Question

What’s the best way to do it?

This is how I’ll usually do it:

DateTime newDate;

try
{
    newDate = DateTime.Parse(Textbox.Text);
}
catch
{
    //isn't a datetime
    return;
}

//do stuff with the date

But something tells me that that is a bit wrong. Any ideas?

Answer 1

Use the DateTime.TryParse method instead of using your own try/catch blocks.

string text = "10/16/2009";
DateTime result;

if (DateTime.TryParse(text, out result))
{
    // success, result holds converted value
}
else
{
    // failed
}