Adding extension methods to PartialViewMacroModel to allow: Model.GetParameterValue<DateTime>("datey")

Model.GetParameterValue<int>("booly", 8) //optional default value if parsing can't happen
Model.GetParameterValue("booly",8) // can be used like this as type is implied by default value argument

src/Umbraco.Web/Models/PartialViewMacroModelExtensions.cs

@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+using Umbraco.Core;
+
+namespace Umbraco.Web.Models
+{
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Extension methods for the PartialViewMacroModel object
+    /// </summary>
+    public static class PartialViewMacroModelExtensions
+    {
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Attempt to get a Marco parameter from a PartialViewMacroModel and return a default value otherwise
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <param name="partialViewMacroModel"></param>
+        /// <param name="parameterAlias"></param>
+        /// <param name="defaultValue"></param>
+        /// <returns>Parameter value if available, the default value that was passed otherwise.</returns>       
+        public static T GetParameterValue<T>(this PartialViewMacroModel partialViewMacroModel, string parameterAlias, T defaultValue)
+        {
+            if (partialViewMacroModel.MacroParameters.ContainsKey(parameterAlias) == false || string.IsNullOrEmpty(partialViewMacroModel.MacroParameters[parameterAlias].ToString())) 
+                return defaultValue;
+
+            var attempt = partialViewMacroModel.MacroParameters[parameterAlias].TryConvertTo(typeof(T));
+
+            return attempt.Success ? (T) attempt.Result : defaultValue;
+        }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Attempt to get a Marco parameter from a PartialViewMacroModel
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <param name="partialViewMacroModel"></param>
+        /// <param name="parameterAlias"></param>
+        /// <returns>Parameter value if available, the default value for the type otherwise.</returns>       
+        public static T GetParameterValue<T>(this PartialViewMacroModel partialViewMacroModel, string parameterAlias)
+        {
+            return partialViewMacroModel.GetParameterValue(parameterAlias, default(T));
+        }
+    }
+}