Question

How to fix the errors with characters in C# Employee class I am making. I know how to handle string, int, and double. The char.Parse doesn’t cooperate.

   public static string AskForLastName()
   {
       string inValue;
       Console.Write("Enter last name: ");
       inValue = Console.ReadLine();
       return  inValue; //works fine
   }

    public static char AskForGender()
   {
       char inValue;
       Console.Write("Enter gender: ");
       inValue = Console.ReadLine();//error here for some reason
       return (char.Parse(inValue));//error here for some reason
   }

    public static int AskForNoDependendents()
    {
        string inValue;
        Console.Write("Enter the dependents: ");
        inValue = Console.ReadLine();
        return (int.Parse(inValue));//works fine
    }

    public static double AskForAnnualSalary()
    {
        string inValue;
        Console.Write("Enter annual salary: ");
        inValue = Console.ReadLine();
        return (double.Parse(inValue));//works fine
    }

Answer 1

Description

Console.ReadLine returns a string. You can use string[] to get the first character of your string. But you have to make sure that the user inserts at least one character.

Sample

public static char AskForGender()
{
    while (true)
    {
        Console.Write("Enter gender (m/w): ");
        string inValue = Console.ReadLine(); 
        // check that the user inputs a character
        if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(inValue) && (inValue[0] == 'm' || inValue[0] == 'w'))
            return inValue[0]; 
    }
}

Update

My sample covers now that the user inputs m or w.

Update

It is homework so…

If your Teacher ask "But what happens if the user inputs a M instead of m? You should say "It asks the user again".

If your Teacher asks then "How to make it possible to accept M and m? You should say i can make it case insensitive.

Sample

You should use i can use .NET’s .ToUpper() method.

.ToUpper() – Returns a copy of this string converted to uppercase.

public static char AskForGender()
{
    while (true)
    {
        Console.Write("Enter gender (m/w): ");
        string inValue = Console.ReadLine(); 
        // check that the user inputs a character
        if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(inValue) && (inValue.ToUpper()[0] == 'M' || inValue.ToUpper()[0] == 'W'))
            return inValue.ToUpper()[0]; // returns M or W
    }
}