DateTime TryParseExact a string containing a 3 letter month

Question

I am writing an extension method to parse a specific string which contains a date and a time into a DateTime object using the DateTime.TryParseExact() Method.

An example of the format is as follows:
"29 November 2013 20:04"

The code I am using to parse it to a DateTime is:

public static DateTime MyToDateTime(this string value)
    {
        DateTime converted;
        DateTime.TryParseExact(value, "dd MMM yyyy hh:mm", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, DateTimeStyles.AllowWhiteSpaces, out converted);
        return converted;
    }

The result is always DateTime.Min (i.e 0001-01-01 00:00:00.000)

I cant figure out what is wrong with my format string. Any help would be appreciated.

Answer 1

from your comments:

1. if you want to parse 3 Letter Month use MMM.
2. if you want to parse 24-Hour format you should use HH instead of hh.

Try This:

DateTime.TryParseExact(value, "dd MMM yyyy HH:mm", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, DateTimeStyles.AllowWhiteSpaces, out converted);

Answer 2

There are two problems I see:

1. November is not a 3-letter month—that would be Nov. To parse a full date name, use MMMM.
2. To parse a 24-hour time use HH.

This should work:

DateTime.TryParseExact(value, "dd MMMM yyyy HH:mm", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, DateTimeStyles.AllowWhiteSpaces, out converted);

Further Reading

• Custom Date and Time Format Strings

Answer 3

Try adding an extra M and a capital H

DateTime.TryParseExact(value, "dd MMMM yyyy H:mm", .....

See here for more info: How can I visualize the way various DateTime formats will display?

Answer 4

MMM stands for the abbreviated name of the month, so it's not what you're looking fore. Use MMMM instead.

Find all custom Date and Time format string on MSDN: Custom Date and Time Format Strings.

You should also check the value returned by TryParseExact method. It returns false when parse failed and true when it was performed without any problems.

And hh should be HH to parse hour part of your input.