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I am maintaining an existing project, and I found this line of code:
Datetime someDate = ....; var anotherDateTime = Convert.ToDateTime(someDate); At first, I expected that someDate is converted to a string by calling the ToString method on it implicitly, but I was wrong. As I pressed F12 on the method I see the definition of that method in the System.Convert class, which is like the following:
// Summary: Returns the specified System.DateTime object; no actual conversion is performed. // Parameters: // value: A date and time value. // Returns: // value is returned unchanged. public static DateTime ToDateTime(DateTime value); First Why does the .NET framework have a method like this in the first place, as the documentation says that this method does Nothing?
Second While I am refactoring the code, can I safely remove the call for this method without affecting the behavior?
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The comparer static method is used to compare the object of the two datetime. If the objects of both DateTime is the same, then the result will be 0. If the first DateTime is earlier, then the result will be 0 else the first DateTime would be later.
DateTime is a structure that can never be null. From MSDN: The DateTime value type represents dates and times with values ranging from 12:00:00 midnight, January 1, 0001 Anno Domini, or A.D. (also known as Common Era, or C.E.) through 11:59:59 P.M., December 31, 9999 A.D. (C.E.)
The default and the lowest value of a DateTime object is January 1, 0001 00:00:00 (midnight).
The DateTime value type represents dates and times with values ranging from 00:00:00 (midnight), January 1, 0001 Anno Domini (Common Era) through 11:59:59 P.M., December 31, 9999 A.D. (C.E.) in the Gregorian calendar. Time values are measured in 100-nanosecond units called ticks.
ToDateTime(String) Converts the specified string representation of a date and time to an equivalent date and time value. public: static DateTime ToDateTime(System::String ^ value);
static member ToDateTime : DateTime -> DateTime Public Shared Function ToDateTime (value As DateTime) As DateTime Parameters value DateTime A date and time value. Returns DateTime valueis returned unchanged. Applies to ToDateTime(Char)
ToDateTime(DateTime) Returns the specified DateTimeobject; no actual conversion is performed. public: static DateTime ToDateTime(DateTime value); public static DateTime ToDateTime (DateTime value); static member ToDateTime : DateTime -> DateTime Public Shared Function ToDateTime (value As DateTime) As DateTime
ToDateTime(Object) Converts the value of the specified object to a DateTimeobject. public: static DateTime ToDateTime(System::Object ^ value); public static DateTime ToDateTime (object value); public static DateTime ToDateTime (object? value); static member ToDateTime : obj -> DateTime
It is because the Convert class is intented to work with types that implement the IConvertible interface.
This interface contains methods to convert an implementing type to CLR types like decimal, byte, DateTime etc. Each of those types implement IConvertible themselves.
So, Convert.ToDateTime(DateTime d) isn't the only method that does "nothing". It exists for any of those CLR types implementing IConvertible as well, e.g. Convert.ToChar(char c). It just comes from the fact that all of these types implement IConvertible.
You can read more about this in the comments of the source code of the Convert class.
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