Question

I have a Type, a String and an Object.

Is there some way I can call the parse method or convert for that type on the string dynamically?

Basically how do I remove the if statements in this logic

object value = new object();    
String myString = "something";
Type propType = p.PropertyType;

if(propType == Type.GetType("DateTime"))
{
    value = DateTime.Parse(myString);
}

if (propType == Type.GetType("int"))
{
    value = int.Parse(myString);
}

And do someting more like this.

object value = new object();
String myString = "something";
Type propType = p.PropertyType;


//this doesn't actually work
value = propType .Parse(myString);  

Answer 1

TypeDescriptor to the rescue!:

var converter = TypeDescriptor.GetConverter(propType);
var result = converter.ConvertFrom(myString);

All primitive types (plus Nullable<TPrimitive>, and numerous other built-in types) are integrated into the TypeConverter infrastructure already, and are thus supported ‘out-of-the-box’.

To integrate a custom type into the TypeConverter infrastructure, implement your own TypeConverter and use TypeConverterAttribute to decorate the class to be converted, with your new TypeConverter