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Convert any non integer or null value to 1

I wanted to write extension method which should return 1 if any non integer or null value is supplied. Int32.TryParse() parses non integer or null value to 0.
I have tried
public static int ToInt(this string text)
{
int num;
return int.TryParse(text, out num) ? num : 1;
}

just take an object, and test if it's an int:
static class Program
{
static void Main()
{
int i = "124241".ParseToInt(); //124241
int j = DateTime.Now.ParseToInt(); //-1
}
public static int ParseToInt(this object testItem)
{
int i;
return Int32.TryParse(testItem.ToString(), out i) ? i : -1;
}
}
1 typically means success. I wouldn't return 1 for a failure.

All you need to do is check if your parse succeeded or not and set the value appropriately.
var input = "blah";
int myInt;
bool parseSuccessful = Int32.TryParse(input, out myInt);
if (!parseSuccessful)
{
myInt = 1;
}

Is there a try Convert.ToInt32... avoiding exceptions

I'd like to know if there is a "safe" way to convert an object to an int, avoiding exceptions.
I'm looking for something like public static bool TryToInt32(object value, out int result);
I know I could make something like this:
public static bool TryToInt32(object value, out int result)
{
try
{
result = Convert.ToInt32(value);
return true;
}
catch
{
result = 0;
return false;
}
}
But I'd rather avoid exceptions, because they are slowing down the process.
I think this is more elegant, but it's still "cheap":
public static bool TryToInt32(object value, out int result)
{
if (value == null)
{
result = 0;
return false;
}
return int.TryParse(value.ToString(), out result);
}
Does anyone have better ideas?
UPDATE:
This sounds a little like splitting hairs, but converting an object to string forces the implementer to create a clear ToString() function. For example:
public class Percentage
{
public int Value { get; set; }
public override string ToString()
{
return string.Format("{0}%", Value);
}
}
Percentage p = new Percentage();
p.Value = 50;
int v;
if (int.TryParse(p.ToString(), out v))
{
}
This goes wrong, I can do two things here, or implement the IConvertable like this:
public static bool ToInt32(object value, out int result)
{
if (value == null)
{
result = 0;
return false;
}
if (value is IConvertible)
{
result = ((IConvertible)value).ToInt32(Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture);
return true;
}
return int.TryParse(value.ToString(), out result);
}
But the ToInt32 method of the IConvertible cannot be canceled. So if it's not possible to convert the value, an exception cannot be avoided.
Or two: Is there a way to check if the object contains a implicit operator?
This is very poor:
if (value.GetType().GetMethods().FirstOrDefault(method => method.Name == "op_Implicit" && method.ReturnType == typeof(int)) != null)
{
result = (int)value;
return true;
}

int variable = 0;
int.TryParse(stringValue, out variable);
If it can't be parsed, the variable will be 0. See http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/f02979c7.aspx

Spurring from the comments. The response is no. You can't do what Convert.ToInt32(object) does without having throwed exceptions. You can do something similar (and you already did it). The only thing I would optimize is the case of value already an int.
if (value is int)
return (int)value;
You can't do as Convert.ToInt32(object) because Convert.ToInt32(object) doesn't simply test if value is short, int, long, ushort, ... and then cast them. It checks if the value is IConvertible. If yes it uses the IConvertible.ToInt32. Sadly the interface IConvertible is quite poor: it doesn't have non-throwing methods (IConvertible.Try*)
While stupid (but perhaps not too much), someone could make for example a UnixDateTime struct: (UnixTime is the number of seconds from midnight 1970-01-01), where the IConvertible.ToInt32 returns this number of seconds, while the ToString() returns a formatted date. All the int.TryParse(value.ToString(), out parsed) would choke, while the Convert.ToInt32 would work flawlessly.

This version using a type converter would only convert to string as a last resort but also not throw an exception:
public static bool TryToInt32(object value, out int result)
{
if (value == null)
{
result = 0;
return false;
}
var typeConverter = System.ComponentModel.TypeDescriptor.GetConverter(value);
if (typeConverter != null && typeConverter.CanConvertTo(typeof(int)))
{
var convertTo = typeConverter.ConvertTo(value, typeof(int));
if (convertTo != null)
{
result = (int)convertTo;
return true;
}
}
return int.TryParse(value.ToString(), out result);
}

No need to re-invent the wheel here. use int.TryParse to achieve your goal. It returns a bool to show that value is parsed or not. and if parsed the result is saved in the output variable.
int result;
object a = 5;
if(int.TryParse(a.ToString(),out result))
{
Console.WriteLine("value is parsed"); //will print 5
}   
object b = a5;
if(int.TryParse(b.ToString(),out result))
{
   Console.WriteLine("value is parsed");  
}
else
{
Console.WriteLine("input is not a valid integer");  //will print this
}

Return a nullable int. that way you know whether you parsed 0.
int? value = int.TryParse(stringValue, out int outValue)
? outValue
: default(int?);

I would use a mixture of what you are already doing;
Check if the object is null - return false and the value 0;
Attempt to convert directly - if successful, return true and the converted value
Attempt to parse value.ToString() - if successfull, return true and the parsed value
Any other case - Return false and the value 0, as object is not convertible/parsible
The resulting code:
public static bool TryToInt32(object value, out int result)
{
result = 0;
if (value == null)
{
return false;
}
//Try to convert directly
try
{
result = Convert.ToInt32(value);
return true;
}
catch
{
//Could not convert, moving on
}
//Try to parse string-representation
if (Int32.TryParse(value.ToString(), out result))
{
return true;
}
//If parsing also failed, object cannot be converted or paresed
return false;
}

I wrote this mess, looking at it makes me sad.
using System;
using System.Globalization;
internal static class ObjectExt
{
internal static bool TryConvertToDouble(object value, out double result)
{
if (value == null || value is bool)
{
result = 0;
return false;
}
if (value is double)
{
result = (double)value;
return true;
}
var text = value as string;
if (text != null)
{
return double.TryParse(text, NumberStyles.Float, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, out result);
}
var convertible = value as IConvertible;
if (convertible == null)
{
result = 0;
return false;
}
try
{
result = convertible.ToDouble(CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);
return true;
}
catch (Exception)
{
result = 0;
return false;
}
}
}
Edit
Notice now I answered for double when the question was int, keeping it any way. Maybe useful for someone.

This is how I like to do it:
object v = someValue;
if (int.TryParse($"{v}", out var extractedValue))
{
// do something with extractedValue
}

Implicit conversion from Nullable to normal, any ideas?

I want some idea to how implicitly convert nullable "?" variables to district ones.
given this example
int? x = 5;
int y = x; //this gonna fail, !!!
i need some way to override = parameter, but unfortunately the = parameter is not overloadable... any suggestions
I'm using C#

You have two options, access the value directly (if you know for sure it's not null):
int y = x.Value;
or, use the null coalescing operator:
int y = x ?? 0; // 0 if null...

It is possible to implement an implicit cast operator, but only to or from types you define. For example, doing something like this..
public class NullableExtensions
{
public static implicit operator int(int? value)
{
return value ?? default(int);
}
}
.. will return a CS0556 compile error because the cast doesn't include the user-defined type.
The closest you could do is define your own Nullable type that does contain an implicit cast operator:
public struct ImplicitNullable<T> where T: struct
{
public bool HasValue { get { return this._value.HasValue; } }
public T Value { get { return this._value.Value; } }
public ImplicitNullable(T value) : this() { this._value = value; }
public ImplicitNullable(Nullable<T> value) : this() { this._value = value; }
public static implicit operator ImplicitNullable<T>(T value) { return new ImplicitNullable<T>(value); }
public static implicit operator ImplicitNullable<T>(Nullable<T> value) { return new ImplicitNullable<T>(value); }
public static implicit operator T(ImplicitNullable<T> value) { return value._value ?? default(T); }
public static implicit operator Nullable<T>(ImplicitNullable<T> value) { return value._value; }
private Nullable<T> _value { get; set; }
// Should define other Nullable<T> members, especially
// Equals and GetHashCode to avoid boxing
}
Note that although it's possible to write this code, it will likely lead to hard to trace bugs. I would recommend using an explicit cast, or throwing an exception when the value is null.
Afterwards, you can cast to and from as expected:
static void Main()
{
int myInt = 1;
int? nullableInt = 2;
ImplicitNullable<int> implicitInt;
// Convert from int or int?
implicitInt = myInt;
implicitInt = nullableInt;
// Convert to int or int?
myInt = implicitInt;
nullableInt = implicitInt;
}

Wait, I'm so confused...
Why don't you just use GetValueOrDefault?

I'm assuming this is C#.
You need to either cast, or use .value:
int? x = 5;
int y;
if(x.HasValue)
y = x.Value;
else
throw new//... handle error or something

Casting string into decimal

I am attempting to cast a string gotten from a local database into decimal, but resulted in a "Cannot implicitly convert Type 'GlobalCurrencyConverter.CurrencyRateDataSet.rateDataTable' to decimal".
Below is my code,
protected decimal calRate_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
CurrencyRateDataSetTableAdapters.rateTableAdapter rateTable;
decimal exRate = (decimal)rateTable.GetDataBySourceTargetCurrency(objDropDownSourceCUR.SelectedValue, objDropDownTargetCUR.SelectedValue);
decimal exAmt = 0;
exAmt = (decimal)Convert.ToDecimal(objTextBoxSourceAmt.Text);
}
Update:
rateTable.getDataBySourceTargetCurrency is a method created in Visual Studio Designer. It takes in 2 parameters and search through the local database, returning a single row (and single column) of value.

If "rateTable.GetDataBySourceTargetCurrency(objDropDownSourceCUR.SelectedValue, objDropDownTargetCUR.SelectedValue)" is in fact a string (from your title), try Decimal.TryParse():
//Just noticed questions above... if rateTable.GetDataBy... does not return a string, you must create a string from whatever object it does return, then use TryParse()
Decimal exRate;
String exRateString = rateTable.GetDataBySourceTargetCurrency(objDropDownSourceCUR.SelectedValue, objDropDownTargetCUR.SelectedValue);
bool convertSuccessful = Decimal.TryParse(exRateString, out exRate);
if (convertSuccessful == true)
{
// do some stuff here
}
else
{
// report error
}

Try this:
public static class StringUtils
{
public static string ToCurrency(decimal value)
{
return value.ToString("C");
}
public static decimal FromCurrency(string value)
{
return decimal.Parse(value, NumberStyles.Currency);
}
public static decimal? FromCurrency(string value, decimal? defaultValue)
{
decimal num;
if(decimal.TryParse(value, NumberStyles.Currency, null, out num))
return num;
return defaultValue;
}
}
From which you can do this:
decimal exAmt = StringUtils.FromCurrency(objTextBoxSourceAmt.Text,0);

Creating a generic method in C#

I am trying to combine a bunch of similar methods into a generic method. I have several methods that return the value of a querystring, or null if that querystring does not exist or is not in the correct format. This would be easy enough if all the types were natively nullable, but I have to use the nullable generic type for integers and dates.
Here's what I have now. However, it will pass back a 0 if a numeric value is invalid, and that unfortunately is a valid value in my scenarios. Can somebody help me out? Thanks!
public static T GetQueryString<T>(string key) where T : IConvertible
{
T result = default(T);
if (String.IsNullOrEmpty(HttpContext.Current.Request.QueryString[key]) == false)
{
string value = HttpContext.Current.Request.QueryString[key];
try
{
result = (T)Convert.ChangeType(value, typeof(T));
}
catch
{
//Could not convert. Pass back default value...
result = default(T);
}
}
return result;
}

What if you specified the default value to return, instead of using default(T)?
public static T GetQueryString<T>(string key, T defaultValue) {...}
It makes calling it easier too:
var intValue = GetQueryString("intParm", Int32.MinValue);
var strValue = GetQueryString("strParm", "");
var dtmValue = GetQueryString("dtmPatm", DateTime.Now); // eg use today's date if not specified
The downside being you need magic values to denote invalid/missing querystring values.

I know, I know, but...
public static bool TryGetQueryString<T>(string key, out T queryString)

What about this? Change the return type from T to Nullable<T>
public static Nullable<T> GetQueryString<T>(string key) where T : struct, IConvertible
{
T result = default(T);
if (String.IsNullOrEmpty(HttpContext.Current.Request.QueryString[key]) == false)
{
string value = HttpContext.Current.Request.QueryString[key];
try
{
result = (T)Convert.ChangeType(value, typeof(T));
}
catch
{
//Could not convert. Pass back default value...
result = default(T);
}
}
return result;
}

Convert.ChangeType() doesn't correctly handle nullable types or enumerations in .NET 2.0 BCL (I think it's fixed for BCL 4.0 though). Rather than make the outer implementation more complex, make the converter do more work for you. Here's an implementation I use:
public static class Converter
{
public static T ConvertTo<T>(object value)
{
return ConvertTo(value, default(T));
}
public static T ConvertTo<T>(object value, T defaultValue)
{
if (value == DBNull.Value)
{
return defaultValue;
}
return (T) ChangeType(value, typeof(T));
}
public static object ChangeType(object value, Type conversionType)
{
if (conversionType == null)
{
throw new ArgumentNullException("conversionType");
}
// if it's not a nullable type, just pass through the parameters to Convert.ChangeType
if (conversionType.IsGenericType && conversionType.GetGenericTypeDefinition().Equals(typeof(Nullable<>)))
{
// null input returns null output regardless of base type
if (value == null)
{
return null;
}
// it's a nullable type, and not null, which means it can be converted to its underlying type,
// so overwrite the passed-in conversion type with this underlying type
conversionType = Nullable.GetUnderlyingType(conversionType);
}
else if (conversionType.IsEnum)
{
// strings require Parse method
if (value is string)
{
return Enum.Parse(conversionType, (string) value);
}
// primitive types can be instantiated using ToObject
else if (value is int || value is uint || value is short || value is ushort ||
value is byte || value is sbyte || value is long || value is ulong)
{
return Enum.ToObject(conversionType, value);
}
else
{
throw new ArgumentException(String.Format("Value cannot be converted to {0} - current type is " +
"not supported for enum conversions.", conversionType.FullName));
}
}
return Convert.ChangeType(value, conversionType);
}
}
Then your implementation of GetQueryString<T> can be:
public static T GetQueryString<T>(string key)
{
T result = default(T);
string value = HttpContext.Current.Request.QueryString[key];
if (!String.IsNullOrEmpty(value))
{
try
{
result = Converter.ConvertTo<T>(value);
}
catch
{
//Could not convert. Pass back default value...
result = default(T);
}
}
return result;
}

You can use sort of Maybe monad (though I'd prefer Jay's answer)
public class Maybe<T>
{
private readonly T _value;
public Maybe(T value)
{
_value = value;
IsNothing = false;
}
public Maybe()
{
IsNothing = true;
}
public bool IsNothing { get; private set; }
public T Value
{
get
{
if (IsNothing)
{
throw new InvalidOperationException("Value doesn't exist");
}
return _value;
}
}
public override bool Equals(object other)
{
if (IsNothing)
{
return (other == null);
}
if (other == null)
{
return false;
}
return _value.Equals(other);
}
public override int GetHashCode()
{
if (IsNothing)
{
return 0;
}
return _value.GetHashCode();
}
public override string ToString()
{
if (IsNothing)
{
return "";
}
return _value.ToString();
}
public static implicit operator Maybe<T>(T value)
{
return new Maybe<T>(value);
}
public static explicit operator T(Maybe<T> value)
{
return value.Value;
}
}
Your method would look like:
public static Maybe<T> GetQueryString<T>(string key) where T : IConvertible
{
if (String.IsNullOrEmpty(HttpContext.Current.Request.QueryString[key]) == false)
{
string value = HttpContext.Current.Request.QueryString[key];
try
{
return (T)Convert.ChangeType(value, typeof(T));
}
catch
{
//Could not convert. Pass back default value...
return new Maybe<T>();
}
}
return new Maybe<T>();
}

I like to start with a class like this
class settings
{
public int X {get;set;}
public string Y { get; set; }
// repeat as necessary
public settings()
{
this.X = defaultForX;
this.Y = defaultForY;
// repeat ...
}
public void Parse(Uri uri)
{
// parse values from query string.
// if you need to distinguish from default vs. specified, add an appropriate property
}
This has worked well on 100's of projects. You can use one of the many other parsing solutions to parse values.