C# Linq - Cannot implicitly convert IEnumerable<string> to List<string>

Question

I have a List defined like this :

public List<string> AttachmentURLS;

I am adding items to the list like this:

instruction.AttachmentURLS = curItem.Attributes["ows_Attachments"].Value.Split(';').ToList().Where(Attachment => !String.IsNullOrEmpty(Attachment));

But I am getting this error: Cannot implicitly convert IEnumerable to List

What am I doing wrong?

Answer 1

The Where method returns an IEnumerable<T>. Try adding

.ToList()

to the end like so:

instruction.AttachmentURLS = curItem.Attributes["ows_Attachments"]
  .Value.Split(';').ToList()
  .Where(Attachment => !String.IsNullOrEmpty(Attachment))
  .ToList();

Answer 2

Move the .ToList() to the end like this

instruction.AttachmentURLS = curItem
    .Attributes["ows_Attachments"]
    .Value
    .Split(';')
    .Where(Attachment => !String.IsNullOrEmpty(Attachment))
    .ToList();

The Where extension method returns IEnumerable<string> and Where will work on arrays, so the ToList isn't needed after the Split.