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How to: Convert a String to a DateTime (C# Programming Guide)

It is common for programs to enable users to enter dates as string values. To convert a string-based date to a System.DateTime object, you can use the Convert.ToDateTime(String) method or the DateTime.Parse(String) static method, as shown in the following example.

For more examples of date strings, see Convert.ToDateTime(String).

// Date strings are interpreted according to the current culture. 
// If the culture is en-US, this is interpreted as "January 8, 2008",
// but if the user's computer is fr-FR, this is interpreted as "August 1, 2008" 
string date = "01/08/2008";
DateTime dt = Convert.ToDateTime(date);            
Console.WriteLine("Year: {0}, Month: {1}, Day: {2}", dt.Year, dt.Month, dt.Day);

// Specify exactly how to interpret the string.
IFormatProvider culture = new System.Globalization.CultureInfo("fr-FR", true);

// Alternate choice: If the string has been input by an end user, you might  
// want to format it according to the current culture: 
// IFormatProvider culture = System.Threading.Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture;
DateTime dt2 = DateTime.Parse(date, culture, System.Globalization.DateTimeStyles.AssumeLocal);
Console.WriteLine("Year: {0}, Month: {1}, Day {2}", dt2.Year, dt2.Month, dt2.Day);

/* Output (assuming first culture is en-US and second is fr-FR):
    Year: 2008, Month: 1, Day: 8
    Year: 2008, Month: 8, Day 1
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