Safest way to get a date from Sharepoint into a C# datetime field, using object model?

Question

If I have a Sharepoint list item with a date field.

How can I get the field value populated into a c# datetime object?

For example:

DateTime validfrom = Convert.ToDateTime(item["validfrom"]); 

Although this won't produce a design time error. I am sure that this will cause problems depending on which server the code runs on and the locale settings for the server.

Is there a foolproof way to get the c# object populated?

Answer 1

You can use one of the SPUtility.ParseDate overloads.

Check the article Converting Date and Time Values for more details.

Answer 2

Assuming the field type of "validfrom" is DateTime then there should be no need to convert the value, only cast it. You only need to convert/parse if your field type is text, in which case you may consider switching your type to a DateTime or use Marek's advice for conversion.

DateTime validFrom = (DateTime) item["validfrom"];