Calculate relative time in C#

Question

Given a specific DateTime value, how do I display relative time, like:

• 2 hours ago
• 3 days ago
• a month ago

Answer 1

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;

public static class RelativeDateHelper
{
    private static Dictionary> sm_Dict = null;

    private static Dictionary> DictionarySetup()
    {
        var dict = new Dictionary>();
        dict.Add(0.75, (mins) => "less than a minute");
        dict.Add(1.5, (mins) => "about a minute");
        dict.Add(45, (mins) => string.Format("{0} minutes", Math.Round(mins)));
        dict.Add(90, (mins) => "about an hour");
        dict.Add(1440, (mins) => string.Format("about {0} hours", Math.Round(Math.Abs(mins / 60)))); // 60 * 24
        dict.Add(2880, (mins) => "a day"); // 60 * 48
        dict.Add(43200, (mins) => string.Format("{0} days", Math.Floor(Math.Abs(mins / 1440)))); // 60 * 24 * 30
        dict.Add(86400, (mins) => "about a month"); // 60 * 24 * 60
        dict.Add(525600, (mins) => string.Format("{0} months", Math.Floor(Math.Abs(mins / 43200)))); // 60 * 24 * 365 
        dict.Add(1051200, (mins) => "about a year"); // 60 * 24 * 365 * 2
        dict.Add(double.MaxValue, (mins) => string.Format("{0} years", Math.Floor(Math.Abs(mins / 525600))));

        return dict;
    }

    public static string ToRelativeDate(this DateTime input)
    {
        TimeSpan oSpan = DateTime.Now.Subtract(input);
        double TotalMinutes = oSpan.TotalMinutes;
        string Suffix = " ago";

        if (TotalMinutes < 0.0)
        {
            TotalMinutes = Math.Abs(TotalMinutes);
            Suffix = " from now";
        }

        if (null == sm_Dict)
            sm_Dict = DictionarySetup();

        return sm_Dict.First(n => TotalMinutes < n.Key).Value.Invoke(TotalMinutes) + Suffix;
    }
}

The same as another answer to this question but as an extension method with a static dictionary.