C# Signature:

[DllImport("kernel32.dll",
        CallingConvention=CallingConvention.Winapi,
        SetLastError=true)]
static extern bool FileTimeToSystemTime([In] ref FILETIME lpFileTime,
   out SYSTEMTIME lpSystemTime);

VB.Net Signature

<DllImport( _
       "kernel32.dll", _
       CharSet:=CharSet.Auto, _
       SetLastError:=True)> _
   Friend Shared Function FileTimeToSystemTime( _
                        <[In]()> ByRef lpFileTime As FILETIME, _
                        <Out()> ByRef lpSystemTime As SYSTEMTIME) _
               As Boolean
   End Function

User-Defined Types:

FileTime and SystemTime.

Notes:

By setting the SetLastError property to true, a System.ComponentModel.Win32Exception will generated if the function fails.

Tips & Tricks:

For .NET Compact Framework:

this function is contained in "coredll.dll" not "kernel32.dll"

Sample Code:

If you are trying to parse the Modified (e.g. B0D37BF53EBEC501B5) value in the URL (Shortcut) file you could use the following code:

References used for the code below:

http://www.fmtz.com/formats/url-file-format/article

FileTime page

C#

    public static DateTime FileTimeToSystemTime(string hexTS) {
        string lowDT = string.Format("{0}{1}{2}{3}",
            hexTS.Substring(6, 2), hexTS.Substring(4, 2), hexTS.Substring(2, 2), hexTS.Substring(0, 2));

        string highDT = string.Format("{0}{1}{2}{3}",
            hexTS.Substring(14, 2), hexTS.Substring(12, 2), hexTS.Substring(10, 2), hexTS.Substring(8, 2));

        FILETIME fileTime;
        fileTime.dwHighDateTime = int.Parse(highDT, System.Globalization.NumberStyles.HexNumber);
        fileTime.dwLowDateTime = int.Parse(lowDT, System.Globalization.NumberStyles.HexNumber);
        long hFT2 = (((long)fileTime.dwHighDateTime) << 32) | ((uint)fileTime.dwLowDateTime);
        return DateTime.FromFileTimeUtc(hFT2);
    }

Alternative Managed API:

You really do not need to use this function as you could use the FromFileTime or FromFileTimeUtc on DateTime class. Refer to the sample code provided in the FileTime page.

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