Test value fist character of string - C#

Question

in one of our templates for report printing there is the following code:

   if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(assetModel.Belongings))
{
    description = string.Format("{0}{1}{2}",
        description,
        string.IsNullOrEmpty(description) ? "" : ", ",
        assetModel.Belongings);
}

I would like to test the first character of the Belongings field. if it IS NOT a "," then the code above should be used but if it IS a "," the code should be like:

   if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(assetModel.Belongings))
{
    description = string.Format("{0}{1}{2}",
        description,
        string.IsNullOrEmpty(description) ? "" : "",
        assetModel.Belongings);
}

Please help, how can I test this value of the first character?

you can use [String.StartsWith](https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/baketfxw(v=vs.110).aspx) — bansi, Dec 21 '15 at 07:48

score 4 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 21 '15 at 07:49

4

Method StartsWith is self-explaining:

if (description.StarstWith(","))
{
    //...
}

answered Dec 21 '15 at 07:49

Backs

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thanks, this is the solution I was looking for, and this is the result. Sorry, can't get the code shown in the right way. if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(assetModel.Belongings)) {if (assetModel.Belongings.StartsWith(",")) { description = string.Format("{0}{1}{2}", description, string.IsNullOrEmpty(description) ? "" : "", assetModel.Belongings); } else { description = string.Format("{0}{1}{2}", description, string.IsNullOrEmpty(description) ? "" : ", ", assetModel.Belongings); } } – Fred Dec 21 '15 at 10:30

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 21 '15 at 07:45

0

Use IndexOf to check if the index of the , character is 0, meaning it's at the start of the string.

if (description.IndexOf(',') == 0)
{
    // description starts with a ,
}

answered Dec 21 '15 at 07:45

Steve

9,335
10
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1

It should work, but IndexOf isn't build for this purpose. In my optinion StartsWith() would be better in this context. – Jannik Dec 21 '15 at 07:51
Searching whole string instead of just checking `description[0]==','`? – Alexei Levenkov Dec 21 '15 at 07:51
@Jannik true, didn't think of `StartsWith` until after I posted. – Steve Dec 21 '15 at 07:51
@Steve I feel you, I was about to post a substring-alternative, well, there are many different roads to reach the same goal. – Jannik Dec 21 '15 at 07:53

Test value fist character of string - C#

2 Answers2