How can I create an optional DateTime parameter?

Question

I have this function that returns a reference type. Now, this function has two optional parameters both of which are instances of the DateTime class. The function i

Answer 1

One workaround is to assign them like this:

public DateTime GetDate(DateTime? start = null, DateTime? end = null){
    start = start ?? DateTime.MinValue;
    end = end ?? DateTime.MinValue;

    Console.WriteLine ("start: " + start);
    Console.WriteLine ("end: " + end);
    return DateTime.UtcNow;
}

Which can be used like this:

void Main()
{
    new Test().GetDate();
    new Test().GetDate(start: DateTime.UtcNow);
    new Test().GetDate(end: DateTime.UtcNow);
    new Test().GetDate(DateTime.UtcNow, DateTime.UtcNow);
}

And works just as expected:

start: 1/01/0001 0:00:00
end: 1/01/0001 0:00:00

start: 8/08/2014 17:30:29
end: 1/01/0001 0:00:00

start: 1/01/0001 0:00:00
end: 8/08/2014 17:30:29

start: 8/08/2014 17:30:29
end: 8/08/2014 17:30:29

Note the named parameter to distinguish between the start and end value.