Get array from C# string property

Question

I'm retrieving a row from a database that has an attribute which is a comma separated list of ID's

1,2,3,4,5

In my POCO is it possible to do something like this to get an array back?

public string SomeIDs 
{
    get 
    {
        return SomeIDs.split(',');
    }
    set;
}

Edit: Sorry, to clarify, I am setting with a string and want to return a string array

Well not quite like that, no. Your property getter is calling itself... one time expecting it to be a string, and one time trying to return a string array. Oh, and split should be Split... — Jon Skeet
– Jon Skeet, Commented Jun 1, 2015 at 14:41

Yuval Itzchakov · Accepted Answer · 2015-06-01 15:18:08Z

7

You can't have a setter which accepts a string and returns a string[]. You'll need to expose one property which accepts a string, and a read-only property (as below) which returns a parsed array from that string:

private static readonly string[] emptyIds = new string[0];
public string SomeIds { get; set; }
public string[] ParsedIds 
{
    get 
    {
        return !string.IsNullOrEmpty(SomeIds) ? SomeIds.Split(',') : 
                                                emptyIds;
    }
}

Edit:

edited Jun 1, 2015 at 15:18

answered Jun 1, 2015 at 14:41

Yuval Itzchakov

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9 Comments

GMon Over a year ago

But how can I set it with a string?

Rob King Over a year ago

I would add a guard clause in the get to ensure that SomeIds is not null and has a value before splitting it. Just by adding if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty()) and returning an empty array if it fails the check.

Yuval Itzchakov Over a year ago

@RobKing You got it :)

Kryptos Over a year ago

Enumerable.Empty<string>().ToArray() is a bit overkill IMHO: no need to create an iterator here. You could use new String[] {} or even better have a static readonly String[] EmptyIds = new String[] {} and return a reference to it.

Yuval Itzchakov Over a year ago

You guys are really nit-picky :). Edited.

|

dknipper · Accepted Answer · 2015-06-01 14:44:02Z

1

Is this what you need:

private string _ids;
public string[] SomeIDs
{
    get { return _ids.Split(','); }
}

answered Jun 1, 2015 at 14:44

dknipper

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Comments

Nacho · Accepted Answer · 2015-06-01 14:57:10Z

-2

you can try this:

private string _someIDs;
public object SomeIDs
{
  get { return _someIDs.Split(','); }
  set { _someIDs = value as string; }
}

answered Jun 1, 2015 at 14:57

Nacho

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