Value converters

Value converters provide bidirectional type conversion through a consistent Convert and ConvertBack API. They're useful when you need to transform data for display and then parse it back - form inputs, configuration values, serialization, or UI binding.

All converters implement IValueConverter<TFrom, TTo>, which means they're predictable: you always know the input type, the output type, and that you can reverse the conversion.

BooleanToStringValueConverter

Converts bool values to configurable string representations. This is useful for displaying boolean state in UIs where "Yes/No", "Active/Inactive", or "Enabled/Disabled" is more meaningful than "True/False".

using MADE.Data.Converters;

var converter = new BooleanToStringValueConverter
{
    TrueValue = "Yes",
    FalseValue = "No",
};

string display = converter.Convert(true);     // "Yes"
bool original = converter.ConvertBack("No");  // false

DateTimeToStringValueConverter

Converts between DateTime and String using standard .NET format strings. The format is passed as a parameter to Convert and ConvertBack, giving you flexibility at the call site.

using MADE.Data.Converters;

var converter = new DateTimeToStringValueConverter();

string formatted = converter.Convert(DateTime.Now, "yyyy-MM-dd"); // "2026-05-17"
DateTime parsed = converter.ConvertBack("2026-05-17", "yyyy-MM-dd");

See the Microsoft documentation on date format strings for all available format specifiers.

StringToEnumValueConverter

Converts between string values and enum types with case-insensitive matching by default:

using MADE.Data.Converters;

var converter = new StringToEnumValueConverter<DayOfWeek>();

DayOfWeek day = converter.Convert("monday");    // DayOfWeek.Monday
string name = converter.ConvertBack(DayOfWeek.Friday); // "Friday"

Set IgnoreCase to false if you need exact case matching. The converter throws InvalidDataConversionException if the string can't be parsed as the target enum type.

DateTimeToUnixTimestampValueConverter

Converts between DateTime and Unix timestamps (seconds since 1970-01-01 UTC). Useful for interop with APIs that use Unix time:

using MADE.Data.Converters;

var converter = new DateTimeToUnixTimestampValueConverter();

long timestamp = converter.Convert(new DateTime(2024, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, DateTimeKind.Utc));
DateTime dateTime = converter.ConvertBack(timestamp);

Building your own converters

If you need a conversion that isn't covered by the built-in converters, implement IValueConverter<TFrom, TTo>:

using MADE.Data.Converters;

public class CelsiusToFahrenheitConverter : IValueConverter<double, double>
{
    public double Convert(double celsius)
    {
        return (celsius * 9.0 / 5.0) + 32.0;
    }

    public double ConvertBack(double fahrenheit)
    {
        return (fahrenheit - 32.0) * 5.0 / 9.0;
    }
}

The interface gives you a consistent pattern that other developers on your team will immediately understand, and it makes your converters easy to register in DI containers or use in data binding pipelines.