CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c#
Ravi Shankar B
Ravi Shankar B

Reputation: 482

How to convert nullable int to string

I need to convert the nullable int to string

int? a = null;
string str = a.ToString();

How can I perform this action without an exception? I need to get the string as "Null". Please guide me.

Upvotes: 14

Views: 28190

Answers (6)

Amir
Amir

Reputation: 1274

The shortest answer is:

int? a = null;
string aString = a?.ToString() ?? "null";

Upvotes: 5

Vijay Vj
Vijay Vj

Reputation: 367

if(a.HasValue())
{
   return a.Value().ToString();
}
return string.Empty;

Upvotes: 0

Sachin
Sachin

Reputation: 40970

You can simply use the Convert.ToString() which handles the null values as well and doesn't throw the exception

string str = Convert.ToString(a)

Or using if condition

if(a.HasValue)
{
  string str = a.Value.ToString();
}

Or using ? Ternary operator 

string str = a.HasValue ? a.Value.ToString() : string.Empty;

Upvotes: 39

Roland Bär
Roland Bär

Reputation: 1730

If you really need the string as "Null" if a is null:

string str = a.HasValue ? a.Value.ToString() : "Null";

Upvotes: 5

DavidN
DavidN

Reputation: 5197

I'd create an extension method as well, but type it off of Nullable and not any T.

public static string ToStringOrEmpty<T>(this T? t) where T : struct
{
    return t.HasValue ? t.Value.ToString() : string.Empty;
}

// usage
int? a = null;
long? b = 123;

Console.WriteLine(a.ToStringOrEmpty()); // prints nothing
Console.WriteLine(b.ToStringOrEmpty()); // prints "123"

Upvotes: 2

Liath
Liath

Reputation: 10191

I like to create an extension method for this as I end up doing it over and over again

public static string ToStringNullSafe<T>(this T value)
{
  if(value == null)
  {
    return null;
  }
  else
  {
     return value.ToString();
  }
}

You can obviously create an overload with a format string if you wish.

Upvotes: 2

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