CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c#
Barcino
Barcino

Reputation: 225

How can I limit the length of a string to 150 characters?

I tried the following:

var a = description.Substring(0, 150);

However this gives a problem if the length of description is less than 150 chars. So is there another way I can limit the length to 150 that won't give an error when string length is for example 20.

Upvotes: 18

Views: 44415

Answers (10)

SoniCue
SoniCue

Reputation: 359

As of C# 8.0 we can utilize the Range operator and end up with this:

var x = description[..150];

Upvotes: 0

Myke Black
Myke Black

Reputation: 1339

everyone seems to be overcomplicating this, all you need is simply

var a = description;
if (description.length > 150) a = description.Substring(0, 150);

sometimes you just need to think around the problem.

Upvotes: 1

Jineesh Uvantavida
Jineesh Uvantavida

Reputation: 661

It will be good if your environment support you to use below method. (As @christian-cody suggested.)

[StringLength(150)]
public string MyProperty { get; set; }

You have to include the below namespace to use it.

using System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations;

Upvotes: 4

Christian Cody
Christian Cody

Reputation: 127

The String Length Attribute works for C#:

[StringLength(150)]
public string MyProperty { get; set; }

Upvotes: 8

John Gnazzo
John Gnazzo

Reputation: 41

I think you actually want this.

public static string LimitTo(this string data, int length) {
  return (data == null || data.Length <= length)   // Less than or equal to
    ? data 
    : data.Substring(0, length);
}

Upvotes: 3

Icarus
Icarus

Reputation: 63956

var a = description.Substring(0, description.Length > 150 ? 150 : description.Length);

Upvotes: 1

Brian Ball
Brian Ball

Reputation: 12596

Strings are immutable, even if you could create an instance that worked the way you wanted, as soon as you assign another value to your variable, it would be a different instance of type string.

If you want a string property that has a max of 150 characters, then write a property where you check the value in the setter and throw an exception if it's more than 150 characters.

If you want a string parameter to a method that has a max of 150 characters, then at the top of the method, check to see if it is more than 150 characters, if it is, throw an exception.

Upvotes: 1

JaredPar
JaredPar

Reputation: 754555

Try the following extension method

public static string LimitTo(this string data, int length) {
  return (data == null || data.Length < length) 
    ? data 
    : data.Substring(0, length);
}

Upvotes: 12

dlev
dlev

Reputation: 48596

var a = description.Substring(0, Math.Min(150, description.Length));

Just grab the substring of either 150 characters, or the whole string, whichever is shorter.

Upvotes: 23

ChaosPandion
ChaosPandion

Reputation: 78262

var a = description == null 
        ? string.Empty 
        : description.Substring(0, Math.Min(150, description.Length));

Upvotes: 36

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