Format 2 different variables with ChooseFormatter

[mhspelt]

Hi,
I have an object with a nullable and non-nullable field of the same type. I'd like to format the result of the null-coalesced value but I cannot figure out how to do it.

{data.NullableNumber:N0} works if NullableNumber is set.
{data.NullableNumber:choose(null): data.NonNullableNumber | {}} works but shows the number without formatting

I want to combine these options and tried something like

{data.NullableNumber:N0:choose(null): {data.NonNullableNumber:N0} | {}}

or

{{data.NullableNumber:choose(null): data.NonNullableNumber | {}}:N0}

but parsing fails for all of them. I guess what I want is simply

{data.NullableNumber ?? data.NonNullableNumber:N0}

[axunonb]

Hi @mhspelt,
Assuming you're on v2.7.0, would you agree that this works as expected?

var data = new { NullableNumber = (int?) 9876, NonNullable = (int) 1234};
var result = Smart.Format(CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, "{NullableNumber:choose(null):{NonNullable:N2}|{:N2}}", data);
// result: 9,876.00
data = new { NullableNumber = (int?) null, NonNullable = (int) 1234};
result = Smart.Format(CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, "{NullableNumber:choose(null):{NonNullable:N2}|{:N2}}", data);
// result: 1,234.00

Number format may differ depending on culture setting.

[mhspelt]

Sorry to reopen, but I tried the following template with a nullable date field and it did not work:

{nullableDateField:choose(null): null|{Date:dd-MM}}

I'm just getting the input back. If I try only

{nullableDateField:choose(null): null|{Date}}

without the formatter, I get "null" or the unformatted date ("12/10/2021 00:00:00").

[axunonb]

It will work using the syntax from the last answer

var data = new { NullableDate = (DateTime?) new DateTime(2021,10,12), NonNullable = new DateTime(2021,1,1)};
var result = Smart.Format(CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, "{NullableDate:choose(null):{NonNullable:dd-MM}|{:dd-MM}}", data);
// result: 12-10
data = new { NullableDate = (DateTime?) null, NonNullable = new DateTime(2021,1,1)};
result = Smart.Format(CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, "{NullableDate:choose(null):{NonNullable:dd-MM}|{:dd-MM}}", data);
// result: 01-01

[mhspelt]

Ah, I found why it is not working: the double closing brace is escaped:

The format string has 1 issue:
Format string is missing a closing brace
In: "{object.DateField:choose(null): null|{:dd-MM}}"
At:  --------------------------------------------^ 

If I include an extra space

"{NullableDate:choose(null):{NonNullable:dd-MM}|{:dd-MM} }", data);
--------------------------------------------------------^ here

it works.

[axunonb]

I'm so much working on v3 that I forgot this issue in v2, you're right.

[mhspelt]

FYI, I found Smart.Default.Parser.UseAlternativeEscapeChar() as a workaround.