How to compare time which is in string format in c#?

Sumit Kumawat

13y12.8kVisual Basic .NET

Hi all,

i am working on one app which will compare two different time. According to comparison it will do further task.

i am taking both time in strings like below;

string tym_one = "17:04";

string tym_two = "19:00";

I am not able to compare both strings.

please help me to compare this.

2 Replies

Know the answer? Post it — somebody with the same question will find it here.

Rishikesh Kumar Singh13y ago
Accepted answer
convert the string into timespans and then compare them with .compareTo() method like below.

string tym_one = "17:04";
string tym_two = "19:00";

TimeSpan first = TimeSpan.Parse(tym_one );
TimeSpan second = TimeSpan.Parse(tym_two );
if (first.CompareTo(second)==1)
{
MessageBox.Show("first time is greater");
}
if (first.CompareTo(second) == -1)
{
MessageBox.Show("second time is greater");
}
if (first.CompareTo(second) == 0)
{
MessageBox.Show("both are equal");
}

I have made a small project for this, get it downloaded and use it...

if it helps you then mark it as an accepted answer otherwise let me know..!!
+1
Vulpes13y ago
As long as your time strings are always in the format "hh:mm", then the String.CompareTo(String) method should work fine, whatever the current culture, as the following example shows:

using System;

class Test
{
static void Main()
{
string tym_one = "17:04";

string[] tym_twos = {"07:00", "17:03", "17:04", "17:05", "19:00"};

foreach(string tym_two in tym_twos)
{
if (tym_one.CompareTo(tym_two) < 0)
{
Console.WriteLine("tym_one is before tym_two");
}
else if (tym_one.CompareTo(tym_two) > 0)
{
Console.WriteLine("tym_one is after tym_two");
}
else
{
Console.WriteLine("tym_one is the same as tym_two");
}
}

Console.ReadKey();
}
}

The output, as expected is :

tym_one is after tym_two
tym_one is after tym_two
tym_one is the same as tym_two
tym_one is before tym_two
tym_one is before tym_two

However, if you might have time strings such as "6:13" or "6:3", then string comparison won't work and you'll need to parse first to TimeSpan (or DateTime) as Rishikesh suggested.
+1