C# DateTime.ParseExact

Question

I have a tab delimited file which is being parsed and then inserted into a database. When I run into the date column, I have trouble parsing it.

The code I have is:

var insert = DateTime.ParseExact(line[i], "d/M/yyyy h:mm", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);

The string in line[i] is in the formats: 7/7/2011 10:48 , 10/20/2011 6:27

The exception I get says

The DateTime represented by the string is not supported in calendar System.Globalization.GregorianCalendar.

This works for me, without change for the date string provided. — Oded, Dec 06 '11 at 14:37
It's work for me, Maybe a string in line list has incorrect format. — Reza ArabQaeni, Dec 06 '11 at 14:39

Fischermaen · Accepted Answer · 2011-12-06T14:42:25.333

120

Your format string is wrong. Change it to

insert = DateTime.ParseExact(line[i], "M/d/yyyy hh:mm", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);

edited Dec 06 '11 at 14:42

answered Dec 06 '11 at 14:36

Fischermaen

1

don't you mean `M/d/yyyy` or `d/M/yyyy` He doesn't have any leading zeros on his example – Sign Dec 06 '11 at 14:41
1

@Sign: You're right! I've changed my answer. Thanks for mentioning that. – Fischermaen Dec 06 '11 at 14:42
wow I can't believe I missed that. Turns out the date was in M/d/yyyy instead of d/M/yyyy. I didn't notice because the first few dates were in early days of the month. – Jonathan Dec 06 '11 at 14:57
3

@Jonathan: I only found that, because you had a date like "10/20/2011" in your first version of your question. Later you changed that to "7/7/2011 10:48". ;-) – Fischermaen Dec 06 '11 at 15:01
Oh LOL, I changed it to show that the format didn't have leading zeros. I didn't even notice the date I used first. – Jonathan Dec 06 '11 at 21:46

score 4 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 06 '11 at 14:38

4

That's because you have the Date in American format in line[i] and UK format in the FormatString.

11/20/2011
M / d/yyyy

I'm guessing you might need to change the FormatString to:

"M/d/yyyy h:mm"

answered Dec 06 '11 at 14:38

DaveShaw

score 1 · Answer 3 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:00

1

It's probably the same problem with cultures as presented in this related SO-thread: Why can't DateTime.ParseExact() parse "9/1/2009" using "M/d/yyyy"

You already specified the culture, so try escaping the slashes.

edited May 23 '17 at 12:00

Community

answered Dec 06 '11 at 14:37

Pieter

score 1 · Answer 4 · answered Dec 06 '11 at 14:38

1

try this

var  insert = DateTime.ParseExact(line[i], "M/d/yyyy h:mm", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);

answered Dec 06 '11 at 14:38

Glory Raj

4 Answers4