TimeSpan remove seconds

Question

How do you truncate the seconds bit from a timespan object in C#? i.e. 15:37

I'm outputting a timespan object to JavaScript in the format of HH:mm and kind of want the server side to process providing the correct format instead of clients browsers, can that be done without providing this as a C# string object to JavaScript?

Solution 1

You can truncate the 'ticks' value which is the core of a TimeSpan:

TimeSpan t1 = TimeSpan.FromHours(1.551);
Console.WriteLine(t1);
TimeSpan t2 = new TimeSpan(t1.Ticks - (t1.Ticks % 600000000));
Console.WriteLine(t2);

Gives:

01:33:03.6000000
01:33:00

Solution 2

You can use a format string for that:

public string GetTimeSpanAsString(TimeSpan input)
{
    return input.ToString(@"hh\:mm");
}

Solution 3

Maybe not optimal, but easy to read:

TimeSpan.FromMinutes((long)duration.TotalMinutes);

Comments

[Fredrik Mörk]

That code crashes if myTime is a TimeSpan (System.FormatException: Input string was not in a correct format.)

[Maya]

Thanks but I need 01:33 output in my case

[The Muffin Man]

@Fredrik, sorry, however H:mm should be the converter your looking for.

[CodesInChaos]

@Maya "1:33" is a string. You just said you wanted a TimeSpan and not a string.

[Will Dean]

Then you need to send a preformatted string, not a TimeSpan. I read the question has 'how do I do this without sending a string', sorry.

[Maya]

@CodeInChaos @will-dean thanks Will I thought there is a way to produce the hh:mm format AS a TimeSpan without converting to String.

[Chris Van Opstal]

@Maya I think you're going to have to either modify your JSON serializer or do this on the client side. Or just modify the value you're sending to your serializer and send a string instead.

[Fredrik Mörk]

I don't understand what you mean. H:mm is not a valid format string for a TimeSpan. For a DateTime yes, but not for TimeSpan.

[CodesInChaos]

A TimeSpan has no format. It's just an integral number of ticks. I think what you want is changing how it's serialized to json, and not the TimeSpan itself.

[Will Dean]

@Maya - TimeSpan doesn't have any particular string representation until someone converts it into a string - pretty much all .NET types work like this. Though you could create one which carried its format with it, that isn't the way the standard types work.

[The Muffin Man]

@Fredrik, I was under the impression that it would parse the string for a time and convert it to the specified format. I apologize for giving you false information.

[Maya]

Ok fair enough, that clears things up for me, many thanks guys, a +1 vote for you all :)

[Darren]

Great answer, but I would use TimeSpan.TicksPerMinute instead of 600000000.