[c#] Generic type conversion FROM string

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!).

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.

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(); }
    }
}

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");
}

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>();

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.

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.

You can do it in one line as below:

YourClass obj = (YourClass)Convert.ChangeType(YourValue, typeof(YourClass));

Happy coding ;)