Question

I am currently pulling start times from an XML file and using a date checking method to filter and then display in a Listbox.Itemsource.

Currently the start times are in “yyyyMMddHHmmss zzz” format in my XML file and my DateChecking method is also the same format for comparison to work.

What I would like to do is to convert the format from “yyyyMMddHHmmss zzz” to Long format “Wednesday 19th June 12:00 PM and have this display in the listbox.

The Code #######################################################

namespace TV_Guide_Version2
{
    public partial class TV2 : PhoneApplicationPage
    {
        public TV2()
        {
            InitializeComponent();
        }
        private void PhoneApplicationPage_Loaded_1(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
        {
            WebClient c = new WebClient();
            c.DownloadStringCompleted += new DownloadStringCompletedEventHandler(c_DownloadStringCompleted);
            c.DownloadStringAsync(new Uri("http://www.Domain.com/XMLSrouce.xml?"));

        }

        bool MyDateCheckingMethod(string dateString)
        {
            DateTime now = DateTime.Now.Date.Add(DateTime.Now.TimeOfDay);
            DateTime otherDate = DateTime.ParseExact(dateString, "yyyyMMddHHmmss K", null);

            return (now.AddHours(-2) <= otherDate && otherDate <= now.AddHours(24));
        }


        void c_DownloadStringCompleted(object sender, DownloadStringCompletedEventArgs e)
        {
            if (e.Error != null)
                return;


            var r = XDocument.Parse(e.Result);



            listBox1.ItemsSource = from tv in r.Root.Descendants("programme")
                                   where tv.Attribute("channel").Value == "1201"
                                   where MyDateCheckingMethod(tv.Attribute("start").Value)
                                   let channelE1 = tv.Attribute("channel")
                                   let startE1 = tv.Attribute("start")
                                   let nameEl = tv.Element("title")
                                   orderby tv.Attribute("start").Value ascending
                                   let urlEl = tv.Element("desc")


                                   select new TV1guide



                                   {
                                       DisplayName = nameEl == null ? null : nameEl.Value,
                                       ChannelName = channelE1 == null ? null : channelE1.Value,
                                       ChannelURL = urlEl == null ? null : urlEl.Value,
                                       StartTime = startE1 == null ? (DateTime?)null : DateTime.ParseExact(startE1.Value, "yyyyMMddHHmmss zzz", DateTimeFormatInfo.CurrentInfo, DateTimeStyles.AssumeLocal),



                                   };



        }

        public class TV1guide
        {
            public string DisplayName { get; set; }
            public string ChannelURL { get; set; }
            public string ImageSource { get; set; }
            public DateTime? StartTime { get; set; }
            public DateTime? EndTime { get; set; }
            public string ChannelName { get; set; }

        }




    }
}

Answer 1

This appears to do the trick:

var input = "20110901070000 +1100";
var dateTime = DateTimeOffset.ParseExact(input, "yyyyMMddHHmmss zzz", DateTimeFormatInfo.CurrentInfo);
var longFormat = dateTime.ToString("D");

Using DateTimeOffset makes it easier when working with times in different timezones.

EDIT:

I think there are two problems we are trying to solve here, if I am not mistaken. Let’s break it down:

1. We want to parse a Date/Time for purposes of displaying cleanly.
2. We want to filter by that Date/Time to display only certain records.

I think the first bit is to make sure we get all of the information into a correct data type. Something like this:

    var data = 
        from tv in r.Root.Descendants("programme")
        where tv.Attribute("channel").Value == "1201"
        let channelE1 = tv.Attribute("channel")
        let startE1 = tv.Attribute("start")
        let nameEl = tv.Element("title")
        orderby tv.Attribute("start").Value ascending
        let urlEl = tv.Element("desc")
        let guide = new TV1guide
        {
            DisplayName = nameEl == null ? null : nameEl.Value,
            ChannelName = channelE1 == null ? null : channelE1.Value,
            ChannelURL = urlEl == null ? null : urlEl.Value,
            StartTime = startE1 == null ? (DateTimeOffset?)null : ParseDate(startE1.Value),
        }
        where DateTimeOffset.Now.AddHours(-2) <= guide.StartTime && guide.StartTime <= DateTimeOffset.Now.AddDays(1)
        select guide;
}

private static DateTimeOffset ParseDate(string value)
{
    return  DateTimeOffset.ParseExact(value, "yyyyMMddHHmmss zzz", DateTimeFormatInfo.CurrentInfo);
}

Now, if you wanted, you could introduce another property on TV1guide that displays it the way you’d like:

public string StartTimeDisplay {get { return StartTime.HasValue ? StartTime.Value.ToString("D") : ""; }}

Or if you feel that it is too odd putting it there, you can place it whereever you’d like. THe point being now that it has been parsed into the TV1guide, you can display it however you need to when the time comes.