using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Web;

namespace YourNameSpaceHere
{
    public static class ToNullableStringExtension
    {
        /// <summary>
        /// <para>More convenient than using T.TryParse(string, out T). 
        /// Works with primitive types, structs, and enums.
        /// Tries to parse the string to an instance of the type specified.
        /// If the input cannot be parsed, null will be returned.
        /// </para>
        /// <para>
        /// If the value of the caller is null, null will be returned.
        /// So if you have "string s = null;" and then you try "s.ToNullable...",
        /// null will be returned. No null exception will be thrown. 
        /// </para>
        /// <author>Contributed by Taylor Love (Pangamma)</author>
        /// </summary>
        /// <typeparam name="T"></typeparam>
        /// <param name="p_self"></param>
        /// <returns></returns>
        public static T? ToNullable<T>(this string p_self) where T : struct
        {
            if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(p_self))
            {
                var converter = System.ComponentModel.TypeDescriptor.GetConverter(typeof(T));
                if (converter.IsValid(p_self)) return (T)converter.ConvertFromString(p_self);
                if (typeof(T).IsEnum) { T t; if (Enum.TryParse<T>(p_self, out t)) return t;}
            }

            return null;
        }
    }
}