DateTime format in C#

Question

I have a simple problem: I want to write the date in an asp:label in the following format: MMM dd, yyyy I tried this:

lblDate.Text = System.DateTime.Today.ToString("MMM dd, yyyy");

the result is: "okt. 12, 2012"

1. I want to remove the dot from it.
2. The month's name should begin with a capital letter.

the right format: "Okt 12, 2012"

how can I do this?

Answer 1

You can use the AbbreviatedMonthNames property for this:

CultureInfo ci = CultureInfo.CreateSpecificCulture("en-US");
DateTimeFormatInfo dtfi = ci.DateTimeFormat;
dtfi.AbbreviatedMonthNames = new string[] 
{ 
  "Jan", "Feb", "Mar", 
  "Apr", "May", "Jun", 
  "Jul", "Aug", "Sep", 
  "Oct", "Nov", "Dec", "" 
}; 

lblDate.Text = DateTime.Now.ToString("MMM dd, yyyy", dtfi);

Then output will be Okt 12, 2012

Answer 2

DateTime.ToString() formats the date according to the rules set out in the current culture. You can change it manually using the technique shown by @naspinski, but other users of your application may get different results, depending on their culture-specific settings. For instance, some cultures use a dot as a date separator, as in "12.10.2012". You can change your regional settings in Windows control panel to format how you like.