Do you have your own 'utils' dll and what do you keep there?

Question

I can start with my own .NET dll. I have a dll I use in all my web projects (around 10) and I have util classes for FTP, zip, imageresizing, extensionmethods and a generic singleton class.

I think it is a common practice and I just thought it would be interesting to hear what people put in their 'Utils' dlls

EDIT: What small code gems do you have that have made you much more productive with lesser code?

These extension methods are pretty useful for me when parsing nullable form input before putting into the database

        public static int? ToInt(this string input) 
        {
            int val;
            if (int.TryParse(input, out val))
                return val;
            return null;
        }

        public static DateTime? ToDate(this string input)
        {
            DateTime val;
            if (DateTime.TryParse(input, out val))
                return val;
            return null;
        }

        public static decimal? ToDecimal(this string input)
        {
            decimal val;
            if (decimal.TryParse(input, out val))
                return val;
            return null;
        }

Answer 1

I have only just really started mine but at the moment it mostly contains just common extension methods that I use all the time. Stuff like "ThrowIfNull()" so I don't have to do heaps of if statements every time I want to check for nulls.

I also have a playground project which just has any ideas that I am toying around with but I'm not 100% sure that they will even work.

Answer 2

I've been collecting for years. This started out as a set of VBScript routines which I have since converted to VB6. This is a COM DLL, so I can use it almost anywhere in almost any language. I've spared you the boredom of all the enums.

EDIT: I agree in principle with Chris Lively's comment on a previous posting in this section. However, as I said in the comments, if the work I am doing was .NET related, I'd certainly be tossing my stuff for what, I assume, is best of breed. However, in my case, .NET is too readily decompiled (making it a kind of ersatz open source) and my employer wants to protect his intellectual property.

(Autogenerated by TLViewer, © Mark Pryor 2000-2003) 

Library: Std
 P:\other\StdLib\StdLib.dll 
 Description: Std 

coclass Drives

Function DriveType(ByVal sDrv As String) As String


coclass Arrays

Function AAdd(aToThis ,ByVal xAddThis ) As Integer

Function AAdd_PostIncrement(a , ByVal X ) As Variant

Function AAdd_PreIncrement(a , ByVal X ) As Variant

Function AMax(aVec ) As Variant

Function AMin(aVec ) As Variant

Sub DeleteFirst(anArray )

Sub DeleteLast(anArray )

Sub DeleteNth(anArray , ByVal nElement As Long)

Function GenerateRange(nBot As Double, nTop As Double, [nStep As Double = 1]) As Variant

Function GenerateRangeFromString(sRange ) As Variant

Function InArray(sItem , aList ) As Boolean

Function Reverse1DArray(aInput ) As Variant

Function ShowStructure(vToShow ) As String

Function StrInArray(sItem , aList , [bCaseInsens As Boolean = True]) As String


coclass CmdLine

Property AppExeName([BaseOnly As Boolean = False]) As String [Get/o]

Property AppPath As String [Get/o]

Property Argument(ByVal Which As Long) As String [Get/o]

Property Arguments As Long [Get/o]

Property CaseSensitive As Boolean [Get/Let]

Function FlaggedArg(ByVal Flag As String) As String

Function FlagPresent(ByVal Flag As String) As Long

Function FlagPresentFromList(Flags () As Variant) As Boolean

Sub Refresh()

Function ToString() As String


coclass BigString

Sub ClearStr()

Function GetStr([ByVal vJoiner = ]) As String

Function GetStrArray() As Variant

Sub PutStr(ByVal vString )


coclass Config

Sub Define(sKey , sValue )

Property gsFilename As String [Get/Let]

Function List(sFilter ) As String

Function Load(sFile ) As Boolean

Function LoadW(sFile ) As Boolean

Function Recall(sKey ) As Variant

Function RecallElse(sKey , sDefault ) As Variant

Sub Save([sFile = ], [bAsAnsi = False])

Sub SaveW([sFile = ], [bAsAnsi = False])


coclass Collections

Function Add(vData , [sKey ]) As _Variable 

Property AddOnly As Boolean [Get/Let]

Function Count() As Long

Function Exists(vntIndexKey ) As Boolean

Property Item(vntIndexKey ) As _Variable  [Get/o]

Function Items() As Variant

Function Keys() As Variant

Sub Modify(sValue , sKey )

Property NewEnum As stdole.IUnknown  [Get/o]

Sub Remove(vntIndexKey )


coclass Computers

Function ComputerName() As String

Function ExistsFolder(sComputer As String, sDir As String) As Boolean

Function GetComputers(sDomain As String)() As Variant

Function GetDomainComputers(ByVal strDomain As String)() As Variant

Function GetNBT(sComputer As String) As String

Function GetNBTA(sIPAddr As String) As String

Function GetNetView(sDomain As String) As String

Function GetOnlineComputers(sDomain As String)() As Variant

Function GetRemoteEnvironment(sComputer )() As Variant

Function GetSpecs(sComputer As String) As String

Function GetTheComputerName() As String

Function ResolveIP(sName As String) As String


coclass Logic

Function IIF(bCondition As Boolean, vTrue , vFalse ) As Variant


coclass Decimals

Property Dec As Variant [Get/Let]


coclass Domains

Function GetAvailableNTDomains()() As Variant


coclass Database

Sub CreateDatabase(sFile As String)

Sub CreateIndex(ByVal oDb  As ADODB.Connection, sSpec As String)

Sub CreateStructure(ByVal oDb  As ADODB.Connection, sSpec As String)

Function OpenDatabase(theFile As String) As ADODB._Connection 

Function OpenRecordSet(ByVal oDb  As ADODB.Connection, sQuery As String) As ADODB._Recordset 


coclass DateTime

Function dbDate(vDate ) As String

Function GetGmtTime([StartingDate ]) As Date

Function GetTimeDifference() As Long

Function GetTimeHere(gmtTime As Date) As Date

Function InternetTimeToVbLocalTime(ByVal DateString As String) As Date


coclass Wallpaper

Function ActiveDesktopSetWallpaper(ByVal strFile As String) As Boolean

Sub At(ByVal nX As Integer, ByVal nY As Integer)

Sub AtSay(ByVal nX As Integer, ByVal nY As Integer, ByVal sText As String)

Sub Attributes(ByVal sAttribList As String)

Sub Colour(ByVal iFGColour As Long, ByVal iBGColour As Long)

Sub Dimensions(ByVal nHeight As Integer, ByVal nWidth As Integer)

Sub Font(ByVal sName As String, ByVal iSize As Integer)

Function LoadPic(sFilename As String, [nDestX As Integer = ], [nDestY As Integer = ]) As Variant

Property Picture As Object [Get/Set]

Sub SavePic(sFilename As String, [iType As Integer = 1])

Sub Say(ByVal sText As String)

Sub ScaleMode(ByVal iMode As Integer)

Function TextHeight(ByVal sText As String) As Integer

Function TextWidth(ByVal sText As String) As Integer


coclass Excel

Sub ExcelColumnNames(aHeadings () As Variant, [bBold As Boolean = True])

Sub ExcelNewSheet()

Sub ExcelStart([bHidden As Boolean = False])


coclass StopWatch

Sub Finish()

Function FinishTime() As Date

Function LapTime() As String

Function Seconds() As Integer

Sub Start()

Function StartTime() As Date


coclass Environments

Function GetProcessEnv(strEnvVar As String) As String

Function GetSystemEnv(strEnvVar As String) As String

Function GetUserEnv(strEnvVar As String) As String

Function GetVolatileEnv(strEnvVar As String) As String


coclass Schedule

Function AddTask(strTime , strCommand , [enDaysInWeek As ENUM_WEEKDAYS  = ], [strDaysInMonth = ], [RunInteractive As Boolean = True], [ReOccuring As Boolean = True]) As Long

Function DeleteTask(lngID As Long) As Boolean

Function GetNameOfComputer() As String


coclass SymbolTable

Function Append(sName , sValue ) As String

Sub Clear()

Function Increment(sName ) As Integer

Function IsSym(sName ) As Boolean

Function Keys()() As Variant

Sub Parse(sData , sSep )

Function Recall(sName ) As Variant

Sub Remove(sData )

Sub Store(sName , vValue )

Sub StoreDup(sName , xValue )

Sub StoreDup2(sName , xValue )

Function SymList() As Variant

Function SymListText() As String


coclass Files

Function CollectFiles(sDirectory , sFileType ) As Variant

Sub DeleteFile(ByVal cFilename )

Function Exists(sFile ) As Boolean

Function FileHasBeenModified(sFile As String, dThen As Date) As Boolean

Function FileModificationDate(sFile As String) As Date

Function IsUTF16LE(sFile As String) As Boolean

Function RandomInputFile(sExt As String) As String

Function RandomOutputFile(sRandomInputFile As String, sExt As String) As String

Function ReadFileA(FileName ) As String

Function ReadFileE(FileName ) As String

Function ReadFileU(FileName ) As String

Function ReadFirstLineA(FileName ) As Variant

Function ReadFirstLineE(FileName ) As String

Function ReadFirstLineU(FileName ) As String

Sub WriteFileA(sFilename , sContents , nMode As Long)

Sub WriteFileB(sFilename , nOffset As Long, vData )

Sub WriteFileU(sFilename , sContents , nMode As Long)


coclass System

Function AvailableDesktopDimensions() As Variant

Function CaptureDOS(sCommand , [bSynch As Boolean = True]) As Variant

Function ConsoleWrite(sText As String) As Long

Function ConsoleWriteLine(sText As String) As Long

Function CreateGUID() As String

Function DesktopDimensions() As Variant

Function DoEventsSeconds(nSeconds As Integer) As Integer

Sub DoEventsSeconds2(iSeconds As Integer)

Function GetTheWindowsDirectory() As String

Function GetUUID(sUuid As String) As Boolean

Function KillProcess(ProcessName As String) As Boolean

Sub Navigate(ByVal NavTo As String)

Function SetProcessPriority(sProcess As String, nPriority As EPROCESS_PRIORITY ) As Boolean

Function ShellEx(ByVal sFile As String, [eShowCmd As EShellShowConstants  = essSW_SHOWDEFAULT], [ByVal sParameters As String = ], [ByVal sDefaultDir As String = ], [sOperation As String = "open"], [Owner As Long = ]) As Boolean

Sub Sleep(nMilli As Integer)

Function SystemDefaultUILanguage() As Long

Function ThreadLocale() As Long


coclass Groups

Function GetComputerGroups(ByVal strComputerName As String)() As Variant

Function GetDefaultNamingContext() As String

Function GetGroups()() As Variant


coclass Help

Function HHDisplayHeadTopic(ByVal lHwnd As Long) As Long

Function HHDisplaySearch(ByVal lHwnd As Long, [toSearch As String = ]) As Long

Function HHHelpContents(ByVal lHwnd As Long) As Long

Function HHHelpIndex(ByVal lHwnd As Long, [toSearch As String = ]) As Long

Sub HHInitialize()

Function HHKeywordLookup(ByVal lHwnd As Long, [sKeyword As String = ]) As Long

Sub HHUninitialize()

Property sHelpFile As String [Get/Let]


coclass Number

Function IntegerToUnsigned(Value As Integer) As Long

Function LongToUnsigned(Value As Long) As Double

Function UnsignedToInteger(Value As Long) As Integer

Function UnsignedToLong(Value As Double) As Long


coclass IEDisplay

Sub Display(sMsg As String, nMillisec As Integer)

Sub Init(sPosition )

Property sName As String [Get/Let]


coclass Temp

Function GetTempFileName([sSeed As String = ]) As String

Function LocGetFilePath(ByVal iCFName As String) As String

Function TempDir() As String

Function TempDirWide() As String

Function TempFile(Create As Boolean, [lpPrefixString ], [lpszPath ]) As String

Function UnicodeTempFile(ByVal iFileName As String) As String


coclass INI

Sub Clear()

Function GetValue(sSection As String, sKey As String, strDefault As String) As String

Function HasSection(sSection As String) As Boolean

Function Load(sIniName As String) As Boolean

Function ReadINIA(sSection , sKeyName , sINIFileName ) As String

Function ReadINIU(sSection As String, sKeyName As String, sINIFileName As String) As String

Function WriteINIA(sSection , sKeyName , sNewString , sINIFileName ) As Boolean

Function WriteINIU(sSection As String, sKeyName As String, sNewString As String, sINIFileName As String) As Boolean


coclass Variable

Property Name As Variant [Get/Let/Set]

Property Value As Variant [Get/Let/Set]


coclass Mouse

Function Between(ByVal nNumber As Integer, ByVal nLowerBound As Integer, ByVal nUpperBound As Integer) As Boolean

Function MouseX([ByVal hWnd As Long = ]) As Long

Function MouseY([ByVal hWnd As Long = ]) As Long


coclass Traces

Sub ClearTrace()

Sub Trace([ByVal sTag = "!@#$%^&*()_"])

Property TraceFile As String [Get/Let]

Property Tracing As Boolean [Get/Let]


coclass Registry

Property ClassKey As ERegistryClassConstants  [Get/Let]

Sub CreateAdditionalEXEAssociations(ByVal sClassName As String, vItems () As Variant)

Sub CreateEXEAssociation(ByVal sExePath As String, ByVal sClassName As String, ByVal sClassDescription As String, ByVal sAssociation As String, [ByVal sOpenMenuText As String = "&Open"], [ByVal bSupportPrint As Boolean = False], [ByVal sPrintMenuText As String = "&Print"], [ByVal bSupportNew As Boolean = False], [ByVal sNewMenuText As String = "&New"], [ByVal bSupportInstall As Boolean = False], [ByVal sInstallMenuText As String = ], [ByVal lDefaultIconIndex As Long = -1])

Function CreateKey() As Boolean

Property Default As Variant [Get/Let]

Function DeleteKey() As Boolean

Function DeleteValue() As Boolean

Function EnumerateSections(sSect () As String, iSectCount As Long) As Boolean

Function EnumerateValues(sKeyNames () As String, iKeyCount As Long) As Boolean

Property KeyExists As Boolean [Get/o]

Property Machine As String [Get/Let]

Property SectionKey As String [Get/Let]

Property Value As Variant [Get/Let]

Property ValueEx(ClassKey As ERegistryClassConstants , SectionKey As String, ValueKey As String, ValueType As ERegistryValueTypes , Default ) As Variant [Get/Let]

Property ValueKey As String [Get/Let]

Property ValueType As ERegistryValueTypes  [Get/Let]


coclass Users

Function GetComputerUsers(ByVal strComputerName As String)() As Variant

Function GetComputerUsers2(ByVal strComputerName )() As Variant

Function GetDomainUser(sComputer As String) As String

Function GetLoginProfiles(sComputer )() As Variant

Function GetMac(sDevice ) As String

Function GetNameAndDescription(spDomain As String, sUsername As String) As String

Function GetOUofUser(sDomain As String, sUsername As String) As String


coclass Sort

Sub heapsort(aVec )

Sub quicksort(aVec )

Sub shellsort(a0 , [bAscending As Boolean = True])

Sub shellSortOnField(aVec , ByVal nField As Integer, ByVal sFieldSep , [nComparisonType As SSOF_COMPARISON  = SSOF_NUMERICAL])

Function sorted()() As Variant


coclass Strings

Function AnyOf(sText , nOperator As AO_COMPARATORS , sChar ) As Boolean

Function AnyOfList(sText , nOperator As AO_COMPARATORS , aChar ) As Boolean

Function AsString(X ) As String

Function BeginsWith(sText , sBeginning , [bCaseInsensitive As Boolean = True]) As Boolean

Function Between(sText , sBegin , sEnd ) As String

Function ByteArrayToString(aBytes () As Byte) As String

Function ComprehendCSV(sText ) As Variant

Function Contains(sText , sChunk , [bCaseInsensitive As Boolean = True]) As Boolean

Function CountFields(strText , strDelim ) As Integer

Function DQ(s ) As String

Function EndsWith(sText , sEnding , [bCaseInsensitive As Boolean = True]) As Boolean

Function EndsWithSet(sText , vEnding , [bCaseInsensitive As Boolean = True]) As Boolean

Function FirstLineOf(sData ) As String

Function FirstWord(sText ) As String

Function ForceExtension(sFilename , sExtension ) As String

Function HexDump(sData ) As String

Function HTMLWrap(sTag , sContent ) As String

Function LastLineOf(sData ) As String

Function LeftFill(sText , nLen , sFill ) As String

Function LeftOf(sText , sItem ) As String

Function LeftOfLast(sText , sItem ) As String

Function NthField(sText , sDelimiter , nReqdField ) As String

Function NthLineOf(n As Integer, sData ) As String

Function RemoveSpaces(sText ) As String

Function Reverse(sText ) As String

Function RightFill(sText , nLen , sFill ) As String

Function RightOf(sText , sItem ) As String

Function RightOfLast(sText , sItem ) As String

Function SplitSet(ByVal sString , ByVal sSet ) As Variant

Function StringConversion(s , n As Integer) As String

Function StringMap(sText , aFrom , vTo ) As String

Function StringToByteArray(ByVal sString )() As Byte

Function Subst(sText , paArgList () As Variant) As String

Function Subst2(sText , paArgList () As Variant) As String

Function ZeroFill(nNum , nWidth ) As String

Function Zerofill2(nNum ) As String

Answer 3

I think carrying utility assemblies beyond the current version of your language does more harm than good.

The main reason is that as the language grows new methods and better ways of doing things are built in. By carrying around a utilities assembly, you will quickly end up with a lot of dead weight which may expose security problems.

A prime example is boosts list of functions. A quick glance will show that .Net (just like most other languages) already cover at least 75% of that code.

Answer 4

I group my utilities by functionality. As a result, I don't have one utility DLL but rather a folder that contains several such assemblies, each one encapsulating one task (which usually includes more than just one class, in fact it usually includes a whole hierarchy).

In the extreme case, this means that I have a DLL containing one declaration, namely the following one (plus documentation):

namespace madrat.Common {
    public interface ICopyable<T> {
        T Copy();
    }
}

Notice that unlike the System.ICloneable interface, this one has well-defined semantics (deep copy) specified in the documentation.

So why an extra DLL for this tiny declaration? Because it makes interoperability between other assemblies much easier.