vb.Net timespan calculation

Question

I can calculate the timespan in vb.net using the given code

    Dim dtStartDate As Date = "17/12/2032"
    Dim iNumberOfDays As Integer
    Dim tsTimeSpan As TimeSpan
    tsTimeSpan = Now.Subtract(dtStartDate)
    iNumberOfDays = tsTimeSpan.Days   'Where iNumberOfDays is the result of the timespan

It works perfectly when my computers time format is

dd-MMM-yy (which is found in Control Panel> Date and Time> Change date and Time> Change Calendar Settings> Date Formats.

If I change the computer Date Format to something like this MM/dd/yy, my application gives error in the line

Dim dtStartDate As Date = "17/12/2032"

The error is "Conversion from string "17/12/2032" to type date is not valid.

I need to calculate the timespan in all date format. How to solve the problem?

Answer 1

You can use date literals instead, they are culture independent. See this article on MSDN:

You must enclose a Date literal within number signs (# #). You must specify the date value in the format M/d/yyyy... This requirement is independent of your locale and your computer's date and time format settings.

So you can write like this:

Dim dtStartDate As Date = #12/17/2032#