Delphi to .Net format string conversion

Question

I am looking for a library or snippet to convert Date/Time format strings from Delphi to .Net. This is for Delphi version 2007.

For example, Delphi 2007 specifies "m" as month, whereas .Net uses "M". However, in Delphi, if the "m" follows an "h", then it represents a minute value.

Are any available, or do I have to roll my own?

What exactly are you talking about? In memory or in a file? What string encoding? What version of Delphi? (They made some big changes to string format handling a couple years ago.) — Mason Wheeler
– Mason Wheeler, Commented Jul 6, 2010 at 13:42
Aha! You're talking about format strings. I thought you were talking about string formats. :P — Mason Wheeler
– Mason Wheeler, Commented Jul 6, 2010 at 15:02
In other words, your input is a string suitable for using with Delphi's FormatDateTime function, and the output should be a string suitable for using with the DateTime.ToString method, right? — Rob Kennedy
– Rob Kennedy, Commented Jul 6, 2010 at 15:05

Robert Love · Accepted Answer · 2010-07-06 15:45:56Z

3

ShineOn has a function to do just that:

ConvertDelphiDateTimeFormat(const aFormat: DelphiString): DelphiString;

It also has the inverse:

ConvertClrDateTimeFormat(const aFormat: DelphiString): DelphiString;

It's found in the "Date Functions (SysUtils).pas" file.

The code does indicate it's not 100%

Conversions between date formats:

This is close, but there are some cases where the mapping must be approximate.

For Delphi formats, this means

am/pm maps to ampm (that is, must use system setting)
a/p is based on current settings, not hardcoded to 'a' or 'p'
no control over case in the am/pm or a/p strings
no options for how to represent era, they all map to gg
no support for z -- it maps to fractional seconds with 3 decimals (zzz)

For CLR formats, this means

no support for single-digit years, they map to 2 digit years.
no support for 12-hour clock when there is no am/pm symbol, 24-hour is used.
no support for fractional seconds, they map to milliseconds (zzz)
no support for time zone offsets

edited Jul 6, 2010 at 15:45

answered Jul 6, 2010 at 15:17

Robert Love

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2 Comments

Armbrat Over a year ago

It doesn't seem to handle the following: Delphi=yyyymmdd hh:mm, .Net=yyyyMMdd HH:MM I believe it should be: Delphi=yyyymmdd hh:mm, .Net=yyyyMMdd HH:mm Note the incorrect handling of the minutes field.

Robert Love Over a year ago

Since you have the code it might be worth fixing that specific problem and submitting a patch back the the project.

Jeroen Wiert Pluimers · Accepted Answer · 2010-07-06 15:14:16Z

1

You have to roll your own.

Use these links to make the mapping:

.NET Custom Date and Time Format String
.NET Standard DateTime Format Strings
Delphi SysUtils.FormatDateTime specifiers

--jeroen

answered Jul 6, 2010 at 15:14

Jeroen Wiert Pluimers

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