named String.Format, is it possible?

Question

No, but this extension method will do it

static string FormatFromDictionary(this string formatString, Dictionary<string, string> valueDict) 
{
    int i = 0;
    StringBuilder newFormatString = new StringBuilder(formatString);
    Dictionary<string, int> keyToInt = new Dictionary<string,int>();
    foreach (var tuple in valueDict)
    {
        newFormatString = newFormatString.Replace("{" + tuple.Key + "}", "{" + i.ToString() + "}");
        keyToInt.Add(tuple.Key, i);
        i++;                    
    }
    return String.Format(newFormatString.ToString(), valueDict.OrderBy(x => keyToInt[x.Key]).Select(x => x.Value).ToArray());
}

Check this one, it supports formating:

    public static string StringFormat(string format, IDictionary<string, object> values)
    {
        var matches = Regex.Matches(format, @"\{(.+?)\}");
        List<string> words = (from Match matche in matches select matche.Groups[1].Value).ToList();

        return words.Aggregate(
            format,
            (current, key) =>
                {
                    int colonIndex = key.IndexOf(':');
                    return current.Replace(
                        "{" + key + "}",
                        colonIndex > 0
                            ? string.Format("{0:" + key.Substring(colonIndex + 1) + "}", values[key.Substring(0, colonIndex)])
                            : values[key].ToString());
                });
    }

How to use:

string format = "{foo} is a {bar} is a {baz} is a {qux:#.#} is a really big {fizzle}";
var dictionary = new Dictionary<string, object>
    {
        { "foo", 123 },
        { "bar", true },
        { "baz", "this is a test" },
        { "qux", 123.45 },
        { "fizzle", DateTime.Now }
    };
StringFormat(format, dictionary)

You can implement your own:

public static string StringFormat(string format, IDictionary<string, string> values)
{
    foreach(var p in values)
        format = format.Replace("{" + p.Key + "}", p.Value);
    return format;
}

Phil Haack discussed several methods of doing this on his blog a while back: http://haacked.com/archive/2009/01/14/named-formats-redux.aspx. I've used the "Hanselformat" version on two projects with no complaints.

It's possible now

With Interpolated Strings of C# 6.0 you can do this:

string name = "John";
string message = $"Hi {name}!";
//"Hi John!"

static public class StringFormat
{
    static private char[] separator = new char[] { ':' };
    static private Regex findParameters = new Regex(
        "\\{(?<param>.*?)\\}",
        RegexOptions.Compiled | RegexOptions.Singleline);

    static string FormatNamed(
        this string format,
        Dictionary<string, object> args)
    {
        return findParameters.Replace(
            format,
            delegate(Match match)
            {
                string[] param = match.Groups["param"].Value.Split(separator, 2);

                object value;
                if (!args.TryGetValue(param[0], out value))
                    value = match.Value;

                if ((param.Length == 2) && (param[1].Length != 0))
                    return string.Format(
                        CultureInfo.CurrentCulture,
                        "{0:" + param[1] + "}",
                        value);
                else
                    return value.ToString();
            });
    }
}

A little more involved than the other extension method, but this should also allow non-string values and formatting patterns used on them, so in your original example:

Dictionary<string, object> d = new Dictionary<string, object>();
d["a"] = DateTime.Now;
string a = string.FormatNamed("{a:yyyyMMdd-HHmmss}", d);

Will also work...