How do I safely cast a System.Object to a `bool` in C#?

Question

I am extracting a bool value from a (non-generic, heterogeneous) collection.

The as operator may only be used with reference types, so it is no

Answer 1

If the goal is to have true only if the raw object is boolean 'true' then one-liner (rawValue as bool?)?? false will do:

object rawValue=null
(rawValue as bool?)?? false
false
rawValue="some string"
(rawValue as bool?)?? false
false
rawValue=true
(rawValue as bool?)?? false
true
rawValue="true"
(rawValue as bool?)?? false
false
rawValue=false
(rawValue as bool?)?? false
false
rawValue=""
(rawValue as bool?)?? false
false
rawValue=1
(rawValue as bool?)?? false
false
rawValue=new Dictionary<string,string>()
(rawValue as bool?)?? false
false`

Answer 2

You can also simply do, if it fits:

if(rawValue is true)
{
    //do stuff
}

Answer 3

You can cast it to a bool? with the as keyword and check the HasValue property.

Answer 4

I used this check before doing something with object

if(myCrazyObject.GetType().Equals(typeof(bool)))
{
   //do smt with it
}