using System; using System.Globalization; public class Test { public static void Main() { string s = "\"2014-08-08 08:00:00\""; string format = "\\\"yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss\\\""; DateTime date; if(DateTime.TryParseExact(s, format, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, DateTimeStyles.None, out date)) { Console.WriteLine (date); } } }