The Basics

From MSDN

Converts the string representation of a number to its 32-bit signed integer equivalent. A return value indicates whether the conversion succeeded.

public static bool TryParse(string s, out int result)

Getting into it

Allright. TryParse is an excelent way to parse data without using Try..Catch. TryParse returns a boolean value instead of the number directly. If successfull, the method will also output the value requested.

Example:

                                    Console.Write("Enter an integer value: ");

			string myNumber = Console.ReadLine();

			int myInt;

			bool myCheck;

			

			myCheck = int.TryParse(myNumber, out myInt);

			

			if(myCheck == false)

			{

				Console.WriteLine("Error: {0} is not an integer value", myNumber);

			}

			else

			{

				Console.WriteLine("Congratulations, {0} is an integer value!", myInt);

			}

			Console.Read();

As we can see assign the boolean variabel myCheck the return of the int.TryParse method. The return will be either true or false depending on the outcome. If the result is true, our TryParse will also output the converted value into our integer variable myInt so that we can use it later.

The alternative

If we don't want to use TryParse we can use normal parsing, but then we'd have to use a try...catch statement, like this:

                                    Console.Write("Enter an integer value: ");

			string myNumber = Console.ReadLine();

			int myInt;

			bool myCheck;

			

			try

			{

				myInt = int.Parse(myNumber);

			}

			catch (FormatException ex1)

			{

				Console.WriteLine("Error: {0}", ex1);

				myInt = 0;

			}

			catch (OverflowException ex2)

			{

				Console.WriteLine("Error: {0}", ex2);

				myInt = 0;

			}

			Console.WriteLine("Converted string: {0}", myInt);

			

			Console.Read();

Try...Catch is a good thing, but it's just not always needed, like in this case.

Good luck using TryParse!

There are no comments on this article.

Leave a message!

If you have any question or just want to leave a message, just fill out the form below!

Your e-mail will not be visible in your post, it is for validation reasons only

Name:
E-mail:
Comment: