How do I represent a time only value in NET

Question

Is there a way one can represent a time only value in  NET without the date  For example  indicating the opening time of a shop   TimeSpan indicates a range  whereas I only want to store a time value  Using DateTime to indicate this would result in new DateTime 1 1 1 8 30 0  which is not really desirable

User · Answer

You can use timespan  TimeSpan timeSpan   new TimeSpan 2  14  18   Console WriteLine timeSpan ToString            Displays  02 14 18      Edit  Considering the other answers and the edit to the question  I would still use TimeSpan  No point in creating a new structure where an existing one from the framework suffice  On these lines you would end up duplicating many native data types

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In addition to Chibueze Opata   class Time       public int Hours     get  private set        public int Minutes   get  private set        public int Seconds   get  private set         public Time uint h  uint m  uint s                if h  gt  23    m  gt  59    s  gt  59                        throw new ArgumentException  Invalid time specified                      Hours    int h  Minutes    int m  Seconds    int s             public Time DateTime dt                Hours   dt Hour          Minutes   dt Minute          Seconds   dt Second             public override string ToString                   return String Format                0 00   1 00   2 00                this Hours  this Minutes  this Seconds              public void AddHours uint h                this Hours     int h             public void AddMinutes uint m                this Minutes     int m          while this Minutes  gt  59              this Minutes -  60              this AddHours 1              public void AddSeconds uint s                this Seconds     int s          while this Seconds  gt  59              this Seconds -  60              this AddMinutes 1

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If that empty Date really bugs you  you can also to create a simpler Time structure      more work is required to make this even close to production ready class Time          TODO  don t forget to add validation     public int Hours     get  set        public int Minutes   get  set        public int Seconds   get  set         public override string ToString                   return String Format                0 00   1 00   2 00                this Hours  this Minutes  this Seconds             Or  why to bother  if you don t need to do any calculation with that information  just store it as String

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If you don t want to use a DateTime or TimeSpan  and just want to store the time of day  you could just store the seconds since midnight in an Int32  or  if you don t even want seconds  the minutes since midnight would fit into an Int16  It would be trivial to write the few methods required to access the Hour  Minute and Second from such a value   The only reason I can think of to avoid DateTime TimeSpan would be if the size of the structure is critical    Of course  if you use a simple scheme like the above wrapped in a class  then it would also be trivial to replace the storage with a TimeSpan in future if you suddenly realise that would give you an advantage

User · Answer

I say use a DateTime  If you don t need the date portion  just ignore it  If you need to display just the time to the user  output it formatted to the user like this     DateTime Now ToString  t        outputs 10 00 PM   It seems like all the extra work of making a new class or even using a TimeSpan is unnecessary

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I think Rubens  class is a good idea so thought to make an immutable sample of his Time class with basic validation   class Time       public int Hours     get  private set        public int Minutes   get  private set        public int Seconds   get  private set         public Time uint h  uint m  uint s                if h  gt  23    m  gt  59    s  gt  59                        throw new ArgumentException  Invalid time specified                      Hours    int h  Minutes    int m  Seconds    int s             public Time DateTime dt                Hours   dt Hour          Minutes   dt Minute          Seconds   dt Second             public override string ToString                   return String Format                0 00   1 00   2 00                this Hours  this Minutes  this Seconds

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Here s a full featured TimeOfDay class     This is overkill for simple cases  but if you need more advanced functionality like I did  this may help   It can handle the corner cases  some basic math  comparisons  interaction with DateTime  parsing  etc   Below is the source code for the TimeOfDay class   You can see usage examples and learn more here    This class uses DateTime for most of its internal calculations and comparisons so that we can leverage all of the knowledge already embedded in DateTime      Author  Steve Lautenschlager  CambiaResearch com    License  MIT  using System  using System Text RegularExpressions   namespace Cambia       public class TimeOfDay               private const int MINUTES PER DAY   60   24          private const int SECONDS PER DAY   SECONDS PER HOUR   24          private const int SECONDS PER HOUR   3600          private static Regex  TodRegex   new Regex    d  d  d d  d d  d  d  d d             public TimeOfDay                         Init 0  0  0                     public TimeOfDay int hour  int minute  int second   0                        Init hour  minute  second                     public TimeOfDay int hhmmss                        Init hhmmss                     public TimeOfDay DateTime dt                        Init dt                     public TimeOfDay TimeOfDay td                        Init td Hour  td Minute  td Second                      public int HHMMSS                       get                               return Hour   10000   Minute   100   Second                                  public int Hour   get  private set            public int Minute   get  private set            public int Second   get  private set            public double TotalDays                       get                               return TotalSeconds    24d   SECONDS PER HOUR                                   public double TotalHours                       get                               return TotalSeconds    1d   SECONDS PER HOUR                                   public double TotalMinutes                       get                               return TotalSeconds   60d                                  public int TotalSeconds                       get                               return Hour   3600   Minute   60   Second                                  public bool Equals TimeOfDay other                        if  other    null    return false                return TotalSeconds    other TotalSeconds                    public override bool Equals object obj                        if  obj    null    return false                TimeOfDay td   obj as TimeOfDay              if  td    null    return false                else   return Equals td                       public override int GetHashCode                         return TotalSeconds                    public DateTime ToDateTime DateTime dt                        return new DateTime dt Year  dt Month  dt Day  Hour  Minute  Second                     public override string ToString                         return ToString  HH mm ss                      public string ToString string format                        DateTime now   DateTime Now              DateTime dt   new DateTime now Year  now Month  now Day  Hour  Minute  Second               return dt ToString format                     public TimeSpan ToTimeSpan                         return new TimeSpan Hour  Minute  Second                     public DateTime ToToday                         var now   DateTime Now              return new DateTime now Year  now Month  now Day  Hour  Minute  Second                       region -- Static --         public static TimeOfDay Midnight   get   return new TimeOfDay 0  0  0               public static TimeOfDay Noon   get   return new TimeOfDay 12  0  0               public static TimeOfDay operator - TimeOfDay t1  TimeOfDay t2                        DateTime now   DateTime Now              DateTime dt1   new DateTime now Year  now Month  now Day  t1 Hour  t1 Minute  t1 Second               TimeSpan ts   new TimeSpan t2 Hour  t2 Minute  t2 Second               DateTime dt2   dt1 - ts              return new TimeOfDay dt2                     public static bool operator    TimeOfDay t1  TimeOfDay t2                        if  ReferenceEquals t1  t2     return true                else if  ReferenceEquals t1  null     return true                else                               return t1 TotalSeconds    t2 TotalSeconds                                  public static bool operator    TimeOfDay t1  DateTime dt2                        if  ReferenceEquals t1  null     return false                DateTime dt1   new DateTime dt2 Year  dt2 Month  dt2 Day  t1 Hour  t1 Minute  t1 Second               return dt1    dt2                    public static bool operator    DateTime dt1  TimeOfDay t2                        if  ReferenceEquals t2  null     return false                DateTime dt2   new DateTime dt1 Year  dt1 Month  dt1 Day  t2 Hour  t2 Minute  t2 Second               return dt1    dt2                    public static TimeOfDay operator   TimeOfDay t1  TimeOfDay t2                        DateTime now   DateTime Now              DateTime dt1   new DateTime now Year  now Month  now Day  t1 Hour  t1 Minute  t1 Second               TimeSpan ts   new TimeSpan t2 Hour  t2 Minute  t2 Second               DateTime dt2   dt1   ts              return new TimeOfDay dt2                     public static bool operator  lt  TimeOfDay t1  TimeOfDay t2                        if  ReferenceEquals t1  t2     return true                else if  ReferenceEquals t1  null     return true                else                               return t1 TotalSeconds  lt  t2 TotalSeconds                                  public static bool operator  lt  TimeOfDay t1  DateTime dt2                        if  ReferenceEquals t1  null     return false                DateTime dt1   new DateTime dt2 Year  dt2 Month  dt2 Day  t1 Hour  t1 Minute  t1 Second               return dt1  lt  dt2                    public static bool operator  lt  DateTime dt1  TimeOfDay t2                        if  ReferenceEquals t2  null     return false                DateTime dt2   new DateTime dt1 Year  dt1 Month  dt1 Day  t2 Hour  t2 Minute  t2 Second               return dt1  lt  dt2                    public static bool operator  lt   TimeOfDay t1  TimeOfDay t2                        if  ReferenceEquals t1  t2     return true                else if  ReferenceEquals t1  null     return true                else                               if  t1    t2    return true                    return t1 TotalSeconds  lt   t2 TotalSeconds                                  public static bool operator  lt   TimeOfDay t1  DateTime dt2                        if  ReferenceEquals t1  null     return false                DateTime dt1   new DateTime dt2 Year  dt2 Month  dt2 Day  t1 Hour  t1 Minute  t1 Second               return dt1  lt   dt2                    public static bool operator  lt   DateTime dt1  TimeOfDay t2                        if  ReferenceEquals t2  null     return false                DateTime dt2   new DateTime dt1 Year  dt1 Month  dt1 Day  t2 Hour  t2 Minute  t2 Second               return dt1  lt   dt2                    public static bool operator    TimeOfDay t1  TimeOfDay t2                        if  ReferenceEquals t1  t2     return true                else if  ReferenceEquals t1  null     return true                else   return t1 Equals t2                       public static bool operator    TimeOfDay t1  DateTime dt2                        if  ReferenceEquals t1  null     return false                DateTime dt1   new DateTime dt2 Year  dt2 Month  dt2 Day  t1 Hour  t1 Minute  t1 Second               return dt1    dt2                    public static bool operator    DateTime dt1  TimeOfDay t2                        if  ReferenceEquals t2  null     return false                DateTime dt2   new DateTime dt1 Year  dt1 Month  dt1 Day  t2 Hour  t2 Minute  t2 Second               return dt1    dt2                    public static bool operator  gt  TimeOfDay t1  TimeOfDay t2                        if  ReferenceEquals t1  t2     return true                else if  ReferenceEquals t1  null     return true                else                               return t1 TotalSeconds  gt  t2 TotalSeconds                                  public static bool operator  gt  TimeOfDay t1  DateTime dt2                        if  ReferenceEquals t1  null     return false                DateTime dt1   new DateTime dt2 Year  dt2 Month  dt2 Day  t1 Hour  t1 Minute  t1 Second               return dt1  gt  dt2                    public static bool operator  gt  DateTime dt1  TimeOfDay t2                        if  ReferenceEquals t2  null     return false                DateTime dt2   new DateTime dt1 Year  dt1 Month  dt1 Day  t2 Hour  t2 Minute  t2 Second               return dt1  gt  dt2                    public static bool operator  gt   TimeOfDay t1  TimeOfDay t2                        if  ReferenceEquals t1  t2     return true                else if  ReferenceEquals t1  null     return true                else                               return t1 TotalSeconds  gt   t2 TotalSeconds                                  public static bool operator  gt   TimeOfDay t1  DateTime dt2                        if  ReferenceEquals t1  null     return false                DateTime dt1   new DateTime dt2 Year  dt2 Month  dt2 Day  t1 Hour  t1 Minute  t1 Second               return dt1  gt   dt2                    public static bool operator  gt   DateTime dt1  TimeOfDay t2                        if  ReferenceEquals t2  null     return false                DateTime dt2   new DateTime dt1 Year  dt1 Month  dt1 Day  t2 Hour  t2 Minute  t2 Second               return dt1  gt   dt2                         lt summary gt              Input examples              14 21 17             2pm 21min 17sec              02 15                2am 15min 0sec              2 15                 2am 15min 0sec              2 1 2017 14 21       2pm 21min 0sec              TimeOfDay 15 13 12   3pm 13min 12sec               lt  summary gt          public static TimeOfDay Parse string s                           We will parse any section of the text that matches this                pattern  dd dd or dd dd dd where the first doublet can                be one or two digits for the hour   But minute and second                must be two digits               Match m    TodRegex Match s               string text   m Value              string   fields   text Split                   if  fields Length  lt  2    throw new ArgumentException  No valid time of day pattern found in input text                  int hour   Convert ToInt32 fields 0                int min   Convert ToInt32 fields 1                int sec   fields Length  gt  2   Convert ToInt32 fields 2     0               return new TimeOfDay hour  min  sec                      endregion          private void Init int hour  int minute  int second                        if  hour  lt  0    hour  gt  23    throw new ArgumentException  Invalid hour  must be from 0 to 23                   if  minute  lt  0    minute  gt  59    throw new ArgumentException  Invalid minute  must be from 0 to 59                   if  second  lt  0    second  gt  59    throw new ArgumentException  Invalid second  must be from 0 to 59                   Hour   hour              Minute   minute              Second   second                    private void Init int hhmmss                        int hour   hhmmss   10000              int min    hhmmss - hour   10000    100              int sec    hhmmss - hour   10000 - min   100               Init hour  min  sec                     private void Init DateTime dt                        Init dt Hour  dt Minute  dt Second

User · Answer

As others have said  you can use a DateTime and ignore the date  or use a TimeSpan  Personally I m not keen on either of these solutions  as neither type really reflects the concept you re trying to represent - I regard the date time types in  NET as somewhat on the sparse side which is one of the reasons I started Noda Time  In Noda Time  you can use the LocalTime type to represent a time of day   One thing to consider  the time of day is not necessarily the length of time since midnight on the same day      As another aside  if you re also wanting to represent a closing time of a shop  you may find that you want to represent 24 00  i e  the time at the end of the day  Most date time APIs - including Noda Time - don t allow that to be represented as a time-of-day value

[c#] How do I represent a time only value in .NET?

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