hh\:mm\:ss\:fff");

or if you want date time format then you can also do this

TimeSpan time = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(seconds);
DateTime dateTime = DateTime.Today.Add(time);
string displayTime = dateTime.ToString("hh:mm:tt");

For more you can check Custom TimeSpan Format Strings

edited Mar 31 '20 at 02:43

answered Jul 23 '13 at 05:53

Inder Kumar Rathore

39,458
17
135
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2

You do not need TimeSpan to add seconds to DateTime. Just use DateTime.AddSeconds(). – Evgeni Nabokov Dec 07 '15 at 16:11
@MehdiDehghani for 24hr format you've to use 'HH' instead of 'hh' – Inder Kumar Rathore Dec 12 '16 at 18:35
@InderKumarRathore I was talking about your first solution, `HH` is invalid there. – Mehdi Dehghani Dec 12 '16 at 18:56
@MehdiDehghani could you please what's wrong in that because it's been 3yrs I've not coded in `.NET/C#` – Inder Kumar Rathore Dec 13 '16 at 05:37
1

@InderKumarRathore `.ToString(@"hh\:mm\:ss\:fff");` is already in `24hr` format. `HH` is not valid there with such input (_the error is `Input string was not in a correct format.`_) – Mehdi Dehghani Dec 13 '16 at 05:48
The constructor to TimeSpan expects number of ticks as parameter. To concert seconds to number of ticks has to to the following: Time = new TimeSpan(seconds * TimeSpan.TicksPerSecond). – Yee Jan 23 '17 at 05:47
1

Typo on your code, string displayTime = date.ToString("hh:mm:tt"); [date] should be [dateTime] – Pablo Carrasco Hernández Mar 29 '20 at 16:32

score 28 · Answer 3 · answered Jan 21 '09 at 00:20

If you know you have a number of seconds, you can create a TimeSpan value by calling TimeSpan.FromSeconds:

 TimeSpan ts = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(80);

You can then obtain the number of days, hours, minutes, or seconds. Or use one of the ToString overloads to output it in whatever manner you like.

Andrew · Answer 4 · 2017-01-23T05:31:56.380

I did some benchmarks to see what's the fastest way and these are my results and conclusions. I ran each method 10M times and added a comment with the average time per run.

If your input milliseconds are not limited to one day (your result may be 143:59:59.999), these are the options, from faster to slower:

// 0.86 ms
static string Method1(int millisecs)
{
    int hours = millisecs / 3600000;
    int mins = (millisecs % 3600000) / 60000;
    // Make sure you use the appropriate decimal separator
    return string.Format("{0:D2}:{1:D2}:{2:D2}.{3:D3}", hours, mins, millisecs % 60000 / 1000, millisecs % 1000);
}

// 0.89 ms
static string Method2(int millisecs)
{
    double s = millisecs % 60000 / 1000.0;
    millisecs /= 60000;
    int mins = millisecs % 60;
    int hours = millisecs / 60;
    return string.Format("{0:D2}:{1:D2}:{2:00.000}", hours, mins, s);
}

// 0.95 ms
static string Method3(int millisecs)
{
    TimeSpan t = TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(millisecs);
    // Make sure you use the appropriate decimal separator
    return string.Format("{0:D2}:{1:D2}:{2:D2}.{3:D3}",
        (int)t.TotalHours,
        t.Minutes,
        t.Seconds,
        t.Milliseconds);
}

If your input milliseconds are limited to one day (your result will never be greater then 23:59:59.999), these are the options, from faster to slower:

// 0.58 ms
static string Method5(int millisecs)
{
    // Fastest way to create a DateTime at midnight
    // Make sure you use the appropriate decimal separator
    return DateTime.FromBinary(599266080000000000).AddMilliseconds(millisecs).ToString("HH:mm:ss.fff");
}

// 0.59 ms
static string Method4(int millisecs)
{
    // Make sure you use the appropriate decimal separator
    return TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(millisecs).ToString(@"hh\:mm\:ss\.fff");
}

// 0.93 ms
static string Method6(int millisecs)
{
    TimeSpan t = TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(millisecs);
    // Make sure you use the appropriate decimal separator
    return string.Format("{0:D2}:{1:D2}:{2:D2}.{3:D3}",
        t.Hours,
        t.Minutes,
        t.Seconds,
        t.Milliseconds);
}

In case your input is just seconds, the methods are slightly faster. Again, if your input seconds are not limited to one day (your result may be 143:59:59):

// 0.63 ms
static string Method1(int secs)
{
    int hours = secs / 3600;
    int mins = (secs % 3600) / 60;
    secs = secs % 60;
    return string.Format("{0:D2}:{1:D2}:{2:D2}", hours, mins, secs);
}

// 0.64 ms
static string Method2(int secs)
{
    int s = secs % 60;
    secs /= 60;
    int mins = secs % 60;
    int hours = secs / 60;
    return string.Format("{0:D2}:{1:D2}:{2:D2}", hours, mins, s);
}

// 0.70 ms
static string Method3(int secs)
{
    TimeSpan t = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(secs);
    return string.Format("{0:D2}:{1:D2}:{2:D2}",
        (int)t.TotalHours,
        t.Minutes,
        t.Seconds);
}

And if your input seconds are limited to one day (your result will never be greater then 23:59:59):

// 0.33 ms
static string Method5(int secs)
{
    // Fastest way to create a DateTime at midnight
    return DateTime.FromBinary(599266080000000000).AddSeconds(secs).ToString("HH:mm:ss");
}

// 0.34 ms
static string Method4(int secs)
{
    return TimeSpan.FromSeconds(secs).ToString(@"hh\:mm\:ss");
}

// 0.70 ms
static string Method6(int secs)
{
    TimeSpan t = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(secs);
    return string.Format("{0:D2}:{1:D2}:{2:D2}",
        t.Hours,
        t.Minutes,
        t.Seconds);
}

As a final comment, let me add that I noticed that string.Format is a bit faster if you use D2 instead of 00.

score 11 · Answer 5 · answered Jan 21 '09 at 00:21

11

TimeSpan.FromSeconds(80);

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.timespan.fromseconds.aspx

answered Jan 21 '09 at 00:21

toad

1,351
8
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score 10 · Answer 6 · answered Jan 21 '09 at 00:24

10

The TimeSpan constructor allows you to pass in seconds. Simply declare a variable of type TimeSpan amount of seconds. Ex:

TimeSpan span = new TimeSpan(0, 0, 500);
span.ToString();

answered Jan 21 '09 at 00:24

Jim Petkus

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score 4 · Answer 7 · edited May 13 '15 at 01:52

4

In VB.NET, but it's the same in C#:

Dim x As New TimeSpan(0, 0, 80)
debug.print(x.ToString())
' Will print 00:01:20

edited May 13 '15 at 01:52

Nathan Tuggy

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answered Jan 21 '09 at 00:22

Stefan

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score 4 · Answer 8 · answered Jan 21 '09 at 00:24

I'd suggest you use the TimeSpan class for this.

public static void Main(string[] args)
{
    TimeSpan t = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(80);
    Console.WriteLine(t.ToString());

    t = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(868693412);
    Console.WriteLine(t.ToString());
}

Outputs:

00:01:20
10054.07:43:32

score 4 · Answer 9 · answered Jan 24 '18 at 19:10

For .NET < 4.0 (e.x: Unity) you can write an extension method to have the TimeSpan.ToString(string format) behavior like .NET > 4.0

public static class TimeSpanExtensions
{
    public static string ToString(this TimeSpan time, string format)
    {
        DateTime dateTime = DateTime.Today.Add(time);
        return dateTime.ToString(format);
    }
}

And from anywhere in your code you can use it like:

var time = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(timeElapsed);

string formattedDate = time.ToString("hh:mm:ss:fff");

This way you can format any TimeSpanobject by simply calling ToString from anywhere of your code.

Evgeni Nabokov · Answer 10 · 2017-02-14T21:26:22.600

1

Why do people need TimeSpan AND DateTime if we have DateTime.AddSeconds()?

var dt = new DateTime(2015, 1, 1).AddSeconds(totalSeconds);

The date is arbitrary. totalSeconds can be greater than 59 and it is a double. Then you can format your time as you want using DateTime.ToString():

dt.ToString("H:mm:ss");

This does not work if totalSeconds < 0 or > 59:

new DateTime(2015, 1, 1, 0, 0, totalSeconds)

edited Feb 14 '17 at 21:26

answered Dec 07 '15 at 15:59

Evgeni Nabokov

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score 0 · Answer 11 · answered Sep 03 '18 at 07:29

0

to get total seconds

var i = TimeSpan.FromTicks(startDate.Ticks).TotalSeconds;

and to get datetime from seconds

var thatDateTime = new DateTime().AddSeconds(i)

answered Sep 03 '18 at 07:29

unos baghaii

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score 0 · Answer 12 · answered Jan 16 '20 at 20:57

0

This will return in hh:mm:ss format

 public static string ConvertTime(long secs)
    {
        TimeSpan ts = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(secs);
        string displayTime = $"{ts.Hours}:{ts.Minutes}:{ts.Seconds}";
        return displayTime;
    }

answered Jan 16 '20 at 20:57

ATUL SHARMA

55
2
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You must not have tested this. `ConvertTime(80)` returns `0:1:20` and `ConvertTime(61)` returns `0:1:1`, both of which are `h:m:s`. Using string interpolation also results in longer code than `ToString()`, as used in other answers, and also makes it harder to visualize the formatted string length. – Lance U. Matthews Mar 31 '20 at 03:00

score 0 · Answer 13 · answered Oct 21 '22 at 14:51

 TimeSpan t = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(EnergyRestoreTimer.Instance.SecondsForRestore);
            string sTime = EnergyRestoreTimer.Instance.SecondsForRestore < 3600
                ? $"{t.Hours:D2}:{t.Minutes:D2}:{t.Seconds:D2}"
                : $"{t.Minutes:D2}:{t.Seconds:D2}";
            time.text = sTime;

score -1 · Answer 14 · answered Aug 31 '15 at 03:30

private string ConvertTime(double miliSeconds)
{
    var timeSpan = TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(totalMiliSeconds);
    // Converts the total miliseconds to the human readable time format
    return timeSpan.ToString(@"hh\:mm\:ss\:fff");
}

//Test

    [TestCase(1002, "00:00:01:002")]
    [TestCase(700011, "00:11:40:011")]
    [TestCase(113879834, "07:37:59:834")]
    public void ConvertTime_ResturnsCorrectString(double totalMiliSeconds, string expectedMessage)
    {
        // Arrange
        var obj = new Class();;

        // Act
        var resultMessage = obj.ConvertTime(totalMiliSeconds);

        // Assert
        Assert.AreEqual(expectedMessage, resultMessage);
    }

1. OP asked for conversion from seconds, not milliseconds. 2. How is your answer etter than the currently accepted answer? — vesan, Aug 31 '15 at 03:45

How can I convert seconds into (Hour:Minutes:Seconds:Milliseconds) time?

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