C# Convert a generic object into a boolean

Question

I'm reading in data from a sqlite reader. It's returning an object, most of them I know are boolean. What's the best way to convert object into a boolean?

Answer 1

I would probably go through TryParse. Otherwise you run the risk of throwing an exception. But it depends on how your system is written.

object x;

bool result = false;

if(bool.TryParse(string.Format("{0}", x), out result))
{
    // do whatever
}

Alternatively you can do a direct cast:

bool result = (bool)x;

Or use the Convert class:

bool result = Convert.ToBoolean(x);

Or you can use a Nullable<bool> type:

var result = x as bool?;

Answer 2

In this case, you'll probably want the as operator. Keep in mind, your type would be a bool?.

Answer 3

Like this:

bool? val = YourValue as bool?;
if (val != null)
{
   ....
}

Answer 4

If you must have a final bool value, for C# 7.0 (introduced in 2017) and later, a compact syntax is:

bool myBool = (myObject as bool?) ?? false;

So this might be "best" from the standpoint of brevity. But code using the is operator performs better (see here). In this case, the following may be preferred:

bool myBool = myObject is bool ? (bool)myObject : false;

Answer 5

Try converting it.

var boolValue = (bool)yourObject;

Answer 6

If you want case an object to a boolean type, you simply need to check if the object is a bool, then cast it, like so:

if (someObject is bool)
{
    bool someBool = (bool)someObject;
    ...
}

As a side note, it is not possible to use the as operator on a non-reference type (because it cannot be null). This question may be a duplicate of this one.