How Can I Display a User-Friendly Build Date Instead of a Build Number in My Application?

Display build date in a user-friendly way

When displaying the build details of your application, it is crucial to present it in a format that is easy for users to understand. Most users care less about the build number and more about knowing whether they have the latest version.

Query build number and date

While it is possible to get the build number directly using Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().GetName().Version.ToString(), getting the build date requires a different approach.

Retrieve linker timestamp

The most reliable way to determine the build date is to retrieve the linker timestamp in the executable's PE header. This timestamp represents the time the executable was built.

C# code to extract linker timestamp

Joe Spivey provided a C# code snippet for extracting the linker timestamp:

<code class="language-csharp">public static DateTime GetLinkerTime(this Assembly assembly, TimeZoneInfo target = null)
{
    var filePath = assembly.Location;
    const int c_PeHeaderOffset = 60;
    const int c_LinkerTimestampOffset = 8;

    var buffer = new byte[2048];

    using (var stream = new FileStream(filePath, FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read))
        stream.Read(buffer, 0, 2048);

    var offset = BitConverter.ToInt32(buffer, c_PeHeaderOffset);
    var secondsSince1970 = BitConverter.ToInt32(buffer, offset + c_LinkerTimestampOffset);
    var epoch = new DateTime(1970, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, DateTimeKind.Utc);

    var linkTimeUtc = epoch.AddSeconds(secondsSince1970);

    var tz = target ?? TimeZoneInfo.Local;
    var localTime = TimeZoneInfo.ConvertTimeFromUtc(linkTimeUtc, tz);

    return localTime;
}</code>

Examples of usage

To retrieve the build date in local time, use the following code:

<code class="language-csharp">var linkTimeLocal = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().GetLinkerTime();</code>

Instructions about .NET Core

While this method works in .NET Core 1.0, it is deprecated after .NET Core 1.1 and may produce incorrect results.

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