[c#] How can I String.Format a TimeSpan object with a custom format in .NET?

What is the recommended way of formatting TimeSpan objects into a string with a custom format?

This is a pain in VS 2010, here's my workaround solution.

 public string DurationString
        {
            get 
            {
                if (this.Duration.TotalHours < 24)
                    return new DateTime(this.Duration.Ticks).ToString("HH:mm");
                else //If duration is more than 24 hours
                {
                    double totalminutes = this.Duration.TotalMinutes;
                    double hours = totalminutes / 60;
                    double minutes = this.Duration.TotalMinutes - (Math.Floor(hours) * 60);
                    string result = string.Format("{0}:{1}", Math.Floor(hours).ToString("00"), Math.Floor(minutes).ToString("00"));
                    return result;
                }
            } 
        }

I used the code below. It is long, but still it is one expression, and produces very friendly output, as it does not outputs days, hours, minutes, or seconds if they have value of zero.

In the sample it produces output: "4 days 1 hour 3 seconds".

TimeSpan sp = new TimeSpan(4,1,0,3);
string.Format("{0}{1}{2}{3}", 
        sp.Days > 0 ? ( sp.Days > 1 ? sp.ToString(@"d\ \d\a\y\s\ "): sp.ToString(@"d\ \d\a\y\ ")):string.Empty,
        sp.Hours > 0 ? (sp.Hours > 1 ? sp.ToString(@"h\ \h\o\u\r\s\ ") : sp.ToString(@"h\ \h\o\u\r\ ")):string.Empty,
        sp.Minutes > 0 ? (sp.Minutes > 1 ? sp.ToString(@"m\ \m\i\n\u\t\e\s\ ") :sp.ToString(@"m\ \m\i\n\u\t\e\ ")):string.Empty,
        sp.Seconds > 0 ? (sp.Seconds > 1 ? sp.ToString(@"s\ \s\e\c\o\n\d\s"): sp.ToString(@"s\ \s\e\c\o\n\d\s")):string.Empty);

Personally, I like this approach:

TimeSpan ts = ...;
string.Format("{0:%d}d {0:%h}h {0:%m}m {0:%s}s", ts);

You can make this as custom as you like with no problems:

string.Format("{0:%d}days {0:%h}hours {0:%m}min {0:%s}sec", ts);
string.Format("{0:%d}d {0:%h}h {0:%m}' {0:%s}''", ts);

Here is my extension method:

public static string ToFormattedString(this TimeSpan ts)
{
    const string separator = ", ";

    if (ts.TotalMilliseconds < 1) { return "No time"; }

    return string.Join(separator, new string[]
    {
        ts.Days > 0 ? ts.Days + (ts.Days > 1 ? " days" : " day") : null,
        ts.Hours > 0 ? ts.Hours + (ts.Hours > 1 ? " hours" : " hour") : null,
        ts.Minutes > 0 ? ts.Minutes + (ts.Minutes > 1 ? " minutes" : " minute") : null,
        ts.Seconds > 0 ? ts.Seconds + (ts.Seconds > 1 ? " seconds" : " second") : null,
        ts.Milliseconds > 0 ? ts.Milliseconds + (ts.Milliseconds > 1 ? " milliseconds" : " millisecond") : null,
    }.Where(t => t != null));
}

Example call:

string time = new TimeSpan(3, 14, 15, 0, 65).ToFormattedString();

Output:

3 days, 14 hours, 15 minutes, 65 milliseconds

This is the approach I used my self with conditional formatting. and I post it here because I think this is clean way.

$"{time.Days:#0:;;\\}{time.Hours:#0:;;\\}{time.Minutes:00:}{time.Seconds:00}"

example of outputs:

00:00 (minimum)

1:43:04 (when we have hours)

15:03:01 (when hours are more than 1 digit)

2:4:22:04 (when we have days.)

The formatting is easy. time.Days:#0:;;\\ the format before ;; is for when value is positive. negative values are ignored. and for zero values we have;;\\ in order to hide it in formatted string. note that the escaped backslash is necessary otherwise it will not format correctly.

if (timeSpan.TotalDays < 1)
    return timeSpan.ToString(@"hh\:mm\:ss");

return timeSpan.TotalDays < 2
    ? timeSpan.ToString(@"d\ \d\a\y\ hh\:mm\:ss")
    : timeSpan.ToString(@"d\ \d\a\y\s\ hh\:mm\:ss");

All literal characters must be escaped.

Dim duration As New TimeSpan(1, 12, 23, 62)

DEBUG.WriteLine("Time of Travel: " + duration.ToString("dd\.hh\:mm\:ss"))

It works for Framework 4

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee372287.aspx

Here is my version. It shows only as much as necessary, handles pluralization, negatives, and I tried to make it lightweight.

Output Examples

0 seconds
1.404 seconds
1 hour, 14.4 seconds
14 hours, 57 minutes, 22.473 seconds
1 day, 14 hours, 57 minutes, 22.475 seconds

Code

public static class TimeSpanExtensions
{
    public static string ToReadableString(this TimeSpan timeSpan)
    {
        int days = (int)(timeSpan.Ticks / TimeSpan.TicksPerDay);
        long subDayTicks = timeSpan.Ticks % TimeSpan.TicksPerDay;

        bool isNegative = false;
        if (timeSpan.Ticks < 0L)
        {
            isNegative = true;
            days = -days;
            subDayTicks = -subDayTicks;
        }

        int hours = (int)((subDayTicks / TimeSpan.TicksPerHour) % 24L);
        int minutes = (int)((subDayTicks / TimeSpan.TicksPerMinute) % 60L);
        int seconds = (int)((subDayTicks / TimeSpan.TicksPerSecond) % 60L);
        int subSecondTicks = (int)(subDayTicks % TimeSpan.TicksPerSecond);
        double fractionalSeconds = (double)subSecondTicks / TimeSpan.TicksPerSecond;

        var parts = new List<string>(4);

        if (days > 0)
            parts.Add(string.Format("{0} day{1}", days, days == 1 ? null : "s"));
        if (hours > 0)
            parts.Add(string.Format("{0} hour{1}", hours, hours == 1 ? null : "s"));
        if (minutes > 0)
            parts.Add(string.Format("{0} minute{1}", minutes, minutes == 1 ? null : "s"));
        if (fractionalSeconds.Equals(0D))
        {
            switch (seconds)
            {
                case 0:
                    // Only write "0 seconds" if we haven't written anything at all.
                    if (parts.Count == 0)
                        parts.Add("0 seconds");
                    break;

                case 1:
                    parts.Add("1 second");
                    break;

                default:
                    parts.Add(seconds + " seconds");
                    break;
            }
        }
        else
        {
            parts.Add(string.Format("{0}{1:.###} seconds", seconds, fractionalSeconds));
        }

        string resultString = string.Join(", ", parts);
        return isNegative ? "(negative) " + resultString : resultString;
    }
}

You can also go with:

Dim ts As New TimeSpan(35, 21, 59, 59)  '(11, 22, 30, 30)    '
Dim TimeStr1 As String = String.Format("{0:c}", ts)
Dim TimeStr2 As String = New Date(ts.Ticks).ToString("dd.HH:mm:ss")

EDIT:

You can also look at Strings.Format.

    Dim ts As New TimeSpan(23, 30, 59)
    Dim str As String = Strings.Format(New DateTime(ts.Ticks), "H:mm:ss")

One way is to create a DateTime object and use it for formatting:

new DateTime(myTimeSpan.Ticks).ToString(myCustomFormat)

// or using String.Format:
String.Format("{0:HHmmss}", new DateTime(myTimeSpan.Ticks))

This is the way I know. I hope someone can suggest a better way.

This is awesome one:

string.Format("{0:00}:{1:00}:{2:00}",
               (int)myTimeSpan.TotalHours,
               myTimeSpan.Minutes,
               myTimeSpan.Seconds);

I would go with

myTimeSpan.ToString("hh\\:mm\\:ss");

For .NET 3.5 and lower you could use:

string.Format ("{0:00}:{1:00}:{2:00}", 
               (int)myTimeSpan.TotalHours, 
                    myTimeSpan.Minutes, 
                    myTimeSpan.Seconds);

Code taken from a Jon Skeet answer on bytes

For .NET 4.0 and above, see DoctaJonez answer.

Simple. Use TimeSpan.ToString with c, g or G. More information at MSDN

I use this method. I'm Belgian and speak dutch so plural of hours and minutes is not just adding 's' to the end but almost a different word than singular.

It may seem long but it is very readable I think:

 public static string SpanToReadableTime(TimeSpan span)
    {
        string[] values = new string[4];  //4 slots: days, hours, minutes, seconds
        StringBuilder readableTime = new StringBuilder();

        if (span.Days > 0)
        {
            if (span.Days == 1)
                values[0] = span.Days.ToString() + " dag"; //day
            else
                values[0] = span.Days.ToString() + " dagen";  //days

            readableTime.Append(values[0]);
            readableTime.Append(", ");
        }
        else
            values[0] = String.Empty;


        if (span.Hours > 0)
        {
            if (span.Hours == 1)
                values[1] = span.Hours.ToString() + " uur";  //hour
            else
                values[1] = span.Hours.ToString() + " uren";  //hours

            readableTime.Append(values[1]);
            readableTime.Append(", ");

        }
        else
            values[1] = string.Empty;

        if (span.Minutes > 0)
        {
            if (span.Minutes == 1)
                values[2] = span.Minutes.ToString() + " minuut";  //minute
            else
                values[2] = span.Minutes.ToString() + " minuten";  //minutes

            readableTime.Append(values[2]);
            readableTime.Append(", ");
        }
        else
            values[2] = string.Empty;

        if (span.Seconds > 0)
        {
            if (span.Seconds == 1)
                values[3] = span.Seconds.ToString() + " seconde";  //second
            else
                values[3] = span.Seconds.ToString() + " seconden";  //seconds

            readableTime.Append(values[3]);
        }
        else
            values[3] = string.Empty;


        return readableTime.ToString();
    }//end SpanToReadableTime

If you want the duration format similar to youtube, given the number of seconds

int[] duration = { 0, 4, 40, 59, 60, 61, 400, 4000, 40000, 400000 };
foreach (int d in duration)
{
    Console.WriteLine("{0, 6} -> {1, 10}", d, d > 59 ? TimeSpan.FromSeconds(d).ToString().TrimStart("00:".ToCharArray()) : string.Format("0:{0:00}", d));
}

Output:

     0 ->       0:00
     4 ->       0:04
    40 ->       0:40
    59 ->       0:59
    60 ->       1:00
    61 ->       1:01
   400 ->       6:40
  4000 ->    1:06:40
 40000 ->   11:06:40
400000 -> 4.15:06:40

The Substring method works perfectly when you only want the Hours:Minutes:Seconds. It's simple, clean code and easy to understand.

    var yourTimeSpan = DateTime.Now - DateTime.Now.AddMinutes(-2);

    var formatted = yourTimeSpan.ToString().Substring(0,8);// 00:00:00 

    Console.WriteLine(formatted);

I wanted to return a string such as "1 day 2 hours 3 minutes" and also take into account if for example days or minuttes are 0 and then not showing them. thanks to John Rasch for his answer which mine is barely an extension of

TimeSpan timeLeft = New Timespan(0, 70, 0);
String.Format("{0}{1}{2}{3}{4}{5}",
    Math.Floor(timeLeft.TotalDays) == 0 ? "" : 
    Math.Floor(timeLeft.TotalDays).ToString() + " ",
    Math.Floor(timeLeft.TotalDays) == 0 ? "" : Math.Floor(timeLeft.TotalDays) == 1 ? "day " : "days ",
    timeLeft.Hours == 0 ? "" : timeLeft.Hours.ToString() + " ",
    timeLeft.Hours == 0 ? "" : timeLeft.Hours == 1 ? "hour " : "hours ",
    timeLeft.Minutes == 0 ? "" : timeLeft.Minutes.ToString() + " ",
    timeLeft.Minutes == 0 ? "" : timeLeft.Minutes == 1 ? "minute " : "minutes ");