Generic type conversion FROM string
-
08-06-2019 - |
Question
I have a class that I want to use to store "properties" for another class. These properties simply have a name and a value. Ideally, what I would like is to be able to add typed properties, so that the "value" returned is always of the type that I want it to be.
The type should always be a primitive. This class subclasses an abstract class which basically stores the name and value as string. The idea being that this subclass will add some type-safety to the base class (as well as saving me on some conversion).
So, I have created a class which is (roughly) this:
public class TypedProperty<DataType> : Property
{
public DataType TypedValue
{
get { // Having problems here! }
set { base.Value = value.ToString();}
}
}
So the question is:
Is there a "generic" way to convert from string back to a primitive?
I can't seem to find any generic interface that links the conversion across the board (something like ITryParsable would have been ideal!).
Solution
I am not sure whether I understood your intentions correctly, but let's see if this one helps.
public class TypedProperty<T> : Property where T : IConvertible
{
public T TypedValue
{
get { return (T)Convert.ChangeType(base.Value, typeof(T)); }
set { base.Value = value.ToString();}
}
}
OTHER TIPS
lubos hasko's method fails for nullables. The method below will work for nullables. I didn't come up with it, though. I found it via Google: http://web.archive.org/web/20101214042641/http://dogaoztuzun.com/post/C-Generic-Type-Conversion.aspx Credit to "Tuna Toksoz"
Usage first:
TConverter.ChangeType<T>(StringValue);
The class is below.
public static class TConverter
{
public static T ChangeType<T>(object value)
{
return (T)ChangeType(typeof(T), value);
}
public static object ChangeType(Type t, object value)
{
TypeConverter tc = TypeDescriptor.GetConverter(t);
return tc.ConvertFrom(value);
}
public static void RegisterTypeConverter<T, TC>() where TC : TypeConverter
{
TypeDescriptor.AddAttributes(typeof(T), new TypeConverterAttribute(typeof(TC)));
}
}
For many types (integer, double, DateTime etc), there is a static Parse method. You can invoke it using reflection:
MethodInfo m = typeof(T).GetMethod("Parse", new Type[] { typeof(string) } );
if (m != null)
{
return m.Invoke(null, new object[] { base.Value });
}
TypeDescriptor.GetConverter(PropertyObject).ConvertFrom(Value)
TypeDescriptor
is class having method GetConvertor
which accept a Type
object and then you can call ConvertFrom
method to convert the value
for that specified object.
You could possibly use a construct such as a traits class. In this way, you would have a parameterised helper class that knows how to convert a string to a value of its own type. Then your getter might look like this:
get { return StringConverter<DataType>.FromString(base.Value); }
Now, I must point out that my experience with parameterised types is limited to C++ and its templates, but I imagine there is some way to do the same sort of thing using C# generics.
Check the static Nullable.GetUnderlyingType
.
- If the underlying type is null, then the template parameter is not Nullable
, and we can use that type directly
- If the underlying type is not null, then use the underlying type in the conversion.
Seems to work for me:
public object Get( string _toparse, Type _t )
{
// Test for Nullable<T> and return the base type instead:
Type undertype = Nullable.GetUnderlyingType(_t);
Type basetype = undertype == null ? _t : undertype;
return Convert.ChangeType(_toparse, basetype);
}
public T Get<T>(string _key)
{
return (T)Get(_key, typeof(T));
}
public void test()
{
int x = Get<int>("14");
int? nx = Get<Nullable<int>>("14");
}
public class TypedProperty<T> : Property
{
public T TypedValue
{
get { return (T)(object)base.Value; }
set { base.Value = value.ToString();}
}
}
I using converting via an object. It is a little bit simpler.
I used lobos answer and it works. But I had a problem with the conversion of doubles because of the culture settings. So I added
return (T)Convert.ChangeType(base.Value, typeof(T), CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);
Yet another variation. Handles Nullables, as well as situations where the string is null and T is not nullable.
public class TypedProperty<T> : Property where T : IConvertible
{
public T TypedValue
{
get
{
if (base.Value == null) return default(T);
var type = Nullable.GetUnderlyingType(typeof(T)) ?? typeof(T);
return (T)Convert.ChangeType(base.Value, type);
}
set { base.Value = value.ToString(); }
}
}
With inspiration from the Bob's answer, these extensions also support null value conversion and all primitive conversion back and fourth.
public static class ConversionExtensions
{
public static object Convert(this object value, Type t)
{
Type underlyingType = Nullable.GetUnderlyingType(t);
if (underlyingType != null && value == null)
{
return null;
}
Type basetype = underlyingType == null ? t : underlyingType;
return System.Convert.ChangeType(value, basetype);
}
public static T Convert<T>(this object value)
{
return (T)value.Convert(typeof(T));
}
}
Examples
string stringValue = null;
int? intResult = stringValue.Convert<int?>();
int? intValue = null;
var strResult = intValue.Convert<string>();