XML LINQ Select to Object - Using TryParse

I'm using the following code to load a list of objects from XML using LINQ:

List<Order> TheList = 
    (from order in XMLResponse.Descendants("Order")
    select new Order
    {
        OrderDate 开发者_运维知识库= DateTime.Parse(order.Element("OrderDate").Value)
    }).ToList<Order>();

I would like to use DateTime.TryParse so that I can use DBNull values on the values that do not parse correctly so I can continue processing if there is an error. I've tried this:

 OrderDate = DateTime.TryParse(order.Element("OrderDate").value, out OrderDate)

But that code yields an invalid argument exception.

I know I could use an intermediary class (with all string values) to load the values, but that seems like excessive code for what I'm trying to accomplish. Is there a way to use TryParse in my code above? Thanks

---

Assuming this is an appropriately formatted date for XML, you can cast to DateTime?:

from order in XMLResponse.Descendants("Order")
select new obj
{
    OrderDate = (DateTime?) order.Element("OrderDate")
}).ToList<Order>();

That will still throw an exception if the value is bad, but return the null value if it's missing.

Admittedly I wouldn't expect that to actually compile, as you're not selecting an Order... but you see what I mean.

Here's an alternative which uses TryParse:

public static DateTime? TryParseDateTime(string value)
{
    DateTime ret;
    return DateTime.TryParse(value, out ret) ? ret : (DateTime?) null;
}
...
List<Order> list = from order in XMLResponse.Descendants("Order")
                   select new obj
                   {
                       OrderDate = TryParseDateTime(order.Element("OrderDate").Value)
                   }).ToList<Order>();

This basically gives an alternative form of TryParse which uses a Nullable<DateTime> instead of a separate Boolean flag to allow it to indicate parse failures.

I would strongly recommend that you use TryParseExact with an appropriate format string and culture, by the way.

---

internal class DateTimeParse
{
  public DateTimeParse(string str)
  {
     DateTime dt = DateTime.MinValue;
     Correct = DateTime.TryParse(str, out dt);
     if (Correct) Value = dt;
  }

  public DateTime Value { get; private set; }
  public bool Correct { get; private set; }
}

.

var hist = from x in aNodes
    let dt = new DateTimeParse(x.InnerHtml)
    where dt.Correct
    select dt.Value;

---

The problem here is that DateTime.Tryparse like almost all TryParse returns a Boolean value. The OUT parameter here is a DateTime (not nullable).

It's like:

bool myBool = Datetime.TryParse(myString, out myDateTimeNotNullable);

You can also use it nested in a validation:

    if(Datetime.TryParse(myString, out myDateTimeNotNullable))
    {
      //myDateTimeNotNullable has the valid DateTime from myString
    }
    else
    {
      //myDateTimeNotNullable has the value set to new DateTime()
    }

That's what I would write:

DateTime OrderDate;
DateTime.TryParse(((XmlNode)order.Element("OrderDate")).InnerText, out OrderDate);

I hope it helps someone, since it's an old post.