How to display Yes/No instead of True/False for bool? in c#

Question

I get the error "Cannot implicitly convert type 'string' to 'bool'. How do I return 'Yes' or 'No' instead of true/false?

public bool? BuyerSampleSent
{
    get { bool result;
          Boolean.TryParse(this.repository.BuyerSampleSent.ToString(), out result);
        return result ? "Yes" : "No";
    }
    set { this.repository.BuyerSampleSent = value; }
}

Your type should be string instead of bool, if you want to display a string. — Pierre-Luc Pineault, Mar 20 '14 at 17:09
SO has a [code](http://stackoverflow.com/editing-help) formater to include codes in posts. — Zafar, Mar 20 '14 at 17:11
I've also edited your question to include the actual code and not a picture of it. — Pierre-Luc Pineault, Mar 20 '14 at 17:16
You cannot have a variable that has 2 types like string and bool — Radu, Mar 20 '14 at 17:17
TryParse requires a bool argument, which is why I declared result as bool. — devlin carnate, Mar 20 '14 at 17:19

score 7 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 20 '14 at 17:14

You can't return a string if the return type is bool (or bool? in this case). You return a bool:

return result;

Notice, however, that you ask...

How to display Yes/No...

This code isn't displaying anything. This is a property on an object, not a UI component. In the UI you can display whatever you like using this property as a flag:

someObject.BuyerSampleSent ? "Yes" : "No"

Conversely, if you want a display-friendly message on the object itself (perhaps it's a view model?) then you can add a property for that message:

public string BuyerSampleSentMessage
{
    get { return this.BuyerSampleSent ? "Yes" : "No"; }
}

OK, I see your point. I added a property using your suggestion: public string BuyerSampleSentMessage { get { bool result; Boolean.TryParse(this.BuyerSampleSent.ToString(), out result); return result ? "Yes" : "No"; } } — devlin carnate, Mar 20 '14 at 17:29

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 20 '14 at 17:11

0

Your method returns a bool as @Pierre-Luc points out. You need to change that to a String.

answered Mar 20 '14 at 17:11

John Yost

693
5
20

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Mar 20 '14 at 17:18

You cannot return a bool value "Yes" or "No". In C#, bool is a keyword for Boolean Data Type.You cannot override this behavior of a keyword.
Read more about C# Boolean Data Type here.

In your case you can do the following:

public string BuyerSampleSent
{
    get
    {
        string result= "No";
        if (this.repository.BuyerSampleSent.Equals("true",StringComparisson.OrdinalIgnoreCase)) // <-- Performance here
            result = "Yes";
        return result;
    }
    set
    {
        this.repository.BuyerSampleSent = value;
    }
}

How to display Yes/No instead of True/False for bool? in c#

3 Answers3

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