Where can I find the "clamp" function in .NET?

c# clamp
Danvil picture Danvil · Apr 21, 2010 · Viewed 78.3k times · Source

I would like to clamp a value x to a range [a, b]:

x = (x < a) ? a : ((x > b) ? b : x);

This is quite basic. But I do not see a function "clamp" in the class library - at least not in System.Math.

(For the unaware to "clamp" a value is to make sure that it lies between some maximum and minimum values. If it’s greater than the max value, then it’s replaced by the max, etc.)

Answer

Lee picture Lee · Apr 21, 2010

You could write an extension method:

public static T Clamp<T>(this T val, T min, T max) where T : IComparable<T>
{
    if (val.CompareTo(min) < 0) return min;
    else if(val.CompareTo(max) > 0) return max;
    else return val;
}

Extension methods go in static classes - since this is quite a low-level function, it should probably go in some core namespace in your project. You can then use the method in any code file that contains a using directive for the namespace e.g.

using Core.ExtensionMethods

int i = 4.Clamp(1, 3);

.NET Core 2.0

Starting with .NET Core 2.0 System.Math now has a Clamp method that can be used instead:

using System;

int i = Math.Clamp(4, 1, 3);

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