C# TimeSpan

Summary: in this tutorial, you’ll learn how to use the C# TimeSpan to represent a time interval.

Introduction to the C# TimeSpan type

The TimeSpan represents a time interval or time duration. In practice, you use a TimeSpan to represent the difference between two dates (DateTime). For example:

using static System.Console;

var start = new DateTime(2023, 5, 15, 10, 0, 0);
var end = new DateTime(2023, 5, 15, 10, 30, 0);

var duration = end - start;

WriteLine(duration); // 00:30:00Code language: C# (cs)

In this example, we initialize the start and end variables and calculate the difference between end and start. The result is a TimeSpan that represents a duration of 30 minutes.

Creating a TimeSpan objects

To create a TimeSpan object, you use its constructor. The TimeSpan constructor has some overloads:

TimeSpan()
TimeSpan(int hours, int minutes, int seconds)
TimeSpan(int days, int hours, int minutes, int seconds)
TimeSpan(int days, int hours, int minutes, int seconds, int milliseconds)
TimeSpan(long ticks)Code language: C# (cs)

For example:

using static System.Console;

// Creates a TimeSpan object with default value (0 ticks).
var ts1 = new TimeSpan();
WriteLine(ts1); // 00:00:00


// Creates a TimeSpan object with a value of 1 hour.
var ts2 = new TimeSpan(1, 0, 0);
WriteLine(ts2); // 01:00:00

// Creates a TimeSpan object with a value of 30 minutes.
var ts3 = new TimeSpan(0, 30, 0);
WriteLine(ts3); // 00:30:00

// Creates a TimeSpan object with a value
// of 2 hours, 30 minutes and 10 seconds.
var ts4 = new TimeSpan(2, 30, 10);
WriteLine(ts4); // 02:30:10Code language: C# (cs)

Output:

00:00:00
01:00:00
00:30:00
02:30:10Code language: C# (cs)

Accessing the C# TimeSpan properties

The TimeSpan class provides several read-only properties to retrieve the components of a TimeSpan object:

using static System.Console;

var timeSpan = new TimeSpan(7, 2, 30, 45, 750);

// Retrieving the days 
var days = timeSpan.Days;
WriteLine(days);

// Retrieving the hours 
var hours = timeSpan.Hours;
WriteLine(hours);

// Retrieving the minutes 
var minutes = timeSpan.Minutes;
WriteLine(minutes);

// Retrieving the seconds 
var seconds = timeSpan.Seconds;
WriteLine(seconds);

// Retrieving the milliseconds 
var milliseconds = timeSpan.Milliseconds;
WriteLine(milliseconds);

// Retrieving the total number of days
var totalDays = timeSpan.TotalDays;
WriteLine(totalDays);

// Retrieving the total number of hours
var totalHours = timeSpan.TotalHours;
WriteLine(totalHours);

// Retrieving the total number of minutes
var totalMinutes = timeSpan.TotalMinutes;
WriteLine(totalMinutes);

// Retrieving the total number of seconds
var totalSeconds = timeSpan.TotalSeconds;
WriteLine(totalSeconds);

// Retrieving the total number of milliseconds
var totalMilliseconds = timeSpan.TotalMilliseconds;
WriteLine(totalMilliseconds);Code language: C# (cs)

Output:

7
2
30
45
750
7.104696180555556
170.51270833333334
10230.7625
613845.75
613845750Code language: C# (cs)

Getting the total time span

The TimeSpan class provides various methods to get the total time span in different units like ticks, milliseconds, seconds, minutes, hours, and days. For example:

using static System.Console;

// Creates a TimeSpan object with a value of 1 day, 30 hours,
// 30 minutes, 30 seconds, and 500 milliseconds.
var ts = new TimeSpan(1, 30, 30, 30, 500);

// Gets the total number of ticks.
var ticks = ts.Ticks;
WriteLine(ticks);

// Gets the total number of days.
var days = ts.Days;
WriteLine(days);

// Gets the total number of hours.
var hours = ts.Hours;
WriteLine(hours);

// Gets the total number of minutes.
var minutes = ts.Minutes;
WriteLine(minutes);

// Gets the total number of seconds.
var seconds = ts.Seconds;
WriteLine(seconds);

// Gets the total number of milliseconds.
var milliseconds = ts.Milliseconds;
WriteLine(milliseconds);Code language: C# (cs)

Output:

1962305000000
2
6
30
30
500Code language: C# (cs)

Performing arithmetic operations on C# TimeSpan

To perform arithmetic operations on time such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, you use the respective methods of the TimeSpan object. For example:

using static System.Console;

// Creates a TimeSpan object with a value of 1 hour.
var ts1 = new TimeSpan(1, 0, 0);

// Creates a TimeSpan object with a value of 30 minutes.
var ts2 = new TimeSpan(0, 30, 0);


// Adds ts2 to ts1.
var ts3 = ts1.Add(ts2);
WriteLine(ts3); // 01:30:00

// Subtracts ts2 from ts1.
var ts4 = ts1.Subtract(ts2);
WriteLine(ts4); // 00:30:00


// Multiplies ts1 by 2.
var ts5 = ts1.Multiply(2);
WriteLine(ts5); // 02:00:00

var ts6 = ts5.Divide(2);
WriteLine(ts6); // 01:00:00Code language: C# (cs)

Output:

01:30:00
00:30:00
02:00:00
01:00:00Code language: C# (cs)

Comparing C# TimeSpan object

The TimeSpan class provides operator overloads like greater than >, equal =, less than <, and not equal != to compare time spans:

using static System.Console;

// Creates a TimeSpan object with a value of 1 hour.
var ts1 = new TimeSpan(1, 0, 0);

// Creates a TimeSpan object with a value of 30 minutes.
var ts2 = new TimeSpan(0, 30, 0);

// ts1 is greater than ts2 -> true
var result1 = ts1 > ts2;
WriteLine(result1);

// ts1 is less than ts2 -> false
var result2 = ts1 < ts2;
WriteLine(result2);

// ts1 is equal to ts2 -> false
var result3 = ts1 == ts2;
WriteLine(result3);

// ts1 is not equal to ts2 -> true
var result4 = ts1 != ts2;
WriteLine(result4);Code language: C# (cs)

Output:

True
False
False
TrueCode language: PHP (php)

Summary

Use C# TimeSpan to represent a time interval.

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