C# Does Not Recognize 'dd-MMM-yyyy' as Valid Datetime

Question

I have a function in a C# project that accepts a date as a string in the format 'dd-MMM-yyyy', so an example would be '10-MAR-2021'.

I need to convert that string into a datetime object, but everything I try results in

String '10-Mar-2021' was not recognized as a valid DateTime.

I have tried

DateTime start = DateTime.ParseExact(startdate, "dd-MMM-yyyy", System.Globalization.CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);

DateTime start = Convert.ToDateTime(startdate);

DateTime start = DateTime.Parse(startdate);

And they all throw the same error. This was not a problem in.Net 4.6, however since upgrading to.Net 5 that date format is a problem all of a sudden.

Any ideas?

Answer 1

I think you have some strange character inserted after the first dash. When I copy-paste the string "10-Mar-2021" returned in your exception, I get the same error.

Try

char[] charArray = startdate.ToCharArray();

and debug. I get charArray[3] character with ASCII code 8206.

The code works for me when I don't copy-paste but write the startdate string myself.