The DateTimeOffset.ParseExact(string, string, IFormatProvider) method parses the string representation of a date, which must be in the format defined by the format parameter. It also requires that the <Date>, <Time>, and <Offset> elements of the string representation of a date and time appear in the order specified by format. If the input string does not match this format parameter, the method throws a FormatException. In contrast, the DateTimeOffset.Parse(string, IFormatProvider) method parses the string representation of a date in any one of the formats recognized by the format provider's System.Globalization.DateTimeFormatInfo object. DateTimeOffset.Parse(string, IFormatProvider) also allows the <Date>, <Time>, and <Offset> elements of the string representation of a date and time to appear in any order.

The format parameter is a string that contains either a single standard format specifier or one or more custom format specifiers that define the required format of the input parameter. For details about valid formatting codes, see Standard DateTime Format Strings and Custom DateTime Format Strings. If format includes the z, zz, or zzz custom format specifiers to indicate that an offset must be present in input, that offset must include either a negative sign or a positive sign. If the sign is missing, the method throws a FormatException.

If format requires that input contain a date but not a time, the resulting DateTimeOffset object is assigned a time of midnight (0:00:00). If format requires that input contain a time but not a date, the resulting DateTimeOffset object is assigned the current date on the local system. If format does not require that input contain an offset, the resulting DateTimeOffset object is assigned the time zone offset of the local system.

The particular date and time symbols and strings used in input are defined by the formatProvider parameter, as is the precise format of input if format is a standard format specifier string. The formatProvider parameter can be either of the following:

• A System.Globalization.CultureInfo object that represents the culture based on which input is interpreted. The System.Globalization.DateTimeFormatInfo object returned by its System.Globalization.CultureInfo.DateTimeFormat property defines the symbols and formatting in input.

• A System.Globalization.DateTimeFormatInfo object that defines the format of date and time data.

If formatprovider is null, the System.Globalization.CultureInfo object that corresponds to the current culture is used.

Namespace: System
Assembly: mscorlib (in mscorlib.dll)
Assembly Versions: 2.0.0.0, 4.0.0.0