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How do I create a generic C # array content printer that accepts both objects and primitives?

I'm just trying to quickly debug a webservice by printing out the contents of an int and string array. Is there a way to do it one way?

I tried

public static string ArrayToString(object[] array)
{
    StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();

    foreach (Object item in array)
    {
        sb.Append(item.ToString());
        sb.Append(" ");
    }

    return sb.ToString();
}

But it chokes when I try to send a primitive array (int []) to it due to the fact that it is not an object.

Which I find strange, since sending an int to the method below works

static void PrintObject(object obj)
{
    Console.WriteLine(obj.ToString());
}

Is there a way to do this in one way, or will I just need to create and create two different methods?

Of course, whether I should be using arrays at all is dubious, but the web service already exists.

See also:

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5 answers 


public static string ArrayToString<T>(T[] array)
{
   StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();

    foreach (T item in array)
    {
        sb.Append(item.ToString());
        sb.Append(" ");
    }

    return sb.ToString();
}

Then



int[] x = new int[] { 1, 2, 3 };

string[] y = new string[] { "a", "b", "c" };

Console.WriteLine(ArrayToString(x));
Console.WriteLine(ArrayToString(y));
+4


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Try something like this:

static String toString<T>(IEnumerable<T> list)
{
    StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();

    foreach (T item in list)
    {
        sb.Append(item.ToString());
        sb.Append(" ");
    }

    return sb.ToString();
}


The compiler will happily infer the type T

to the list type, which you loop through like this:

toString(new int[] { 1, 2, 3 });
toString(new String[] { "1", "2", "3" });
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Why did you choose an array? Your code depends on some specific properties of the array and instead just sees a list of objects. It looks like IEnumerable would be a much better choice and would allow just about any collection of objects

public static string ArrayToString(IEnumerable source)
{
    StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();

    foreach (Object item in source)
    {
        sb.Append(item.ToString());
        sb.Append(" ");
    }

    return sb.ToString();
}
+2


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private string PrintObjects<T>(IEnumerable<T> objs)
{
    return string.Join(" ", objs.Select(o => o.ToString()).ToArray());
}
+1


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There are several ways to do this.

If you have Linq you can do

int[] foo = new int[] {1,2,3,4};
ArrayToString(foo.Cast<Object>().ToArray());

and then submit it.

Or you can create a generic extension method

public static string ToString<T>(this IEnumerable<T> val)
{
    StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
    foreach(var item in val) 
    {
       sb.Append(item.ToString());
       sb.Append(" ");
    }
    return sb.ToString();
}
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