Error: String was not recognized as a valid DateTime in C#

Question

I've been trying to convert a string to DateTime but an error occurred. This is the code that gave the error:

public static string recorded = "12/07/2019 02:37:00 PM";
DateTime check = DateTime.ParseExact(recorded, "MM/dd/yyyy HH:mm:ss tt", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);

As far as I'm concerned, the format I'm using matches the string perfectly (every number has 2 digits/letters, they have the same symbols used). I thought that maybe I was just using the wrong format so I tried using 2 formats from here.Specifically, "MM/dd/yyyy HH:mm tt" and "MM/dd/yyyy HH:mm:ss". Only the latter worked so I'm thinking that the problem lies in the AM/PM but the problem is that I need it, so I can't use the latter format. I even tried using lowercase pm and Pm but both didn't work.

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/2596969/why-can-t-datetime-parseexact-parse-the-am-pm-in-4-4-2010-42000-pm-using use `MM/dd/yyyy hh:mm:ss tt` — Luuk, Nov 10 '19 at 15:35

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Nov 10 '19 at 15:37

2

The format string HH refers to 24-hour format and cannot be used in conjunction with tt. Use hh instead. This:

DateTime check = DateTime.ParseExact(recorded, "MM/dd/yyyy hh:mm:ss tt", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);

works just fine.

answered Nov 10 '19 at 15:37

Ondrej Tucny

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It's not working in the dotnetfiddle, maybe it was because of the website I'm using? – Francis Aaron Milano Nov 10 '19 at 15:48
[Format string docs](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/standard/base-types/custom-date-and-time-format-strings) – ProgrammingLlama Nov 11 '19 at 00:43

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Nov 10 '19 at 15:36

1

You need lower case hh: MM/dd/yyyy hh:mm:ss tt.

answered Nov 10 '19 at 15:36

Stevo

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Error: String was not recognized as a valid DateTime in C#

2 Answers2