Custom format and a format provider

format and format provider are linked by IFormattable interface.

All numeric types and DateTime DateTimeOffset implement this interface:


public interface IFormattable
{
   string ToString (string format, IFormatProvider formatProvider);
}

The first argument is the format string.

The second is the format provider.

The format string provides instructions.

The format provider does the format based on the instructions.


using System;
using System.Text;
using System.Globalization;
class Sample
{
    public static void Main()
    {
        NumberFormatInfo f = new NumberFormatInfo();
        f.CurrencySymbol = "$$";
        Console.WriteLine(3.ToString("C", f));  // $$ 3.00
    }
}

The output:


$$3.00

"C" is a format string

NumberFormatInfo object is a format provider.

If you specify a null format string or provider, a default is applied

The default format provider is CultureInfo.CurrentCulture.


using System;
using System.Text;
using System.Globalization;
class Sample
{
    public static void Main()
    {
        Console.WriteLine(10.3.ToString("C", null));  
    }
}

The output:


$10.30

Most types overload ToString such that you can omit the null provider


using System;
using System.Text;
using System.Globalization;
class Sample
{
    public static void Main()
    {
        Console.WriteLine(10.3.ToString("C"));
        Console.WriteLine(10.3.ToString("F4"));  
    }
}

The output:


$10.30
10.3000

The .NET Framework defines three format providers:

CultureInfo is a proxy for the other two format providers.

It returns a NumberFormatInfo or DateTimeFormatInfo object applicable to the culture's regional settings.


using System;
using System.Text;
using System.Globalization;
class Sample
{
    public static void Main()
    {
        CultureInfo uk = CultureInfo.GetCultureInfo("en-GB");
        Console.WriteLine(3.ToString("C", uk));
    }
}
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