Nullable type as a generic parameter possible?

Tom_Pester_25145 0
Viewed 278128

I want to do something like this :

myYear = record.GetValueOrNull<int?>("myYear"),

Notice the nullable type as the generic parameter.

Since the GetValueOrNull function could return null my first attempt was this: 

public static T GetValueOrNull<T>(this DbDataRecord reader, string columnName)
  where T : class
{
    object columnValue = reader[columnName];

    if (!(columnValue is DBNull))
    {
        return (T)columnValue;
    }
    return null;
}

But the error I'm getting now is:

The type 'int?' must be a reference type in order to use it as parameter 'T' in the generic type or method

Right! Nullable<int> is a struct! So I tried changing the class constraint to a struct constraint (and as a side effect can't return null any more):

public static T GetValueOrNull<T>(this DbDataRecord reader, string columnName)
  where T : struct

Now the assignment:

myYear = record.GetValueOrNull<int?>("myYear");

Gives the following error:

The type 'int?' must be a non-nullable value type in order to use it as parameter 'T' in the generic type or method

Is specifying a nullable type as a generic parameter at all possible?

generics c#
13 Answers

Change the return type to Nullable<T>, and call the method with the non nullable parameter

static void Main(string[] args)
{
    int? i = GetValueOrNull<int>(null, string.Empty);
}


public static Nullable<T> GetValueOrNull<T>(DbDataRecord reader, string columnName) where T : struct
{
    object columnValue = reader[columnName];

    if (!(columnValue is DBNull))
        return (T)columnValue;

    return null;
}
user_12005580

Just do two things to your original code – remove the where constraint, and change the last return from return null to return default(T). This way you can return whatever type you want.

By the way, you can avoid the use of is by changing your if statement to if (columnValue != DBNull.Value).

Robert_C_Barth_92090

Incase it helps someone - I have used this before and seems to do what I need it to...

public static bool HasValueAndIsNotDefault<T>(this T? v)
    where T : struct
{
    return v.HasValue && !v.Value.Equals(default(T));
}
user_73688720

This may be a dead thread, but I tend to use the following:

public static T? GetValueOrNull<T>(this DbDataRecord reader, string columnName)
where T : struct 
{
    return reader[columnName] as T?;
}
user_17727300

The shorter way :

public static T ValueOrDefault<T>(this DataRow reader, string columnName) => 
        reader.IsNull(columnName) ? default : (T) reader[columnName];

return 0 for int, and null for int?

user_19454430

Here is an extension method I've used for years:

public static T GetValue<T>(this DbDataReader reader, string columnName)
{
    if (reader == null) throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(reader));
    if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(columnName))
        throw new ArgumentException("Value cannot be null or whitespace.", nameof(columnName));

    // do not swallow exceptions here - let them bubble up to the calling API to be handled and/or logged
    var index = reader.GetOrdinal(columnName);
    if (!reader.IsDBNull(index))
    {
        return (T)reader.GetValue(index);
    }
    return default;
}
user_2512670
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