Is there a method in C# to check if a string is a valid identifier [duplicate]

Answer 1

Necromancing here.

In .NET Core/DNX, you can do it with Roslyn-SyntaxFacts

Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.CSharp.SyntaxFacts.IsReservedKeyword(
        Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.CSharp.SyntaxFacts.GetKeywordKind("protected")
);



foreach (ColumnDefinition cl in tableColumns)
{
    sb.Append(@"         public ");
    sb.Append(cl.DOTNET_TYPE);
    sb.Append(" ");

    // for keywords
    //if (!Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.CSharp.SyntaxFacts.IsValidIdentifier(cl.COLUMN_NAME))
    if (Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.CSharp.SyntaxFacts.IsReservedKeyword(
        Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.CSharp.SyntaxFacts.GetKeywordKind(cl.COLUMN_NAME)
        ))
        sb.Append("@");

    sb.Append(cl.COLUMN_NAME);
    sb.Append("; // ");
    sb.AppendLine(cl.SQL_TYPE);
} // Next cl 

Or in the old variant with Codedom - After a look in the mono sourcecode:

CodeDomProvider.cs

public virtual bool IsValidIdentifier (string value) 
286         { 
287             ICodeGenerator cg = CreateGenerator (); 
288             if (cg == null) 
289                 throw GetNotImplemented (); 
290             return cg.IsValidIdentifier (value); 
291         } 
292  

Then CSharpCodeProvider.cs

public override ICodeGenerator CreateGenerator() 
91      { 
92 #if NET_2_0 
93          if (providerOptions != null && providerOptions.Count > 0) 
94              return new Mono.CSharp.CSharpCodeGenerator (providerOptions); 
95 #endif 
96          return new Mono.CSharp.CSharpCodeGenerator(); 
97      } 

Then CSharpCodeGenerator.cs

protected override bool IsValidIdentifier (string identifier)
{
    if (identifier == null || identifier.Length == 0)
        return false;

    if (keywordsTable == null)
        FillKeywordTable ();

    if (keywordsTable.Contains (identifier))
        return false;

    if (!is_identifier_start_character (identifier [0]))
        return false;

    for (int i = 1; i < identifier.Length; i ++)
        if (! is_identifier_part_character (identifier [i]))
            return false;

    return true;
}



private static System.Collections.Hashtable keywordsTable;
private static string[] keywords = new string[] {
    "abstract","event","new","struct","as","explicit","null","switch","base","extern",
    "this","false","operator","throw","break","finally","out","true",
    "fixed","override","try","case","params","typeof","catch","for",
    "private","foreach","protected","checked","goto","public",
    "unchecked","class","if","readonly","unsafe","const","implicit","ref",
    "continue","in","return","using","virtual","default",
    "interface","sealed","volatile","delegate","internal","do","is",
    "sizeof","while","lock","stackalloc","else","static","enum",
    "namespace",
    "object","bool","byte","float","uint","char","ulong","ushort",
    "decimal","int","sbyte","short","double","long","string","void",
    "partial", "yield", "where"
};


static void FillKeywordTable ()
{
    lock (keywords) {
        if (keywordsTable == null) {
            keywordsTable = new Hashtable ();
            foreach (string keyword in keywords) {
                keywordsTable.Add (keyword, keyword);
            }
        }
    }
}



static bool is_identifier_start_character (char c)
{
    return (c >= 'a' && c <= 'z') || (c >= 'A' && c <= 'Z') || c == '_' || c == '@' || Char.IsLetter (c);
}

static bool is_identifier_part_character (char c)
{
    return (c >= 'a' && c <= 'z') || (c >= 'A' && c <= 'Z') || c == '_' || (c >= '0' && c <= '9') || Char.IsLetter (c);
}

You get this code:

public static bool IsValidIdentifier (string identifier)
{
    if (identifier == null || identifier.Length == 0)
        return false;

    if (keywordsTable == null)
        FillKeywordTable();

    if (keywordsTable.Contains(identifier))
        return false;

    if (!is_identifier_start_character(identifier[0]))
        return false;

    for (int i = 1; i < identifier.Length; i++)
        if (!is_identifier_part_character(identifier[i]))
            return false;

    return true;
}


internal static bool is_identifier_start_character(char c)
{
    return (c >= 'a' && c <= 'z') || (c >= 'A' && c <= 'Z') || c == '_' || c == '@' || char.IsLetter(c);
}

internal static bool is_identifier_part_character(char c)
{
    return (c >= 'a' && c <= 'z') || (c >= 'A' && c <= 'Z') || c == '_' || (c >= '0' && c <= '9') || char.IsLetter(c);
}


private static System.Collections.Hashtable keywordsTable;
private static string[] keywords = new string[] {
    "abstract","event","new","struct","as","explicit","null","switch","base","extern",
    "this","false","operator","throw","break","finally","out","true",
    "fixed","override","try","case","params","typeof","catch","for",
    "private","foreach","protected","checked","goto","public",
    "unchecked","class","if","readonly","unsafe","const","implicit","ref",
    "continue","in","return","using","virtual","default",
    "interface","sealed","volatile","delegate","internal","do","is",
    "sizeof","while","lock","stackalloc","else","static","enum",
    "namespace",
    "object","bool","byte","float","uint","char","ulong","ushort",
    "decimal","int","sbyte","short","double","long","string","void",
    "partial", "yield", "where"
};

internal static void FillKeywordTable()
{
    lock (keywords)
    {
        if (keywordsTable == null)
        {
            keywordsTable = new System.Collections.Hashtable();
            foreach (string keyword in keywords)
            {
                keywordsTable.Add(keyword, keyword);
            }
        }
    }
}