ToNullable<> Generic String Extension
Converts a string to a primitive type T, or an enum type T. Faster than tryparse blocks. Easier to use, too. Very efficient. Uses generics so the code is cleaner and more robust than doing a separate convert method for each primitive type.
Source
/// <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>
/// </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;
}Example
int? numVotes = "123".ToNullable<int>();
decimal price = tbxPrice.Text.ToNullable<decimal>() ?? 0.0M;
PetTypeEnum petType = "Cat".ToNullable<PetTypeEnum>() ?? PetTypeEnum.DefaultPetType;
PetTypeEnum petTypeByIntValue = "2".ToNullable<PetTypeEnum>() ?? PetTypeEnum.DefaultPetType;
string thisWillNotThrowException = null;
int? nullsAreSafe = thisWillNotThrowException.ToNullable<int>();
// More examples here: https://github.com/Pangamma/PangammaUtilities-CSharp/blob/master/TestExamples/ToNullableStringExtensionTests.cs