Is there a constraint that restricts my generic me

Question

Can anyone tell me if there is a way with generics to limit a generic type argument T to only:

• Int16
• Int32
• Int64
• UInt16
• UInt32
• UInt64

I'm aware of the where keyword, but can't find an interface for only these types,

Something like:

static bool IntegerFunction<T>(T value) where T : INumeric 

Answer 1

The .NET numeric primitive types do not share any common interface that would allow them to be used for calculations. It would be possible to define your own interfaces (e.g. ISignedWholeNumber) which would perform such operations, define structures which contain a single Int16, Int32, etc. and implement those interfaces, and then have methods which accept generic types constrained to ISignedWholeNumber, but having to convert numeric values to your structure types would likely be a nuisance.

An alternative approach would be to define static class Int64Converter<T> with a static property bool Available {get;}; and static delegates for Int64 GetInt64(T value), T FromInt64(Int64 value), bool TryStoreInt64(Int64 value, ref T dest). The class constructor could use be hard-coded to load delegates for known types, and possibly use Reflection to test whether type T implements methods with the proper names and signatures (in case it's something like a struct which contains an Int64 and represents a number, but has a custom ToString() method). This approach would lose the advantages associated with compile-time type-checking, but would still manage to avoid boxing operations and each type would only have to be "checked" once. After that, operations associated with that type would be replaced with a delegate dispatch.

Answer 2

There is no 'good' solution for this yet. However you can narrow the type argument significantly to rule out many missfits for your hypotetical 'INumeric' constraint as Haacked has shown above.

static bool IntegerFunction<T>(T value) where T: IComparable, IFormattable, IConvertible, IComparable<T>, IEquatable<T>, struct {...

Answer 3

Unfortunately you are only able to specify struct in the where clause in this instance. It does seem strange you can't specify Int16, Int32, etc. specifically but I'm sure there's some deep implementation reason underlying the decision to not permit value types in a where clause.

I guess the only solution is to do a runtime check which unfortunately prevents the problem being picked up at compile time. That'd go something like:-

static bool IntegerFunction<T>(T value) where T : struct {
  if (typeof(T) != typeof(Int16)  &&
      typeof(T) != typeof(Int32)  &&
      typeof(T) != typeof(Int64)  &&
      typeof(T) != typeof(UInt16) &&
      typeof(T) != typeof(UInt32) &&
      typeof(T) != typeof(UInt64)) {
    throw new ArgumentException(
      string.Format("Type '{0}' is not valid.", typeof(T).ToString()));
  }

  // Rest of code...
}

Which is a little bit ugly I know, but at least provides the required constraints.

I'd also look into possible performance implications for this implementation, perhaps there's a faster way out there.

Answer 4

If you are using .NET 4.0 and later then you can just use dynamic as method argument and check in runtime that the passed dynamic argument type is numeric/integer type.

If the type of the passed dynamic is not numeric/integer type then throw exception.

An example short code that implements the idea is something like:

using System;
public class InvalidArgumentException : Exception
{
    public InvalidArgumentException(string message) : base(message) {}
}
public class InvalidArgumentTypeException : InvalidArgumentException
{
    public InvalidArgumentTypeException(string message) : base(message) {}
}
public class ArgumentTypeNotIntegerException : InvalidArgumentTypeException
{
    public ArgumentTypeNotIntegerException(string message) : base(message) {}
}
public static class Program
{
    private static bool IntegerFunction(dynamic n)
    {
        if (n.GetType() != typeof(Int16) &&
            n.GetType() != typeof(Int32) &&
            n.GetType() != typeof(Int64) &&
            n.GetType() != typeof(UInt16) &&
            n.GetType() != typeof(UInt32) &&
            n.GetType() != typeof(UInt64))
            throw new ArgumentTypeNotIntegerException("argument type is not integer type");
        //code that implements IntegerFunction goes here
    }
    private static void Main()
    {
         Console.WriteLine("{0}",IntegerFunction(0)); //Compiles, no run time error and first line of output buffer is either "True" or "False" depends on the code that implements "Program.IntegerFunction" static method.
         Console.WriteLine("{0}",IntegerFunction("string")); //Also compiles but it is run time error and exception of type "ArgumentTypeNotIntegerException" is thrown here.
         Console.WriteLine("This is the last Console.WriteLine output"); //Never reached and executed due the run time error and the exception thrown on the second line of Program.Main static method.
    }

Of course that this solution works in run time only but never in compile time.

If you want a solution that always works in compile time and never in run time then you will have to wrap the dynamic with a public struct/class whose overloaded public constructors accept arguments of the desired types only and give the struct/class appropriate name.

It makes sense that the wrapped dynamic is always private member of the class/struct and it is the only member of the struct/class and the name of the only member of the struct/class is "value".

You will also have to define and implement public methods and/or operators that work with the desired types for the private dynamic member of the class/struct if necessary.

It also makes sense that the struct/class has special/unique constructor that accepts dynamic as argument that initializes it's only private dynamic member called "value" but the modifier of this constructor is private of course.

Once the class/struct is ready define the argument's type of IntegerFunction to be that class/struct that has been defined.

An example long code that implements the idea is something like:

using System;
public struct Integer
{
    private dynamic value;
    private Integer(dynamic n) { this.value = n; }
    public Integer(Int16 n) { this.value = n; }
    public Integer(Int32 n) { this.value = n; }
    public Integer(Int64 n) { this.value = n; }
    public Integer(UInt16 n) { this.value = n; }
    public Integer(UInt32 n) { this.value = n; }
    public Integer(UInt64 n) { this.value = n; }
    public Integer(Integer n) { this.value = n.value; }
    public static implicit operator Int16(Integer n) { return n.value; }
    public static implicit operator Int32(Integer n) { return n.value; }
    public static implicit operator Int64(Integer n) { return n.value; }
    public static implicit operator UInt16(Integer n) { return n.value; }
    public static implicit operator UInt32(Integer n) { return n.value; }
    public static implicit operator UInt64(Integer n) { return n.value; }
    public static Integer operator +(Integer x, Int16 y) { return new Integer(x.value + y); }
    public static Integer operator +(Integer x, Int32 y) { return new Integer(x.value + y); }
    public static Integer operator +(Integer x, Int64 y) { return new Integer(x.value + y); }
    public static Integer operator +(Integer x, UInt16 y) { return new Integer(x.value + y); }
    public static Integer operator +(Integer x, UInt32 y) { return new Integer(x.value + y); }
    public static Integer operator +(Integer x, UInt64 y) { return new Integer(x.value + y); }
    public static Integer operator -(Integer x, Int16 y) { return new Integer(x.value - y); }
    public static Integer operator -(Integer x, Int32 y) { return new Integer(x.value - y); }
    public static Integer operator -(Integer x, Int64 y) { return new Integer(x.value - y); }
    public static Integer operator -(Integer x, UInt16 y) { return new Integer(x.value - y); }
    public static Integer operator -(Integer x, UInt32 y) { return new Integer(x.value - y); }
    public static Integer operator -(Integer x, UInt64 y) { return new Integer(x.value - y); }
    public static Integer operator *(Integer x, Int16 y) { return new Integer(x.value * y); }
    public static Integer operator *(Integer x, Int32 y) { return new Integer(x.value * y); }
    public static Integer operator *(Integer x, Int64 y) { return new Integer(x.value * y); }
    public static Integer operator *(Integer x, UInt16 y) { return new Integer(x.value * y); }
    public static Integer operator *(Integer x, UInt32 y) { return new Integer(x.value * y); }
    public static Integer operator *(Integer x, UInt64 y) { return new Integer(x.value * y); }
    public static Integer operator /(Integer x, Int16 y) { return new Integer(x.value / y); }
    public static Integer operator /(Integer x, Int32 y) { return new Integer(x.value / y); }
    public static Integer operator /(Integer x, Int64 y) { return new Integer(x.value / y); }
    public static Integer operator /(Integer x, UInt16 y) { return new Integer(x.value / y); }
    public static Integer operator /(Integer x, UInt32 y) { return new Integer(x.value / y); }
    public static Integer operator /(Integer x, UInt64 y) { return new Integer(x.value / y); }
    public static Integer operator %(Integer x, Int16 y) { return new Integer(x.value % y); }
    public static Integer operator %(Integer x, Int32 y) { return new Integer(x.value % y); }
    public static Integer operator %(Integer x, Int64 y) { return new Integer(x.value % y); }
    public static Integer operator %(Integer x, UInt16 y) { return new Integer(x.value % y); }
    public static Integer operator %(Integer x, UInt32 y) { return new Integer(x.value % y); }
    public static Integer operator %(Integer x, UInt64 y) { return new Integer(x.value % y); }
    public static Integer operator +(Integer x, Integer y) { return new Integer(x.value + y.value); }
    public static Integer operator -(Integer x, Integer y) { return new Integer(x.value - y.value); }
    public static Integer operator *(Integer x, Integer y) { return new Integer(x.value * y.value); }
    public static Integer operator /(Integer x, Integer y) { return new Integer(x.value / y.value); }
    public static Integer operator %(Integer x, Integer y) { return new Integer(x.value % y.value); }
    public static bool operator ==(Integer x, Int16 y) { return x.value == y; }
    public static bool operator !=(Integer x, Int16 y) { return x.value != y; }
    public static bool operator ==(Integer x, Int32 y) { return x.value == y; }
    public static bool operator !=(Integer x, Int32 y) { return x.value != y; }
    public static bool operator ==(Integer x, Int64 y) { return x.value == y; }
    public static bool operator !=(Integer x, Int64 y) { return x.value != y; }
    public static bool operator ==(Integer x, UInt16 y) { return x.value == y; }
    public static bool operator !=(Integer x, UInt16 y) { return x.value != y; }
    public static bool operator ==(Integer x, UInt32 y) { return x.value == y; }
    public static bool operator !=(Integer x, UInt32 y) { return x.value != y; }
    public static bool operator ==(Integer x, UInt64 y) { return x.value == y; }
    public static bool operator !=(Integer x, UInt64 y) { return x.value != y; }
    public static bool operator ==(Integer x, Integer y) { return x.value == y.value; }
    public static bool operator !=(Integer x, Integer y) { return x.value != y.value; }
    public override bool Equals(object obj) { return this == (Integer)obj; }
    public override int GetHashCode() { return this.value.GetHashCode(); }
    public override string ToString() { return this.value.ToString(); }
    public static bool operator >(Integer x, Int16 y) { return x.value > y; }
    public static bool operator <(Integer x, Int16 y) { return x.value < y; }
    public static bool operator >(Integer x, Int32 y) { return x.value > y; }
    public static bool operator <(Integer x, Int32 y) { return x.value < y; }
    public static bool operator >(Integer x, Int64 y) { return x.value > y; }
    public static bool operator <(Integer x, Int64 y) { return x.value < y; }
    public static bool operator >(Integer x, UInt16 y) { return x.value > y; }
    public static bool operator <(Integer x, UInt16 y) { return x.value < y; }
    public static bool operator >(Integer x, UInt32 y) { return x.value > y; }
    public static bool operator <(Integer x, UInt32 y) { return x.value < y; }
    public static bool operator >(Integer x, UInt64 y) { return x.value > y; }
    public static bool operator <(Integer x, UInt64 y) { return x.value < y; }
    public static bool operator >(Integer x, Integer y) { return x.value > y.value; }
    public static bool operator <(Integer x, Integer y) { return x.value < y.value; }
    public static bool operator >=(Integer x, Int16 y) { return x.value >= y; }
    public static bool operator <=(Integer x, Int16 y) { return x.value <= y; }
    public static bool operator >=(Integer x, Int32 y) { return x.value >= y; }
    public static bool operator <=(Integer x, Int32 y) { return x.value <= y; }
    public static bool operator >=(Integer x, Int64 y) { return x.value >= y; }
    public static bool operator <=(Integer x, Int64 y) { return x.value <= y; }
    public static bool operator >=(Integer x, UInt16 y) { return x.value >= y; }
    public static bool operator <=(Integer x, UInt16 y) { return x.value <= y; }
    public static bool operator >=(Integer x, UInt32 y) { return x.value >= y; }
    public static bool operator <=(Integer x, UInt32 y) { return x.value <= y; }
    public static bool operator >=(Integer x, UInt64 y) { return x.value >= y; }
    public static bool operator <=(Integer x, UInt64 y) { return x.value <= y; }
    public static bool operator >=(Integer x, Integer y) { return x.value >= y.value; }
    public static bool operator <=(Integer x, Integer y) { return x.value <= y.value; }
    public static Integer operator +(Int16 x, Integer y) { return new Integer(x + y.value); }
    public static Integer operator +(Int32 x, Integer y) { return new Integer(x + y.value); }
    public static Integer operator +(Int64 x, Integer y) { return new Integer(x + y.value); }
    public static Integer operator +(UInt16 x, Integer y) { return new Integer(x + y.value); }
    public static Integer operator +(UInt32 x, Integer y) { return new Integer(x + y.value); }
    public static Integer operator +(UInt64 x, Integer y) { return new Integer(x + y.value); }
    public static Integer operator -(Int16 x, Integer y) { return new Integer(x - y.value); }
    public static Integer operator -(Int32 x, Integer y) { return new Integer(x - y.value); }
    public static Integer operator -(Int64 x, Integer y) { return new Integer(x - y.value); }
    public static Integer operator -(UInt16 x, Integer y) { return new Integer(x - y.value); }
    public static Integer operator -(UInt32 x, Integer y) { return new Integer(x - y.value); }
    public static Integer operator -(UInt64 x, Integer y) { return new Integer(x - y.value); }
    public static Integer operator *(Int16 x, Integer y) { return new Integer(x * y.value); }
    public static Integer operator *(Int32 x, Integer y) { return new Integer(x * y.value); }
    public static Integer operator *(Int64 x, Integer y) { return new Integer(x * y.value); }
    public static Integer operator *(UInt16 x, Integer y) { return new Integer(x * y.value); }
    public static Integer operator *(UInt32 x, Integer y) { return new Integer(x * y.value); }
    public static Integer operator *(UInt64 x, Integer y) { return new Integer(x * y.value); }
    public static Integer operator /(Int16 x, Integer y) { return new Integer(x / y.value); }
    public static Integer operator /(Int32 x, Integer y) { return new Integer(x / y.value); }
    public static Integer operator /(Int64 x, Integer y) { return new Integer(x / y.value); }
    public static Integer operator /(UInt16 x, Integer y) { return new Integer(x / y.value); }
    public static Integer operator /(UInt32 x, Integer y) { return new Integer(x / y.value); }
    public static Integer operator /(UInt64 x, Integer y) { return new Integer(x / y.value); }
    public static Integer operator %(Int16 x, Integer y) { return new Integer(x % y.value); }
    public static Integer operator %(Int32 x, Integer y) { return new Integer(x % y.value); }
    public static Integer operator %(Int64 x, Integer y) { return new Integer(x % y.value); }
    public static Integer operator %(UInt16 x, Integer y) { return new Integer(x % y.value); }
    public static Integer operator %(UInt32 x, Integer y) { return new Integer(x % y.value); }
    public static Integer operator %(UInt64 x, Integer y) { return new Integer(x % y.value); }
    public static bool operator ==(Int16 x, Integer y) { return x == y.value; }
    public static bool operator !=(Int16 x, Integer y) { return x != y.value; }
    public static bool operator ==(Int32 x, Integer y) { return x == y.value; }
    public static bool operator !=(Int32 x, Integer y) { return x != y.value; }
    public static bool operator ==(Int64 x, Integer y) { return x == y.value; }
    public static bool operator !=(Int64 x, Integer y) { return x != y.value; }
    public static bool operator ==(UInt16 x, Integer y) { return x == y.value; }
    public static bool operator !=(UInt16 x, Integer y) { return x != y.value; }
    public static bool operator ==(UInt32 x, Integer y) { return x == y.value; }
    public static bool operator !=(UInt32 x, Integer y) { return x != y.value; }
    public static bool operator ==(UInt64 x, Integer y) { return x == y.value; }
    public static bool operator !=(UInt64 x, Integer y) { return x != y.value; }
    public static bool operator >(Int16 x, Integer y) { return x > y.value; }
    public static bool operator <(Int16 x, Integer y) { return x < y.value; }
    public static bool operator >(Int32 x, Integer y) { return x > y.value; }
    public static bool operator <(Int32 x, Integer y) { return x < y.value; }
    public static bool operator >(Int64 x, Integer y) { return x > y.value; }
    public static bool operator <(Int64 x, Integer y) { return x < y.value; }
    public static bool operator >(UInt16 x, Integer y) { return x > y.value; }
    public static bool operator <(UInt16 x, Integer y) { return x < y.value; }
    public static bool operator >(UInt32 x, Integer y) { return x > y.value; }
    public static bool operator <(UInt32 x, Integer y) { return x < y.value; }
    public static bool operator >(UInt64 x, Integer y) { return x > y.value; }
    public static bool operator <(UInt64 x, Integer y) { return x < y.value; }
    public static bool operator >=(Int16 x, Integer y) { return x >= y.value; }
    public static bool operator <=(Int16 x, Integer y) { return x <= y.value; }
    public static bool operator >=(Int32 x, Integer y) { return x >= y.value; }
    public static bool operator <=(Int32 x, Integer y) { return x <= y.value; }
    public static bool operator >=(Int64 x, Integer y) { return x >= y.value; }
    public static bool operator <=(Int64 x, Integer y) { return x <= y.value; }
    public static bool operator >=(UInt16 x, Integer y) { return x >= y.value; }
    public static bool operator <=(UInt16 x, Integer y) { return x <= y.value; }
    public static bool operator >=(UInt32 x, Integer y) { return x >= y.value; }
    public static bool operator <=(UInt32 x, Integer y) { return x <= y.value; }
    public static bool operator >=(UInt64 x, Integer y) { return x >= y.value; }
    public static bool operator <=(UInt64 x, Integer y) { return x <= y.value; }
}
public static class Program
{
    private static bool IntegerFunction(Integer n)
    {
        //code that implements IntegerFunction goes here
        //note that there is NO code that checks the type of n in rum time, because it is NOT needed anymore 
    }
    private static void Main()
    {
        Console.WriteLine("{0}",IntegerFunction(0)); //compile error: there is no overloaded METHOD for objects of type "int" and no implicit conversion from any object, including "int", to "Integer" is known.
        Console.WriteLine("{0}",IntegerFunction(new Integer(0))); //both compiles and no run time error
        Console.WriteLine("{0}",IntegerFunction("string")); //compile error: there is no overloaded METHOD for objects of type "string" and no implicit conversion from any object, including "string", to "Integer" is known.
        Console.WriteLine("{0}",IntegerFunction(new Integer("string"))); //compile error: there is no overloaded CONSTRUCTOR for objects of type "string"
    }
}

Note that in order to use dynamic in your code you must Add Reference to Microsoft.CSharp

If the version of the .NET framework is below/under/lesser than 4.0 and dynamic is undefined in that version then you will have to use object instead and do casting to the integer type, which is trouble, so I recommend that you use at least .NET 4.0 or newer if you can so you can use dynamic instead of object.

Answer 5

I had a similar situation where I needed to handle numeric types and strings; seems a bit of a bizarre mix but there you go.

Again, like many people I looked at constraints and came up with a bunch of interfaces that it had to support. However, a) it wasn't 100% watertight and b), anyone new looking at this long list of constraints would be immediately very confused.

So, my approach was to put all my logic into a generic method with no constraints, but to make that generic method private. I then exposed it with public methods, one explicitly handling the type I wanted to handle - to my mind, the code is clean and explicit, e.g.

public static string DoSomething(this int input, ...) => DoSomethingHelper(input, ...);
public static string DoSomething(this decimal input, ...) => DoSomethingHelper(input, ...);
public static string DoSomething(this double input, ...) => DoSomethingHelper(input, ...);
public static string DoSomething(this string input, ...) => DoSomethingHelper(input, ...);

private static string DoSomethingHelper<T>(this T input, ....)
{
    // complex logic
}

Answer 6

Considering the popularity of this question and the interest behind such a function I am surprised to see that there is no answer involving T4 yet.

In this sample code I will demonstrate a very simple example of how you can use the powerful templating engine to do what the compiler pretty much does behind the scenes with generics.

Instead of going through hoops and sacrificing compile-time certainty you can simply generate the function you want for every type you like and use that accordingly (at compile time!).

In order to do this:

• Create a new Text Template file called GenericNumberMethodTemplate.tt.
• Remove the auto-generated code (you'll keep most of it, but some isn't needed).
• Add the following snippet:

<#@ template language="C#" #>
<#@ output extension=".cs" #>
<#@ assembly name="System.Core" #>

<# Type[] types = new[] {
    typeof(Int16), typeof(Int32), typeof(Int64),
    typeof(UInt16), typeof(UInt32), typeof(UInt64)
    };
#>

using System;
public static class MaxMath {
    <# foreach (var type in types) { 
    #>
        public static <#= type.Name #> Max (<#= type.Name #> val1, <#= type.Name #> val2) {
            return val1 > val2 ? val1 : val2;
        }
    <#
    } #>
}

That's it. You're done now.

Saving this file will automatically compile it to this source file:

using System;
public static class MaxMath {
    public static Int16 Max (Int16 val1, Int16 val2) {
        return val1 > val2 ? val1 : val2;
    }
    public static Int32 Max (Int32 val1, Int32 val2) {
        return val1 > val2 ? val1 : val2;
    }
    public static Int64 Max (Int64 val1, Int64 val2) {
        return val1 > val2 ? val1 : val2;
    }
    public static UInt16 Max (UInt16 val1, UInt16 val2) {
        return val1 > val2 ? val1 : val2;
    }
    public static UInt32 Max (UInt32 val1, UInt32 val2) {
        return val1 > val2 ? val1 : val2;
    }
    public static UInt64 Max (UInt64 val1, UInt64 val2) {
        return val1 > val2 ? val1 : val2;
    }
}

In your main method you can verify that you have compile-time certainty:

namespace TTTTTest
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            long val1 = 5L;
            long val2 = 10L;
            Console.WriteLine(MaxMath.Max(val1, val2));
            Console.Read();
        }
    }
}

I'll get ahead of one remark: no, this is not a violation of the DRY principle. The DRY principle is there to prevent people from duplicating code in multiple places that would cause the application to become hard to maintain.

This is not at all the case here: if you want a change then you can just change the template (a single source for all your generation!) and it's done.

In order to use it with your own custom definitions, add a namespace declaration (make sure it's the same one as the one where you'll define your own implementation) to your generated code and mark the class as partial. Afterwards, add these lines to your template file so it will be included in the eventual compilation:

<#@ import namespace="TheNameSpaceYouWillUse" #>
<#@ assembly name="$(TargetPath)" #>

Let's be honest: This is pretty cool.

Disclaimer: this sample has been heavily influenced by Metaprogramming in .NET by Kevin Hazzard and Jason Bock, Manning Publications.