How to escape braces (curly brackets) in a format string in .NET
How can brackets be escaped in using string.Format . For example:
String val = "1,2,3"
String.Format(" foo {{0}}", val);
This example doesn't throw an exception, but outputs the string foo {0}
Is there a way to escape the brackets?
For you to output foo {1, 2, 3} you have to do something like:
string t = "1, 2, 3";
string v = String.Format(" foo {{{0}}}", t);
To output a { you use {{ and to output a } you use }} .
Yes to output { in string.Format you have to escape it like this {{
So this
String val = "1,2,3";
String.Format(" foo {{{0}}}", val);
will output "foo {1,2,3}" .
BUT you have to know about a design bug in C# which is that by going on the above logic you would assume this below code will print {24.00}
int i = 24;
string str = String.Format("{{{0:N}}}", i); //gives '{N}' instead of {24.00}
But this prints {N}. This is because the way C# parses escape sequences and format characters. To get the desired value in the above case you have to use this instead.
String.Format("{0}{1:N}{2}", "{", i, "}") //evaluates to {24.00}
Reference Articles String.Format gottach and String Formatting FAQ
Almost there! The escape sequence for a brace is {{ or }} so for your example you would use:
string t = "1, 2, 3";
string v = String.Format(" foo {{{0}}}", t);