ThinBASIC Core Language > BuiltIn Functions > Date and Time > cDateTime > cDateTime

Description

Return current date and time in a string form using special placeholdrs.

Syntax

s = <cDateTime>.ToStringFormat(strFormat)

Returns

String

Parameters

Name

Type

Optional

Meaning

strFormat

String

yes

Specify style format string and return the date/time in that format, supporting placeholders like yyyy, MM, dd, HH, mm, ss, fff, tt, dddd, MMM, etc.

Warning: all placeholders are case sensitive

Supported Format Tokens

Token	Meaning	Example
yyyy	4-digit year	2025
yy	2-digit year	25
MMMM	Full month name	August
MMM	Abbreviated month name	Aug
MM	Month (01-12)	08
M	Month (1-12)	8
dddd	Full day of week name	Sunday
ddd	Abbreviated day of week name	Sun
dd	Day of month (01-31)	07
d	Day of month (1-31)	7
HH	Hour in 24-hour format (00-23)	14
H	Hour in 24-hour format (0-23)	14
hh	Hour in 12-hour format (01-12)	02
h	Hour in 12-hour format (1-12)	2
mm	Minute (00-59)	09
m	Minute (0-59)	9
ss	Second (00-59)	05
s	Second (0-59)	5
fff	Milliseconds (000-999)	073
tt	AM/PM	AM
t	A/P	A

1.Locale‑aware names: "dddd" / "ddd" / "MMMM" / "MMM" returns localized day/month strings from Windows.

2.Literal text: single quotes wrap verbatim text; doubled '' becomes a single quote (like .NET).

3.Escapes: \ makes the next character literal (e.g., H\h m\m ⇒ 13h 05m).

4.AM/PM rules: 00:00:00 → 12:00:00 AM; 12:00:00 → 12:00:00 PM.

Remarks

Restrictions

See also

Examples

Uses "Console"

' Create an object with current date and time
Dim dt As New cDateTime

' Displays the current time and date
Printl dt.toStringFormat("yyyy/MM/dd HH:mm")
Printl dt.toStringFormat("yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss.fff")
Printl dt.toStringFormat("dd/MM/yyyy 'alle' HH:mm 'ora locale'")
Printl dt.toStringFormat("dddd, MMMM d, yyyy")
Printl dt.toStringFormat("hh:mm tt") & " (12-hour with AM/PM)"
Printl dt.toStringFormat("H\h m\m s\s") & " (escaped unit letters)"
Printl dt.toStringFormat("yyyy-'Q'Q (literal ' quotes: '' )")
Printl dt.toStringFormat("ddd MMM dd HH:mm:ss yyyy")

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