DateTimeFormatInfo.TimeSeparator Property

Definition

Namespace:

System.Globalization

Assembly:

System.Runtime.dll

Source:

DateTimeFormatInfo.cs

Gets or sets the string that separates the components of time, that is, the hour, minutes, and seconds.

public:
 property System::String ^ TimeSeparator { System::String ^ get(); void set(System::String ^ value); };

public string TimeSeparator { get; set; }

member this.TimeSeparator : string with get, set

Public Property TimeSeparator As String

Property Value

String

The string that separates the components of time. The default for InvariantInfo is ":".

Exceptions

ArgumentNullException

The property is being set to null.

InvalidOperationException

The property is being set and the DateTimeFormatInfo object is read-only.

Examples

The following example instantiates a CultureInfo object for the en-US culture, changes its date separator to ".", and displays a date by using the "t", "T", "F", "f", "G", and "g" standard format strings.

using System;
using System.Globalization;

public class Example
{
   public static void Main()
   {
      DateTime value = new DateTime(2013, 9, 8, 14, 30, 0);

      string[] formats = { "t", "T", "f", "F", "G", "g" };
      CultureInfo culture = CultureInfo.CreateSpecificCulture("en-US");
      DateTimeFormatInfo dtfi = culture.DateTimeFormat;
      dtfi.TimeSeparator = ".";

      foreach (var fmt in formats)
         Console.WriteLine("{0}: {1}", fmt, value.ToString(fmt, dtfi));
   }
}
// The example displays the following output:
//       t: 2.30 PM
//       T: 2.30.00 PM
//       f: Sunday, September 08, 2013 2.30 PM
//       F: Sunday, September 08, 2013 2.30.00 PM
//       G: 9/8/2013 2.30.00 PM
//       g: 9/8/2013 2.30 PM

Imports System.Globalization

Module Example
   Public Sub Main()
      Dim value As New Date(2013, 9, 8, 14, 30, 0)
      
      Dim formats() As String = { "t", "T", "f", "F", "G", "g" }
      Dim culture As CultureInfo = CultureInfo.CreateSpecificCulture("en-US")
      Dim dtfi As DateTimeFormatInfo = culture.DateTimeFormat
      dtfi.TimeSeparator = "."
      
      For Each fmt In formats
         Console.WriteLine("{0}: {1}", fmt, value.ToString(fmt, dtfi))
      Next      
   End Sub
End Module
' The example displays the following output:
'       t: 2.30 PM
'       T: 2.30.00 PM
'       f: Sunday, September 08, 2013 2.30 PM
'       F: Sunday, September 08, 2013 2.30.00 PM
'       G: 9/8/2013 2.30.00 PM
'       g: 9/8/2013 2.30 PM

Remarks

If the custom pattern includes the format pattern ":", DateTime.ToString displays the value of TimeSeparator in place of the ":" in the format pattern.

Note

Standard format patterns, such as FullDateTimePattern, don't necessarily use ":". Changing TimeSeparator may not have an effect when using these patterns.

The time separator is derived from the ShortTimePattern property. We recommend that you set the time separator in short or long time patterns to an exact string instead of using the time separator placeholder. For example, to obtain the pattern h-mm-ss, set the pattern to "h-mm-ss". This practice also enables you to set patterns such as "h'h 'mm'm 'ss's'" (3h 36m 12s) that include multiple types of separators. The TimeSeparator property defines the string that replaces the time separator (":" custom date and time format specifier) in a result string in a formatting operation. It also defines the time separator string in a parsing operation.

See also

• DateSeparator
• Custom Date and Time Format Strings
• Standard Date and Time Format Strings