Converting string array to int

Question

I'm having a weird problem, trying to take a string from a string array and convert it to an integer. Take a look at this code snippet:

string date = "‎21/‎07/‎2010 ‏‎13:50";
var date1 = date.Split(' ')[0];
string[] dateArray = date1.Split('/');

string s = "21";
string t1 = dateArray[0];

bool e = string.Compare(s, t1) == 0;        //TRUE

int good = Convert.ToInt32(s);            //WORKING!
int bad = Convert.ToInt32(t1);  //Format exception - Input string was not in a correct format.

Can someone please explain why the conversion with s works, while with t1 fails?

may be I am missing something, why not try DateTime.Parse or .TryParse and do your logic? — AD.Net
– AD.Net, Commented Dec 7, 2012 at 19:56
It looks to me like t1 will be "2010 13:50" when you try to parse it. String#Compare probably isn't doing what you think it should be doing. — meustrus
– meustrus, Commented Dec 7, 2012 at 19:59
@user1079266, I highly doubt that if you're getting a Format Exception — Dave Zych
– Dave Zych, Commented Dec 7, 2012 at 20:00
I don't believe its WORKING! because there's no actual s1 change your s to s1. — Stan R.
– Stan R., Commented Dec 7, 2012 at 20:01

Esailija · Accepted Answer · 2012-12-07 20:05:04Z

7

Your string is full of hidden characters, causing it to break. There's four U+200E and one U+200F

Here's a clean string to try on:

string date = "21/07/2010 13:50";

answered Dec 7, 2012 at 20:05

Esailija

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11 Comments

Esailija Over a year ago

@Oded In google chrome or firefox, open dev console and copypaste the op's string "‎21/‎07/‎2010 ‏‎13:50".split("").map(function(v){return v.charCodeAt(0).toString(16)}).join(" ") It's like a hex dump right in your browser. :P

System Down Over a year ago

@Oded - I just copy pasted it into Notepad++, and he's right!

Oded Over a year ago

Did similar in LinqPad: "‎21/‎07/‎2010 ‏‎13:50".Select(c => ((int)c).ToString("X"))

Tim Goodman Over a year ago

@Oded: Or just right click on it and select "Inspect Element" (in Chrome)... Can't say I thought of that before seeing Esailija's answer, though!

McAden Over a year ago

I just came to the same result. I used this to test:

for (int i = 0; i < s.Length; i++)             {                 int schar = s[i];                 int t1char = t1[i];                 if (schar != t1char)                 {                     System.Diagnostics.Debugger.Break();                 }             }

It broke on the first char.

|

Jeppe Stig Nielsen · Accepted Answer · 2012-12-07 20:57:19Z

Why do you use string.Compare(s, t1) == 0 to test if the strings are equal? This overload of Compare does a culture sensitive comparison. But it doesn't mean that the strings are identical. To check if the strings consist of identical "sequences" of char values, use ordinal comparison. Ordinal comparison can be done, for example, with

bool e = s == t1;

In your case, the strings have different Lengths, and they also differ on the first index, s[0] != t1[0].

Your string date contains right-to-left marks and left-to-right marks. This may happen because you copy-paste from an Arabic text (or another language written in the "wrong" direction).

To remove these characters in the ends of your string (not in the middle), you can use something like

t1 = t1.Trim('\u200E', '\u200F');

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