Develop Reference

How to convert this UTC datetime string to DateTime object c#

I have been trying to convert this string to a DateTime object in C#
2019-09-23T08:34:00UTC+1
I've tried using DateTime.Parse but it is throwing an exception for
"String was not recognized as a valid DateTime."

I'm sorry but you seem like a victim of garbage in, garbage out.
That's an unusual format, that's why before I suggest a solution for you, first thing I want to say is "Fix your input first if you can".
Let's say you can't fix your input, then you need to consider a few things;
First of all, if your string has some parts like UTC and/or GMT, there is no custom date and time format specifier to parse them. That's why you need to escape them as a string literal. See this question for more details.
Second, your +1 part looks like a UTC Offset value. The "z" custom format specifier is what you need for parse it but be careful, this format specifier is not recommended for use with DateTime values since it doesn't reflect the value of an instance's Kind property.
As a solution for DateTime, you can parse it like I would suggest;
var s = "2019-09-23T08:34:00UTC+1";
DateTime dt;
if(DateTime.TryParseExact(s, "yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss'UTC'z", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture,
DateTimeStyles.AdjustToUniversal, out dt))
{
Console.WriteLine(dt);
}
which gives you 2019-09-23 07:34:00 as a DateTime and which has Utc as a Kind property.
As a solution for DateTimeOffset - since your string has a UTC Offset value you should consider to parse with this rather than Datetime
-, as Matt commented, you can use it's .DateTime property to get it's data like;
var s = "2019-09-23T08:34:00UTC+1";
DateTimeOffset dto;
if(DateTimeOffset.TryParseExact(s, "yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss'UTC'z", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture,
DateTimeStyles.None, out dto))
{
Console.WriteLine(dto.DateTime);
}
which gives you the same result DateTime but Unspecified as a .Kind property.
But, again, I strongly suggest you to fix your input first.

Use TryParseExact to convert the string to datetime. Here is the sample code to covert the given format(s) to datetime
private static DateTime ParseDate(string providedDate) {
DateTime validDate;
string[] formats = {
"yyyy-MM-ddTHH:mm:ss"
};
var dateFormatIsValid = DateTime.TryParseExact(
providedDate, formats, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, DateTimeStyles.None, out validDate);
return dateFormatIsValid ? validDate: DateTime.MinValue;
}
Then, use this function to convert the string. I am replacing UTC+1 to empty string
static void Main(string[] args) {
string strdatetime = "2019-09-23T08:34:00UTC+1";
DateTime dateTime = ParseDate(strdatetime.Replace("UTC+1", ""));
Console.WriteLine(dateTime);
}

String Date To convert DateTime using ParseExact

I have a string and it comes as a DD/MM/YYYY style.(eg : 11/07/2018)
I need to convert this To DateTime format and YYYY-MM-DD style.
I tried it using DateTime.Parse but can't
if (!String.IsNullOrEmpty(fromDate))
{
frm = DateTime.ParseExact(fromDate, "yyyy-MM-dd", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, DateTimeStyles.None);
}
else if(!String.IsNullOrEmpty(toDate))
{
todt = DateTime.ParseExact(toDate, "yyyy-MM-dd", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, DateTimeStyles.None);
}

You can do this in one line of code.
var newDateString = DateTime.ParseExact(myDateString, "dd/MM/yyyy", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, DateTimeStyles.None).ToString("yyyy-MM-dd");
Keep in mind that a DateTime instance is a data structure that does not have a format. When dealing with dates and times it is best to only revert to a human readable string when you need to present/output the value for a human to read. For anything else including persistence to a storage system that supports types (like a relational database) leave the value as a DateTime type.
Example: If you wanted yyyy-MM-dd because you wanted to persist this to Sql Server then you should stop after the parsing (and not call ToString). You can then assign the DateTime instance to a command parameter's Value property directly.

Convert using ParseExact and then use ToString to the target format:
string dateS = "30/04/2018";
DateTime dateD = DateTime.ParseExact(dateS, "dd/MM/yyyy", System.Globalization.CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);
string dateS2 = dateD.ToString("yyyy-MM-dd");
Here is a working example in fiddle: https://dotnetfiddle.net/e0yuZ6

Parsing non standard date strings in C#

How would you handle the following string value that needs to be converted to a DateTime object?
"2015/01/22 12:08:51 (GMT+09:00)"
Would like to include this as a recognized DateTime pattern. As I encounter other formats, I would like to just implement a new pattern.

Here a piece of code that will successfully parse the given string (notice DateTimeOffset rather than DateTime):
var str = "2015/01/22 12:08:51 (GMT+09:00)";
var dt = DateTimeOffset.ParseExact
(str,
"yyyy/MM/dd HH:mm:ss (\\G\\M\\TK)",
System.Globalization.CultureInfo.InvariantCulture
);
//dt now has +9:00 offset - that's correct only if GMT is provided as UTC.
More info at The Difference Between GMT and UTC

This code takes a string and converts it into a DateTime object
DateTime myDate = DateTime.Parse("2017-08-28 14:20:52,001", "yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss,fff", System.Globalization.CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);
All you need to do is create a format that matches your input. This link helps:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/standard/base-types/custom-date-and-time-format-strings
For more details read this: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/csharp/programming-guide/strings/how-to-convert-a-string-to-a-datetime

Here there is the official documentation of DateTime.Parse with some examples. It covers also the case of other formats
https://msdn.microsoft.com/it-it/library/system.datetime.parse(v=vs.110).aspx

Using DateTime.ParseExact is probably your best bet. It takes in an input string and an expected format string that the input should match. It will return true if the conversion was successful, and the out parameter will be the result of the conversion (result in the example below).
I was unable to get it to work without forcibly removing the "GMT" portion, but if that's acceptable to you, the code below should work.
This example takes the original input and converts it to UTC time (i.e. it adjusts the time based on your GMT value, which is to subtract 9 hours in your example):
var input = "2015/01/22 12:08:51 (GMT-08:00)";
var format = "yyyy/MM/dd H:mm:ss (zzz)";
DateTime result;
// Remove the "GMT" portion of the input
input = input.Replace("GMT", "");
if (DateTime.TryParseExact(input, format, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture,
DateTimeStyles.AdjustToUniversal, out result))
{
Console.WriteLine($"'{input}' converts to {result} UTC time.");
}
else
{
Console.WriteLine($"'{input}' is not in the correct format.");
}
This example is modified from the ones on the DateTime.TryParseExact documentation.

How to format a datetime to GMT irrespective of regional settings?

I have a datetime stored in the database as GMT. I need to format this datetime as a string together with the timezone offset to UTC, for example:
DateTime date = DateTime.Parse("2012-03-15 12:49:23");
string dateAsString = date.ToString("yyyy-MM-ddTHH:mm:ss.fffzzz");
2012-03-15T12:49:23.000+00:00
This code works on my machine in the UK. When I change my regional settings to a different time zone, for example Perth, I get the following output:
2012-03-15T12:49:23.000+08:00
I need the string output to always represent the time in GMT.

It's awkward. First you need to parse it appropriately, then format it appropriately... it's easiest to go via DateTimeOffset. (I'm assuming you intend the input string to be treated as if it's in UTC? You haven't made this clear.)
You can use DateTimeStyles.AssumeUniversal | DateTimeStyles.AdjustToUniversal so that you end up with a UTC value after the Parse step. You can then create a DateTimeOffset from that DateTime value, so it will have an offset of 0.
Assuming you have a fixed format input, I would strongly advise that you use DateTime.ParseExact instead of DateTime.Parse, too. (Actually, I'd probably advise you to use Noda Time instead, but that's a different matter...)
Sample code:
using System;
using System.Globalization;
class Test
{
static void Main()
{
var parsed = DateTime.ParseExact("2012-03-15 12:49:23",
"yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss",
CultureInfo.InvariantCulture,
DateTimeStyles.AssumeUniversal |
DateTimeStyles.AdjustToUniversal);
var dtOffset = new DateTimeOffset(parsed);
var output = dtOffset.ToString("yyyy-MM-ddTHH:mm:ss.fffzzz",
CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);
Console.WriteLine(output);
}
}

converting messy date string to dateTime object in c#

How can I convert the String 20120313 to a DateTime object that holds the value 13-Mar-2012?
I fetch it as
DataEffectiveDate = Convert.ToDateTime(reader["date_id"]);
But it fails here already (converting to 1/1/2001)

You need to use DateTime.ParseExact:
DateTime date = DateTime.ParseExact(text, "yyyyMMdd",
CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);
Then if you want it as "13-Mar-2012", you need:
string reformatted = date.ToString("dd-MMM-yyyy");
... optionally passing in whatever culture you want to use for the month names etc.
(Another alternative is to use my Noda Time, which allows you to parse this as just a local date, without any concerns about what time it will use, time zones etc.)

When you have a particular format in mind, ParseExact is helpful:
string s = "20120313";
var when = DateTime.ParseExact(s, "yyyyMMdd", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);
There's also an overload that accepts multiple candidate formats.

Try DateTime.ParseExact:
string date = DateTime.ParseExact(reader["date_id"], "yyyyMMdd", new CultureInfo("en"));