• Article

DateTime Constructor (Int64)

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Updated: September 2010

Initializes a new instance of the DateTime structure to a specified number of ticks.

Namespace:  System
Assembly:  mscorlib (in mscorlib.dll)

Syntax

'Declaration
Public Sub New ( _
    ticks As Long _
)

public DateTime(
    long ticks
)

Parameters

  • ticks
    Type: System.Int64
    A date and time expressed in the number of 100-nanosecond intervals that have elapsed since January 1, 0001 at 00:00:00.000 in the Gregorian calendar.

Exceptions

Exception Condition
ArgumentOutOfRangeException

ticks is less than DateTime.MinValue or greater than DateTime.MaxValue.

Remarks

The Kind property is initialized to Unspecified.

For applications in which a limited degree of time zone awareness is important, you can use the corresponding DateTimeOffset constructor.

Examples

The following example demonstrates one of the DateTime constructors.

' This example demonstrates the DateTime(Int64) constructor.
Imports System.Globalization

Class Example
   Public Shared Sub Demo(ByVal outputBlock As System.Windows.Controls.TextBlock)
      ' Instead of using the implicit, default "G" date and time format string, we 
      ' use a custom format string that aligns the results and inserts leading zeroes.
      Dim format As String = "{0}) The {1} date and time is {2:MM/dd/yyyy hh:mm:ss tt}"

      ' Create a DateTime for the maximum date and time using ticks.
      Dim dt1 As New DateTime(DateTime.MaxValue.Ticks)

      ' Create a DateTime for the minimum date and time using ticks.
      Dim dt2 As New DateTime(DateTime.MinValue.Ticks)

      ' Create a custom DateTime for 7/28/1979 at 10:35:05 PM using a 
      ' calendar based on the "en-US" culture, and ticks. 
      Dim ticks As Long = New DateTime(1979, 7, 28, 22, 35, 5, _
                                       New CultureInfo("en-US").Calendar).Ticks
      Dim dt3 As New DateTime(ticks)

      outputBlock.Text += String.Format(format, 1, "maximum", dt1) & vbCrLf
      outputBlock.Text += String.Format(format, 2, "minimum", dt2) & vbCrLf
      outputBlock.Text += String.Format(format, 3, "custom ", dt3) & vbCrLf
      outputBlock.Text += String.Format(vbCrLf & "The custom date and time is created from {0:N0} ticks.", ticks) & vbCrLf
   End Sub 
End Class
'
'This example produces the following results:
'
'1) The maximum date and time is 12/31/9999 11:59:59 PM
'2) The minimum date and time is 01/01/0001 12:00:00 AM
'3) The custom  date and time is 07/28/1979 10:35:05 PM
'
'The custom date and time is created from 624,376,461,050,000,000 ticks.
'

// This example demonstrates the DateTime(Int64) constructor.
using System;
using System.Globalization;

class Example
{
   public static void Demo(System.Windows.Controls.TextBlock outputBlock)
   {
      // Instead of using the implicit, default "G" date and time format string, we 
      // use a custom format string that aligns the results and inserts leading zeroes.
      string format = "{0}) The {1} date and time is {2:MM/dd/yyyy hh:mm:ss tt}";

      // Create a DateTime for the maximum date and time using ticks.
      DateTime dt1 = new DateTime(DateTime.MaxValue.Ticks);

      // Create a DateTime for the minimum date and time using ticks.
      DateTime dt2 = new DateTime(DateTime.MinValue.Ticks);

      // Create a custom DateTime for 7/28/1979 at 10:35:05 PM using a 
      // calendar based on the "en-US" culture, and ticks. 
      long ticks = new DateTime(1979, 07, 28, 22, 35, 5,
     new CultureInfo("en-US").Calendar).Ticks;
      DateTime dt3 = new DateTime(ticks);

      outputBlock.Text += String.Format(format, 1, "maximum", dt1) + "\n";
      outputBlock.Text += String.Format(format, 2, "minimum", dt2) + "\n";
      outputBlock.Text += String.Format(format, 3, "custom ", dt3) + "\n";
      outputBlock.Text += String.Format("\nThe custom date and time is created from {0:N0} ticks.", ticks) + "\n";
   }
}
/*
This example produces the following results:

1) The maximum date and time is 12/31/9999 11:59:59 PM
2) The minimum date and time is 01/01/0001 12:00:00 AM
3) The custom  date and time is 07/28/1979 10:35:05 PM

The custom date and time is created from 624,376,461,050,000,000 ticks.

*/

Version Information

Silverlight

Supported in: 5, 4, 3

Silverlight for Windows Phone

Supported in: Windows Phone OS 7.1, Windows Phone OS 7.0

XNA Framework

Supported in: Xbox 360, Windows Phone OS 7.0

Platforms

For a list of the operating systems and browsers that are supported by Silverlight, see Supported Operating Systems and Browsers.

Change History

Date

History

Reason

September 2010

Expanded the ticks parameter description.

Customer feedback.