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generic type conversion in C#

Is there any way the following code can be improved. I'm aware of the non nullable reference in C# 8.0 and was thinking either that or any other way they code below could be made more robust and better in general.
This method is called for converting xml data before insertion in a database Through entity framework core. Any way these tools can be used to improve this code is welcomed.
public object Convert(string value, Type toType)
{
try
{
if (toType == typeof(short))
{
return short.Parse(value);
}
if (toType == typeof(short?))
{
if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(value))
{
return null;
}
return short.Parse(value);
}
if (toType == typeof(int))
{
return int.Parse(value);
}
if (toType == typeof(int?))
{
if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(value))
{
return null;
}
return int.Parse(value);
}
if (toType == typeof(decimal))
{
return decimal.Parse(value);
}
if (toType == typeof(decimal?))
{
if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(value))
{
return null;
}
return decimal.Parse(value);
}
if (toType == typeof(DateTime))
{
return DateTime.Parse(value);
}
if (toType == typeof(DateTime?))
{
if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(value))
{
return null;
}
return DateTime.Parse(value);
}
throw new NotSupportedException($"No conversion defined for type:'{toType}'");
}
catch (System.FormatException excp)
{
throw new ConversionException($"Value:'{value}' could not be converted to:'{toType.Name}'", excp);
}
}
Many thanks in advance

The only thing I can offer is to improve robustness by using .TryParse() for the parsing instead of .Parse()
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
var i = Parse<int>("100");
var x = Parse<double>("3.1417");
var s = Parse<string>("John");
var d = Parse<Decimal>("1234.56");
var f = Parse<DateTime>("4/1/2044");
var q = Parse<byte>("4A");
Decimal? p = Parse<decimal>("Not Decimal");
}
public static dynamic Parse<T>(string text)
{
var toType = typeof(T);
if (toType == typeof(int))
{
if (int.TryParse(text, out int x))
{
return x;
}
}
else if (toType == typeof(short))
{
if (short.TryParse(text, out short x))
{
return x;
}
}
else if (toType == typeof(double))
{
if (double.TryParse(text, out double x))
{
return x;
}
}
else if (toType == typeof(decimal))
{
if (decimal.TryParse(text, out decimal x))
{
return x;
}
}
else if (toType == typeof(DateTime))
{
if (DateTime.TryParse(text, out DateTime x))
{
return x;
}
}
else if (toType == typeof(byte))
{
if (byte.TryParse(text, System.Globalization.NumberStyles.HexNumber, null, out byte x))
{
return x;
}
}
else if (toType == typeof(string))
{
return text;
}
return null;
}
}

IMO the main improvement here would be to remove all boxing. Which means using generics throughout. Now, there's a complication there: with generics, it is hard to change types without with boxing (to convince the compiler you know what you're doing), or using meta-programming. So: I'd lean towards the latter. Something like:
public static T Convert<T>(string input)
=> TypeCache<T>.Convert(input);
private static TypeCache<T> {
public static readonly Func<string, T> Convert
= CreateConverter<T>();
}
private static Func<string, T> CreateConverter<T>()
{...}
The magic all happens in that last method. The problem is: it isn't trivial. The simplest approach should be to use reflection to discover a suitable parse method, then manually construct an Expression<Func<string, T>> by linking appropriate Expression nodes to repreresent the operation, then call Compile() to get a delegate. Another approach is to go straight to DynamicMethod and ILGenerator. Both are advanced topics.

This is the code I wrote and used in my company's project really well.
You can try to use this:
/// <summary>
/// Method : Simply Universal Type Converter
/// Requirement : C# 7.0+
/// Created by : Byungho Park(Tapegawui) in South Korea.
/// </summary>
/// <typeparam name="T"></typeparam>
/// <param name="val">Original value</param>
/// <param name="rfrom">(Optional)Character(s) want to replace from</param>
/// <param name="rto">(Optional)Character(s) will be replace to</param>
/// <returns></returns>
public static T Cast<T>(dynamic val, string rfrom = "", string rto = "") where T : IConvertible
{
try
{
// Convert null to empty else 0
if (val is null || val.Equals(DBNull.Value))
{
if (typeof(T) == typeof(string) || typeof(T) == typeof(DateTime))
{
val = string.Empty;
}
else if (typeof(T) == typeof(bool))
{
val = false;
}
else
{
val = 0;
}
}
else
{
// Replace string given parameter from a to b
if (typeof(T) == typeof(string) && rfrom == "" & rto.Length > 0)
{
if (val.ToString().Length == 0)
{
val = rto;
}
}
else if (typeof(T) == typeof(string) && rto.Length > 0)
{
val = (string)val.ToString().Replace(rfrom, rto);
}
}
// Convert type on this block finally
return (T)Convert.ChangeType(val, typeof(T));
}
catch (Exception)
{
return default(T);
}
}
And usage examples:
using System;
int vint = 10;
int vint2 = vint;
string vstr = "1000000";
string vdcm = "123456789123456789";
for (int i = 1; i <= vint; i++)
{
vint2 += i;
}
Console.WriteLine($"Adding int with loop : {vint2} from {vint}\n");
string tint = Cast<string>(vint);
for (int i = 1; i <= vint; i++)
{
tint += i;
}
Console.WriteLine($"Adding string with loop : {tint} from {vint}\n");
long tlong = Cast<long>(vstr);
tlong *= tlong;
Console.WriteLine($"Multiply long : {tlong} from {vstr}\n");
double tdbl = Cast<double>(vdcm);
for (int i = 1; i <= vint; i++)
{
tdbl *= i;
}
Console.WriteLine($"Multiply double with loop : {tdbl} from {vdcm}\n");
decimal tdcm = Cast<decimal>(vdcm);
for (int i = 1; i <= vint; i++)
{
tdcm *= i;
}
Console.WriteLine($"Multiply decimal with loop : {tdcm} from {vdcm}\n");
string ns = null;
Console.WriteLine($"Null string : {Cast<string>(ns)}\n");
int? ni = null;
Console.WriteLine($"Null int : {Cast<int>(ni)}\n");
long? nl = null;
Console.WriteLine($"Null long : {Cast<long>(nl)}\n");
double? ndbl = null;
Console.WriteLine($"Null double : {Cast<double>(ndbl)}\n");
decimal? nd = null;
Console.WriteLine($"Null decimal : {Cast<decimal>(nd)}\n");
string tb = "true";
Console.WriteLine($"Convert string to boolean : {Cast<bool>(tb)}\n");
bool? nb = null;
Console.WriteLine($"Null boolean : {Cast<bool>(nb)}\n");
// -----------------------
// From Microsoft examples
double d = -2.345;
int t = Cast<int>(d);
Console.WriteLine($"The double value {d} when converted to an int becomes {t}\n");
string s = "98/12/12";
DateTime dt = Cast<DateTime>(s);
Console.WriteLine($"The string value {s} when converted to a Date becomes {dt}\n");
// -----------------------
// ------------------------------------------
// Replace some character(s) with string type
string rs = "Replace this string with x to y.";
Console.WriteLine($"{Cast<string>(rs, " ", "_")}\n");
Console.WriteLine($"{Cast<string>("abcd", "", "abc")}\n");
Console.WriteLine($"{Cast<string>("", "", "abc")}\n");
string rs3 = "Replace this string from x to y.";
string ts = "string";
Console.WriteLine($"{Cast<string>(rs3, ts, ts.ToUpper())}\n");
Console.WriteLine($"Replace int character with string : {Cast<string>(vstr, "0", "1")}\n");
// ------------------------------------------
Console.WriteLine("Press any key to close...");
Console.ReadKey();
In addition, output results:
Adding int with loop : 65 from 10
Adding string with loop : 1012345678910 from 10
Multiply long : 1000000000000 from 1000000
Multiply double with loop : 4.479999963712E+23 from 123456789123456789
Multiply decimal with loop : 447999996371199995923200 from 123456789123456789
Null string :
Null int : 0
Null long : 0
Null double : 0
Null decimal : 0
Convert string to boolean : True
Null boolean : False
The double value -2.345 when converted to an int becomes -2
The string value 98/12/12 when converted to a Date becomes 1998-12-12 오전 12:00:00
Replace_this_string_with_x_to_y.
abcd
abc
Replace this STRING from x to y.
Replace int character with string : 1111111
Press any key to close...

public static class StringExtensions
{
public static TDest ConvertStringTo<TDest>(this string src)
{
if (src == null)
{
return default(TDest);
}
try
{
return ChangeType<TDest>(src);
}
catch
{
return default(TDest);
}
}
private static T ChangeType<T>(string value)
{
var t = typeof(T);
if (t.GetTypeInfo().IsGenericType && t.GetGenericTypeDefinition().Equals(typeof(Nullable<>)))
{
t = Nullable.GetUnderlyingType(t);
}
return (T)Convert.ChangeType(value, t);
}
}

Using runtime infrastructure to determine types and perform conversions between them as proposed by the other answers is very convenient and probably what you are looking for.
If, however, you need more control over your conversion (or rather parsing), e.g. because you get weird input formats that require pre-processing, may I suggest the following class.
It lets you provide a parser method for each type you register. The types from your question with their nullable cousins come pre-registered in the constructor, but you can also add any other method to the dictionary as your input data requires:
public delegate bool Parser<T>(string input, out T output);
public class Parsers
{
private delegate bool UntypedParser(string input, out object output);
private Dictionary<Type, UntypedParser> _parsersByType = new Dictionary<Type, UntypedParser>();
/// <summary>
/// Creates a <see cref="Parsers"/> instance pre-populated with parsers for the most common types.
/// </summary>
public static Parsers CreateDefault()
{
Parsers result = new Parsers();
result.AddParser<string>((string input, out string output) => { output = input; return true; });
result.AddParserForNullable<bool>(bool.TryParse);
result.AddParserForNullable<byte>(byte.TryParse);
result.AddParserForNullable<DateTime>(DateTime.TryParse);
result.AddParserForNullable<decimal>(decimal.TryParse);
result.AddParserForNullable<double>(double.TryParse);
result.AddParserForNullable<float>(float.TryParse);
result.AddParserForNullable<int>(int.TryParse);
result.AddParserForNullable<short>(short.TryParse);
return result;
}
/// <summary>
/// Registers a parser for the given type T
/// </summary>
public void AddParser<T>(Parser<T> parser)
{
_parsersByType[typeof(T)] = (string input, out object output) => ParseObject(parser, input, out output);
}
/// <summary>
/// Registers a parser for the given type T as well as <see cref="Nullable{T}"/>
/// </summary>
public void AddParserForNullable<T>(Parser<T> parser)
where T : struct
{
_parsersByType[typeof(T)] = (string input, out object output) => ParseObject(parser, input, out output);
_parsersByType[typeof(T?)] = (string input, out object output) => ParseNullable(parser, input, out output);
}
/// <summary>
/// For nullable types, return null when the input is an empty string or null.
/// </summary>
/// <remarks>This is not called for the string-parser. Meaning an empty string is not parsed into a null value.</remarks>
private bool ParseNullable<T>(Parser<T> parser, string input, out object output)
where T : struct
{
bool result;
if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(input))
{
result = true;
output = null;
}
else
{
result = ParseObject(parser, input, out output);
}
return result;
}
/// <summary>
/// Helper method to convert the typed output into an object (possibly boxing the value)
/// </summary>
private bool ParseObject<T>(Parser<T> parser, string input, out object output)
{
bool result = parser(input, out T typedOutput);
output = typedOutput;
return result;
}
/// <summary>
/// Finds the parser for the given target type and uses it to parse the input.
/// </summary>
public object Parse<T>(string input)
{
Type targetType = typeof(T);
object result;
if (!_parsersByType.TryGetValue(targetType, out UntypedParser parser))
{
throw new ArgumentException($"No parser defined for type '{targetType}'.");
}
else if (!parser(input, out result))
{
throw new ArgumentException($"Cannot parse '{targetType}' from input '{input}'.");
}
return result;
}
}

Any easy way to see which IF condition is false?

I'm posting this question to find a simpler way of achieving a result.
We have a big IF statement that checks for NULL or string.empty. Something like this:
if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(Empl.Name) || string.IsNullOrEmpty(Empl.last) ||
string.IsNullOrEmpty(Empl.init) || string.IsNullOrEmpty(Empl.cat1) ||
string.IsNullOrEmpty(Empl.history) || string.IsNullOrEmpty(Empl.cat2) ||
string.IsNullOrEmpty(Empl.year) || string.IsNullOrEmpty(Empl.month) ||
string.IsNullOrEmpty(Empl.retire) || string.IsNullOrEmpty(Empl.spouse) ||
string.IsNullOrEmpty(Empl.children) || string.IsNullOrEmpty(Empl.bday) ||
string.IsNullOrEmpty(Empl.hire)|| string.IsNullOrEmpty(Empl.death) ||
string.IsNullOrEmpty(Empl.JobName) || string.IsNullOrEmpty(Empl.More) ||
string.IsNullOrEmpty(Empl.AndMore))
{
//Display message. Something like "Error: Name and Month is missing"
return;
}
Any solution I've found so far to address this is time-consuming, and would require writing more code.
Is there any way to know which value is string.IsNullOrEmpty without having to change this IF statement too much? Worse-case, I can check every single statement separately, but I would prefer not doing this.
Thanks.

No, there's no "magic" function that will tell you which of a series of expression in an OR statement are true. Also, since you're using the short-circuiting version, the statement will return true after the first true condition, so the remaining expressions are not even evaluated.
However, you could do something like this:
bool[] checks = {
string.IsNullOrEmpty(Empl.Name) , string.IsNullOrEmpty(Empl.last) ,
string.IsNullOrEmpty(Empl.init) , string.IsNullOrEmpty(Empl.cat1) ,
string.IsNullOrEmpty(Empl.history) , string.IsNullOrEmpty(Empl.cat2) ,
string.IsNullOrEmpty(Empl.year) , string.IsNullOrEmpty(Empl.month) ,
string.IsNullOrEmpty(Empl.retire) , string.IsNullOrEmpty(Empl.spouse) ,
string.IsNullOrEmpty(Empl.children) , string.IsNullOrEmpty(Empl.bday) ,
string.IsNullOrEmpty(Empl.hire) , string.IsNullOrEmpty(Empl.death) ,
string.IsNullOrEmpty(Empl.JobName) , string.IsNullOrEmpty(Empl.More) ,
string.IsNullOrEmpty(Empl.AndMore)
};
if(checks.Any())
{
//Display message. Something like "Error: Name and Month is missing"
return;
}
now the checks variable holds the result of each expression.

I find this sort of an more elegant way to use ModelState.isValid.
Some reference: What is ModelState.IsValid valid for in ASP.NET MVC in NerdDinner?
For your model, you can add following annotation:
[Required(AllowEmptyStrings= false)]
public string Boo { get; set; }
When you do validation, try:
if (!ModelState.IsValid)
{
//Display message. Something like "Error: Name and Month is missing"
return;
}

Yes, write your own string extension method that does the same check, but also takes in a List and add the field name to the list. Declare the list of strings before the if and you will have a list of offending fields where your comment is.
This can be improved upon with a bit of reflection to automatically get the name and maybe make a few optimizations but it is on the right track.
Keep in mind that the first condition that violates the if statement will cause it to fail, so you will get an incomplete list (of one item) unless your if is constructed differently.
public static class StringExtensions
{
public static bool CheckIsNullOrEmptyAndListIt(this string field, string fieldName, List<string> naughties)
{
var result = String.IsNullOrEmpty(field);
if (result == true)
{
naughties.Add(fieldName);
}
return result;
}
}
}

using System.IO;
using System;
using System.Linq;
public class Program
{
public class Dog
{
public static string Name {get;set;}
public static string Race {get;set;}
}
public static bool validate(Dog dog)
{
bool val = true;
var y = dog.GetType()
.GetProperties()
.Select(p =>
{
object value =p.GetValue(dog,null);
if(string.IsNullOrEmpty(value.ToString())){ val=false; return false;}
else return true;
})
.ToArray();
return val;
}
public static void Main()
{
Dog dog= new Dog();
Dog.Name = "Peter";
Dog.Race = "";
if(validate(dog))
{
Console.WriteLine("Hello, World!");
}
}
}

You can use something like this :
public static class ValidationHelper
{
public static IEnumerable<string> FindEmptyProperties<T>(T target, params Expression<Func<T, string>>[] propertySelectors)
{
foreach (var propertySelector in propertySelectors)
{
if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(propertySelector.Compile()(target)))
{
var memberExpr = propertySelector.Body as MemberExpression;
yield return memberExpr.Member.Name;
}
}
}
}
Usage :
var failed = ValidationHelper.FindEmptyProperties(Empl, x => x.Name, x => x.last, x => x.init, x => x.cat1).ToList();
if (failed.Any())
{
throw new InvalidOperationException(
string.Format("Error: {0} is missing",
string.Join(", ", failed)));
}

If you use ASP.NET MVC maybe use DataAnnotations...
For the general c# context consider PostSharp aspect oriented library! Geat project!
Otherwise: Maybe a reflection solution using plain .NET ? (Created just for you! I think i keep for some own projects maybe)
Works with different types and you can control the targeted bindingflags.
Provides a common base class for your data transfer objects. (dto)
Reflection is performance optimized and working for generics as well!
public class Program
{
public void Main()
{
Empl test = new Empl()
{
TestProp = "blub",
TestInt = 1
};
if (test.ValidateProperties(Validations.CheckEmptyStringsAndZeroInts))
{
Console.WriteLine("validation passed");
}
else
{
Console.WriteLine("validation failed");
}
}
}
private static class Validations
{
//put this in a static class with standard checks
public static Func<object, bool> CheckEmptyStringsAndZeroInts = o =>
{
if (o is string && string.IsNullOrEmpty((string)o))
{
return false;
}
else if (o is int && ((int) o) == 0)
{
return false;
}
// ignore other property types
return true;
};
}
// Derive all your models like this. deriving from an Empl class is still valid and working!
//[IncludeBindingFlagsForPropertyReflctionAttribute(/*your custom binding flags*/)] //can also override the binding flags in derived classes!
public class Empl : DtoBase<Empl>
{
public string TestProp { get; set; }
public int TestInt { get; set; }
// Your properties here
}
// Helps you to control the targeted properties. you can filter for public or protected members for example
public class IncludeBindingFlagsForPropertyReflctionAttribute : Attribute
{
public BindingFlags BindingFlags { get; }
public IncludeBindingFlagsForPropertyReflctionAttribute(BindingFlags propertySearchBindingFlags)
{
BindingFlags = propertySearchBindingFlags;
}
}
//Looks much. But used once as base class can do those validations for you
[IncludeBindingFlagsForPropertyReflction(BindingFlags.Public | BindingFlags.Instance)]
public abstract class DtoBase<TDto> where TDto : DtoBase<TDto>
{
private static Dictionary<Type, List<PropertyInfo>> DtoPropertyInfosStorage { get; }
private List<PropertyInfo> DtoPropertyInfos => DtoPropertyInfosStorage[typeof (TDto)];
static DtoBase()
{
DtoPropertyInfosStorage = new Dictionary<Type, List<PropertyInfo>>();
Type tDto = typeof (TDto);
var includeBindingFlagsForProperty = GetAttribute(tDto);
BindingFlags defaultTargetFlags = BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.Public;
DtoPropertyInfosStorage.Add(typeof(TDto), new List<PropertyInfo>(typeof(TDto).GetProperties(includeBindingFlagsForProperty?.BindingFlags ?? defaultTargetFlags)));
}
private static IncludeBindingFlagsForPropertyReflctionAttribute GetAttribute(Type dtoType)
{
bool stopRecursion = !dtoType.IsSubclassOf(typeof(DtoBase<TDto>));
var includeBindingFlagsForProperty = dtoType.GetCustomAttributes(typeof(IncludeBindingFlagsForPropertyReflctionAttribute)).FirstOrDefault();
if (includeBindingFlagsForProperty == null && !stopRecursion)
{
return GetAttribute(dtoType.BaseType);
}
return null;
}
/// <summary>
/// You can handle your validation type in you validation function yourself.
/// </summary>
public bool ValidateProperties(Func<object, bool> validationFunction)
{
foreach (KeyValuePair<Type, List<PropertyInfo>> dtoPropertyInfo in DtoPropertyInfosStorage)
{
foreach (PropertyInfo propertyInfo in DtoPropertyInfos)
{
if (!validationFunction(propertyInfo.))
{
return false;
}
}
}
return true;
}
/// <summary>
/// You can pass your targeted property type like string to TPropertyType
/// <![CDATA[ Example:
/// if(ValidateProperties<string>(validate => !string.IsNullOrEmpty(validate)))
/// {
/// properties not empty?
/// }
/// ]]]]>
/// </summary>
public bool ValidateProperties<TPropertyType>(Func<TPropertyType, bool> validationFunction)
{
List<PropertyInfo> targetPropertyInfos =
DtoPropertyInfos.Where(prop => prop.PropertyType == typeof (TPropertyType))
.ToList();
foreach (PropertyInfo dtoPropertyInfo in targetPropertyInfos)
{
if (validationFunction((TPropertyType) dtoPropertyInfo.GetValue(this)))
{
return false;
}
}
return true;
}
}

Using an enum as an array index in C#

I want to do the same as in this question, that is:
enum DaysOfTheWeek {Sunday=0, Monday, Tuesday...};
string[] message_array = new string[number_of_items_at_enum];
...
Console.Write(custom_array[(int)DaysOfTheWeek.Sunday]);
however, I would rather have something integral to so, rather than write this error prone code. Is there a built in module in C# that does just this?

If the values of your enum items are contigious, the array method works pretty well. However, in any case, you could use Dictionary<DayOfTheWeek, string> (which is less performant, by the way).

Since C# 7.3 it has been possible to use System.Enum as a constraint on type parameters. So the nasty hacks in the some of the other answers are no longer required.
Here's a very simple ArrayByEum class that does exactly what the question asked.
Note that it will waste space if the enum values are non-contiguous, and won't cope with enum values that are too large for an int. I did say this example was very simple.
/// <summary>An array indexed by an Enum</summary>
/// <typeparam name="T">Type stored in array</typeparam>
/// <typeparam name="U">Indexer Enum type</typeparam>
public class ArrayByEnum<T,U> : IEnumerable where U : Enum // requires C# 7.3 or later
{
private readonly T[] _array;
private readonly int _lower;
public ArrayByEnum()
{
_lower = Convert.ToInt32(Enum.GetValues(typeof(U)).Cast<U>().Min());
int upper = Convert.ToInt32(Enum.GetValues(typeof(U)).Cast<U>().Max());
_array = new T[1 + upper - _lower];
}
public T this[U key]
{
get { return _array[Convert.ToInt32(key) - _lower]; }
set { _array[Convert.ToInt32(key) - _lower] = value; }
}
public IEnumerator GetEnumerator()
{
return Enum.GetValues(typeof(U)).Cast<U>().Select(i => this[i]).GetEnumerator();
}
}
Usage:
ArrayByEnum<string,MyEnum> myArray = new ArrayByEnum<string,MyEnum>();
myArray[MyEnum.First] = "Hello";
myArray[YourEnum.Other] = "World"; // compiler error

You could make a class or struct that could do the work for you
public class Caster
{
public enum DayOfWeek
{
Sunday = 0,
Monday,
Tuesday,
Wednesday,
Thursday,
Friday,
Saturday
}
public Caster() {}
public Caster(string[] data) { this.Data = data; }
public string this[DayOfWeek dow]{
get { return this.Data[(int)dow]; }
}
public string[] Data { get; set; }
public static implicit operator string[](Caster caster) { return caster.Data; }
public static implicit operator Caster(string[] data) { return new Caster(data); }
}
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
Caster message_array = new string[7];
Console.Write(message_array[Caster.DayOfWeek.Sunday]);
}
}
EDIT
For lack of a better place to put this, I am posting a generic version of the Caster class below. Unfortunately, it relies on runtime checks to enforce TKey as an enum.
public enum DayOfWeek
{
Weekend,
Sunday = 0,
Monday,
Tuesday,
Wednesday,
Thursday,
Friday,
Saturday
}
public class TypeNotSupportedException : ApplicationException
{
public TypeNotSupportedException(Type type)
: base(string.Format("The type \"{0}\" is not supported in this context.", type.Name))
{
}
}
public class CannotBeIndexerException : ApplicationException
{
public CannotBeIndexerException(Type enumUnderlyingType, Type indexerType)
: base(
string.Format("The base type of the enum (\"{0}\") cannot be safely cast to \"{1}\".",
enumUnderlyingType.Name, indexerType)
)
{
}
}
public class Caster<TKey, TValue>
{
private readonly Type baseEnumType;
public Caster()
{
baseEnumType = typeof(TKey);
if (!baseEnumType.IsEnum)
throw new TypeNotSupportedException(baseEnumType);
}
public Caster(TValue[] data)
: this()
{
Data = data;
}
public TValue this[TKey key]
{
get
{
var enumUnderlyingType = Enum.GetUnderlyingType(baseEnumType);
var intType = typeof(int);
if (!enumUnderlyingType.IsAssignableFrom(intType))
throw new CannotBeIndexerException(enumUnderlyingType, intType);
var index = (int) Enum.Parse(baseEnumType, key.ToString());
return Data[index];
}
}
public TValue[] Data { get; set; }
public static implicit operator TValue[](Caster<TKey, TValue> caster)
{
return caster.Data;
}
public static implicit operator Caster<TKey, TValue>(TValue[] data)
{
return new Caster<TKey, TValue>(data);
}
}
// declaring and using it.
Caster<DayOfWeek, string> messageArray =
new[]
{
"Sunday",
"Monday",
"Tuesday",
"Wednesday",
"Thursday",
"Friday",
"Saturday"
};
Console.WriteLine(messageArray[DayOfWeek.Sunday]);
Console.WriteLine(messageArray[DayOfWeek.Monday]);
Console.WriteLine(messageArray[DayOfWeek.Tuesday]);
Console.WriteLine(messageArray[DayOfWeek.Wednesday]);
Console.WriteLine(messageArray[DayOfWeek.Thursday]);
Console.WriteLine(messageArray[DayOfWeek.Friday]);
Console.WriteLine(messageArray[DayOfWeek.Saturday]);

Here you go:
string[] message_array = Enum.GetNames(typeof(DaysOfTheWeek));
If you really need the length, then just take the .Length on the result :)
You can get values with:
string[] message_array = Enum.GetValues(typeof(DaysOfTheWeek));

Compact form of enum used as index and assigning whatever type to a Dictionary
and strongly typed. In this case float values are returned but values could be complex Class instances having properties and methods and more:
enum opacityLevel { Min, Default, Max }
private static readonly Dictionary<opacityLevel, float> _oLevels = new Dictionary<opacityLevel, float>
{
{ opacityLevel.Max, 40.0 },
{ opacityLevel.Default, 50.0 },
{ opacityLevel.Min, 100.0 }
};
//Access float value like this
var x = _oLevels[opacitylevel.Default];

If all you need is essentially a map, but don't want to incur performance overhead associated with dictionary lookups, this might work:
public class EnumIndexedArray<TKey, T> : IEnumerable<KeyValuePair<TKey, T>> where TKey : struct
{
public EnumIndexedArray()
{
if (!typeof (TKey).IsEnum) throw new InvalidOperationException("Generic type argument is not an Enum");
var size = Convert.ToInt32(Keys.Max()) + 1;
Values = new T[size];
}
protected T[] Values;
public static IEnumerable<TKey> Keys
{
get { return Enum.GetValues(typeof (TKey)).OfType<TKey>(); }
}
public T this[TKey index]
{
get { return Values[Convert.ToInt32(index)]; }
set { Values[Convert.ToInt32(index)] = value; }
}
private IEnumerable<KeyValuePair<TKey, T>> CreateEnumerable()
{
return Keys.Select(key => new KeyValuePair<TKey, T>(key, Values[Convert.ToInt32(key)]));
}
public IEnumerator<KeyValuePair<TKey, T>> GetEnumerator()
{
return CreateEnumerable().GetEnumerator();
}
IEnumerator IEnumerable.GetEnumerator()
{
return GetEnumerator();
}
}
So in your case you could derive:
class DaysOfWeekToStringsMap:EnumIndexedArray<DayOfWeek,string>{};
Usage:
var map = new DaysOfWeekToStringsMap();
//using the Keys static property
foreach(var day in DaysOfWeekToStringsMap.Keys){
map[day] = day.ToString();
}
foreach(var day in DaysOfWeekToStringsMap.Keys){
Console.WriteLine("map[{0}]={1}",day, map[day]);
}
// using iterator
foreach(var value in map){
Console.WriteLine("map[{0}]={1}",value.Key, value.Value);
}
Obviously this implementation is backed by an array, so non-contiguous enums like this:
enum
{
Ok = 1,
NotOk = 1000000
}
would result in excessive memory usage.
If you require maximum possible performance you might want to make it less generic and loose all generic enum handling code I had to use to get it to compile and work. I didn't benchmark this though, so maybe it's no big deal.
Caching the Keys static property might also help.

I realize this is an old question, but there have been a number of comments about the fact that all solutions so far have run-time checks to ensure the data type is an enum. Here is a complete solution (with some examples) of a solution with compile time checks (as well as some comments and discussions from my fellow developers)
//There is no good way to constrain a generic class parameter to an Enum. The hack below does work at compile time,
// though it is convoluted. For examples of how to use the two classes EnumIndexedArray and ObjEnumIndexedArray,
// see AssetClassArray below. Or, e.g.
// EConstraint.EnumIndexedArray<int, YourEnum> x = new EConstraint.EnumIndexedArray<int, YourEnum>();
// See this post
// http://stackoverflow.com/questions/79126/create-generic-method-constraining-t-to-an-enum/29581813#29581813
// and the answer/comments by Julien Lebosquain
public class EConstraint : HackForCompileTimeConstraintOfTEnumToAnEnum<System.Enum> { }//THIS MUST BE THE ONLY IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ABSTRACT HackForCompileTimeConstraintOfTEnumToAnEnum
public abstract class HackForCompileTimeConstraintOfTEnumToAnEnum<SystemEnum> where SystemEnum : class
{
//For object types T, users should use EnumIndexedObjectArray below.
public class EnumIndexedArray<T, TEnum>
where TEnum : struct, SystemEnum
{
//Needs to be public so that we can easily do things like intIndexedArray.data.sum()
// - just not worth writing up all the equivalent methods, and we can't inherit from T[] and guarantee proper initialization.
//Also, note that we cannot use Length here for initialization, even if Length were defined the same as GetNumEnums up to
// static qualification, because we cannot use a non-static for initialization here.
// Since we want Length to be non-static, in keeping with other definitions of the Length property, we define the separate static
// GetNumEnums, and then define the non-static Length in terms of the actual size of the data array, just for clarity,
// safety and certainty (in case someone does something stupid like resizing data).
public T[] data = new T[GetNumEnums()];
//First, a couple of statics allowing easy use of the enums themselves.
public static TEnum[] GetEnums()
{
return (TEnum[])Enum.GetValues(typeof(TEnum));
}
public TEnum[] getEnums()
{
return GetEnums();
}
//Provide a static method of getting the number of enums. The Length property also returns this, but it is not static and cannot be use in many circumstances.
public static int GetNumEnums()
{
return GetEnums().Length;
}
//This should always return the same as GetNumEnums, but is not static and does it in a way that guarantees consistency with the member array.
public int Length { get { return data.Length; } }
//public int Count { get { return data.Length; } }
public EnumIndexedArray() { }
// [WDS 2015-04-17] Remove. This can be dangerous. Just force people to use EnumIndexedArray(T[] inputArray).
// [DIM 2015-04-18] Actually, if you think about it, EnumIndexedArray(T[] inputArray) is just as dangerous:
// For value types, both are fine. For object types, the latter causes each object in the input array to be referenced twice,
// while the former causes the single object t to be multiply referenced. Two references to each of many is no less dangerous
// than 3 or more references to one. So all of these are dangerous for object types.
// We could remove all these ctors from this base class, and create a separate
// EnumIndexedValueArray<T, TEnum> : EnumIndexedArray<T, TEnum> where T: struct ...
// but then specializing to TEnum = AssetClass would have to be done twice below, once for value types and once
// for object types, with a repetition of all the property definitions. Violating the DRY principle that much
// just to protect against stupid usage, clearly documented as dangerous, is not worth it IMHO.
public EnumIndexedArray(T t)
{
int i = Length;
while (--i >= 0)
{
this[i] = t;
}
}
public EnumIndexedArray(T[] inputArray)
{
if (inputArray.Length > Length)
{
throw new Exception(string.Format("Length of enum-indexed array ({0}) to big. Can't be more than {1}.", inputArray.Length, Length));
}
Array.Copy(inputArray, data, inputArray.Length);
}
public EnumIndexedArray(EnumIndexedArray<T, TEnum> inputArray)
{
Array.Copy(inputArray.data, data, data.Length);
}
//Clean data access
public T this[int ac] { get { return data[ac]; } set { data[ac] = value; } }
public T this[TEnum ac] { get { return data[Convert.ToInt32(ac)]; } set { data[Convert.ToInt32(ac)] = value; } }
}
public class EnumIndexedObjectArray<T, TEnum> : EnumIndexedArray<T, TEnum>
where TEnum : struct, SystemEnum
where T : new()
{
public EnumIndexedObjectArray(bool doInitializeWithNewObjects = true)
{
if (doInitializeWithNewObjects)
{
for (int i = Length; i > 0; this[--i] = new T()) ;
}
}
// The other ctor's are dangerous for object arrays
}
public class EnumIndexedArrayComparator<T, TEnum> : EqualityComparer<EnumIndexedArray<T, TEnum>>
where TEnum : struct, SystemEnum
{
private readonly EqualityComparer<T> elementComparer = EqualityComparer<T>.Default;
public override bool Equals(EnumIndexedArray<T, TEnum> lhs, EnumIndexedArray<T, TEnum> rhs)
{
if (lhs == rhs)
return true;
if (lhs == null || rhs == null)
return false;
//These cases should not be possible because of the way these classes are constructed.
// HOWEVER, the data member is public, so somebody _could_ do something stupid and make
// data=null, or make lhs.data == rhs.data, even though lhs!=rhs (above check)
//On the other hand, these are just optimizations, so it won't be an issue if we reomve them anyway,
// Unless someone does something really dumb like setting .data to null or resizing to an incorrect size,
// in which case things will crash, but any developer who does this deserves to have it crash painfully...
//if (lhs.data == rhs.data)
// return true;
//if (lhs.data == null || rhs.data == null)
// return false;
int i = lhs.Length;
//if (rhs.Length != i)
// return false;
while (--i >= 0)
{
if (!elementComparer.Equals(lhs[i], rhs[i]))
return false;
}
return true;
}
public override int GetHashCode(EnumIndexedArray<T, TEnum> enumIndexedArray)
{
//This doesn't work: for two arrays ar1 and ar2, ar1.GetHashCode() != ar2.GetHashCode() even when ar1[i]==ar2[i] for all i (unless of course they are the exact same array object)
//return engineArray.GetHashCode();
//Code taken from comment by Jon Skeet - of course - in http://stackoverflow.com/questions/7244699/gethashcode-on-byte-array
//31 and 17 are used commonly elsewhere, but maybe because everyone is using Skeet's post.
//On the other hand, this is really not very critical.
unchecked
{
int hash = 17;
int i = enumIndexedArray.Length;
while (--i >= 0)
{
hash = hash * 31 + elementComparer.GetHashCode(enumIndexedArray[i]);
}
return hash;
}
}
}
}
//Because of the above hack, this fails at compile time - as it should. It would, otherwise, only fail at run time.
//public class ThisShouldNotCompile : EConstraint.EnumIndexedArray<int, bool>
//{
//}
//An example
public enum AssetClass { Ir, FxFwd, Cm, Eq, FxOpt, Cr };
public class AssetClassArrayComparator<T> : EConstraint.EnumIndexedArrayComparator<T, AssetClass> { }
public class AssetClassIndexedArray<T> : EConstraint.EnumIndexedArray<T, AssetClass>
{
public AssetClassIndexedArray()
{
}
public AssetClassIndexedArray(T t) : base(t)
{
}
public AssetClassIndexedArray(T[] inputArray) : base(inputArray)
{
}
public AssetClassIndexedArray(EConstraint.EnumIndexedArray<T, AssetClass> inputArray) : base(inputArray)
{
}
public T Cm { get { return this[AssetClass.Cm ]; } set { this[AssetClass.Cm ] = value; } }
public T FxFwd { get { return this[AssetClass.FxFwd]; } set { this[AssetClass.FxFwd] = value; } }
public T Ir { get { return this[AssetClass.Ir ]; } set { this[AssetClass.Ir ] = value; } }
public T Eq { get { return this[AssetClass.Eq ]; } set { this[AssetClass.Eq ] = value; } }
public T FxOpt { get { return this[AssetClass.FxOpt]; } set { this[AssetClass.FxOpt] = value; } }
public T Cr { get { return this[AssetClass.Cr ]; } set { this[AssetClass.Cr ] = value; } }
}
//Inherit from AssetClassArray<T>, not EnumIndexedObjectArray<T, AssetClass>, so we get the benefit of the public access getters and setters above
public class AssetClassIndexedObjectArray<T> : AssetClassIndexedArray<T> where T : new()
{
public AssetClassIndexedObjectArray(bool bInitializeWithNewObjects = true)
{
if (bInitializeWithNewObjects)
{
for (int i = Length; i > 0; this[--i] = new T()) ;
}
}
}
EDIT:
If you are using C# 7.3 or later, PLEASE don't use this ugly solution. See Ian Goldby's answer from 2018.

You can always do some extra mapping to get an array index of an enum value in a consistent and defined way:
int ArrayIndexFromDaysOfTheWeekEnum(DaysOfWeek day)
{
switch (day)
{
case DaysOfWeek.Sunday: return 0;
case DaysOfWeek.Monday: return 1;
...
default: throw ...;
}
}
Be as specific as you can. One day someone will modify your enum and the code will fail because the enum's value was (mis)used as an array index.

For future reference the above problem can be summarized as follows:
I come from Delphi where you can define an array as follows:
type
{$SCOPEDENUMS ON}
TDaysOfTheWeek = (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday);
TDaysOfTheWeekStrings = array[TDaysOfTheWeek];
Then you can iterate through the array using Min and Max:
for Dow := Min(TDaysOfTheWeek) to Max(TDaysOfTheWeek)
DaysOfTheWeekStrings[Dow] := '';
Though this is quite a contrived example, when you are dealing with array positions later in the code I can just type DaysOfTheWeekStrings[TDaysOfTheWeek.Monday]. This has the advantage of the fact that I should the TDaysOfTheWeek increase in size then I do not have to remember the new size of the array etc..... However back to the C# world. I have found this example C# Enum Array Example.

It was a very good answer by #ian-goldby, but it didn't address the issue raised by #zar-shardan, which is an issue I hit myself. Below is my take on a solution, with a an extension class for converting an IEnumerable, and a test class below that:
/// <summary>
/// An array indexed by an enumerated type instead of an integer
/// </summary>
public class ArrayIndexedByEnum<TKey, TElement> : IEnumerable<TElement> where TKey : Enum
{
private readonly Array _array;
private readonly Dictionary<TKey, TElement> _dictionary;
/// <summary>
/// Creates the initial array, populated with the defaults for TElement
/// </summary>
public ArrayIndexedByEnum()
{
var min = Convert.ToInt64(Enum.GetValues(typeof(TKey)).Cast<TKey>().Min());
var max = Convert.ToInt64(Enum.GetValues(typeof(TKey)).Cast<TKey>().Max());
var size = max - min + 1;
// Check that we aren't creating a ridiculously big array, if we are,
// then use a dictionary instead
if (min >= Int32.MinValue &&
max <= Int32.MaxValue &&
size < Enum.GetValues(typeof(TKey)).Length * 3L)
{
var lowerBound = Convert.ToInt32(min);
var upperBound = Convert.ToInt32(max);
_array = Array.CreateInstance(typeof(TElement), new int[] {(int)size }, new int[] { lowerBound });
}
else
{
_dictionary = new Dictionary<TKey, TElement>();
foreach (var value in Enum.GetValues(typeof(TKey)).Cast<TKey>())
{
_dictionary[value] = default(TElement);
}
}
}
/// <summary>
/// Gets the element by enumerated type
/// </summary>
public TElement this[TKey key]
{
get => (TElement)(_array?.GetValue(Convert.ToInt32(key)) ?? _dictionary[key]);
set
{
if (_array != null)
{
_array.SetValue(value, Convert.ToInt32(key));
}
else
{
_dictionary[key] = value;
}
}
}
/// <summary>
/// Gets a generic enumerator
/// </summary>
public IEnumerator<TElement> GetEnumerator()
{
return Enum.GetValues(typeof(TKey)).Cast<TKey>().Select(k => this[k]).GetEnumerator();
}
System.Collections.IEnumerator System.Collections.IEnumerable.GetEnumerator()
{
return GetEnumerator();
}
}
Here's the extension class:
/// <summary>
/// Extensions for converting IEnumerable<TElement> to ArrayIndexedByEnum
/// </summary>
public static class ArrayIndexedByEnumExtensions
{
/// <summary>
/// Creates a ArrayIndexedByEnumExtensions from an System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerable
/// according to specified key selector and element selector functions.
/// </summary>
public static ArrayIndexedByEnum<TKey, TElement> ToArrayIndexedByEnum<TSource, TKey, TElement>(this IEnumerable<TSource> source, Func<TSource, TKey> keySelector, Func<TSource, TElement> elementSelector) where TKey : Enum
{
var array = new ArrayIndexedByEnum<TKey, TElement>();
foreach(var item in source)
{
array[keySelector(item)] = elementSelector(item);
}
return array;
}
/// <summary>
/// Creates a ArrayIndexedByEnum from an System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerable
/// according to a specified key selector function.
/// </summary>
public static ArrayIndexedByEnum<TKey, TSource> ToArrayIndexedByEnum<TSource, TKey>(this IEnumerable<TSource> source, Func<TSource, TKey> keySelector) where TKey : Enum
{
return source.ToArrayIndexedByEnum(keySelector, i => i);
}
}
And here are my tests:
[TestClass]
public class ArrayIndexedByEnumUnitTest
{
private enum OddNumbersEnum : UInt16
{
One = 1,
Three = 3,
Five = 5,
Seven = 7,
Nine = 9
}
private enum PowersOf2 : Int64
{
TwoP0 = 1,
TwoP1 = 2,
TwoP2 = 4,
TwoP3 = 8,
TwoP4 = 16,
TwoP5 = 32,
TwoP6 = 64,
TwoP7 = 128,
TwoP8 = 256,
TwoP9 = 512,
TwoP10 = 1_024,
TwoP11 = 2_048,
TwoP12 = 4_096,
TwoP13 = 8_192,
TwoP14 = 16_384,
TwoP15 = 32_768,
TwoP16 = 65_536,
TwoP17 = 131_072,
TwoP18 = 262_144,
TwoP19 = 524_288,
TwoP20 = 1_048_576,
TwoP21 = 2_097_152,
TwoP22 = 4_194_304,
TwoP23 = 8_388_608,
TwoP24 = 16_777_216,
TwoP25 = 33_554_432,
TwoP26 = 67_108_864,
TwoP27 = 134_217_728,
TwoP28 = 268_435_456,
TwoP29 = 536_870_912,
TwoP30 = 1_073_741_824,
TwoP31 = 2_147_483_648,
TwoP32 = 4_294_967_296,
TwoP33 = 8_589_934_592,
TwoP34 = 17_179_869_184,
TwoP35 = 34_359_738_368,
TwoP36 = 68_719_476_736,
TwoP37 = 137_438_953_472,
TwoP38 = 274_877_906_944,
TwoP39 = 549_755_813_888,
TwoP40 = 1_099_511_627_776,
TwoP41 = 2_199_023_255_552,
TwoP42 = 4_398_046_511_104,
TwoP43 = 8_796_093_022_208,
TwoP44 = 17_592_186_044_416,
TwoP45 = 35_184_372_088_832,
TwoP46 = 70_368_744_177_664,
TwoP47 = 140_737_488_355_328,
TwoP48 = 281_474_976_710_656,
TwoP49 = 562_949_953_421_312,
TwoP50 = 1_125_899_906_842_620,
TwoP51 = 2_251_799_813_685_250,
TwoP52 = 4_503_599_627_370_500,
TwoP53 = 9_007_199_254_740_990,
TwoP54 = 18_014_398_509_482_000,
TwoP55 = 36_028_797_018_964_000,
TwoP56 = 72_057_594_037_927_900,
TwoP57 = 144_115_188_075_856_000,
TwoP58 = 288_230_376_151_712_000,
TwoP59 = 576_460_752_303_423_000,
TwoP60 = 1_152_921_504_606_850_000,
}
[TestMethod]
public void TestSimpleArray()
{
var array = new ArrayIndexedByEnum<OddNumbersEnum, string>();
var odds = Enum.GetValues(typeof(OddNumbersEnum)).Cast<OddNumbersEnum>().ToList();
// Store all the values
foreach (var odd in odds)
{
array[odd] = odd.ToString();
}
// Check the retrieved values are the same as what was stored
foreach (var odd in odds)
{
Assert.AreEqual(odd.ToString(), array[odd]);
}
}
[TestMethod]
public void TestPossiblyHugeArray()
{
var array = new ArrayIndexedByEnum<PowersOf2, string>();
var powersOf2s = Enum.GetValues(typeof(PowersOf2)).Cast<PowersOf2>().ToList();
// Store all the values
foreach (var powerOf2 in powersOf2s)
{
array[powerOf2] = powerOf2.ToString();
}
// Check the retrieved values are the same as what was stored
foreach (var powerOf2 in powersOf2s)
{
Assert.AreEqual(powerOf2.ToString(), array[powerOf2]);
}
}
}

What is the best or most interesting use of Extension Methods you've seen? [closed]

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Closed 11 years ago.
I'm starting to really love extension methods... I was wondering if anyone her has stumbled upon one that really blew their mind, or just found clever.
An example I wrote today:
Edited due to other users' comments:
public static IEnumerable<int> To(this int fromNumber, int toNumber) {
while (fromNumber < toNumber) {
yield return fromNumber;
fromNumber++;
}
}
This allows a for loop to be written as a foreach loop:
foreach (int x in 0.To(16)) {
Console.WriteLine(Math.Pow(2, x).ToString());
}
I can't wait to see other examples! Enjoy!

This is one that's been getting some play from me lately:
public static IDisposable Tag(this HtmlHelper html, string tagName)
{
if (html == null)
throw new ArgumentNullException("html");
Action<string> a = tag => html.Write(String.Format(tag, tagName));
a("<{0}>");
return new Memento(() => a("</{0}>"));
}
Used like:
using (Html.Tag("ul"))
{
this.Model.ForEach(item => using(Html.Tag("li")) Html.Write(item));
using(Html.Tag("li")) Html.Write("new");
}
Memento is a handy class:
public sealed class Memento : IDisposable
{
private bool Disposed { get; set; }
private Action Action { get; set; }
public Memento(Action action)
{
if (action == null)
throw new ArgumentNullException("action");
Action = action;
}
void IDisposable.Dispose()
{
if (Disposed)
throw new ObjectDisposedException("Memento");
Disposed = true;
Action();
}
}
And to complete the dependencies:
public static void Write(this HtmlHelper html, string content)
{
if (html == null)
throw new ArgumentNullException("html");
html.ViewContext.HttpContext.Response.Write(content);
}

The full solution is too large to put here, but I wrote a series of extension methods that would allow you to easily convert a DataTable into a CSV.
public static String ToCSV(this DataTable dataTable)
{
return dataTable.ToCSV(null, COMMA, true);
}
public static String ToCSV(this DataTable dataTable, String qualifier)
{
return dataTable.ToCSV(qualifier, COMMA, true);
}
private static String ToCSV(this DataTable dataTable, String qualifier, String delimiter, Boolean includeColumnNames)
{
if (dataTable == null) return null;
if (qualifier == delimiter)
{
throw new InvalidOperationException(
"The qualifier and the delimiter are identical. This will cause the CSV to have collisions that might result in data being parsed incorrectly by another program.");
}
var sbCSV = new StringBuilder();
var delimiterToUse = delimiter ?? COMMA;
if (includeColumnNames)
sbCSV.AppendLine(dataTable.Columns.GetHeaderLine(qualifier, delimiterToUse));
foreach (DataRow row in dataTable.Rows)
{
sbCSV.AppendLine(row.ToCSVLine(qualifier, delimiterToUse));
}
return sbCSV.Length > 0 ? sbCSV.ToString() : null;
}
private static String ToCSVLine(this DataRow dataRow, String qualifier, String delimiter)
{
var colCount = dataRow.Table.Columns.Count;
var rowValues = new String[colCount];
for (var i = 0; i < colCount; i++)
{
rowValues[i] = dataRow[i].Qualify(qualifier);
}
return String.Join(delimiter, rowValues);
}
private static String GetHeaderLine(this DataColumnCollection columns, String qualifier, String delimiter)
{
var colCount = columns.Count;
var colNames = new String[colCount];
for (var i = 0; i < colCount; i++)
{
colNames[i] = columns[i].ColumnName.Qualify(qualifier);
}
return String.Join(delimiter, colNames);
}
private static String Qualify(this Object target, String qualifier)
{
return qualifier + target + qualifier;
}
At the end of the day, you could call it like this:
someDataTable.ToCSV(); //Plain old CSV
someDataTable.ToCSV("\""); //Double quote qualifier
someDataTable.ToCSV("\"", "\t"); //Tab delimited

I'm not a fan of the INotifyPropertyChanged interface requiring that property names are passed as strings. I want a strongly-typed way to check at compile time that I'm only raising and handling property changes for properties that exist. I use this code to do that:
public static class INotifyPropertyChangedExtensions
{
public static string ToPropertyName<T>(this Expression<Func<T>> #this)
{
var #return = string.Empty;
if (#this != null)
{
var memberExpression = #this.Body as MemberExpression;
if (memberExpression != null)
{
#return = memberExpression.Member.Name;
}
}
return #return;
}
}
In classes that implement INotifyPropertyChanged I include this helper method:
protected void NotifySetProperty<T>(ref T field, T value,
Expression<Func<T>> propertyExpression)
{
if (field == null ? value != null : !field.Equals(value))
{
field = value;
this.NotifyPropertyChanged(propertyExpression.ToPropertyName());
}
}
So that finally I can do this kind of thing:
private string _name;
public string Name
{
get { return _name; }
set { this.NotifySetProperty(ref _name, value, () => this.Name); }
}
It's strongly-typed and I only raise events for properties that actually change their value.

Well this isn't exactly clever but I've modified the ----OrDefault methods so you could specify a default item inline instead of checking for null later in your code:
public static T SingleOrDefault<T> ( this IEnumerable<T> source,
Func<T, bool> action, T theDefault )
{
T item = source.SingleOrDefault<T>(action);
if (item != null)
return item;
return theDefault;
}
Its incredible simple but really helps clean up those null checks. Best used when your UI is expecting a list of X items, like a tournament system, or game player slots and you want to display "empty seats".
Usage:
return jediList.SingleOrDefault(
j => j.LightsaberColor == "Orange",
new Jedi() { LightsaberColor = "Orange", Name = "DarthNobody");

Two that I like to use are the InsertWhere<T> and RemoveWhere<T> Extension Methods that I've written. Working with ObservableCollections in WPF and Silverlight I often need to modify ordered lists without recreating them. These methods allow me to insert and remove according to a supplied Func, so .OrderBy() doesn't need to be re-called.
/// <summary>
/// Removes all items from the provided <paramref name="list"/> that match the<paramref name="predicate"/> expression.
/// </summary>
/// <typeparam name="T">The class type of the list items.</typeparam>
/// <param name="list">The list to remove items from.</param>
/// <param name="predicate">The predicate expression to test against.</param>
public static void RemoveWhere<T>(this IList<T> list, Func<T, bool> predicate)
{
T[] copy = new T[] { };
Array.Resize(ref copy, list.Count);
list.CopyTo(copy, 0);
for (int i = copy.Length - 1; i >= 0; i--)
{
if (predicate(copy[i]))
{
list.RemoveAt(i);
}
}
}
/// <summary>
/// Inserts an Item into a list at the first place that the <paramref name="predicate"/> expression fails. If it is true in all cases, then the item is appended to the end of the list.
/// </summary>
/// <typeparam name="T"></typeparam>
/// <param name="list"></param>
/// <param name="obj"></param>
/// <param name="predicate">The sepcified function that determines when the <paramref name="obj"/> should be added. </param>
public static void InsertWhere<T>(this IList<T> list, T obj, Func<T, bool> predicate)
{
for (int i = 0; i < list.Count; i++)
{
// When the function first fails it inserts the obj paramiter.
// For example, in a list myList of ordered Int32's {1,2,3,4,5,10,12}
// Calling myList.InsertWhere( 8, x => 8 > x) inserts 8 once the list item becomes greater then or equal to it.
if(!predicate(list[i]))
{
list.Insert(i, obj);
return;
}
}
list.Add(obj);
}
Edit:
Talljoe made some significant improvements to the RemoveWhere/RemoveAll, that I had hastily constructed. With ~3mill items removing every third one the new version takes only ~50 milliseconds (less then 10 if it can call List.RemoveAll !) as opposed to the RemoveWhere 's multiple seconds (I got tired of waiting for it.)
Here is his greatly improved version, thanks again!
public static void RemoveAll<T>(this IList<T> instance, Predicate<T> predicate)
{
if (instance == null)
throw new ArgumentNullException("instance");
if (predicate == null)
throw new ArgumentNullException("predicate");
if (instance is T[])
throw new NotSupportedException();
var list = instance as List<T>;
if (list != null)
{
list.RemoveAll(predicate);
return;
}
int writeIndex = 0;
for (int readIndex = 0; readIndex < instance.Count; readIndex++)
{
var item = instance[readIndex];
if (predicate(item)) continue;
if (readIndex != writeIndex)
{
instance[writeIndex] = item;
}
++writeIndex;
}
if (writeIndex != instance.Count)
{
for (int deleteIndex = instance.Count - 1; deleteIndex >= writeIndex; --deleteIndex)
{
instance.RemoveAt(deleteIndex);
}
}
}

I have various .Debugify extension methods that are useful for dumping objects to a log file. For example, here's my Dictionary debugify (I have these for List, Datatable, param array, etc.):
public static string Debugify<TKey, TValue>(this Dictionary<TKey, TValue> dictionary) {
string Result = "";
if (dictionary.Count > 0) {
StringBuilder ResultBuilder = new StringBuilder();
int Counter = 0;
foreach (KeyValuePair<TKey, TValue> Entry in dictionary) {
Counter++;
ResultBuilder.AppendFormat("{0}: {1}, ", Entry.Key, Entry.Value);
if (Counter % 10 == 0) ResultBuilder.AppendLine();
}
Result = ResultBuilder.ToString();
}
return Result;
}
And here's one for a DbParameterCollection (useful for dumping database calls to the log file):
public static string Debugify(this DbParameterCollection parameters) {
List<string> ParameterValuesList = new List<string>();
foreach (DbParameter Parameter in parameters) {
string ParameterName, ParameterValue;
ParameterName = Parameter.ParameterName;
if (Parameter.Direction == ParameterDirection.ReturnValue)
continue;
if (Parameter.Value == null || Parameter.Value.Equals(DBNull.Value))
ParameterValue = "NULL";
else
{
switch (Parameter.DbType)
{
case DbType.String:
case DbType.Date:
case DbType.DateTime:
case DbType.Guid:
case DbType.Xml:
ParameterValue
= "'" + Parameter
.Value
.ToString()
.Replace(Environment.NewLine, "")
.Left(80, "...") + "'"; // Left... is another nice one
break;
default:
ParameterValue = Parameter.Value.ToString();
break;
}
if (Parameter.Direction != ParameterDirection.Input)
ParameterValue += " " + Parameter.Direction.ToString();
}
ParameterValuesList.Add(string.Format("{0}={1}", ParameterName, ParameterValue));
}
return string.Join(", ", ParameterValuesList.ToArray());
}
Example result:
Log.DebugFormat("EXEC {0} {1}", procName, params.Debugify);
// EXEC spProcedure #intID=5, #nvName='Michael Haren', #intRefID=11 OUTPUT
Note that if you call this after your DB calls, you'll get the output parameters filled in, too. I call this on a line that includes the SP name so I can copy/paste the call into SSMS for debugging.
These make my log files pretty and easy to generate without interrupting my code.

Here's one I hacked together, so feel free to pick holes in it. It takes an (ordered) list of integers and returns a list of strings of contiguous ranges. eg:
1,2,3,7,10,11,12 --> "1-3","7","10-12"
The function (within a static class):
public static IEnumerable<string> IntRanges(this IEnumerable<int> numbers)
{
int rangeStart = 0;
int previous = 0;
if (!numbers.Any())
yield break;
rangeStart = previous = numbers.FirstOrDefault();
foreach (int n in numbers.Skip(1))
{
if (n - previous > 1) // sequence break - yield a sequence
{
if (previous > rangeStart)
{
yield return string.Format("{0}-{1}", rangeStart, previous);
}
else
{
yield return rangeStart.ToString();
}
rangeStart = n;
}
previous = n;
}
if (previous > rangeStart)
{
yield return string.Format("{0}-{1}", rangeStart, previous);
}
else
{
yield return rangeStart.ToString();
}
}
Usage example:
this.WeekDescription = string.Join(",", from.WeekPattern.WeekPatternToInts().IntRanges().ToArray());
This code is used to convert data from a DailyWTF-worthy timetabling application. WeekPattern is a bitmask stored in a string "0011011100...". WeekPatternToInts() converts that to an IEnumerable<int>, in this case [3,4,6,7,8], which becomes "3-4,6-8". It provides the user with a compact description of the academic week ranges that a lecture occurs on.

A pair of extension methods to convert base-36 strings(!) to integers:
public static int ToBase10(this string base36)
{
if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(base36))
return 0;
int value = 0;
foreach (var c in base36.Trim())
{
value = value * 36 + c.ToBase10();
}
return value;
}
public static int ToBase10(this char c)
{
if (c >= '0' && c <= '9')
return c - '0';
c = char.ToUpper(c);
if (c >= 'A' && c <= 'Z')
return c - 'A' + 10;
return 0;
}
(Some genius decided that the best way to store numbers in the database was to encode them to strings. Decimals take too much space. Hex is better, but doesnt use the characters G-Z. So obviously you extend base-16 to base-36!)

I wrote a series of extension methods to make it easier to manipulate ADO.NET objects and methods :
Create a DbCommand from a DbConnection in one instruction :
public static DbCommand CreateCommand(this DbConnection connection, string commandText)
{
DbCommand command = connection.CreateCommand();
command.CommandText = commandText;
return command;
}
Add a parameter to a DbCommand :
public static DbParameter AddParameter(this DbCommand command, string name, DbType dbType)
{
DbParameter p = AddParameter(command, name, dbType, 0, ParameterDirection.Input);
return p;
}
public static DbParameter AddParameter(this DbCommand command, string name, DbType dbType, object value)
{
DbParameter p = AddParameter(command, name, dbType, 0, ParameterDirection.Input);
p.Value = value;
return p;
}
public static DbParameter AddParameter(this DbCommand command, string name, DbType dbType, int size)
{
return AddParameter(command, name, dbType, size, ParameterDirection.Input);
}
public static DbParameter AddParameter(this DbCommand command, string name, DbType dbType, int size, ParameterDirection direction)
{
DbParameter parameter = command.CreateParameter();
parameter.ParameterName = name;
parameter.DbType = dbType;
parameter.Direction = direction;
parameter.Size = size;
command.Parameters.Add(parameter);
return parameter;
}
Access DbDataReader fields by name rather than index :
public static DateTime GetDateTime(this DbDataReader reader, string name)
{
int i = reader.GetOrdinal(name);
return reader.GetDateTime(i);
}
public static decimal GetDecimal(this DbDataReader reader, string name)
{
int i = reader.GetOrdinal(name);
return reader.GetDecimal(i);
}
public static double GetDouble(this DbDataReader reader, string name)
{
int i = reader.GetOrdinal(name);
return reader.GetDouble(i);
}
public static string GetString(this DbDataReader reader, string name)
{
int i = reader.GetOrdinal(name);
return reader.GetString(i);
}
...
Another (unrelated) extension method allows me to perform the DragMove operation (like in WPF) on WinForms forms and controls, see here.

Most examples for extension methods that I see here go against best practises.
Extension methods are powerful, but should be used sparingly. In my experience, a static helper/utility class with old-school syntax would generally be preferrable for most of these.
There is something to say for extension methods for Enums, as it's not possible for them to have methods. If you define them in the same namespace as your Enum and in the same assembly, they work transparently.

While very simple, I find this one to be particularly useful since I get a page out of a full result set ten billion times a project:
public static class QueryableExtensions
{
public static IQueryable<T> Page(this IQueryable<T> query, int pageNumber, int pageSize)
{
int skipCount = (pageNumber-1) * pageSize;
query = query.Skip(skipCount);
query = query.Take(pageSize);
return query;
}
}

Often times, I've needed to display a user-friendly value based on an Enum value, but didn't want to go the custom Attribute route, as it didn't seem too elegant.
With this handy extension method:
public static string EnumValue(this MyEnum e) {
switch (e) {
case MyEnum.First:
return "First Friendly Value";
case MyEnum.Second:
return "Second Friendly Value";
case MyEnum.Third:
return "Third Friendly Value";
}
return "Horrible Failure!!";
}
I can do this:
Console.WriteLine(MyEnum.First.EnumValue());
Yay!

This is an extension method to centralize null checks before raising events.
public static class EventExtension
{
public static void RaiseEvent<T>(this EventHandler<T> handler, object obj, T args) where T : EventArgs
{
EventHandler<T> theHandler = handler;
if (theHandler != null)
{
theHandler(obj, args);
}
}
}

This one is incredibly simple, but it's a check I do a lot so I ended up making an extension method for it. My favorite extension methods tend to be the really simple, straightforward ones like this, or like Taylor L's extension method for raising events.
public static bool IsNullOrEmpty(this ICollection e)
{
return e == null || e.Count == 0;
}

To allow more functional combinator code:
public static Func<T, R> TryCoalesce<T, R>(this Func<T, R> f, R coalesce)
{
return x =>
{
try
{
return f(x);
}
catch
{
return coalesce;
}
};
}
public static TResult TryCoalesce<T, TResult>(this Func<T, TResult> f, T p, TResult coalesce)
{
return f.TryCoalesce(coalesce)(p);
}
Then I could write something like this:
public static int ParseInt(this string str, int coalesce)
{
return TryCoalesce(int.Parse, str, coalesce);
}

Another set I use quite often is for coalescing IDictionary methods:
public static TValue Get<TKey, TValue>(this IDictionary<TKey, TValue> d, TKey key, Func<TValue> valueThunk)
{
TValue v = d.Get(key);
if (v == null)
{
v = valueThunk();
d.Add(key, v);
}
return v;
}
public static TValue Get<TKey, TValue>(this IDictionary<TKey, TValue> d, TKey key, TValue coalesce)
{
return Get(d, key, () => coalesce);
}
And for working with collections in general:
public static IEnumerable<T> AsCollection<T>(this T item)
{
yield return item;
}
Then for tree-like structures:
public static LinkedList<T> Up<T>(this T node, Func<T, T> parent)
{
var list = new LinkedList<T>();
node.Up(parent, n => list.AddFirst(n));
return list;
}
So I can then easily traverse and operate upon a up a class like:
class Category
{
public string Name { get; set; }
public Category Parent { get; set; }
}
Next, to facilitate function composition and a more F# like way of programming in C#:
public static Func<T, T> Func<T>(this Func<T, T> f)
{
return f;
}
public static Func<T1, R> Compose<T1, T2, R>(this Func<T1, T2> f, Func<T2, R> g)
{
return x => g(f(x));
}

I am converting a lot of Java to C#. Many of the methods vary only in capitalization or other small syntax differences. So Java code such as
myString.toLowerCase();
will not compile but by adding an extension method
public static void toLowerCase(this string s)
{
s.ToLower();
}
I can catch all the methods (and I assume a good compiler will inline this anyway?).
It's certainly made the job much easier and more reliable.
(I thank #Yuriy - see answer in: differences between StringBuilder in Java and C#) for the suggestion.

I like this one. It is a variation on the String.Split method that allows the use of an escape character to suppress splitting when the split character is intended to be in the actual string.

Extension method on int to decode a bitmask specifying days (with first day of week being Monday in this case) to an enumeration of DayOfWeek enums:
public static IEnumerable<DayOfWeek> Days(this int dayMask)
{
if ((dayMask & 1) > 0) yield return DayOfWeek.Monday;
if ((dayMask & 2) > 0) yield return DayOfWeek.Tuesday;
if ((dayMask & 4) > 0) yield return DayOfWeek.Wednesday;
if ((dayMask & 8) > 0) yield return DayOfWeek.Thursday;
if ((dayMask & 16) > 0) yield return DayOfWeek.Friday;
if ((dayMask & 32) > 0) yield return DayOfWeek.Saturday;
if ((dayMask & 64) > 0) yield return DayOfWeek.Sunday;
}

This one creates array with single element added at the very beginning:
public static T[] Prepend<T>(this T[] array, T item)
{
T[] result = new T[array.Length + 1];
result[0] = item;
Array.Copy(array, 0, result, 1, array.Length);
return result;
}
string[] some = new string[] { "foo", "bar" };
...
some = some.Prepend("baz");
And this one helps me when I need to convert some expression to it's square:
public static double Sq(this double arg)
{
return arg * arg;
}
(x - x0).Sq() + (y - y0).Sq() + (z - z0).Sq()

Here's another one I wrote:
public static class StringExtensions
{
/// <summary>
/// Returns a Subset string starting at the specified start index and ending and the specified end
/// index.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="s">The string to retrieve the subset from.</param>
/// <param name="startIndex">The specified start index for the subset.</param>
/// <param name="endIndex">The specified end index for the subset.</param>
/// <returns>A Subset string starting at the specified start index and ending and the specified end
/// index.</returns>
public static string Subsetstring(this string s, int startIndex, int endIndex)
{
if (startIndex < 0) throw new ArgumentOutOfRangeException("startIndex", "Must be positive.");
if (endIndex < 0) throw new ArgumentOutOfRangeException("endIndex", "Must be positive.");
if (startIndex > endIndex) throw new ArgumentOutOfRangeException("endIndex", "Must be >= startIndex.");
return s.Substring(startIndex, (endIndex - startIndex));
}
/// <summary>
/// Finds the specified Start Text and the End Text in this string instance, and returns a string
/// containing all the text starting from startText, to the begining of endText. (endText is not
/// included.)
/// </summary>
/// <param name="s">The string to retrieve the subset from.</param>
/// <param name="startText">The Start Text to begin the Subset from.</param>
/// <param name="endText">The End Text to where the Subset goes to.</param>
/// <param name="ignoreCase">Whether or not to ignore case when comparing startText/endText to the string.</param>
/// <returns>A string containing all the text starting from startText, to the begining of endText.</returns>
public static string Subsetstring(this string s, string startText, string endText, bool ignoreCase)
{
if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(startText)) throw new ArgumentNullException("startText", "Must be filled.");
if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(endText)) throw new ArgumentNullException("endText", "Must be filled.");
string temp = s;
if (ignoreCase)
{
temp = s.ToUpperInvariant();
startText = startText.ToUpperInvariant();
endText = endText.ToUpperInvariant();
}
int start = temp.IndexOf(startText);
int end = temp.IndexOf(endText, start);
return Subsetstring(s, start, end);
}
}
The motivation behind this one was simple. It always bugged me how the built in Substring method took startindex and length as it's parameters. It's ALWAYS much more helpful to do startindex and endindex. So, I rolled my own:
Usage:
string s = "This is a tester for my cool extension method!!";
s = s.Subsetstring("tester", "cool",true);
The reason I had to use Subsetstring was because Substring's overload already takes two ints. If anyone has a better name, please, let me know!!

cool, also loving Extensions!
here's a few.
This one will get the last Date of a Month:
<System.Runtime.CompilerServices.Extension()> _
Public Function GetLastMonthDay(ByVal Source As DateTime) As DateTime
Dim CurrentMonth As Integer = Source.Month
Dim MonthCounter As Integer = Source.Month
Dim LastDay As DateTime
Dim DateCounter As DateTime = Source
LastDay = Source
Do While MonthCounter = CurrentMonth
DateCounter = DateCounter.AddDays(1)
MonthCounter = DateCounter.Month
If MonthCounter = CurrentMonth Then
LastDay = DateCounter
End If
Loop
Return LastDay
End Function
these two make reflection a bit easier:
<System.Runtime.CompilerServices.Extension()> _
Public Function GetPropertyValue(Of ValueType)(ByVal Source As Object, ByVal PropertyName As String) As ValueType
Dim pInfo As System.Reflection.PropertyInfo
pInfo = Source.GetType.GetProperty(PropertyName)
If pInfo Is Nothing Then
Throw New Exception("Property " & PropertyName & " does not exists for object of type " & Source.GetType.Name)
Else
Return pInfo.GetValue(Source, Nothing)
End If
End Function
<System.Runtime.CompilerServices.Extension()> _
Public Function GetPropertyType(ByVal Source As Object, ByVal PropertyName As String) As Type
Dim pInfo As System.Reflection.PropertyInfo
pInfo = Source.GetType.GetProperty(PropertyName)
If pInfo Is Nothing Then
Throw New Exception("Property " & PropertyName & " does not exists for object of type " & Source.GetType.Name)
Else
Return pInfo.PropertyType
End If
End Function

The extension methods I use the most would have to be the ones in the System.Linq.Enumerable class.
And a good and useful extension to that list you can find in MoreLinq.

There are a couple that I've mentioned here that I use:
Easier checking on flags enums
if( enumVar.IsSet( MyEnum.PossibleFlag ) ) //..then
Inline checking of nulls
myObject.IfNotNull( x => x.Property );

few extensions I use mostly. first set is object extensions, really only for converting.
public static class ObjectExtension
{
public static T As<T>(this object value)
{
return (value != null && value is T) ? (T)value : default(T);
}
public static int AsInt(this string value)
{
if (value.HasValue())
{
int result;
var success = int.TryParse(value, NumberStyles.Integer, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, out result);
if (success)
{
return result;
}
}
return 0;
}
public static Guid AsGuid(this string value)
{
return value.HasValue() ? new Guid(value) : Guid.Empty;
}
}
string extensions
public static class StringExtension
{
public static bool HasValue(this string value)
{
return string.IsNullOrEmpty(value) == false;
}
public static string Slug(this string value)
{
if (value.HasValue())
{
var builder = new StringBuilder();
var slug = value.Trim().ToLower();
foreach (var c in slug)
{
switch (c)
{
case ' ':
builder.Append("-");
break;
case '&':
builder.Append("and");
break;
default:
if ((c >= '0' && c <= '9') || (c >= 'a' && c <= 'z') && c != '-')
{
builder.Append(c);
}
break;
}
}
return builder.ToString();
}
return string.Empty;
}
public static string Truncate(this string value, int limit)
{
return (value.Length > limit) ? string.Concat(value.Substring(0, Math.Min(value.Length, limit)), "...") : value;
}
}
and last is some enum extensions
public static class EnumExtensions
{
public static bool Has<T>(this Enum source, params T[] values)
{
var value = Convert.ToInt32(source, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);
foreach (var i in values)
{
var mask = Convert.ToInt32(i, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);
if ((value & mask) == 0)
{
return false;
}
}
return true;
}
public static bool Has<T>(this Enum source, T values)
{
var value = Convert.ToInt32(source, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);
var mask = Convert.ToInt32(values, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);
return (value & mask) != 0;
}
public static T Add<T>(this Enum source, T v)
{
var value = Convert.ToInt32(source, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);
var mask = Convert.ToInt32(v, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);
return Enum.ToObject(typeof(T), value | mask).As<T>();
}
public static T Remove<T>(this Enum source, T v)
{
var value = Convert.ToInt32(source, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);
var mask = Convert.ToInt32(v, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);
return Enum.ToObject(typeof(T), value & ~mask).As<T>();
}
public static T AsEnum<T>(this string value)
{
try
{
return Enum.Parse(typeof(T), value, true).As<T>();
}
catch
{
return default(T);
}
}
}

With regular use of StringBuilder, you may see the need to combine AppendFormat() and AppendLine().
public static void AppendFormatLine(this StringBuilder sb, string format, params object[] args)
{
sb.AppendFormat(format, args);
sb.AppendLine();
}
Also, since I'm converting an application from VB6 to C#, the following are very useful to me:
public static string Left(this string s, int length)
{
if (s.Length >= length)
return s.Substring(0, length);
throw new ArgumentException("Length must be less than the length of the string.");
}
public static string Right(this string s, int length)
{
if (s.Length >= length)
return s.Substring(s.Length - length, length);
throw new ArgumentException("Length must be less than the length of the string.");
}

My favourite from my own personal collection of string utils is one that will parse a strongly typed value from a string for any type that has a TryParse method:
public static class StringUtils
{
/// <summary>
/// This method will parse a value from a string.
/// If the string is null or not the right format to parse a valid value,
/// it will return the default value provided.
/// </summary>
public static T To<t>(this string value, T defaultValue)
where T: struct
{
var type = typeof(T);
if (value != null)
{
var parse = type.GetMethod("TryParse", new Type[] { typeof(string), type.MakeByRefType() });
var parameters = new object[] { value, default(T) };
if((bool)parse.Invoke(null, parameters))
return (T)parameters[1];
}
return defaultValue;
}
/// <summary>
/// This method will parse a value from a string.
/// If the string is null or not the right format to parse a valid value,
/// it will return the default value for the type.
/// </summary>
public static T To<t>(this string value)
where T : struct
{
return value.To<t>(default(T));
}
}
It's great for getting strongly typed information from query strings:
var value = Request.QueryString["value"].To<int>();

I hate having to do this everywhere:
DataSet ds = dataLayer.GetSomeData(1, 2, 3);
if(ds != null){
if(ds.Tables.Count > 0){
DataTable dt = ds.Tables[0];
foreach(DataRow dr in dt.Rows){
//Do some processing
}
}
}
Instead I usually use the following Extension Method:
public static IEnumerable<DataRow> DataRows(this DataSet current){
if(current != null){
if(current.Tables.Count > 0){
DataTable dt = current.Tables[0];
foreach(DataRow dr in dt.Rows){
yield return dr;
}
}
}
}
So the first example then becomes:
foreach(DataRow row in ds.DataRows()){
//Do some processing
}
Yay, Extension Methods!

String.format should not have been static. So I use an extension method called frmt:
<Extension()> Public Function frmt(ByVal format As String,
ByVal ParamArray args() As Object) As String
If format Is Nothing Then Throw New ArgumentNullException("format")
Return String.Format(format, args)
End Function
When I want to read or write a number to a byte stream without constructing a binary writer (technically you aren't supposed to modify the raw stream after you've wrapped it with a writer):
<Extension()> Public Function Bytes(ByVal n As ULong,
ByVal byteOrder As ByteOrder,
Optional ByVal size As Integer = 8) As Byte()
Dim data As New List(Of Byte)
Do Until data.Count >= size
data.Add(CByte(n And CULng(&HFF)))
n >>= 8
Loop
Select Case byteOrder
Case ByteOrder.BigEndian
Return data.ToArray.reversed
Case ByteOrder.LittleEndian
Return data.ToArray
Case Else
Throw New ArgumentException("Unrecognized byte order.")
End Select
End Function
<Extension()> Public Function ToULong(ByVal data As IEnumerable(Of Byte),
ByVal byteOrder As ByteOrder) As ULong
If data Is Nothing Then Throw New ArgumentNullException("data")
Dim val As ULong
Select Case byteOrder
Case ByteOrder.LittleEndian
data = data.Reverse
Case ByteOrder.BigEndian
'no change required
Case Else
Throw New ArgumentException("Unrecognized byte order.")
End Select
For Each b In data
val <<= 8
val = val Or b
Next b
Return val
End Function

This one shifts a sequence so that you get the given item first. I used it for example to take the day of weeks and shift it so that the first day in the sequence is the first day of the week for the current culture.
/// <summary>
/// Shifts a sequence so that the given <paramref name="item"/> becomes the first.
/// Uses the specified equality <paramref name="comparer"/> to find the item.
/// </summary>
/// <typeparam name="TSource">Type of elements in <paramref name="source"/>.</typeparam>
/// <param name="source">Sequence of elements.</param>
/// <param name="item">Item which will become the first.</param>
/// <param name="comparer">Used to find the first item.</param>
/// <returns>A shifted sequence. For example Shift({1,2,3,4,5,6}, 3) would become {3,4,5,6,1,2}. </returns>
public static IEnumerable<TSource> Shift<TSource>(this IEnumerable<TSource> source, TSource item, IEqualityComparer<TSource> comparer)
{
var queue = new Queue<TSource>();
bool found = false;
foreach (TSource e in source)
{
if (!found && comparer.Equals(item, e))
found = true;
if (found)
yield return e;
else
queue.Enqueue(e);
}
while (queue.Count > 0)
yield return queue.Dequeue();
}
/// <summary>
/// Shifts a sequence so that the given item becomes the first.
/// Uses the default equality comparer to find the item.
/// </summary>
/// <typeparam name="TSource">Type of elements in <paramref name="source"/>.</typeparam>
/// <param name="source">Sequence of elements.</param>
/// <param name="element">Element which will become the first.</param>
/// <returns>A shifted sequence. For example Shift({1,2,3,4,5,6}, 3) would become {3,4,5,6,1,2}. </returns>
public static IEnumerable<TSource> Shift<TSource>(this IEnumerable<TSource> source, TSource element)
{
return Shift(source, element, EqualityComparer<TSource>.Default);
}

Convert string to nullable type (int, double, etc...)

I am attempting to do some data conversion. Unfortunately, much of the data is in strings, where it should be int's or double, etc...
So what I've got is something like:
double? amount = Convert.ToDouble(strAmount);
The problem with this approach is if strAmount is empty, if it's empty I want it to amount to be null, so when I add it into the database the column will be null. So I ended up writing this:
double? amount = null;
if(strAmount.Trim().Length>0)
{
amount = Convert.ToDouble(strAmount);
}
Now this works fine, but I now have five lines of code instead of one. This makes things a little more difficult to read, especially when I have a large amount of columns to convert.
I thought I'd use an extension to the string class and generic's to pass in the type, this is because it could be a double, or an int, or a long. So I tried this:
public static class GenericExtension
{
public static Nullable<T> ConvertToNullable<T>(this string s, T type) where T: struct
{
if (s.Trim().Length > 0)
{
return (Nullable<T>)s;
}
return null;
}
}
But I get the error: Cannot convert type 'string' to 'T?'
Is there a way around this? I am not very familiar with creating methods using generics.

Another thing to keep in mind is that the string itself might be null.
public static Nullable<T> ToNullable<T>(this string s) where T: struct
{
Nullable<T> result = new Nullable<T>();
try
{
if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(s) && s.Trim().Length > 0)
{
TypeConverter conv = TypeDescriptor.GetConverter(typeof(T));
result = (T)conv.ConvertFrom(s);
}
}
catch { }
return result;
}

You could try using the below extension method:
public static T? GetValueOrNull<T>(this string valueAsString)
where T : struct
{
if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(valueAsString))
return null;
return (T) Convert.ChangeType(valueAsString, typeof(T));
}
This way you can do this:
double? amount = strAmount.GetValueOrNull<double>();
int? amount = strAmount.GetValueOrNull<int>();
decimal? amount = strAmount.GetValueOrNull<decimal>();

What about this:
double? amount = string.IsNullOrEmpty(strAmount) ? (double?)null : Convert.ToDouble(strAmount);
Of course, this doesn't take into account the convert failing.

I wrote this generic type converter. It works with Nullable and standard values, converting between all convertible types - not just string. It handles all sorts of scenarios that you'd expect (default values, null values, other values, etc...)
I've been using this for about a year in dozens of production programs, so it should be pretty solid.
public static T To<T>(this IConvertible obj)
{
Type t = typeof(T);
if (t.IsGenericType
&& (t.GetGenericTypeDefinition() == typeof(Nullable<>)))
{
if (obj == null)
{
return (T)(object)null;
}
else
{
return (T)Convert.ChangeType(obj, Nullable.GetUnderlyingType(t));
}
}
else
{
return (T)Convert.ChangeType(obj, t);
}
}
public static T ToOrDefault<T>
(this IConvertible obj)
{
try
{
return To<T>(obj);
}
catch
{
return default(T);
}
}
public static bool ToOrDefault<T>
(this IConvertible obj,
out T newObj)
{
try
{
newObj = To<T>(obj);
return true;
}
catch
{
newObj = default(T);
return false;
}
}
public static T ToOrOther<T>
(this IConvertible obj,
T other)
{
try
{
return To<T>(obj);
}
catch
{
return other;
}
}
public static bool ToOrOther<T>
(this IConvertible obj,
out T newObj,
T other)
{
try
{
newObj = To<T>(obj);
return true;
}
catch
{
newObj = other;
return false;
}
}
public static T ToOrNull<T>
(this IConvertible obj)
where T : class
{
try
{
return To<T>(obj);
}
catch
{
return null;
}
}
public static bool ToOrNull<T>
(this IConvertible obj,
out T newObj)
where T : class
{
try
{
newObj = To<T>(obj);
return true;
}
catch
{
newObj = null;
return false;
}
}

You might want to try:
TypeConverter conv = TypeDescriptor.GetConverter(typeof(int));
conv.ConvertFrom(mystring);
do your own null check and return int? if necessary. You'll also want to wrap that in a try {}

Give this a shot...
public delegate bool TryParseDelegate<T>(string data, out T output);
public static T? ToNullablePrimitive<T>(this string data,
TryParseDelegate<T> func) where T:struct
{
string.IsNullOrEmpty(data) return null;
T output;
if (func(data, out output))
{
return (T?)output;
}
return null;
}
Then call it like this...
void doStuff()
{
string foo = "1.0";
double? myDouble = foo.ToNullablePrimitive<double>(double.TryParse);
foo = "1";
int? myInt = foo.ToNullablePrimitive<int>(int.TryParse);
foo = "haha";
int? myInt2 = foo.ToNullablePrimitive<int>(int.TryParse);
}

I like Joel's answer, but I've modified it slightly as I'm not a fan of eating exceptions.
/// <summary>
/// Converts a string to the specified nullable type.
/// </summary>
/// <typeparam name="T">The type to convert to</typeparam>
/// <param name="s">The string to convert</param>
/// <returns>The nullable output</returns>
public static T? ToNullable<T>(this string s) where T : struct
{
if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(s))
return null;
TypeConverter conv = TypeDescriptor.GetConverter(typeof (T));
return (T) conv.ConvertFrom(s);
}
/// <summary>
/// Attempts to convert a string to the specified nullable primative.
/// </summary>
/// <typeparam name="T">The primitive type to convert to</typeparam>
/// <param name="data">The string to convert</param>
/// <param name="output">The nullable output</param>
/// <returns>
/// True if conversion is successfull, false otherwise. Null and whitespace will
/// be converted to null and return true.
/// </returns>
public static bool TryParseNullable<T>(this string data, out T? output) where T : struct
{
try
{
output = data.ToNullable<T>();
return true;
}
catch
{
output = null;
return false;
}
}

You can use the following with objects, unfortunately this does not work with strings though.
double? amount = (double?)someObject;
I use it for wrapping a session variable in a property (on a base page).. so my actual usage is (in my base page):
public int? OrganisationID
{
get { return (int?)Session[Constants.Session_Key_OrganisationID]; }
set { Session[Constants.Session_Key_OrganisationID] = value; }
}
I'm able to check for null in page logic:
if (base.OrganisationID == null)
// do stuff

There is no way around this. Nullable, as well as your method, is constrained to using only value types as it's argument. String is a reference type and hence is incompatible with this declaration.

public static class GenericExtension
{
public static T? ConvertToNullable<T>(this String s) where T : struct
{
try
{
return (T?)TypeDescriptor.GetConverter(typeof(T)).ConvertFrom(s);
}
catch (Exception)
{
return null;
}
}
}

There is a generic solution (for any type). Usability is good, but implementation should be improved:
http://cleansharp.de/wordpress/2011/05/generischer-typeconverter/
This allows you to write very clean code like this:
string value = null;
int? x = value.ConvertOrDefault<int?>();
and also:
object obj = 1;
string value = null;
int x = 5;
if (value.TryConvert(out x))
Console.WriteLine("TryConvert example: " + x);
bool boolean = "false".ConvertOrDefault<bool>();
bool? nullableBoolean = "".ConvertOrDefault<bool?>();
int integer = obj.ConvertOrDefault<int>();
int negativeInteger = "-12123".ConvertOrDefault<int>();
int? nullableInteger = value.ConvertOrDefault<int?>();
MyEnum enumValue = "SecondValue".ConvertOrDefault<MyEnum>();
MyObjectBase myObject = new MyObjectClassA();
MyObjectClassA myObjectClassA = myObject.ConvertOrDefault<MyObjectClassA>();

Here's something based on accepted answer. I removed the try/catch to make sure all the exceptions are not swallowed and not dealt with. Also made sure that the return variable (in accepted answer) is never initialized twice for nothing.
public static Nullable<T> ToNullable<T>(this string s) where T: struct
{
if (!string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(s))
{
TypeConverter conv = TypeDescriptor.GetConverter(typeof(T));
return (T)conv.ConvertFrom(s);
}
return default(Nullable<T>);
}

My example for anonimous types:
private object ConvertNullable(object value, Type nullableType)
{
Type resultType = typeof(Nullable<>).MakeGenericType(nullableType.GetGenericArguments());
return Activator.CreateInstance(resultType, Convert.ChangeType(value, nullableType.GetGenericArguments()[0]));
}
...
Type anonimousType = typeof(Nullable<int>);
object nullableInt1 = ConvertNullable("5", anonimousType);
// or evident Type
Nullable<int> nullableInt2 = (Nullable<int>)ConvertNullable("5", typeof(Nullable<int>));

Another variation. This one
Does not swallow exceptions
Throws a NotSupportedException if the type can not be converted from string. For instance, a custom struct without a type converter.
Otherwise returns a (T?)null if the string fails to parse. No need to check for null or whitespace.
using System.ComponentModel;
public static Nullable<T> ToNullable<T>(this string s) where T : struct
{
var ret = new Nullable<T>();
var conv = TypeDescriptor.GetConverter(typeof(T));
if (!conv.CanConvertFrom(typeof(string)))
{
throw new NotSupportedException();
}
if (conv.IsValid(s))
{
ret = (T)conv.ConvertFrom(s);
}
return ret;
}

Let's add one more similar solution to the stack. This one also parses enums, and it looks nice. Very safe.
/// <summary>
/// <para>More convenient than using T.TryParse(string, out T).
/// Works with primitive types, structs, and enums.
/// Tries to parse the string to an instance of the type specified.
/// If the input cannot be parsed, null will be returned.
/// </para>
/// <para>
/// If the value of the caller is null, null will be returned.
/// So if you have "string s = null;" and then you try "s.ToNullable...",
/// null will be returned. No null exception will be thrown.
/// </para>
/// <author>Contributed by Taylor Love (Pangamma)</author>
/// </summary>
/// <typeparam name="T"></typeparam>
/// <param name="p_self"></param>
/// <returns></returns>
public static T? ToNullable<T>(this string p_self) where T : struct
{
if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(p_self))
{
var converter = System.ComponentModel.TypeDescriptor.GetConverter(typeof(T));
if (converter.IsValid(p_self)) return (T)converter.ConvertFromString(p_self);
if (typeof(T).IsEnum) { T t; if (Enum.TryParse<T>(p_self, out t)) return t;}
}
return null;
}
https://github.com/Pangamma/PangammaUtilities-CSharp/blob/master/PangammaUtilities/Extensions/ToNullableStringExtension.cs

The generic answer provided by "Joel Coehoorn" is good.
But, this is another way without using those GetConverter... or try/catch blocks... (i'm not sure but this may have better performance in some cases):
public static class StrToNumberExtensions
{
public static short ToShort(this string s, short defaultValue = 0) => short.TryParse(s, out var v) ? v : defaultValue;
public static int ToInt(this string s, int defaultValue = 0) => int.TryParse(s, out var v) ? v : defaultValue;
public static long ToLong(this string s, long defaultValue = 0) => long.TryParse(s, out var v) ? v : defaultValue;
public static decimal ToDecimal(this string s, decimal defaultValue = 0) => decimal.TryParse(s, out var v) ? v : defaultValue;
public static float ToFloat(this string s, float defaultValue = 0) => float.TryParse(s, out var v) ? v : defaultValue;
public static double ToDouble(this string s, double defaultValue = 0) => double.TryParse(s, out var v) ? v : defaultValue;
public static short? ToshortNullable(this string s, short? defaultValue = null) => short.TryParse(s, out var v) ? v : defaultValue;
public static int? ToIntNullable(this string s, int? defaultValue = null) => int.TryParse(s, out var v) ? v : defaultValue;
public static long? ToLongNullable(this string s, long? defaultValue = null) => long.TryParse(s, out var v) ? v : defaultValue;
public static decimal? ToDecimalNullable(this string s, decimal? defaultValue = null) => decimal.TryParse(s, out var v) ? v : defaultValue;
public static float? ToFloatNullable(this string s, float? defaultValue = null) => float.TryParse(s, out var v) ? v : defaultValue;
public static double? ToDoubleNullable(this string s, double? defaultValue = null) => double.TryParse(s, out var v) ? v : defaultValue;
}
Usage is as following:
var x1 = "123".ToInt(); //123
var x2 = "abc".ToInt(); //0
var x3 = "abc".ToIntNullable(); // (int?)null
int x4 = ((string)null).ToInt(-1); // -1
int x5 = "abc".ToInt(-1); // -1
var y = "19.50".ToDecimal(); //19.50
var z1 = "invalid number string".ToDoubleNullable(); // (double?)null
var z2 = "invalid number string".ToDoubleNullable(0); // (double?)0