C# text formatting bug with braces

Question

Why doesn't this code work correctly? Do do I misunderstand something?

System.Console.WriteLine("{{{0:c}}}", 12323.09m);

Real output:

{c}

Expected output:

{$12,323.09}

why do you need the additional `{}` around the currency amount — MethodMan, Mar 30 '15 at 20:20
Amazingly, this time it actually is a C# bug! See this answer specifically: http://stackoverflow.com/a/15085178/369 — Blorgbeard, Mar 30 '15 at 20:21
`var currFormat = string.Format("{0:c}", 12323.09m);` yeilds `$12,323.09` — MethodMan, Mar 30 '15 at 20:22
I know that's why I asked if he needed `{ }` around the output other wise what @VincentUgenti has will suffice — MethodMan, Mar 30 '15 at 20:24

score 3 · Answer 1 · answered Mar 30 '15 at 20:25

The issue is that {{{0:c}}} is parsed as {{ { ... }} }, and not as {{ { ... } }}.

Try

System.Console.WriteLine("{{{0:c}{1}", 12323.09m, '}');

Or see a similar sample in MSDN (see Escaping Braces):

int value = 6324;
string output = string.Format("{0}{1:D}{2}", 
                              "{", value, "}");
Console.WriteLine(output);

user700390 · Answer 2 · 2015-03-30T20:30:32.467

0

Try this:

System.Console.WriteLine("{" + String.Format("{0:C}", 12323.09) + "}");

edited Mar 30 '15 at 20:30

answered Mar 30 '15 at 20:22

user700390

This works, but doesn't actually answer the question as to why OP's code doesn't work as expected. – Blorgbeard Mar 30 '15 at 20:32
2

@Blorgbeard I guess you have greater expertise in decoding broken English than I do. – user700390 Mar 30 '15 at 20:33
I guess so. There's only a couple of tense errors in a single sentence. "Why doesn't this code work correctly?" is the obvious "decoding". – Blorgbeard Mar 30 '15 at 21:58

2 Answers2