Incomplete documentation on DateTime.TryParseExact

[Emberfire]

Type of issue

Missing information

Description

It seems the DateTime.TryParseExact method can throw a System.FormatException if the format provided is invalid. When tested in ASP.NET MVC 4.7.2, the following code:

DateTime.TryParseExact("01/10/2025", "a", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, DateTimeStyles.None, out DateTime parsedDate)

throws a FormatException with a stack trace:

Input string was not in a correct format
   at System.DateTimeFormat.GetRealFormat(String format, DateTimeFormatInfo dtfi)
   at System.DateTimeParse.ExpandPredefinedFormat(String format, DateTimeFormatInfo& dtfi, ParsingInfo& parseInfo, DateTimeResult& result)
   at System.DateTimeParse.DoStrictParse(String s, String formatParam, DateTimeStyles styles, DateTimeFormatInfo dtfi, DateTimeResult& result)
   at System.DateTimeParse.TryParseExact(String s, String format, DateTimeFormatInfo dtfi, DateTimeStyles style, DateTimeResult& result)
   at System.DateTimeParse.TryParseExact(String s, String format, DateTimeFormatInfo dtfi, DateTimeStyles style, DateTime& result)
   at System.DateTime.TryParseExact(String s, String format, IFormatProvider provider, DateTimeStyles style, DateTime& result)
   ...

Page URL

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/api/system.datetime.tryparseexact?view=netframework-4.7.2#system-datetime-tryparseexact(system-readonlyspan((system-char))-system-string()-system-iformatprovider-system-globalization-datetimestyles-system-datetime@)

Content source URL

https://github.com/dotnet/dotnet-api-docs/blob/main/xml/System/DateTime.xml

Document Version Independent Id

2ba91f2f-bf41-7f7b-b0b3-64c4c0c932d9

Article author

@dotnet-bot