How to exclude seconds from DateTime.ToString()

Question

I am using DateTime.Now.ToString() in a windows service and it is giving me output like "7/23/2010 12:35:07 PM " I want to exclude the second part, displaying only up to minute.

So how to exclude seconds from that format...?

Answer 1

Output it as short date pattern:

DateTime.Now.ToString("g") 

See MSDN for full documentation.

Answer 2

You need to pass in a format string to the ToString() function:

DateTime.Now.ToString("g") 

This option is culture aware.

For this kind of output you could also use a custom format string, if you want full control:

DateTime.Now.ToString("MM/dd/yyyy hh:mm") 

This will output exactly the same regardless of culture.