An extension method, just because I can.

April 20, 2008 Edit patterns csharp

Going to the dentist is an awkward experience. You know you have to use their service or your teeth will rot, but the experience is just not enjoyable.

That's how I feel about string.Format. I use it all over the place, but find it incredibly out of place. Thanks to extension methods though, I can propose a nicer syntax. Here's a snippet from a site I'm building for one of my clients, using my rasta REST framework and linq2sql.

[HttpOperation(HttpMethod.GET, ContentType=new HttpContentType("image/*"))]
public ResourceOperationResult GetMovie(string filmName)
{
    var movie = _movies.FindOne(movie => movie.UrlTitle == filmName);
 
    if (movie == null)
        throw new ResourceNotFoundException 
        {
            Message = "The movie {0} wasn't found in the database.".With(filmName) 
        };
 
    return new ResourceMovedTemporarilyResult { NewResourceUrl="/library/tempfilm.jpg" };
}

Notice the extension method there? I just find it sweet. Here's the very simple extension method.

public static string With(this string text, params object[] values)
{
    return string.Format(text, values);
}

There you are, a shamefully simple extension method, just because I can!