Convert.ToBoolean fails with “0” value

Question

I\'m trying to convert the value \"0\" ( System.String ) to its Boolean representation, like:

var myValue = Convert.To         


        

Answer 1

This is happening because Convert.ToBoolean is expecting one of the following:

• "True" (String) = true
• "False" (String) = false
• 0 (numerical type; int, double, float, etc.) = false
• Any non-0 (numerical type; ...) = true
• null = false

Any other value is invalid for Boolean.

You've already got a clean approach:

var myValue = Convert.ToBoolean(Convert.ToInt32("0"));

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Edit: You can create an extension method that will handle a few of these cases for you, while hiding away the ugliness of handling the conversion.

This extension provides a very loose interpretation of Boolean:

• "True" (String) = true
• "False" (String) = false
• "0" (String) = false
• Any other string = true

Code:

public static class Extensions
{
    public static Boolean ToBoolean(this string str)
    {
        String cleanValue = (str ?? "").Trim();
        if (String.Equals(cleanValue, "False", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
            return false;
        return
            (String.Equals(cleanValue, "True", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase)) ||
            (cleanValue != "0");
    }
}

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Alternatively, if you want a more strict approach, which follows what the .NET Framework expects; then simply use try/catch statements:

public static class Extensions
{
    public static Boolean ToBoolean(this string str)
    {
        try
        {
            return Convert.ToBoolean(str);
        }
        catch { }
        try
        {
            return Convert.ToBoolean(Convert.ToInt32(str));
        }
        catch { }
        return false;
    }
}

Albeit, not a clean or pretty approach, but it guarantees more possibilities of getting the correct value. And, the Extensions class is tucked away from your data/business code.

In the end, your conversion code is relatively simple to use:

String myString = "1";
Boolean myBoolean = myString.ToBoolean();