C# Nullable to string

Question

I have a DateTime? variable, sometimes the value is null, how can I return an empty string \"\" when the value is null or

Answer 1

Calling .ToString() on a Nullable<T> that is null will return an empty string.

Answer 2

DateTime d?;
string s = d.HasValue ? d.ToString() : string.Empty;

Answer 3

if (aDate.HasValue)
    return aDate;
else
    return string.Empty;

Answer 4

DateTime? MyNullableDT;
....
if (MyNullableDT.HasValue)
{
    return MyNullableDT.Value.ToString();
}
return "";

Answer 5

DateTime? d;
// stuff manipulating d;
return d != null ? d.Value.ToString() : String.Empty;

Answer 6

Actually, this is the default behaviour for Nullable types, that without a value they return nothing:

public class Test {
    public static void Main() {
        System.DateTime? dt = null;
        System.Console.WriteLine("<{0}>", dt.ToString());
        dt = System.DateTime.Now;
        System.Console.WriteLine("<{0}>", dt.ToString());
    }
}

this yields

<>
<2009-09-18 19:16:09>