C# – How to convert a string to RTF in C#

crtf

Question

How do I convert the string "Européen" to the RTF-formatted string "Europ\'e9en"?

[TestMethod]
public void Convert_A_Word_To_Rtf()
{
    // Arrange
    string word = "Européen";
    string expected = "Europ\'e9en";
    string actual = string.Empty;

    // Act
    // actual = ... // How?

    // Assert
    Assert.AreEqual(expected, actual);
}

What I have found so far

RichTextBox

RichTextBox can be used for certain things. Example:

RichTextBox richTextBox = new RichTextBox();
richTextBox.Text = "Européen";
string rtfFormattedString = richTextBox.Rtf;

But then rtfFormattedString turns out to be the entire RTF-formatted document, not just the string "Europ\'e9en".

Stackoverflow

Google

I've also found a bunch of other resources on the web, but nothing quite solved my problem.

Answer

Brad Christie's answer

Had to add Trim() to remove the preceeding space in result. Other than that, Brad Christie's solution seems to work.

I'll run with this solution for now even though I have a bad gut feeling since we have to SubString and Trim the heck out of RichTextBox to get a RTF-formatted string.

Test case:

[TestMethod]
public void Test_To_Verify_Brad_Christies_Stackoverflow_Answer()
{
        Assert.AreEqual(@"Europ\'e9en", "Européen".ConvertToRtf());
        Assert.AreEqual(@"d\'e9finitif", "définitif".ConvertToRtf());
        Assert.AreEqual(@"\'e0", "à".ConvertToRtf());
        Assert.AreEqual(@"H\'e4user", "Häuser".ConvertToRtf());
        Assert.AreEqual(@"T\'fcren", "Türen".ConvertToRtf());
        Assert.AreEqual(@"B\'f6den", "Böden".ConvertToRtf());
}

Logic as an extension method:

public static class StringExtensions
{
    public static string ConvertToRtf(this string value)
    {
        RichTextBox richTextBox = new RichTextBox();
        richTextBox.Text = value;
        int offset = richTextBox.Rtf.IndexOf(@"\f0\fs17") + 8; // offset = 118;
        int len = richTextBox.Rtf.LastIndexOf(@"\par") - offset;
        string result = richTextBox.Rtf.Substring(offset, len).Trim();
        return result;
    }
}

Best Answer

Doesn't RichTextBox always have the same header/footer? You could just read the content based on off-set location, and continue using it to parse. (I think? please correct me if I'm wrong)

There are libraries available, but I've never had good luck with them personally (though always just found another method before fully exhausting the possibilities). In addition, most of the better ones are usually include a nominal fee.

EDIT
Kind of a hack, but this should get you through what you need to get through (I hope):

RichTextBox rich = new RichTextBox();
Console.Write(rich.Rtf);

String[] words = { "Européen", "Apple", "Carrot", "Touché", "Résumé", "A Européen eating an apple while writing his Résumé, Touché!" };
foreach (String word in words)
{
    rich.Text = word;
    Int32 offset = rich.Rtf.IndexOf(@"\f0\fs17") + 8;
    Int32 len = rich.Rtf.LastIndexOf(@"\par") - offset;
    Console.WriteLine("{0,-15} : {1}", word, rich.Rtf.Substring(offset, len).Trim());
}

EDIT 2

The breakdown of the codes RTF control code are as follows:

Header
- \f0 - Use the 0-index font (first font in the list, which is typically Microsoft Sans Serif (noted in the font table in the header: {\fonttbl{\f0\fnil\fcharset0 Microsoft Sans Serif;}}))
- \fs17 - Font formatting, specify the size is 17 (17 being in half-points)
Footer
- \par is specifying that it's the end of a paragraph.

Hopefully that clears some things up. ;-)

This is the style that Microsoft tends to use in their examples.

It appears that the guidance in this area may have changed, as StyleCop now enforces the use of the C# specific aliases.

C# – Convert a string to an enum in C#

In .NET Core and .NET Framework ≥4.0 there is a generic parse method:

Enum.TryParse("Active", out StatusEnum myStatus);

This also includes C#7's new inline out variables, so this does the try-parse, conversion to the explicit enum type and initialises+populates the myStatus variable.

If you have access to C#7 and the latest .NET this is the best way.

Original Answer

In .NET it's rather ugly (until 4 or above):

StatusEnum MyStatus = (StatusEnum) Enum.Parse(typeof(StatusEnum), "Active", true);

I tend to simplify this with:

public static T ParseEnum<T>(string value)
{
    return (T) Enum.Parse(typeof(T), value, true);
}

Then I can do:

StatusEnum MyStatus = EnumUtil.ParseEnum<StatusEnum>("Active");

One option suggested in the comments is to add an extension, which is simple enough:

public static T ToEnum<T>(this string value)
{
    return (T) Enum.Parse(typeof(T), value, true);
}

StatusEnum MyStatus = "Active".ToEnum<StatusEnum>();

Finally, you may want to have a default enum to use if the string cannot be parsed:

public static T ToEnum<T>(this string value, T defaultValue) 
{
    if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(value))
    {
        return defaultValue;
    }

    T result;
    return Enum.TryParse<T>(value, true, out result) ? result : defaultValue;
}

Which makes this the call:

StatusEnum MyStatus = "Active".ToEnum(StatusEnum.None);

However, I would be careful adding an extension method like this to string as (without namespace control) it will appear on all instances of string whether they hold an enum or not (so 1234.ToString().ToEnum(StatusEnum.None) would be valid but nonsensical) . It's often be best to avoid cluttering Microsoft's core classes with extra methods that only apply in very specific contexts unless your entire development team has a very good understanding of what those extensions do.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

C# – the difference between String and string in C#

This is the style that Microsoft tends to use in their examples.

C# – Convert a string to an enum in C#

Original Answer

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