parsing a Datetime with AM/PM identifier

Question

I am needing to parse Oct 3, 2014 10:05 a.m. I'm familiar with using the DateTime.TryParseExact() using the TT expression for the AM or PM. However modifying it to T.T. does not successfully parse the string into a DateTime.

Here's the code I have:

string dateContent = "Oct 3, 2014 10:05 a.m.";
DateTime parseDate;
bool attempt = DateTime.TryParseExact(content, "MMM d, yyyy hh:mm T.T.", CultureInfo.CurrentCulture, DateTimeStyles.None, out parseDate);

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Let me know if anything is missing, or needs clarification.

Check http://msdn.microsoft.com/es-es/library/system.datetime.parse%28v=vs.110%29.aspx — gemr1423, Oct 06 '14 at 21:10

João Pinho · Accepted Answer · 2014-10-06T21:27:13.223

3

That T.T. format is not a standard format as you can see here, so my suggestion is for you to get rid of that with a simple:

"Oct 3, 2014 10:05 a.m.".Replace("a.m.", "AM").Replace("p.m.", "PM");

Update

A more general solution, not being too much overkill by entering into custom IFormatProviders, would be to use a regex like this:

Regex.Replace(dateContent, "([a|p]).(m).", "$1$2", RegexOptions.IgnoreCase);

This should do the trick (note that i do not have a c# compiler near by, tough i haven't test it). What this does it to find for patterns a.m. or p.m. (ignoring the case) and replaces with am or pm.

From that point further a TryParseExact will work.

edited Oct 06 '14 at 21:27

answered Oct 06 '14 at 21:13

João Pinho

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A good suggestion, but how do you handle "A.m." or "a.M."? Although I will admit that those would be pretty rare. – Jim Mischel Oct 06 '14 at 21:14
I was afraid I'd have to do something like this. Thanks for the help! – shadonar Oct 06 '14 at 21:17
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@JimMischel Good point! You grasp it, I'm working on it, though about the same ;) – João Pinho Oct 06 '14 at 21:19

parsing a Datetime with AM/PM identifier

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