How can I convert this string to date?

Question

Im making a post from a view and getting it in a actionresult as a string. The value I get is:

Tue Feb 18 2014 00:00:00 GMT-0300 (Hora oficial do Brasil)

Using DateTime.Parse throws an exception:

String was not recognized as a valid DateTime.

What makes this string invalid, and how can I successfully convert it to a DateTime?

Answer 1

DateTime.Parse throws exception for this string because it does not have a standart date/time format.

If your GMT-0300 (Hora oficial do Brasil) is stable in your string, you can use;

var s = "Tue Feb 18 2014 00:00:00 GMT-0300 (Hora oficial do Brasil)";
var date = DateTime.ParseExact(s,
                              "ddd MMM dd yyyy HH:mm:ss 'GMT'K '(Hora oficial do Brasil)'",
                              CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);
Console.WriteLine(date);

Output will be;

2/18/2014 12:00:00 AM

Here is a demonstration.

I don't think there is a way to parse your (Hora oficial do Brasil) part except using string delimiter.

Take a look at;

• The "K" Custom Format Specifier

I don't know why K specifier doesn't work on Ideone actually. I have to put -0300 part also as a string delimiter for generating example. It can be an issue with DateTimeKind enumeration but I'm not sure..