Check if string is numeric in one line of code
Solution 1
Wrap it in an extension method.
public static class StringExtensions
{
public static bool IsNumeric(this string input)
{
int number;
return int.TryParse(input, out number);
}
}
And use it like
if("1234".IsNumeric())
{
// Do stuff..
}
UPDATE since question changed:
public static class StringExtensions
{
public static bool FirstFourAreNumeric(this string input)
{
int number;
if(string.IsNullOrEmpty(input) || input.Length < 4)
{
throw new Exception("Not 4 chars long");
}
return int.TryParse(input.Substring(4), out number);
}
}
And use it like
if("1234abc".FirstFourAreNumeric())
{
// Do stuff..
}
Solution 2
In response to this:
Is there a way to check to see if the first 4 characters of a string are numeric in just one line that can exist inside an if statement?
You guys don't have to make it account for anything more complicated than a positive integer.
new Regex(@"^\d{4}").IsMatch("3466") // true
new Regex(@"^\d{4}").IsMatch("6") // false
new Regex(@"^\d{4}").IsMatch("68ab") // false
new Regex(@"^\d{4}").IsMatch("1111abcdefg") // true
// in an if:
if (new Regex(@"^\d{4}").IsMatch("3466"))
{
// Do something
}
Old answer:
If you can't use TryParse
, you could probably get away with using LINQ:
"12345".All(char.IsDigit); // true
"abcde".All(char.IsDigit); // false
"abc123".All(char.IsDigit); // false
If you can, here's an IsNumeric
extension method, with usage:
public static class NumberExtensions
{
// <= C#6
public static bool IsNumeric(this string str)
{
float f;
return float.TryParse(str, out f);
}
// C# 7+
public static bool IsNumeric(this string str) => float.TryParse(str, out var _);
}
// ... elsewhere
"123".IsNumeric(); // true
"abc".IsNumeric(); // false, etc
"-1.7e5".IsNumeric(); // true
Solution 3
How about some easy LinQ?
if (str.Take(4).All(char.IsDigit) { ... }
TheIronCheek
Updated on September 29, 2020Comments
-
TheIronCheek over 3 years
I'm working with a DNN form-building module that allows for some server-side code to be run based on a condition. For my particular scenario, I need my block of code to run if the first 4 characters of a certain form text are numeric.
The space to type the condition, though, is only one line and I believe gets injected into an
if
statement somewhere behind the scenes so I don't have the ability to write a mult-line conditional.If I have a form field called
MyField
, I might create a simple conditional like this:[MyField] == "some value"
Then somewhere behind the scenes it gets translated to something like
if("some value" == "some value") {
I know that
int.TryParse()
can be used to determine whether or not a string is numeric but every implementation I've seen requires two lines of code, the first to declare a variable to contain the converted integer and the second to run the actual function.Is there a way to check to see if the first 4 characters of a string are numeric in just one line that can exist inside an
if
statement? -
Jonesopolis almost 8 yearsproblem is this doesn't !00% verify it's an
int
-
Scott almost 8 years@Jonesopolis True, it's a workaround for sure. The extension method approach is better, but if OP is just after a basic "string only contains numbers" method, it should work.
-
AgentFire almost 8 yearsDoesn't handle long numeric numbers, nor does it handle comma/period delimiters.
-
Zein Makki almost 8 yearsThis answers the question, but using
@this
as a parameter name is a very, very bad choice. Not to mention using it as an extension method parameter. Personally i find using keywords as parameter and variable names as something to be avoided. -
Scott almost 8 years@AgentFire Neither does
int.TryParse
. I'll update to usefloat.TryParse
for the extension method. This problem could be solved in a lot of ways (including regex), the "best" solution just depends on what the OP needs. -
smoksnes almost 8 years@user3185569 - You might be right regarding the parameter name. I changed it to
input
. Personally I find@this
very logical in this (pun not intended) particular case just because it shows what your extension is extending. But that's just me. -
smoksnes almost 8 years@AgentFire - Yes, in that case you might want to use
Int64.TryParse
, but I understood the OP asint.TryParse
could be used, but not in a single line. -
TheIronCheek almost 8 yearsYou guys don't have to make it account for anything more complicated than a positive integer. I'll update the question to be more specific about this.
-
John Demetriou over 7 yearsWhat about negatives and decimals?
-
M. Fawad Surosh over 6 years"".All(char.IsDigit); returns "TRUE"
-
Scott over 6 years@M.FawadSurosh Personally I would handle that as a different validation case. For example, 1) the string should have a complete value (
!string.IsNullOrEmpty
), and 2) string is numeric (my solution) -
M. Fawad Surosh over 6 yearsI have already done it that way but I would love it if I could handle all in one condition.
-
Scott over 6 years@M.FawadSurosh In that case, the
IsNumeric
extension method from my answer might work for you. It simply tries to parse the string as a float, which will handle decimals, negatives, numbers like1e3
, etc. -
Roni Tovi over 6 yearsreturn int.TryParse(input, out int number); saves 1 line.
-
Momoro almost 3 yearsThis is great, since I'm only iterating through one character at a time in a string, and I need to check if that character is a number. Thanks!