String Formatting in C#
The text inside the curly braces is {index[,alignment][:formatString]}. If alignment is positive, the text is right-aligned in a field
the given number of spaces; if it’s negative, it’s left-aligned.
Strings
There really isn’t any formatting within a string, beyond it’s alignment. Alignment works for any argument being printed in a
String.Format call.
Sample Generates
String.Format(”->{1,10}<-”, “Hello”); -> Hello<-
String.Format(”->{1,-10}<-”, “Hello”); ->Hello <-
Numbers
Basic number formatting specifiers:
Output (Passed Double Output (Passed Int
Specifier Type Format
1.42) -12400)
c Currency {0:c} $1.42 -$12,400
Decimal
d (Whole {0:d} System.FormatException -12400
number)
e Scientific {0:e} 1.420000e+000 -1.240000e+004
f Fixed point {0:f} 1.42 -12400.00
g General {0:g} 1.42 -12400
Number with
n commas for {0:n} 1.42 -12,400
thousands
Round
r {0:r} 1.42 System.FormatException
trippable
x Hexadecimal {0:x4} System.FormatException cf90
Custom number formatting:
Specifier Type Example Output (Passed Double 1500.42) Note
0 Zero placeholder {0:00.0000} 1500.4200 Pads with zeroes.
# Digit placeholder {0:(#).##} (1500).42
. Decimal point {0:0.0} 1500.4
, Thousand separator {0:0,0} 1,500 Must be between two zeroes.
,. Number scaling {0:0,.} 2 Comma adjacent to Period scales by 1000.
% Percent {0:0%} 150042% Multiplies by 100, adds % sign.
e Exponent placeholder {0:00e+0} 15e+2 Many exponent formats available.
; Group separator see below
The group separator is especially useful for formatting currency values which require that negative values be enclosed in
parentheses. A currency formatting example:
String.Format(”{0:$#,##0.00;($#,##0.00);Zero}”, value);
This will output “$1,240.00″ if passed 1243.50. It will output the same format but in parentheses if the number is
negative, and will output the string “Zero” if the number is zero.
String.Format(”{0:(###) ###-####}”, 8005551212);
This will output “(800) 555-1212″.
Enumerations
Specifier Type
g Default (Flag names if available, otherwise decimal)
f Flags always
d Integer always
x Eight digit hex.
Dates
Note that date formatting is especially dependant on the system’s regional settings; the example strings here are from my
local locale.
Specifier Type Example (Passed System.DateTime.Now)
D Short date 10/12/2002
D Long date December 10, 2002
T Short time 10:11 PM
T Long time 10:11:29 PM
F Full date & time December 10, 2002 10:11 PM
F Full date & time (long) December 10, 2002 10:11:29 PM
G Default date & time 10/12/2002 10:11 PM
G Default date & time (long) 10/12/2002 10:11:29 PM
M Month day pattern December 10
R RFC1123 date string Tue, 10 Dec 2002 22:11:29 GMT
S Sortable date string 2002-12-10T22:11:29
Universal sortable, local
u 2002-12-10 22:13:50Z
time
U Universal sortable, GMT December 11, 2002 3:13:50 AM
Y Year month pattern December, 2002
The ‘U’ specifier seems broken; that string certainly isn’t sortable.
Custom date formatting:
Specifier Type Example Example Output
Dd Day {0:dd} 10
Ddd Day name {0:ddd} Tue
Dddd Full day name {0:dddd} Tuesday
f, ff, … Second fractions {0:fff} 932
gg, … Era {0:gg} A.D.
hh 2 digit hour {0:hh} 10
HH 2 digit hour, 24hr format {0:HH} 22
mm Minute 00-59 {0:mm} 38
MM Month 01-12 {0:MM} 12
MMM Month abbreviation {0:MMM} Dec
MMMM Full month name {0:MMMM} December
ss Seconds 00-59 {0:ss} 46
tt AM or PM {0:tt} PM
yy Year, 2 digits {0:yy} 02
yyyy Year {0:yyyy} 2002
zz Timezone offset, 2 digits {0:zz} -05
zzz Full timezone offset {0:zzz} -05:00
: Separator {0:hh:mm:ss} 10:43:20
/ Separator {0:dd/MM/yyyy} 10/12/2002
