Question

I was looking for ideas on improving the following code

static void Main(string[] args)
{
    bool validInput1 = false;
    string input1 = string.Empty;
    bool validInput2 = false;
    string input2 = string.Empty;

    bool validFilePath = false;
    string filePath = string.Empty;


    try
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Import process started.");

        while (!validFilePath)
        {
            Console.Write("Please enter the full path to the file you would like to import: ");
            filePath = Console.ReadLine().Replace("\"","");
            if (File.Exists(filePath))
                validFilePath = true;
        }

        while (!validInput1)
        {
            Console.Write("Enter a valid eventID the import file: ");
            input1 = Console.ReadLine();
            if (ValidEventID(input1.Trim().Length))
                validInput1 = true;
        }

        while (!validInput2)
        {
            Console.Write("Enter a valid import type code: ");
            input2 = Console.ReadLine();
            if (input2.Trim().ToUpper() == "EX" || input2.Trim().ToUpper() == "EL")
                validInput2 = true;
        }


        var records = Utilities.ParseCSV(filePath);
        var import = new Import
        {
            EventId = input1,
            ImportType = input2
        };


        import.ImportEventDates(records);

        Console.WriteLine("Import process completed.");
        Console.ReadLine();
    }
    catch (Exception ex)
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Error encountered");
        Console.WriteLine(ex.ToString());
        Console.ReadLine();
    }
}

Thanks in advance for any help

Answer 1

I’d write a simple method to retrieve and validate user input :

public static string PromptUntilValid(string promptText, Func<string, bool> validationPredicate)
{
    string input;
    do
    {
        Console.Write(promptText);
        input = Console.ReadLine();
    } while (!validationPredicate(input))
    return input;
}

This would allow your code to be refactored as follows :

    ...

    filePath = PromptUntilValid(
        "Please enter the full path to the file you would like to import: ",
        s => File.Exists(s));

    input1 = PromptUntilValid(
        "Enter a valid eventID the import file: ",
        s => ValidEventID(s.Trim().Length));

    input2 = PromptUntilValid(
        "Enter a valid import type code: ",
        s => s.Trim().ToUpper() == "EX" || s.Trim().ToUpper() == "EL");

    ...