{"id":2318,"date":"2023-06-18T10:49:16","date_gmt":"2023-06-18T03:49:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/csharptutorial.net\/?page_id=2318"},"modified":"2023-06-18T10:49:17","modified_gmt":"2023-06-18T03:49:17","slug":"csharp-timeonly","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.csharptutorial.net\/csharp-tutorial\/csharp-timeonly\/","title":{"rendered":"C# TimeOnly"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Summary<\/strong>: in this tutorial, you will learn about the C# TimeOnly<\/code> type and how to use it to manage time-only data effectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Introduction to the C# TimeOnly type<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

.NET 6 introduced the TimeOnly<\/code> type that represents a time-of-day value. The TimeOnly<\/code> type has a range from 00:00:00.0000000<\/code>\u00a0–\u00a023:59:59.9999999<\/code>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To create a new TimeOnly<\/code> object, you use one of its constructors. For example, the following creates a TimeOnly<\/code> object with hour, minute, and second that represents 15:30:20<\/code> :<\/p>\n\n\n

var<\/span> t = new<\/span> TimeOnly(15<\/span>, 30<\/span>, 20<\/span>);<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> C#<\/span> (<\/span>cs<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
Once having the TimeOnly<\/code> instance, you can access the Hour<\/code>, Minute<\/code>, and Second <\/code>properties:<\/p>\n\n\n
using<\/span> static<\/span> System.Console;\n\nvar<\/span> t = new<\/span> TimeOnly(15<\/span>, 30<\/span>, 20<\/span>);\n\nWriteLine(t.Hour);\nWriteLine(t.Minute);\nWriteLine(t.Second);<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> C#<\/span> (<\/span>cs<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
Output:<\/p>\n\n\n
15<\/span>\n30<\/span>\n20<\/span><\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> C#<\/span> (<\/span>cs<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
Note that the TimeOnly<\/code> constructor has overloads that also accept milliseconds and microseconds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you have a DateTime<\/a><\/code> object, you can convert it to a TimeOnly<\/code> object by calling the FromDateTime<\/code> static method of the TimeOnly<\/code> object:<\/p>\n\n\n
using<\/span> static<\/span> System.Console;\n\nvar<\/span> t = TimeOnly.FromDateTime(DateTime.Now);\n\nWriteLine(t);<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> C#<\/span> (<\/span>cs<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
Output:<\/p>\n\n\n
9<\/span>:43<\/span> AM<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> C#<\/span> (<\/span>cs<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
Note that your output will depend on the time you run the program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Like a DateTime<\/code> type, the TimeOnly<\/code> has the Parse()<\/code> and ParseExact()<\/code> static methods that parse a string into a TimeOnly<\/code> instance. For example:<\/p>\n\n\n
using<\/span> static<\/span> System.Console;\n\nvar<\/span> t = TimeOnly.Parse(\"10:20:30\"<\/span>);\n\nWriteLine(t);<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> C#<\/span> (<\/span>cs<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
Output:<\/p>\n\n\n
10<\/span>:20<\/span> AM<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> C#<\/span> (<\/span>cs<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
Adjusting time<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Once having a TimeOnly<\/code> instance, you can adjust it using the AddHours<\/code>, AddMinutes<\/code>, and Add<\/code> methods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Adding or subtracting hours<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The AddHours<\/code> method takes an integer and adjusts the hour of the TimeOnly<\/code> instance accordingly. The following example uses the AddHours<\/code>() method to add two hours to a time:<\/p>\n\n\n
using<\/span> static<\/span> System.Console;\n\nvar<\/span> t = TimeOnly.Parse(\"10:20:30\"<\/span>);\nt = t.AddHours(2<\/span>);\n\nWriteLine(t);<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> C#<\/span> (<\/span>cs<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
Output:<\/p>\n\n\n
12<\/span>:20<\/span> PM<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> C#<\/span> (<\/span>cs<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
To subtract hours from time, you can use a negative value in the AddHours()<\/code> method. For example, the following uses the AddHours()<\/code> method to subtract three hours from a time:<\/p>\n\n\n
using<\/span> static<\/span> System.Console;\n\nvar<\/span> t = TimeOnly.Parse(\"10:20:30\"<\/span>);\nt = t.AddHours(-3<\/span>);\n\nWriteLine(t);<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> C#<\/span> (<\/span>cs<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
Output:<\/p>\n\n\n
7<\/span>:20<\/span> AM<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> C#<\/span> (<\/span>cs<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
Adding or subtracting minutes<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The AddMinutes()<\/code> method adds or subtracts minutes from a time. For example:<\/p>\n\n\n
using<\/span> static<\/span> System.Console;\n\nvar<\/span> t = TimeOnly.Parse(\"10:20:30\"<\/span>);\n\n\/\/ Add 10 minutes<\/span>\nt = t.AddMinutes(10<\/span>);\nWriteLine(t);\n\n\/\/ Subtract 30 minutes<\/span>\nt = t.AddMinutes(-30<\/span>);\nWriteLine(t);<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> C#<\/span> (<\/span>cs<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
Output:<\/p>\n\n\n
10<\/span>:30<\/span> AM\n10<\/span>:00<\/span> AM<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> C#<\/span> (<\/span>cs<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
Adding or subtracting a timestamp<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The Add()<\/code> method adds a timestamp to or subtracts a timestamp from a time. The following example illustrates how to add a timestamp of 2 hours 40 minutes 0 seconds to a TimeOnly<\/code> object:<\/p>\n\n\n
using<\/span> static<\/span> System.Console;\n\nvar<\/span> t = TimeOnly.Parse(\"10:20:30\"<\/span>);\n\n\/\/ Add a timestamp 2 hours, 40 minutes, 0 seconds<\/span>\nt = t.Add(new<\/span> TimeSpan(2<\/span>,40<\/span>,0<\/span>));\n\nWriteLine(t);<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> C#<\/span> (<\/span>cs<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
Output:<\/p>\n\n\n
1<\/span>:00<\/span> PM<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> C#<\/span> (<\/span>cs<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
Comparing time<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
To compare two TimeOnly<\/code> instances, you can use the >, >=, <, <=, and == operators. For example:<\/p>\n\n\n
using<\/span> static<\/span> System.Console;\n\nvar<\/span> t1 = new<\/span> TimeOnly(12<\/span>, 30<\/span>, 0<\/span>);\nvar<\/span> t2 = new<\/span> TimeOnly(12<\/span>, 40<\/span>, 0<\/span>);\n\nif<\/span> (t1 < t2)\n{\n    WriteLine(\"t1 is before t2\"<\/span>);\n}\nelse<\/span>\n{\n    WriteLine(\"t1 is after t2\"<\/span>);\n}<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> C#<\/span> (<\/span>cs<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
Output:<\/p>\n\n\n
t1 is<\/span> before t2<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> C#<\/span> (<\/span>cs<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
Formatting time<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The TimeOnly<\/code> provides you with two useful methods for formatting times including ToShortTimeString<\/code> and ToLongTimeString<\/code>:<\/p>\n\n\n
using<\/span> static<\/span> System.Console;\n\nvar<\/span> t1 = new<\/span> TimeOnly(12<\/span>, 30<\/span>, 15<\/span>);\n\n\nWriteLine(t1.ToLongTimeString());\nWriteLine(t1.ToShortTimeString());<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> C#<\/span> (<\/span>cs<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
Output:<\/p>\n\n\n
12<\/span>:30<\/span>:15<\/span> PM\n12<\/span>:30<\/span> PM<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> C#<\/span> (<\/span>cs<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
Alternatively, you can use the format specifiers to format time. For example:<\/p>\n\n\n
using<\/span> static<\/span> System.Console;\n\nvar<\/span> t = new<\/span> TimeOnly(14<\/span>, 30<\/span>, 15<\/span>);\n\nWriteLine(t.ToString(\"hh:mm:ss tt\"<\/span>));\nWriteLine(t.ToString(\"HH:mm:ss\"<\/span>));<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> C#<\/span> (<\/span>cs<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
Output:<\/p>\n\n\n
02<\/span>:30<\/span>:15<\/span> PM\n14<\/span>:30<\/span>:15<\/span><\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> C#<\/span> (<\/span>cs<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
In this example, we use the following format specifiers:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  • HH<\/code>: Two-digit hours in 24-hour format (e.g., 00 to 23).<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • mm<\/code>: Two-digit minutes (e.g., 00 to 59).<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • ss<\/code>: Two-digit seconds (e.g., 00 to 59).<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • hh<\/code>: Two-digit hours in 12-hour format (e.g., 01 to 12).<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • tt<\/code>: AM<\/code>\/PM<\/code> designator.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    TimeOnly vs. DateTime<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
    The following table illustrates the differences between TimeOnly<\/code> and DateTime<\/code> types:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Feature<\/th>TimeOnly<\/th>DateTime<\/th><\/tr>
    Represents<\/td>Time of day<\/td>Date and time<\/td><\/tr>
    Range<\/td>00:00:00.0000000 - 23:59:59.9999999<\/code><\/td>Safer to use for time-of-day values<\/td><\/tr>
    Serialization<\/td>Serializes less data<\/td>Serializes more data<\/td><\/tr>
    Type safety<\/td>feature<\/td>This can lead to OutOfRange exceptions if used for time-of-day values<\/td><\/tr>
    Use cases<\/td>This can lead to OutOfRange exceptions if used for time-of-day values.<\/td>When you need to represent both the date and time.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    Summary<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
      \n
    • Use the C# TimeOnly<\/code> to represent a time of the day.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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