Nullable type as a generic parameter possible?

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?

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;
}

public static T GetValueOrDefault<T>(this IDataRecord rdr, int index)
{
    object val = rdr[index];

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

    return default(T);
}

Just use it like this:

decimal? Quantity = rdr.GetValueOrDefault<decimal?>(1);
string Unit = rdr.GetValueOrDefault<string>(2);

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).

Disclaimer: This answer works, but is intended for educational purposes only. :) James Jones' solution is probably the best here and certainly the one I'd go with.

C# 4.0's dynamic keyword makes this even easier, if less safe:

public static dynamic GetNullableValue(this IDataRecord record, string columnName)
{
  var val = reader[columnName];

  return (val == DBNull.Value ? null : val);
}

Now you don't need the explicit type hinting on the RHS:

int? value = myDataReader.GetNullableValue("MyColumnName");

In fact, you don't need it anywhere!

var value = myDataReader.GetNullableValue("MyColumnName");

value will now be an int, or a string, or whatever type was returned from the DB.

The only problem is that this does not prevent you from using non-nullable types on the LHS, in which case you'll get a rather nasty runtime exception like:

Microsoft.CSharp.RuntimeBinder.RuntimeBinderException: Cannot convert null to 'int' because it is a non-nullable value type

As with all code that uses dynamic: caveat coder.

I think you want to handle Reference types and struct types. I use it to convert XML Element strings to a more typed type. You can remove the nullAlternative with reflection. The formatprovider is to handle the culture dependent '.' or ',' separator in e.g. decimals or ints and doubles. This may work:

public T GetValueOrNull<T>(string strElementNameToSearchFor, IFormatProvider provider = null ) 
    {
        IFormatProvider theProvider = provider == null ? Provider : provider;
        XElement elm = GetUniqueXElement(strElementNameToSearchFor);

        if (elm == null)
        {
            object o =  Activator.CreateInstance(typeof(T));
            return (T)o; 
        }
        else
        {
            try
            {
                Type type = typeof(T);
                if (type.IsGenericType &&
                type.GetGenericTypeDefinition() == typeof(Nullable<>).GetGenericTypeDefinition())
                {
                    type = Nullable.GetUnderlyingType(type);
                }
                return (T)Convert.ChangeType(elm.Value, type, theProvider); 
            }
            catch (Exception)
            {
                object o = Activator.CreateInstance(typeof(T));
                return (T)o; 
            }
        }
    }

You can use it like this:

iRes = helper.GetValueOrNull<int?>("top_overrun_length");
Assert.AreEqual(100, iRes);

       

decimal? dRes = helper.GetValueOrNull<decimal?>("top_overrun_bend_degrees");
Assert.AreEqual(new Decimal(10.1), dRes);

String strRes = helper.GetValueOrNull<String>("top_overrun_bend_degrees");
Assert.AreEqual("10.1", strRes);

Multiple generic constraints can't be combined in an OR fashion (less restrictive), only in an AND fashion (more restrictive). Meaning that one method can't handle both scenarios. The generic constraints also cannot be used to make a unique signature for the method, so you'd have to use 2 separate method names.

However, you can use the generic constraints to make sure that the methods are used correctly.

In my case, I specifically wanted null to be returned, and never the default value of any possible value types. GetValueOrDefault = bad. GetValueOrNull = good.

I used the words "Null" and "Nullable" to distinguish between reference types and value types. And here is an example of a couple extension methods I wrote that compliments the FirstOrDefault method in System.Linq.Enumerable class.

    public static TSource FirstOrNull<TSource>(this IEnumerable<TSource> source)
        where TSource: class
    {
        if (source == null) return null;
        var result = source.FirstOrDefault();   // Default for a class is null
        return result;
    }

    public static TSource? FirstOrNullable<TSource>(this IEnumerable<TSource?> source)
        where TSource : struct
    {
        if (source == null) return null;
        var result = source.FirstOrDefault();   // Default for a nullable is null
        return result;
    }

Just had to do something incredible similar to this. My code:

public T IsNull<T>(this object value, T nullAlterative)
{
    if(value != DBNull.Value)
    {
        Type type = typeof(T);
        if (type.IsGenericType && 
            type.GetGenericTypeDefinition() == typeof(Nullable<>).GetGenericTypeDefinition())
        {
            type = Nullable.GetUnderlyingType(type);
        }

        return (T)(type.IsEnum ? Enum.ToObject(type, Convert.ToInt32(value)) :
            Convert.ChangeType(value, type));
    }
    else 
        return nullAlternative;
}

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));
}

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?;
}

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?

I know this is old, but here is another solution:

public static bool GetValueOrDefault<T>(this SqlDataReader Reader, string ColumnName, out T Result)
{
    try
    {
        object ColumnValue = Reader[ColumnName];
        
        Result = (ColumnValue!=null && ColumnValue != DBNull.Value) ? (T)ColumnValue : default(T);
        
        return ColumnValue!=null && ColumnValue != DBNull.Value;
    }
    catch
    {
        // Possibly an invalid cast?
        return false;
    }
}

Now, you don't care if T was value or reference type. Only if the function returns true, you have a reasonable value from the database. Usage:

...
decimal Quantity;
if (rdr.GetValueOrDefault<decimal>("YourColumnName", out Quantity))
{
    // Do something with Quantity
}

This approach is very similar to int.TryParse("123", out MyInt);

I just encountered the same problem myself.

... = reader["myYear"] as int?; works and is clean.

It works with any type without an issue. If the result is DBNull, it returns null as the conversion fails.

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;
}