C# Cannot implicitly convert type 'string' to 'string[]' within an if else statement

Question

I am trying to read a string into an array and I get the error "Cannot implecitly convert type 'string' to 'string[]'.

The error occurs here:

string[] sepText = result.Tables[0].Rows[0].Field<string>("WebHTML").UrlDecode();

My full if else statement is below:

if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(result.Tables[0].Rows[0].Field<string>("WebHTML")))
            {
                string[] sepText = result.Tables[0].Rows[0].Field<string>("WebHTML").UrlDecode();
                NewsContent.Text = sepText[1];
                if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(sepText[0]))
                    Image1.ImageUrl = sepText[0];
                else
                    Image1.Visible = false;
                NewsTitle.Text = String.Format("<a href=\"{0}/news/{1}/{2}.aspx\">{3}</a>", Extensions.GetServerName(true), result.Tables[0].Rows[0].Field<int>("News_Item_ID"), result.Tables[0].Rows[0].Field<string>("Title").UrlFormat(), result.Tables[0].Rows[0].Field<string>("Title"));
                Hyperlink1.NavigateUrl = String.Format("{0}/news/{1}/{2}.aspx", Extensions.GetServerName(true), result.Tables[0].Rows[0].Field<int>("News_Item_ID"), result.Tables[0].Rows[0].Field<string>("Title").UrlFormat());
            }
            else
            {
                Hyperlink1.Visible = false;
                Image1.Visible = false;
            }

Thank you for your help!

EDIT Code for URL Decode:

public static string UrlDecode(this string str)
{
    return System.Web.HttpUtility.UrlDecode(str);
}

Show the code for `UrlDecode`. Apparently you're expecting it to return an array, but it isn't. — Ben Voigt, Oct 10 '11 at 14:44
A `string` is not a string array. What is the point of using an array here? — Matt Ball, Oct 10 '11 at 14:44

Justin Niessner · Accepted Answer · 2011-10-10T14:48:39.300

3

result.Tables[0].Rows[0].Field<string>("WebHTML") is going to give you the value of the WebHTML field in the first row in the first table which is a single string rather than a string[].

~~You may want to show your code for UrlDecode() since it looks like a custom implementation rather than one of the built-in framework versions.~~

You also declare the UrlDecode method to take a string as a parameter and return a string. Remember, a string is not the same thing as a string array.

edited Oct 10 '11 at 14:48

answered Oct 10 '11 at 14:43

Justin Niessner

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I use the UrlDecode on different sections of the project. How will I modify it to fit the current situation? – Courtney Stephenson Oct 10 '11 at 14:52
@CKallemeres - I'm not sure what you're expecting it to do. The code you have should only work with a single string...no idea where the array would come from. – Justin Niessner Oct 10 '11 at 14:54

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 10 '11 at 14:45

It seems that you are trying to put:

result.Tables[0].Rows[0].Field<string>("WebHTML").UrlDecode();

which returns a string, into an array of strings. Simply delare your sepText variable as a string rather than a string array and you should be good to go, e.g.:

string sepText = result.Tables[0].Rows[0].Field<string>("WebHTML").UrlDecode();

Later in your code you will clearly need to read the contents of the string like this:

Image1.ImageUrl  =sepText;

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Oct 10 '11 at 14:44

0

Assuming the UrlDecode you are using is the one from here then the result is a string and not a string[] !

answered Oct 10 '11 at 14:44

Yahia

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score 0 · Answer 4 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:12

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UrlDecode returns a string and you are assigning it to an array.

If you want the parts you will have to use the string to create an Url object.

Url url = new Url(result.Tables[0].Rows[0].Field<string>("WebHTML"));

and then get the parts.

See: Get url parts without host

edited May 23 '17 at 12:12

Community

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answered Oct 10 '11 at 14:45

Emond

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score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Oct 10 '11 at 14:45

I don't think URLDecode works the way you think it works. All URLDecode does is remove URL encoding from a string. It does not return an array of strings - only the decoded value of the string you gave it.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.web.httputility.urldecode.aspx

Example: Your web browser replaces a space with %20. This changes the %20 back to a space.

score 0 · Answer 6 · answered Oct 10 '11 at 14:46

0

That's because the result of this line is "string" and you're trying to assign it to an array since UrlDecode do not produce an array. What you probably wanted is to use a method split() to create an array of separators?

answered Oct 10 '11 at 14:46

Stanislav Ageev

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C# Cannot implicitly convert type 'string' to 'string[]' within an if else statement

6 Answers6