EN
C# / .NET - get current timestamp
10
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In this article, we're going to have a look at how to get the current timestamp in C# / .NET.
There are available two ways to do it: use predefined methods or use custom formatting.
Quick solution:
DateTimeOffset now = (DateTimeOffset)DateTime.UtcNow; // using System;
Console.WriteLine(now.ToUnixTimeSeconds()); // 1518679294 <--- .NET 4.6
Console.WriteLine(now.ToString("yyyyMMddHHmmssfff")); // 20180215082134547
Note: read this article to see iso 8601 examples.
Go to the below sections to see more examples:
1. Custom Unix Time in seconds example
If we want to have source code that works with older .net frameworks we should use this solution.
using System;
public static class TimeUtils
{
public static int ToUnixTimeSeconds(DateTime date)
{
DateTime point = new DateTime(1970, 1, 1);
TimeSpan time = date.Subtract(point);
return (int)time.TotalSeconds;
}
public static int ToUnixTimeSeconds()
{
return ToUnixTimeSeconds(DateTime.UtcNow);
}
}
// Usage example:
public class Program
{
public static void Main()
{
Console.WriteLine(TimeUtils.ToUnixTimeSeconds()); // 1565641706
}
}
Output:
1565641706
2. .NET 4.6 API Unix timestamp example
.NET 4.6 introduced a special method that returns Unix timestamp.
using System;
public class Program
{
public static void Main()
{
DateTimeOffset now = (DateTimeOffset)DateTime.UtcNow;
Console.WriteLine(now.ToUnixTimeSeconds()); // 1565642183
}
}
Output:
1565642183
3. Predefined DateTime class methods example
Predefined methods available in .NET return the most commonly used time formats.
Note: it is very important to look on currently used
CultureInfoto know what kind of formatting is used by default. It is possible to call to string method with desired culture.
using System;
using System.Globalization;
public class Program
{
public static void Main()
{
DateTime now = DateTime.Now;
CultureInfo.CurrentCulture = CultureInfo.InvariantCulture;
Console.WriteLine(now.ToBinary()); // -8586359643687607670
Console.WriteLine(now.ToFileTime()); // 132101161167168138
Console.WriteLine(now.ToFileTimeUtc()); // 132101161167168138
Console.WriteLine(now.ToLocalTime()); // 08/12/2019 21:41:56
Console.WriteLine(now.ToLongDateString()); // Monday, 12 August 2019
Console.WriteLine(now.ToLongTimeString()); // 21:41:56
Console.WriteLine(now.ToOADate()); // 43689.9041286574
Console.WriteLine(now.ToShortDateString()); // 08/12/2019
Console.WriteLine(now.ToShortTimeString()); // 21:41
Console.WriteLine(now.ToString()); // 08/12/2019 21:41:56
}
}
Output:
-8586359643687607670
132101161167168138
132101161167168138
08/12/2019 21:41:56
Monday, 12 August 2019
21:41:56
43689.9041286574
08/12/2019
21:41
08/12/2019 21:41:56
Note: CultureInfo.CurrentCulture property causes specific string formatting for numbers, currencies, time, etc.
4. ToString() method with custom format example
In this section we presented how to use a custom format to print formatted date and time - format can be modified if it is necessary.
using System;
using System.Globalization;
public class Program
{
public static void Main()
{
DateTime dt = new DateTime(2018, 2, 15, 8, 21, 34, 547);
CultureInfo.CurrentCulture = CultureInfo.InvariantCulture;
// |<--------- FORMAT -------->|
Console.WriteLine(dt.ToString("dddd, dd MMMM yyyy HH:mm" ));
Console.WriteLine(dt.ToString("dddd, dd MMMM yyyy HH:mm tt"));
}
}
Output:
Thursday, 15 February 2018 08:21
Thursday, 15 February 2018 08:21 AM
For different ToString format, results look following way:
/*
FORMAT RESULT
dddd, dd MMMM yyyy HH:mm Thursday, 15 February 2018 08:21
dddd, dd MMMM yyyy HH:mm tt Thursday, 15 February 2018 08:21 AM
dddd, dd MMMM yyyy HH:mm:ss Thursday, 15 February 2018 08:21:34
dddd, dd MMMM yyyy HH:mm:ss tt Thursday, 15 February 2018 08:21:34 AM
dddd, dd MMMM yyyy H:mm Thursday, 15 February 2018 8:21
dddd, dd MMMM yyyy H:mm tt Thursday, 15 February 2018 8:21 AM
dddd, dd MMMM yyyy H:mm:ss Thursday, 15 February 2018 8:21:34
dddd, dd MMMM yyyy H:mm:ss tt Thursday, 15 February 2018 8:21:34 AM
dddd, dd MMMM yyyy hh:mm Thursday, 15 February 2018 08:21
dddd, dd MMMM yyyy hh:mm tt Thursday, 15 February 2018 08:21 AM
dddd, dd MMMM yyyy hh:mm:ss Thursday, 15 February 2018 08:21:34
dddd, dd MMMM yyyy hh:mm:ss tt Thursday, 15 February 2018 08:21:34 AM
dddd, dd MMMM yyyy h:mm Thursday, 15 February 2018 8:21
dddd, dd MMMM yyyy h:mm tt Thursday, 15 February 2018 8:21 AM
dddd, dd MMMM yyyy h:mm:ss Thursday, 15 February 2018 8:21:34
dddd, dd MMMM yyyy h:mm:ss tt Thursday, 15 February 2018 8:21:34 AM
MM/dd/yyyy HH:mm 02/15/2018 08:21
MM/dd/yyyy HH:mm tt 02/15/2018 08:21 AM
MM/dd/yyyy HH:mm:ss 02/15/2018 08:21:34
MM/dd/yyyy HH:mm:ss tt 02/15/2018 08:21:34 AM
MM/dd/yyyy H:mm 02/15/2018 8:21
MM/dd/yyyy H:mm tt 02/15/2018 8:21 AM
MM/dd/yyyy H:mm:ss 02/15/2018 8:21:34
MM/dd/yyyy H:mm:ss tt 02/15/2018 8:21:34 AM
MM/dd/yyyy hh:mm 02/15/2018 08:21
MM/dd/yyyy hh:mm tt 02/15/2018 08:21 AM
MM/dd/yyyy hh:mm:ss 02/15/2018 08:21:34
MM/dd/yyyy hh:mm:ss tt 02/15/2018 08:21:34 AM
MM/dd/yyyy h:mm 02/15/2018 8:21
MM/dd/yyyy h:mm tt 02/15/2018 8:21 AM
MM/dd/yyyy h:mm:ss 02/15/2018 8:21:34
dddd, dd MMMM yy Thursday, 15 February 18
dddd, dd MMMM yyyy Thursday, 15 February 2018
MM/dd/yy 02/15/18
MM/dd/yyyy 02/15/2018
MMMM dd February 15
yy-MM-dd 18-02-15
yyyy-MM-dd 2018-02-15
yy.MM.dd 18.02.15
yyyy.MM.dd 2018.02.15
dd.MM.yy 15.02.18
dd.MM.yyyy 15.02.2018
yyyy MMMM 2018 February
ddd, MMM d, yyyy Thu, Feb 15, 2018
dddd, MMMM d, yyyy Thursday, February 15, 2018
yyyy-MM-ddTHH:mm:ss 2018-02-15T08:21:34
yyyy-MM-ddTHH:mm:ss.fffffffK 2018-02-15T08:21:34.5470000
yyyyMMddHHmmss 20180215082134
yyyyMMddHHmmssfffffff 201802150821345470000
ddd, dd MMM yyy HH:mm:ss 'GMT' Thu, 15 Feb 2018 08:21:34 GMT
HH:mm 08:21
HH:mm tt 08:21 AM
HH:mm:ss 08:21:34
HH:mm:ss tt 08:21:34 AM
H:mm 8:21
H:mm tt 8:21 AM
H:mm:ss 8:21:34
H:mm:ss tt 8:21:34 AM
hh:mm 08:21
hh:mm tt 08:21 AM
hh:mm:ss 08:21:34
hh:mm:ss tt 08:21:34 AM
h:mm 8:21
h:mm tt 8:21 AM
h:mm:ss 8:21:34
Where:
H - 0-23 hours
HH - 00-23 hours (zeros are printed to keep two places)
h - 0-12 hours
hh - 00-12 hours (zeros are printed to keep two places)
mm - 00-59 minutes (zeros are printed to keep two places)
ss - 00-59 seconds (zeros are printed to keep two places)
tt - AM or PM
fffffff - second fraction
fffffffK - second fraction
d - day of month number
dd - day of month number (zeros are printed to keep two places)
ddd - short day name
dddd - long day name
MM - month number (zeros are printed to keep two places)
MMM - short month name
MMMM - long month name
yy - 00-99 year (zeros are printed to keep two places)
yyy - 00-999 year (zeros are printed to keep two places)
yyyy - 00-9999 year (zeros are printed to keep two places)
Charactes that are not interpreted: T - : . ,
'text' - single apostrophe does not interpret text inside e.g. 'GMT' as GMT
*/