Should I make a method static that will be used across many aspx.cs files

Question

I have a method with the following signature:

string GetTableCellValue(DataTable table, string columnName, int rowIndex){}

As you might guess, this method returns the value of the cell located at the specified column of the specified row of the specifies table in string format. It turns out that I need this methods almost in all the webpages. Here's my quetion(s):

1. Should I put this method in all the code files or?
2. Should I have it as a static method of some class, like Utilities_Class or?
3. Should I have it as a public NON-STATIC method of some class , like Utilities_Class?

The last 2 choices seem to be better idea. But I don't know which one to choose eventually.

Answer 1

You probably want to create a static method for this. Specifically, an extension method:

public static class Extensions
{
    public static string GetTableCellValue(this DataTable table,
                                           string columnName, int rowIndex)
    {
        // ...
    }
}

Now, you can call it like an instance method on your DataTable objects:

DataTable dataTable = ...;
var value = dataTable.GetTableCellValue("column", row);

Answer 2

I would go for the second option as I wont require the instance of the class e.g Utilities_Class. GetTableCellValue has nothing to do with its data members or methods to making it static is quite reasonable. Make it extension method to call it just like it exists in DataTable class.

public static class DataExtensions
{
    public static string GetTableCellValue(this DataTable table, string columnName, int rowIndex)
    {
        // implementation
    }
}