Imports System
Public Class MonoParserUtility
' Define a delegate matching the exact signature of standard TryParse methods in .NET
Public Delegate Function TryParseHandler(Of T)(input As String, ByRef result As T) As Boolean
''' <summary>
''' Generic TryParse helper function optimized for Mono and .NET environments without static abstract interfaces.
''' </summary>
''' <typeparam name="T">The target type to parse into.</typeparam>
''' <param name="input">The raw string input.</param>
''' <param name="parser">The specific type's TryParse method delegate (e.g., AddressOf Integer.TryParse).</param>
''' <param name="result">The resulting parsed value if successful; otherwise, the default value.</param>
''' <returns>True if parsing succeeded; otherwise, false.</returns>
Public Shared Function TryParseValue(Of T)(input As String, parser As TryParseHandler(Of T), ByRef result As T) As Boolean
result = Nothing
' Guard clause: handle null or empty strings safely
If String.IsNullOrEmpty(input) Then
Return False
End If
' Invoke the passed parser delegate
Return parser(input.Trim(), result)
End Function
Public Shared Sub Main(args As String())
' 1. Parsing an Integer
Dim intResult As Integer
If TryParseValue(Of Integer)("2026", AddressOf Integer.TryParse, intResult) Then
Console.WriteLine($"Successfully parsed int: {intResult}")
End If
' 2. Parsing a Boolean
Dim boolResult As Boolean
If TryParseValue(Of Boolean)("true", AddressOf Boolean.TryParse, boolResult) Then
Console.WriteLine($"Successfully parsed bool: {boolResult}")
End If
' 3. Handling invalid parsing gracefully
Dim invalidResult As Integer
If Not TryParseValue(Of Integer)("not-an-int", AddressOf Integer.TryParse, invalidResult) Then
Console.WriteLine("Failed to parse 'not-an-int' as expected, returning false safely.")
End If
End Sub
End Class
' run:
'
' Successfully parsed int: 2026
' Successfully parsed bool: True
' Failed to parse 'not-an-int' as expected, returning false safely.
'
