Question

I need to parse the actual date value from a config file. So I need to know if there is any string representation of DateTime.Now()? So I can parse it via DateTime.Parse(..)?

Thanks

EDIT

Sorry I didn’t explain my self pretty well. I reexplain my question.
I have my config file that has the following section:

<Parameters>
  <Parameter Name="StartTime" Value="**I Want to put a string here that will be parsed as DateTime.Now()**"/>
</Parameters>

Pay attention to what is specified in the Value attribute!

Answer 1

I don’t think you can achieve what you want by simply parsing a datetime. I think what you are trying to do, is have a value that represents DateTime.Now, none exist, because DateTime.Now is forever changing. What you may want to do is allow a special string which you want to represent the Now value:

public DateTime GetDateTime(string value)
{
  if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(value))
    return DateTime.MinValue;

  if ("{now}".Equals(value, StringComparison.InvariantCultureIgnoreCase))
    return DateTime.Now;

  return DateTime.Parse(value);
}