Learn About TimeSpan In C#

In this blog, learn about C# TimeSpan. C# Timespan calculates time difference between two dates.

TimeSpan is a class in C#, used for time interval operations.

TimeSpan class can be instantiated by any one of the following methods,

Simple Object Creation with no parameters

TimeSpan ts = new TimeSpan();
Console.WriteLine(ts.ToString());

This creates an empty TimeSpan object with zero value.

By passing hours, minutes and seconds.

TimeSpan ts1 = new TimeSpan(23, 10, 10);

By passing days, hours, minutes and seconds.

TimeSpan ts2 = new TimeSpan(10, 23, 10, 10);

By passing days, hours, minutes, seconds and milliseconds.

TimeSpan ts3 = new TimeSpan(10, 23, 10, 10, 10);

By passing number of ticks.

TimeSpan ts4 = new TimeSpan(100);

Why TimeSpan? Is it necessary when we already have “DateTime” Class for Date & Time operations?

TimeSpan is used to get the interval between two DateTime values. You can get the interval difference in TimeSpan, Days, Hours, Minutes, Seconds, Milliseconds, Ticks.

DateTime startDateTime = DateTime.Now;
DateTime endDateTime = DateTime.Now.AddDays(10);
TimeSpan difference = endDateTime - startDateTime;
Console.WriteLine("Difference from \n {0} \n and \n {1} \n = \n
{2}",endDateTime, startDateTime, difference);

TimeSpan Components

 //Returns the day interval.
Console.WriteLine("Days = " + difference.Days);

//Returns total interval in days.
Console.WriteLine("Total Days = " + difference.TotalDays);

//Returns hour interval leaving days.
Console.WriteLine("Hours = " + difference.Hours);

//Returns total interval in hours.
Console.WriteLine("Total Hours = " + difference.TotalHours);

//Returns the minute interval leaving hours and days.
Console.WriteLine("Minutes = " + difference.Minutes);

//Returns total interval in minutes.
Console.WriteLine("Total Minutes = " + difference.TotalMinutes);

//Returns the second interval leaving others.
Console.WriteLine("Seconds = " + difference.Seconds);

//Returns total interval in seconds.
Console.WriteLine("Total Seconds =" + difference.TotalSeconds);

//Returns the millisecond interval leaving others.
Console.WriteLine("Milliseconds = " + difference.Milliseconds);

//Returns total interval in milliseconds.
Console.WriteLine("Total Milliseconds =" + difference.TotalMilliseconds);

//Returns total number of ticks.
//Ticks is basically Milliseconds * 10,000
Console.WriteLine("Ticks = " + difference.Ticks);

FIELDS

TimeSpan has many static fields that can be accessed directly.

• To get Maximum Value
  TimeSpan.MaxValue
  
  
• To get Minimum Value
  TimeSpan.MinValue
  
  
• To assign a null object or zero ticks
  TimeSpan.Zero

 We can get the number of Ticks in a day/hour/minute/second/millisecond. This value is a constant.

• TimeSpan.TicksPerDay
• TimeSpan.TicksPerHour
• TimeSpan.TicksPerMinute
• TimeSpan.TicksPerSecond
• TimeSpan.TicksPerMillisecond

So, technically Ticks is 10,000 times a Millisecond.

Conclusion

So, we have seen how to create a TimeSpan object and how useful it will be to us. I hope you have enjoyed the article.