[RESOLVED] [VB 2003] DateTime cast type

Hi,
I am having a problem turning nothing into a datetime. Here is the line I am using:

VB Code:

Dim DtApproved As DateTime = IIf(Me.lblRtngApprovedDate.Text = "", DateTime.MinValue, CType(Me.lblRtngApprovedDate.Text, DateTime))

The date is stored as the text of a label (that's just the way it is, I didn't design this, I just gotta work with it). So, if the text = "", I want DtApproved to equal DateTime.MinValue, else I want it to convert the text in the label to a date.

The second part is working, but it is crashing when the label's text equals "". Any ideas on how to fix this?

Thanks to all

just so you know, DateTime.MinValue is equal to January 1, 0001

Not sure if that's what you want or not.

Anyway, I never recommend using inline iff statements.. It is generic, so it returns object types, so they need to be casted correctly.. Basically I think its more trouble than the line of code it saves...

anyway.. this should work

VB Code:

Try
            Dim DtApproved As DateTime = DateTime.Parse(IIf(Me.lblRtngApprovedDate.Text = "", DateTime.MinValue.ToString, Me.lblRtngApprovedDate.Text).ToString)
        Catch ex As Exception
            MessageBox.Show("Invalid Entry")
        End Try

Thanks a lot, thats works perfectly. And thanks for the advice on not using IIf.