You can use custom numeric formatting characters to display date and time values in particular formats. These formats work with a variable's ToString method as well as with String.Format. For example, the code (1.234).ToString(""0.00") returns the value "1.23."

This example builds a ListView that describes the various custom numeric format characters. It then builds another ListView that shows examples. Finally the program uses code from the example Make a program generate HTML table code for ListView data and display it in a WebBrowser control in C# to convert the results into the following HTML tables.

Name	Format	Result
Zero placeholder	0	A digit or 0 if no digit is present
Digit placeholder	#	A digit or nothing if no digit is present
Decimal separator	.	The decimal separator
Thousands separator	,	Thousands separator
Scaling	,	When placed at the end of the format string, divides by 1000
Percent placeholder	%	Multiplies by 100 and inserts a percent symbol
Per mille placeholder	‰	Multiplies by 100 and inserts a per mille symbol
Exponentiation	E+0	Exponentiation.
Escape character	\	The following character is not interpreted as a formatting character
Literal string	'...'	The characters in single or double quotes are displayed literally
Section separator	;	Creates up to three sections for values > 0, < 0, or = 0.

Example	Result
123("00000")	00123
123("#####")	123
123.4567("0.00")	123.46
1234567890("#,#")	1,234,567,890
1234567890("#,#,,")	1,235
0.1234("#.#%")	12.3%
1234567890("#E000")	1E009
1234567890("#E+000")	1E+009
0.00001234("#E000")	1E-005
1.234("+0.00;<0.00>;-zero-")	+1.23
-1.234("+0.00;<0.00>;-zero-")	<1.23>
0("+0.00;<0.00>;-zero-")	-zero-

See also:

• Use the DateTime class's standard formatting methods in C#
• Use custom date and time formats in C#
• Use custom numeric formats in C#
• Use standard date and time formats in C#
• Use standard numeric formats in C#
• Use standard numeric formats in C# (earlier version)