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How to: Display milliseconds in date and time values

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The default date and time formatting methods, such as DateTime.ToString(), include the hours, minutes, and seconds of a time value but exclude its milliseconds component. This article shows how to include a date and time's millisecond component in formatted date and time strings.

To display the millisecond component of a DateTime value

  1. If you're working with the string representation of a date, convert it to a DateTime or a DateTimeOffset value by using the static DateTime.Parse(String) or DateTimeOffset.Parse(String) method.

  2. To extract the string representation of a time's millisecond component, call the date and time value's DateTime.ToString(String) or ToString method, and pass the fff or FFF custom format pattern alone or with other custom format specifiers as the format parameter.

Tip

The System.Globalization.NumberFormatInfo.NumberDecimalSeparator property specifies the millisecond separator.

Example

The example displays the millisecond component of a DateTime and a DateTimeOffset value to the console, alone and included in a longer date and time string.

using System.Globalization;
using System.Text.RegularExpressions;

string dateString = "7/16/2008 8:32:45.126 AM";

try
{
    DateTime dateValue = DateTime.Parse(dateString);
    DateTimeOffset dateOffsetValue = DateTimeOffset.Parse(dateString);

    // Display Millisecond component alone.
    Console.WriteLine("Millisecond component only: {0}",
                    dateValue.ToString("fff"));
    Console.WriteLine("Millisecond component only: {0}",
                    dateOffsetValue.ToString("fff"));

    // Display Millisecond component with full date and time.
    Console.WriteLine("Date and Time with Milliseconds: {0}",
                    dateValue.ToString("MM/dd/yyyy hh:mm:ss.fff tt"));
    Console.WriteLine("Date and Time with Milliseconds: {0}",
                    dateOffsetValue.ToString("MM/dd/yyyy hh:mm:ss.fff tt"));

    string fullPattern = DateTimeFormatInfo.CurrentInfo.FullDateTimePattern;
    
    // Create a format similar to .fff but based on the current culture.
    string millisecondFormat = $"{NumberFormatInfo.CurrentInfo.NumberDecimalSeparator}fff";

    // Append millisecond pattern to current culture's full date time pattern.
    fullPattern = Regex.Replace(fullPattern, "(:ss|:s)", $"$1{millisecondFormat}");

    // Display Millisecond component with modified full date and time pattern.
    Console.WriteLine("Modified full date time pattern: {0}",
                    dateValue.ToString(fullPattern));
    Console.WriteLine("Modified full date time pattern: {0}",
                    dateOffsetValue.ToString(fullPattern));
}
catch (FormatException)
{
    Console.WriteLine("Unable to convert {0} to a date.", dateString);
}
// The example displays the following output if the current culture is en-US:
//    Millisecond component only: 126
//    Millisecond component only: 126
//    Date and Time with Milliseconds: 07/16/2008 08:32:45.126 AM
//    Date and Time with Milliseconds: 07/16/2008 08:32:45.126 AM
//    Modified full date time pattern: Wednesday, July 16, 2008 8:32:45.126 AM
//    Modified full date time pattern: Wednesday, July 16, 2008 8:32:45.126 AM

Imports System.Globalization
Imports System.Text.REgularExpressions

Module MillisecondDisplay
    Public Sub Main()

        Dim dateString As String = "7/16/2008 8:32:45.126 AM"

        Try
            Dim dateValue As Date = Date.Parse(dateString)
            Dim dateOffsetValue As DateTimeOffset = DateTimeOffset.Parse(dateString)

            ' Display Millisecond component alone.
            Console.WriteLine("Millisecond component only: {0}", _
                              dateValue.ToString("fff"))
            Console.WriteLine("Millisecond component only: {0}", _
                              dateOffsetValue.ToString("fff"))

            ' Display Millisecond component with full date and time.
            Console.WriteLine("Date and Time with Milliseconds: {0}", _
                              dateValue.ToString("MM/dd/yyyy hh:mm:ss.fff tt"))
            Console.WriteLine("Date and Time with Milliseconds: {0}", _
                              dateOffsetValue.ToString("MM/dd/yyyy hh:mm:ss.fff tt"))

            Dim fullPattern As String = DateTimeFormatInfo.CurrentInfo.FullDateTimePattern

            ' Create a format similar to .fff but based on the current culture.
            Dim millisecondFormat as String = $"{NumberFormatInfo.CurrentInfo.NumberDecimalSeparator}fff"
            
            ' Append millisecond pattern to current culture's full date time pattern.
            fullPattern = Regex.Replace(fullPattern, "(:ss|:s)", $"$1{millisecondFormat}")

            ' Display Millisecond component with modified full date and time pattern.
            Console.WriteLine("Modified full date time pattern: {0}", _
                              dateValue.ToString(fullPattern))
            Console.WriteLine("Modified full date time pattern: {0}", _
                              dateOffsetValue.ToString(fullPattern))
        Catch e As FormatException
            Console.WriteLine("Unable to convert {0} to a date.", dateString)
        End Try
    End Sub
End Module
' The example displays the following output if the current culture is en-US:
'    Millisecond component only: 126
'    Millisecond component only: 126
'    Date and Time with Milliseconds: 07/16/2008 08:32:45.126 AM
'    Date and Time with Milliseconds: 07/16/2008 08:32:45.126 AM
'    Modified full date time pattern: Wednesday, July 16, 2008 8:32:45.126 AM
'    Modified full date time pattern: Wednesday, July 16, 2008 8:32:45.126 AM

The fff format pattern includes any trailing zeros in the millisecond value. The FFF format pattern suppresses them. The following example illustrates the difference:

DateTime dateValue = new DateTime(2008, 7, 16, 8, 32, 45, 180);
Console.WriteLine(dateValue.ToString("fff"));
Console.WriteLine(dateValue.ToString("FFF"));
// The example displays the following output to the console:
//    180
//    18

Dim dateValue As New Date(2008, 7, 16, 8, 32, 45, 180)
Console.WriteLIne(dateValue.ToString("fff"))
Console.WriteLine(dateValue.ToString("FFF"))
' The example displays the following output to the console:
'    180
'    18

A problem with defining a complete custom format specifier that includes the millisecond component of a date and time is that it defines a hard-coded format that might not correspond to the arrangement of time elements in the application's current culture. A better alternative is to retrieve one of the date and time display patterns defined by the current culture's DateTimeFormatInfo object and modify it to include milliseconds. The example also illustrates this approach. It retrieves the current culture's full date and time pattern from the DateTimeFormatInfo.FullDateTimePattern property and then inserts the custom pattern fff along with the current culture's millisecond separator. The example uses a regular expression to do this operation in a single method call.

You can also use a custom format specifier to display a fractional part of seconds other than milliseconds. For example, the f or F custom format specifier displays tenths of a second, the ff or FF custom format specifier displays hundredths of a second, and the ffff or FFFF custom format specifier displays ten-thousandths of a second. Fractional parts of a millisecond are truncated instead of rounded in the returned string. These format specifiers are used in the following example:

DateTime dateValue = new DateTime(2008, 7, 16, 8, 32, 45, 180);
Console.WriteLine("{0} seconds", dateValue.ToString("s.f"));
Console.WriteLine("{0} seconds", dateValue.ToString("s.ff"));
Console.WriteLine("{0} seconds", dateValue.ToString("s.ffff"));
// The example displays the following output to the console:
//    45.1 seconds
//    45.18 seconds
//    45.1800 seconds

Dim dateValue As New DateTime(2008, 7, 16, 8, 32, 45, 180)
Console.WriteLine("{0} seconds", dateValue.ToString("s.f"))
Console.WriteLine("{0} seconds", dateValue.ToString("s.ff"))
Console.WriteLine("{0} seconds", dateValue.ToString("s.ffff"))
' The example displays the following output to the console:
'    45.1 seconds
'    45.18 seconds
'    45.1800 seconds

Note

It's possible to display very small fractional units of a second, such as ten-thousandths of a second or hundred-thousandths of a second. However, these values might not be meaningful. The precision of a date and time value depends on the resolution of the operating system clock. For more information, see the API your operating system uses:

See also