C# if DateTime.Now.ToString("HH:mm") is equals to

Question

I made a script that check if the current time is equals to a string, the code is:

    string ore = Properties.Settings.Default.oreChiusura;
string minuti = Properties.Settings.Default.minutiChiusura;
var t1 = DateTime.Now.ToString("HH:mm");
var t2 = ore + ":" + minuti;

if(t1 == t2)
{
     //Stuff
}

the problem is, if "minuti" is like 01....09 it not work, it work only if is a number without the starting 0. What am I doing wrong?

Are saying that `DateTime.Now.ToString("HH:mm")` returns, for example "17:4" and not "17:04"? — Matan Shahar, Apr 04 '15 at 10:24

score 3 · Answer 1 · answered Apr 04 '15 at 10:24

Your example is a perfect illustration to the principle that you should not be doing comparisons in strings if you can do them in integers:

var adesso = DateTime.Now;
var oreAdesso = adesso.Hour;
var minutiAdesso = adesso.Minute;
if (oreAdesso == ore && minutiAdesso == minuti) {
    ...
}

Dusan · Answer 2 · 2015-04-04T10:38:47.873

Use this code:

string ore = Properties.Settings.Default.oreChiusura;
string minuti = Properties.Settings.Default.minutiChiusura;
var t1 = DateTime.Now.ToString("HH:mm");
var t2 = ore.PadLeft(2, '0') + ":" + minuti.PadLeft(2, '0');

if(t1 == t2)
{
     //Stuff
}

BUT! It is strongly advised to change your code to use TimeSpan setting instead of oreChiusura and minutiChiusura settings, and then compare TimeSpan values instead of strings.

For example:

var t1 = DateTime.Now.TimeOfDay;
var t2 = Properties.Settings.Default.Chiusura;
if(t1 == t2)
{
     //Stuff
}

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Apr 04 '15 at 10:29

You can achieve it by casting ore and minuti to int, and then comparing the values.

int ore = Convert.ToInt32(Properties.Settings.Default.oreChiusura);
int minuti = Convert.ToInt32(Properties.Settings.Default.minutiChiusura);
DateTime t1 = DateTime.Now;

if(t1.Hour == ore && t1.Minute ==  minuti)
{
   //Stuff
}

This code compares true values of hours and minutes, instead of their string values.

C# if DateTime.Now.ToString("HH:mm") is equals to

3 Answers3