{"id":93,"date":"2018-04-04T23:22:00","date_gmt":"2018-04-04T21:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kindsonthegenius.com\/blog\/2018\/04\/04\/day-6-handling-date-and-time-data-types-in-c\/"},"modified":"2020-08-22T08:56:22","modified_gmt":"2020-08-22T06:56:22","slug":"day-6-handling-date-and-time-data-types-in-c","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kindsonthegenius.com\/blog\/day-6-handling-date-and-time-data-types-in-c\/","title":{"rendered":"Day 6: Handling Date and Time Data Types in C#"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hello, good to know that you are making fast progress.
\nWelcome to day 6 of ASP.NET in 24 days!<\/p>\n

Today, we are going the learn how to handle date and time data types in C# as well as conversions.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We would cover the following<\/b><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Using DateTime type<\/a><\/li>\n
  2. Creating an new date using the DateTime constructor<\/a><\/li>\n
  3. Declaring date data type<\/a><\/li>\n
  4. Converting to a date using Convert.toDateTime()\u00a0<\/a><\/li>\n
  5. Converting Date to a String <\/a><\/li>\n
  6. Getting Today\u2019s date and time\u00a0<\/a><\/li>\n
  7. Extracting Day, Month and Year from Date<\/a><\/li>\n
  8. About TimeSpan Data Type\u00a0<\/a><\/li>\n
  9. Final Notes<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Note<\/span>: To run the programs in this lesson, you need to copy the code and use it to replace the main function.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    1. Using DateTime type<\/b><\/h3>\n

    In C# a DateTime data type is a struct type that represents an instant of time.
    \nThe DateTime is a value type that represents dates and times values that range from:
    \n00:00:00, January 1, 0001 to
    \n11:59:59, December 31, 9999<\/p>\n

    A particular data is the number of ticks since 00:00:00 January 1, 0001. This are just some basic theory you need to just have in mind<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    2. Creating an new date using the DateTime constructor<\/b><\/h3>\n
      \n
    • You can create a new datetime object in any of the following ways:<\/li>\n
    • Calling the DateTime constructor and specifying the arguments<\/li>\n
    • Converting a string representation to a datetime using inbuilt functions<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      You can test these two methods using the code below.Create a console application, then copy and run the code snippet below.<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      3. Declaring date data type<\/b><\/h3>\n

      To declare a DateTime object, you simply using the sytax<\/p>\n

      DateTime mydate = new DateTime()<\/p>\n

      In this case, the variable mydate is declared as a DateTime object but has not been assigned a value yet.<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      4. Converting to a date using Convert.toDateTime()<\/b><\/h3>\n

      One of the ways to convert a value to a DateTime value is using the Convert.ToDateTime() function. I used this method most of the time.
      \nYou can basically convert any other type to DateTime() type. Run the following code snippet to see how it works.<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      <\/p>\n

      static<\/span> void<\/span> Main<\/span>(string<\/span>[] args)\r\n{\r\n   Program pr = new<\/span> Program();\r\n   pr.UsingConvert();\r\n}\r\npublic<\/span> void<\/span> UsingConvert<\/span>()\r\n{\r\nDateTime mydate = Convert.ToDateTime(1000<\/span>);\r\nConsole.WriteLine();\r\n\r\nConsole.Read();\r\n}\r\n<\/pre>\n
      Listing 1.0:<\/b> Using the Convert.ToDate() function (doesn’t work!)<\/p>\n
       <\/p>\n
      It doesn’t work! So don’t use it
      \nIt is however included in the C# documentation;
      \n<\/ins>
      \n<\/b><\/p>\n
      5. Converting Date to a String<\/b><\/h3>\n
      You can convert a string expression to a DateTime type using any of the following:
      \nParse()<\/em>: Converts a string to its equivalent DateTime value
      \nParseExact()<\/em>: This function converts a string to DateTime, but the string needs to match the exact date format, or else, there would be an error.
      \nTryParse():<\/em> Converts string to DateTime but returns a value to indicate if the conversion succeeded or not.
      \nTryParseExact:<\/em> Converts a string to DateTime. The string format much match the date format and also value is returned to indicate success or failure<\/p>\n
      Run The code snippet below and try to understand how it works<\/p>\n
       <\/p>\n
      <\/p>\n
      static<\/span> void<\/span> Main<\/span>(string<\/span>[] args)\r\n{\r\n   Program pr = new<\/span> Program();\r\n   pr.UsingParse();\r\n}\r\npublic<\/span> void<\/span> UsingParse<\/span>()\r\n{\r\n\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0string<\/span> dateInput = \"Jan 1, 2018\"<\/span>;\r\nDateTime myDate = DateTime.Parse(dateInput);\r\nConsole.WriteLine(myDate);\r\n\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\/\/ DISPLAYS THE DATE IN THE FORMATE 1\/1\/2018 12:00:00 AM<\/span>\r\n}\r\n<\/pre>\n
      Listing 2.0<\/b>: Using the Parse Function<\/p>\n
       <\/p>\n
      The listing 2.0 shows the conversion to DateTime() using Parse().
      \nQuiz<\/b><\/i>: Try to modify the code to use other Parse functions you have learnt here.<\/p>\n
       <\/p>\n
      6. Getting Today\u2019s date and time<\/b><\/h3>\n
      There are many ways you can get the current date and time using the C# code:<\/p>\n
        \n
      • DateTime.Today: Returns the current date<\/li>\n
      • DateTime.Utc.Now.Date: Returns the current date<\/li>\n
      • DateTime.Now.ToString(“HH:mm:ss”);<\/li>\n
      • DateTime.Today.ToString(“dd-MM-yyyy”);<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
        Try out all this methods by running the code snippet below.<\/p>\n
         <\/p>\n
        <\/p>\n
        static<\/span> void<\/span> Main<\/span>(string<\/span>[] args)\r\n{\r\n   Program pr = new<\/span> Program();\r\n   pr.WorkingWithDate();\r\n}\r\npublic<\/span> void<\/span> WorkingWithDate<\/span>()\r\n{\r\nConsole.WriteLine(DateTime.Today); \/\/Returns the current date<\/span>\r\nConsole.WriteLine(DateTime.UtcNow.Date); \/\/Returns the current date<\/span>\r\nConsole.WriteLine(DateTime.Now.ToString(\"HH:mm:ss\"<\/span>));\r\nConsole.WriteLine(DateTime.Today.ToString(\"dd-MM-yyyy\"<\/span>));\r\nDateTime.Now.ToString(\"yyyy-MM-dd hh:mm:ss\"<\/span>);\r\n}\r\n<\/pre>\n
        Listing 3.0<\/b>: Getting Current Date and Time<\/p>\n
         <\/p>\n
        7. Extracting Day, Month and Year from Date<\/b><\/h3>\n
        You can extract the day, month or year part of a given date. When they are extracted, you can use then either as string or any other datatype. Here we assume we extract them as string.
        \nSo, the Listing 4.0, gives the code snippet that does the splitting. It is very clear and easy to understand. Run it and make sure you understands how it works.<\/p>\n
        <\/p>\n
        static<\/span> void<\/span> Main<\/span>(string<\/span>[] args)\r\n{\r\n   Program pr = new<\/span> Program();\r\n   pr.SplitingDates();\r\n}\r\npublic<\/span> void<\/span> SplitingDates<\/span>()\r\n{\r\nString myDate = DateTime.Now.ToString(); \/\/GET THE CURRENT DATE<\/span>\r\nDateTime datevalue = (Convert.ToDateTime(myDate.ToString())); \/\/CONVERTS THE myDate to a\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 DateTime TYPE<\/span>\r\n\r\nString dy = datevalue.Day.ToString();\r\nString mn = datevalue.Month.ToString();\r\nString yr = datevalue.Year.ToString();\r\n\r\nConsole.WriteLine(\"The day is: \"<\/span> + dy);\r\nConsole.WriteLine(\"The month is: \"<\/span> + mn);\r\nConsole.WriteLine(\"The year is: \"<\/span> + yr);\r\n}\r\n<\/pre>\n
        Listing 4.0: Extracting Day, Month and Year from a date<\/p>\n
         <\/p>\n
        8. About TimeSpan Data Type<\/b><\/h3>\n
        According the the msdn documentation, a TimeSpan represents a time interval.
        \nThink of TimeSpan as a diffrence in time. When you subtract or add two dates, the result you have will be a TimeSpan. That is why it is called ‘a time interval’.<\/p>\n
        Just like a Date contains day, month and year, a TimeSpan contains the following:<\/p>\n
        \n
          \n
        • Days<\/li>\n
        • Hours<\/li>\n
        • Milliseconds<\/li>\n
        • Minutes<\/li>\n
        • Second<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
          The Hours property of TimeSpan represents whole hours, while the TotalHours property represents whole and fractional hours of the TimeSpan.
          \nHow TimeSpan works is illustrated in Listing 5.0. Please try to make sure you copy and run the code:<\/p>\n
           <\/p>\n
          <\/p>\n
          static<\/span> void<\/span> Main<\/span>(string<\/span>[] args)\r\n{\r\n   Program pr = new<\/span> Program();\r\n   pr.UsingTimeSpan();\r\n}\r\npublic<\/span> void<\/span> UsingTimeSpan<\/span>()\r\n{\r\nTimeSpan span = DateTime.Now - DateTime.Now.Date;\r\n\u00a0 \u00a0 int<\/span> days = span.Days;\r\n\u00a0 \u00a0 int<\/span> hours = span.Hours;\r\n\u00a0 \u00a0 int<\/span> mins = span.Minutes;\r\n\u00a0 \u00a0 int<\/span> seconds = span.Seconds;\r\n\u00a0 \u00a0 int<\/span> milisecs = span.Milliseconds;\r\n\r\nConsole.WriteLine(\"Days: \"<\/span> + days);\r\nConsole.WriteLine(\"Hours: \"<\/span> + hours);\r\nConsole.WriteLine(\"Minutes: \"<\/span> + mins);\r\nConsole.WriteLine(\"Seconds: \"<\/span> + seconds);\r\nConsole.WriteLine(\"Milliseconds: \"<\/span> + milisecs);\r\n}\r\n<\/pre>\n
          Listing 5.0<\/b>: Using TimeSpan in C#<\/p>\n
           <\/p>\n
          9. Final Note<\/b><\/h3>\n
          Congrats if you have come this far!
          \nIf you encountered any challenges implementing it in the comment box below and someone would give you the needed assistance.<\/p>\n
          <\/ins>
          \n<\/ins><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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