Generic TryParse

I am trying to create a generic extension that uses 'TryParse' to check if a string is a given type:

public static bool Is<T>(this string input)
{
    T notUsed;
    return T.TryParse(input, out notUsed);
}

this won't compile as it cannot resolve symbol 'TryParse'

As I understand, 'TryParse' is not part of any interface.

Is this possible to do at all?

Update:

Using the answers below I have come up with:

public static bool Is<T>(this string input)
{
    try
    {
        TypeDescriptor.GetConverter(typeof(T)).ConvertFromString(input);
    }
    catch
    {
        return false;
    }

    return true;
}

It works quite well but I think using exceptions in that way doesn't feel right to me.

Update2:

Modified to pass type rather than use generics:

public static bool Is(this string input, Type targetType)
{
    try
    {
        TypeDescriptor.GetConverter(targetType).ConvertFromString(input);
        return true;
    }
    catch
    {
        return false;
    }
}

Solution 1:

You should use the TypeDescriptor class:

public static T Convert<T>(this string input)
{
    try
    {
        var converter = TypeDescriptor.GetConverter(typeof(T));
        if(converter != null)
        {
            // Cast ConvertFromString(string text) : object to (T)
            return (T)converter.ConvertFromString(input);
        }
        return default(T);
    }
    catch (NotSupportedException)
    {
        return default(T);
    }
}

Solution 2:

I also required a generic TryParse recently. Here's what I came up with;

public static T? TryParse<T>(string value, TryParseHandler<T> handler) where T : struct
{
    if (String.IsNullOrEmpty(value))
        return null;
    T result;
    if (handler(value, out result))
        return result;
    Trace.TraceWarning("Invalid value '{0}'", value);
    return null;
}

public delegate bool TryParseHandler<T>(string value, out T result);

Then it's simply a matter of calling thusly:

var value = TryParse<int>("123", int.TryParse);
var value2 = TryParse<decimal>("123.123", decimal.TryParse);

Solution 3:

Using try/catches for flow control is a terrible policy. Throw an exception causes performance lags while the runtime works around the exception. Instead validate the data before converting.

var attemptedValue = "asdfasdsd";
var type = typeof(int);
var converter = TypeDescriptor.GetConverter(type);
if (converter != null &&  converter.IsValid(attemptedValue))
    return converter.ConvertFromString(attemptedValue);
else
    return Activator.CreateInstance(type);

Solution 4:

If you are set on using TryParse, you can use reflection and do it like this:

public static bool Is<T>(this string input)
{
    var type = typeof (T);
    var temp = default(T);
    var method = type.GetMethod(
        "TryParse",
        new[]
            {
                typeof (string),
                Type.GetType(string.Format("{0}&", type.FullName))
            });
    return (bool) method.Invoke(null, new object[] {input, temp});
}

Solution 5:

This uses a static constructor for each generic type, so it only has to do the expensive work the first time you call it on a given type. It handles all the types in the system namespace which have TryParse methods. It also works with nullable versions of each of those (that are structs) except for enumerations.

    public static bool TryParse<t>(this string Value, out t result)
    {
        return TryParser<t>.TryParse(Value.SafeTrim(), out result);
    }
    private delegate bool TryParseDelegate<t>(string value, out t result);
    private static class TryParser<T>
    {
        private static TryParseDelegate<T> parser;
        // Static constructor:
        static TryParser()
        {
            Type t = typeof(T);
            if (t.IsEnum)
                AssignClass<T>(GetEnumTryParse<T>());
            else if (t == typeof(bool) || t == typeof(bool?))
                AssignStruct<bool>(bool.TryParse);
            else if (t == typeof(byte) || t == typeof(byte?))
                AssignStruct<byte>(byte.TryParse);
            else if (t == typeof(short) || t == typeof(short?))
                AssignStruct<short>(short.TryParse);
            else if (t == typeof(char) || t == typeof(char?))
                AssignStruct<char>(char.TryParse);
            else if (t == typeof(int) || t == typeof(int?))
                AssignStruct<int>(int.TryParse);
            else if (t == typeof(long) || t == typeof(long?))
                AssignStruct<long>(long.TryParse);
            else if (t == typeof(sbyte) || t == typeof(sbyte?))
                AssignStruct<sbyte>(sbyte.TryParse);
            else if (t == typeof(ushort) || t == typeof(ushort?))
                AssignStruct<ushort>(ushort.TryParse);
            else if (t == typeof(uint) || t == typeof(uint?))
                AssignStruct<uint>(uint.TryParse);
            else if (t == typeof(ulong) || t == typeof(ulong?))
                AssignStruct<ulong>(ulong.TryParse);
            else if (t == typeof(decimal) || t == typeof(decimal?))
                AssignStruct<decimal>(decimal.TryParse);
            else if (t == typeof(float) || t == typeof(float?))
                AssignStruct<float>(float.TryParse);
            else if (t == typeof(double) || t == typeof(double?))
                AssignStruct<double>(double.TryParse);
            else if (t == typeof(DateTime) || t == typeof(DateTime?))
                AssignStruct<DateTime>(DateTime.TryParse);
            else if (t == typeof(TimeSpan) || t == typeof(TimeSpan?))
                AssignStruct<TimeSpan>(TimeSpan.TryParse);
            else if (t == typeof(Guid) || t == typeof(Guid?))
                AssignStruct<Guid>(Guid.TryParse);
            else if (t == typeof(Version))
                AssignClass<Version>(Version.TryParse);
        }
        private static void AssignStruct<t>(TryParseDelegate<t> del)
            where t: struct
        {
            TryParser<t>.parser = del;
            if (typeof(t).IsGenericType
                && typeof(t).GetGenericTypeDefinition() == typeof(Nullable<>))
            {
                return;
            }
            AssignClass<t?>(TryParseNullable<t>);
        }
        private static void AssignClass<t>(TryParseDelegate<t> del)
        {
            TryParser<t>.parser = del;
        }
        public static bool TryParse(string Value, out T Result)
        {
            if (parser == null)
            {
                Result = default(T);
                return false;
            }
            return parser(Value, out Result);
        }
    }

    private static bool TryParseEnum<t>(this string Value, out t result)
    {
        try
        {
            object temp = Enum.Parse(typeof(t), Value, true);
            if (temp is t)
            {
                result = (t)temp;
                return true;
            }
        }
        catch
        {
        }
        result = default(t);
        return false;
    }
    private static MethodInfo EnumTryParseMethod;
    private static TryParseDelegate<t> GetEnumTryParse<t>()
    {
        Type type = typeof(t);

        if (EnumTryParseMethod == null)
        {
            var methods = typeof(Enum).GetMethods(
                BindingFlags.Public | BindingFlags.Static);
            foreach (var method in methods)
                if (method.Name == "TryParse"
                    && method.IsGenericMethodDefinition
                    && method.GetParameters().Length == 2
                    && method.GetParameters()[0].ParameterType == typeof(string))
                {
                    EnumTryParseMethod = method;
                    break;
                }
        }
        var result = Delegate.CreateDelegate(
            typeof(TryParseDelegate<t>),
            EnumTryParseMethod.MakeGenericMethod(type), false)
            as TryParseDelegate<t>;
        if (result == null)
            return TryParseEnum<t>;
        else
            return result;
    }

    private static bool TryParseNullable<t>(string Value, out t? Result)
        where t: struct
    {
        t temp;
        if (TryParser<t>.TryParse(Value, out temp))
        {
            Result = temp;
            return true;
        }
        else
        {
            Result = null;
            return false;
        }
    }