How to check a variable is scalar?

Question

Is there a method to check a variable is scalar type?

scalar variables are those containing an integer, float, double , string or boolean but not array object

thanks

Answer 1

It depends on what you mean by "scalar", but Type.IsPrimitive sounds like a good match: it's true for boolean, integer types, floating point types and char.

You can use it as in

var x = /* whatever */
if (x.GetType().IsPrimitive) {
    // ...
}

For a more granular approach you can use Type.GetTypeCode instead:

switch (x.GetType().GetTypeCode()) {
    // put all TypeCodes that you consider scalars here:
    case TypeCode.Boolean:
    case TypeCode.Int16:
    case TypeCode.Int32:
    case TypeCode.Int64:
    case TypeCode.String:
        // scalar type
        break;
    default:
        // not a scalar type
}

Answer 2

I'm not sure this will always work, but it might be enough for your needs:

if (!(YourVarHere is System.Collections.IEnumerable)) { }

Or, for checking a Type:

if(!typeof(YourTypeHere).GetInterfaces().Contains(typeof(System.Collections.IEnumerable))) { }