How to correct 'error - input string not in correct format'

Can anyone help me correct this.

This line is giving an error

Code Snippet

dblAmount[2] = double .Parse (BD.dbCommands.ExecuteScalar("SELECT SUM([AR-PAYMENT AMOUNT]) " + strSql, BD.MyGlobal._ARConnection).ToString());

error = Input string not in correct format.

Code Snippet

public static object ExecuteScalar(string queryStr, OleDbConnection connStr)

{

if (connStr.State != ConnectionState.Open)

{

connStr.Open();

}

OleDbCommand comm = new OleDbCommand(queryStr, connStr);

object returnObject;

returnObject = comm.ExecuteScalar();

return returnObject;

}

You are attempting to convert the result of executing ExecuteScalar to a double. If the result is not in a format supported by double then you'll get an error. Try storing the results in a string first to verify the results are what you expected. If no resultset is returned then you'll get a null which will fail.

In general you should avoid combining so much code into one line. It doesn't help performance at all, makes debugging harder and is harder to read. Separate out function calls to make it easier for you.

Michael Taylor - 5/30/07

http://p3net.mvps.org

Thanks for the help - could you explain this further for me

"In general you should avoid combining so much code into one line. It doesn't help performance at all, makes debugging harder and is harder to read. Separate out function calls to make it easier for you."

There really isn't a lot to explain. Where does the problem lie in your code? You aren't sure because the following line is doing several different things.

Code Snippet

dblAmount[2] = double .Parse (BD.dbCommands.ExecuteScalar("SELECT SUM([AR-PAYMENT AMOUNT]) " + strSql, BD.MyGlobal._ARConnection).ToString());

It could lie in the call to Parse, ExecuteScalar, perhaps the strSql or _ARConnection variables or even the assignment to the array. Many different places where things can go wrong. Additionally a cursory glance makes it difficult to tell what exactly is being passed to Parse as a parameter. There are several sets of parenthesis.

You are having a hard time figuring out what is going wrong because this is one busy line. By breaking it up you can more easily figure out where the problem lies. Even better is the fact that you can single step through the debugger and confirm each line executes the way you want. By using the debugger you'll be able to quickly identify whether the result of ExecuteScalar is bad, the result from Parse is bad, whatever. Now imagine that you come back to this code 6 months later. Or worse yet someone else has to manage this code. It is a lot of extra work.

Many "old" C programmers would write code like this believing that the less source lines you have the smaller and faster the code would run. This simply is not true. The compiler will generate fast and optimal code whether you put code on one line or several lines. Therefore you should strive for readability of code over writing the smallest number of lines. There are places where it makes sense to consolidate lines but not here. Here is how I'd write the code if I were doing it:

Code Snippet

object result = BD.dbCommands.ExecuteScalar("SELECT SUM([AR-PAYMENT AMOUNT]) " + strSql, BD.MyGlobal._ARConnection);

string strResult = (result != null) ? result.ToString() : "0";

dblAmount[2] = double.Parse(strResult);

Now the above code is probably broken out more than I would normally do. I generally recommend that function calls reside on a line by themselves. Use variables to store the results. You can consolidate a method call to a variable (like .ToString()) in an assignment for simplicity. The important point is "where would I need to step through if something goes wrong". Functions are at the top of the list so break lines that way. Of course over time you'll find your own technique that works well for you but the above may help to get you started.

Michael Taylor - 5/30/07

http://p3net.mvps.org

Thanks very much for your advice, I am an 'old' VB programmer who is just getting into c# so everything helps.

I would also suggest preferring TryParse instead of Parse.

How to convert time format

Hi all,

I had query some time information from the database and use a dataset to bind to a GridView.

But unfortunately, the time that display on the GridView is not my desired choice.

It was display as "3/1/2007 10:06:27 PM".

Does anyone know how to convert it as "3/1/2007 22:06:27"?

Part of my code is as follow

pgDataAdapter.Fill(ds,

"Start Time");

Thanks

Hi bslim67,

You can use the DataFormatString property of the GridView column to format the datetime value.

Hope this helps.

Hi,

Hi,

I had tried this.

<asp:BoundFieldDataField="starttime"dataformatstring="{0:dd/MMM/yy}"

HeaderText

="Start Time"ReadOnly="True"SortExpression="starttime"/>

But when I run the program during runtime, it seems that it did not take effect.

It still show me the date and time though my dataformat is only on date.

Please help.

Thanks

Dear , friend:

You should set HtmlEncode=false in the markup of:BoundField

I hope the above information will be helpful. If you have any issues or concerns, please let me know. It's my pleasure to be of assistance

Hi,

Thanks for your info. It's really a great help for me.

How to convert string data into time format

I have some of the old data looks like this. And this is time data.

144601
170320
083345

I wanted to convert this in proper format as time with AM, PM etc. and display in GridView column.

Currently this data is displaying as it is in one of the GridView column

Please help out..

thanks

Public Function stringtodate(ByVal strdate As String) Dim tempdt As Date tempdt = Convert.ToDateTime(strdate) Dim format1 As String Dim en As New CultureInfo("en-AU") format1 = "MM/dd/yyyy HH:mm:ss" Dim dtstring As String dtstring = tempdt.ToString(format1) tempdt = DateTime.ParseExact(dtstring, format1, en.DateTimeFormat) Return tempdt End Function

you can specify the format as u need.

How do I call this function in gridview, to display the data in one of the column of the grid view. ?

Use Bound column of grid.Now in datafield property try to bind the data using a literal.

<asp:literal id="datevar" runat="server">

<asp:grid>

<asp:boundcolumn ......datafield=<%= datevar %>

</asp:grid>

Now in code behind try to bind the your date value by calling that function to the datevar literal in grid_databound event.