Below is an extension method that will allow you to write code like this: int id = request.QueryString.GetValue<int>(“id”); DateTime date = request.QueryString.GetValue<DateTime>(“date”); It makes use of TypeDescriptor to perform the conversion. Based on your needs, you could add an overload which takes a default value instead of throwing an exception: public static T GetValue<T>(this NameValueCollection … Read more
It’s tricky, because the way two digit years work with TryParse is based on the TwoDigitYearMax property of the Calendar property of the CultureInfo object that you are using. (CultureInfo->Calendar->TwoDigitYearMax) In order to make two digit years have 20 prepended, you’ll need to manually create a CultureInfo object which has a Calendar object with 2099 … Read more
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); } }
Parse throws an exception if it cannot parse the value, whereas TryParse returns a bool indicating whether it succeeded. TryParse does not just try/catch internally – the whole point of it is that it is implemented without exceptions so that it is fast. In fact the way it is most likely implemented is that internally … Read more