Class StringHelper

A collection of helper functions for common string manipulation

Inheritance

object

StringHelper

Inherited Members

object.GetType()

object.MemberwiseClone()

object.ToString()

object.Equals(object)

object.Equals(object, object)

object.ReferenceEquals(object, object)

object.GetHashCode()

Namespace: LemonEdge.Utils

Assembly: LemonEdge.Utils.dll

Syntax

public static class StringHelper

Fields

DataItemsSeparator

Used when seperating data items in a single string

Declaration

public const string DataItemsSeparator = ";;"

Field Value

Type	Description
string

DateInternationalFormat

Formats a datetime as a single date in international, sortable format

Declaration

public const string DateInternationalFormat = "yyyy-MM-dd"

Field Value

Type	Description
string

DateInternationalPreciseFormat

Formats a datetime as a date and time in international, sortable format complete with milliseconds

Declaration

public const string DateInternationalPreciseFormat = "yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss.fff"

Field Value

Type	Description
string

DateInternationalTimeNoSecondsFormat

Formats a datetime as a date and time in international, sortable format without the seconds component

Declaration

public const string DateInternationalTimeNoSecondsFormat = "yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm"

Field Value

Type	Description
string

DateLongUserFriendlyFormat

Formats a datetime as a date in the long user friendly format using current culture

Declaration

public const string DateLongUserFriendlyFormat = "D"

Field Value

Type	Description
string

DateShortUserFriendlyFormat

Formats a datetime as a date short user friendly format using current culture

Declaration

public const string DateShortUserFriendlyFormat = "d"

Field Value

Type	Description
string

DateTimeFileFriendlyFormat

Formats a datetime as a date and time in international, sortable format without the seconds component or colon separators

Declaration

public const string DateTimeFileFriendlyFormat = "yyyy-MM-dd HHmmss"

Field Value

Type	Description
string

DateTimeInternationalFormat

Formats a datetime as a date and time in international, sortable format

Declaration

public const string DateTimeInternationalFormat = "yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss"

Field Value

Type	Description
string

DateTimeLongUserFriendlyFormat

Formats a datetime as a date and time in the long user friendly format using current culture

Declaration

public const string DateTimeLongUserFriendlyFormat = "F"

Field Value

Type	Description
string

DateTimeOffsetPreciseFormat

Formats a datetimeoffset as a date and time in international, sortable format with precision

Declaration

public const string DateTimeOffsetPreciseFormat = "yyyy-MM-ddTHH:mm:ss.fffffffK"

Field Value

Type	Description
string

DateTimeShortUserFriendlyFormat

Formats a datetime as a date and time in the short user friendly format using current culture

Declaration

public const string DateTimeShortUserFriendlyFormat = "g"

Field Value

Type	Description
string

RecordItemsSeparator

Used when seperating record items in a single string

Declaration

public const string RecordItemsSeparator = ";;;"

Field Value

Type	Description
string

TimeLongUserFriendlyFormat

Formats a datetime as a in the long user friendly format using current culture

Declaration

public const string TimeLongUserFriendlyFormat = "T"

Field Value

Type	Description
string

TimeShortUserFriendlyFormat

Formats a datetime as a time in the short user friendly format using current culture

Declaration

public const string TimeShortUserFriendlyFormat = "t"

Field Value

Type	Description
string

Methods

FromSafeIISQueryString(string)

Replaces any instances of '&fs' with '/' for IIS integration with query strings

Declaration

public static string FromSafeIISQueryString(this string value)

Parameters

Type	Name	Description
string	value	A string to be replaced

Returns

Type	Description
string

FromStringValue(Type, string)

Parses a string value and returns the item as an instance of the specified type t if it can be converted as such

Declaration

public static (bool Valid, object Result) FromStringValue(Type t, string value)

Parameters

Type	Name	Description
Type	t	The type to convert the given value into
string	value	The string representation of the type t to be converted into

Returns

Type	Description
(bool Valid, object Result)	A Tuple indicating if the conversion was sucessfull and an instance of the type t if it was

FromStringValue<T>(string)

Parses a string value and returns the item as an instance of the specified type T if it can be converted as such

Declaration

public static (bool Valid, T Result) FromStringValue<T>(string value)

Parameters

Type	Name	Description
string	value	The string representation of the type T to be converted into

Returns

Type	Description
(bool ExistedInCache, T KeyItem)	A Tuple indicating if the conversion was sucessfull and an instance of the type T if it was

Type Parameters

Name	Description
T	The type to convert the given value into

GetDefaultStandardFormat(Type)

Returns the default string formatting to apply to given types

Declaration

public static string GetDefaultStandardFormat(Type type)

Parameters

Type	Name	Description
Type	type	The type to see if there is a default format display for

Returns

Type	Description
string	A default string formatting to apply to instances of the given type

Remarks

For instance by default LemonEdge displays decimals to 3 decimal places unless otherwise supplied a specific format

GetRandomAlpha(CharLetterTypeCase)

Returns a random alphabet character according to the type parameter

Declaration

public static char GetRandomAlpha(StringHelper.CharLetterTypeCase type)

Parameters

Type	Name	Description
StringHelper.CharLetterTypeCase	type	Indicates if the character returned should come from the set of characters that are lower case, upper case, or both

Returns

Type	Description
char	A single random alphabet character

GetRandomTextString(int)

Returns a string of random alphabet characters (of upper and lower case) of the specified length

Declaration

public static string GetRandomTextString(int length)

Parameters

Type	Name	Description
int	length	The length of the string to return

Returns

Type	Description
string	A string of random alphabet characters (of upper and lower case) up to the specified length

IsSafeFileName(string, bool, bool)

Ensures that the provided string can be used as a valid filename. In other words only contains valid alphanumeric characters and the underscore.

Declaration

public static bool IsSafeFileName(this string s, bool allowNullOrEmpty, bool allowParamAtSign)

Parameters

Type	Name	Description
string	s	A string to be validated if it only contains akphanumeric characters and the underscore
bool	allowNullOrEmpty	Indicates if a null or empty string is valid
bool	allowParamAtSign

Returns

Type	Description
bool	True if the string only contains alphanumeric characters and the underscore, false otherwise

IsSafeFileName(string, bool, IEnumerable<char>)

Ensures that the provided string can be used as a valid filename. In other words only contains valid alphanumeric characters and specified validNonAlphaNumericalChars characters

Declaration

public static bool IsSafeFileName(this string s, bool allowNullOrEmpty, IEnumerable<char> validNonAlphaNumericalChars = null)

Parameters

Type	Name	Description
string	s	A string to be validated if it only contains akphanumeric characters and specified validNonAlphaNumericalChars characters
bool	allowNullOrEmpty	Indicates if a null or empty string is valid
IEnumerable<char>	validNonAlphaNumericalChars	A list of non alphanumerical characters that are also valid to be included in a filename, such as ' ' or '_'

Returns

Type	Description
bool	True if the string only contains alphanumeric characters and specified validNonAlphaNumericalChars characters, false otherwise

IsURLRelative(string)

Declaration

public static bool IsURLRelative(string url)

Parameters

Type	Name	Description
string	url

Returns

Type	Description
bool

MakeCSVSafeString(string, string)

Returns a csv safe version of this string. If the string contains a csvSeparator then it is returned surrounded in quotes

Declaration

public static string MakeCSVSafeString(this string value, string csvSeparator = ",")

Parameters

Type	Name	Description
string	value	The string to return surounded in quotes if it contains the csvSeparator and is not already surrounded by quotes itself
string	csvSeparator	The separator for csv items to check for in the value

Returns

Type	Description
string	A csv safe version of this string. If the string contains a csvSeparator then it is returned surrounded in quotes

OpenBrowser(string)

A process that takes a valid url and opens it in the default browser across possible .Net Core platforms

Declaration

public static void OpenBrowser(string url)

Parameters

Type	Name	Description
string	url	The url to open in a new browser

Remarks

Taken from https://brockallen.com/2016/09/24/process-start-for-urls-on-net-core/

ToCSV(IEnumerable, string[], Type[], string[])

Returns a csv formatted StringBuilder of the specified items with columns from the specified properties

Declaration

public static StringBuilder ToCSV(this IEnumerable items, string[] properties, Type[] propertyTypes, string[] friendlyExcelHeaders = null)

Parameters

Type	Name	Description
IEnumerable	items	A collection of items to return as csv formatted rows
string[]	properties	The properties on the items that should be returned as columns in the csv format
Type[]	propertyTypes	The types of the properties to be returned as columns in the csv format
string[]	friendlyExcelHeaders	The properties are always displayed as the column headers. This will be displayed as a second line of headers to be used in the way LemonEdge handles headers in excel, the second line (this one) is displayed whereas the first is tuend into named ranges

Returns

Type	Description
StringBuilder	A comma seperated list with a row for each item in the items collection

Remarks

For example the following:

class MyItem
{
    public string Prop1 { get; set; }
    public string Prop2 { get; set; }
}

public string DisplayAsCSV()
{
    var items = new List<MyItem>() { new MyItem() { Prop1 = "Row1", Prop2 = "Value1" }, new MyItem() { Prop1 = "Row2", Prop2 = "Value2" }, };
    return StringHelper.ToCSV(items, new string[] { nameof(MyItem.Prop1) }, new Type[] { typeof(String) }).ToString();
}

will return:

Prop1,Prop2

Row1,Value1

Row2,Value2

ToSafeFileName(string)

Strips out any characters that would be invalid in a filename. This would be any non alphanumeric characters that are not a space or underscore

Declaration

public static string ToSafeFileName(this string s)

Parameters

Type	Name	Description
string	s	The string to be returned as a safe filename string

Returns

Type	Description
string	An instance of s with all invalid filename characters stripped out

ToSafeFileName(string, IEnumerable<char>)

Strips out any characters that would be invalid in a filename. This would be any non alphanumeric characters that are not a space or underscore

Declaration

public static string ToSafeFileName(this string s, IEnumerable<char> validNonAlphaNumericalChars = null)

Parameters

Type	Name	Description
string	s	The string to be returned as a safe filename string
IEnumerable<char>	validNonAlphaNumericalChars	A list of non alphanumerical characters that are also valid to be included in a file name such as ' ' or '_'

Returns

Type	Description
string	An instance of s with all invalid filename characters stripped out

ToSafeIISQueryString(string)

Replaces '/' character with '&fs' for IIS integration with query strings

Declaration

public static string ToSafeIISQueryString(this string value)

Parameters

Type	Name	Description
string	value	A string to be replaced

Returns

Type	Description
string

ToStringValue(Type?, object?)

Formats the current object using its associated default string representation

Declaration

public static string ToStringValue(Type? t, object? value)

Parameters

Type	Name	Description
Type	t	The type of the value to be represented using a string format
object	value	The object instance of type T to be represented in a default string format

Returns

Type	Description
string	A default string formatted representation of the given value

Remarks

For example the following types will return:

• Enum Values: Returns string representation of Enum value
• DateTimeOffsets: Returns string representation in DateTimeOffsetPreciseFormat
• DateTimes: Returns string representation in DateInternationalPreciseFormat
• Bytes: Returns hexadecimal string equivalent starting 0x

ToStringValue<T>(T)

Formats the current object using its associated default string representation

Declaration

public static string ToStringValue<T>(T value)

Parameters

Type	Name	Description
T	value	The object instance of T to be represented in a default string format

Returns

Type	Description
string	A default string formatted representation of the given value

Type Parameters

Name	Description
T	The type of object to be represented using a string format

Remarks

For example the following types will return:

• Enum Values: Returns string representation of Enum value
• DateTimeOffsets: Returns string representation in DateTimeOffsetPreciseFormat
• DateTimes: Returns string representation in DateInternationalPreciseFormat
• Bytes: Returns hexadecimal string equivalent starting 0x

TryParseFromString<T>(string, out T)

Parses a string value and returns true if it is valid. The item is returned as an instance of the specified type T in the out parameter result

Declaration

public static bool TryParseFromString<T>(string value, out T result)

Parameters

Type	Name	Description
string	value	A string value of type T
T	result	If the string representation value is valid and can be parsed, this returns the actual value

Returns

Type	Description
bool	True if the string representation can be parsed

Type Parameters

Name	Description
T	The type of item to parse the string representation of