Accessing index arrays via string keys [modified]
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Hello all, I have an array of a simple object type:
class EntryPoint
{
private widgets[];public EntryPoint()
{
this.widgets = new widgets[1000]...code here to populate 1000 widgets...
}public Widgets[]
{
get { return this.widgets; }
}
}class widgets
{
public string key;
public string value;
}Now, elsewhere in the the application, I need to be able to extract values from the
widgets[]from instances ofEntryPoint. However I need to be able to do this using the string key, not the index number. So the question is how can I do this? A hacking but slow way is something like this:public string GetWidgetValue(string key)
{
string returnValue = null;foreach(widget w in this.widgets)
{
if (w.Key == key)
{
returnValue = w.value;
break;
}
}return returnValue;
}This would work, however as mentioned enumerating through the array for every value request could prove to be slow. So can anybody give me an idea of what to do? A perfect solution would be to encapsulate the base array with something like a StringDictionary and therefore do something like this:
EntryPoint ep = new EntryPoint();
string value = ep.Widgets["widgetkey"];So the question is, how to do this? Obviously the sample above is a simplified version of the question, in reality I am working with an array that is generated by deserialising an XML file into a class generated by the XSD tool. This means that unless I ditch XSD for something else (any suggestions?) I am stuck with integer indexed arrays.
modified on Friday, May 9, 2008 7:23 AM
-
Hello all, I have an array of a simple object type:
class EntryPoint
{
private widgets[];public EntryPoint()
{
this.widgets = new widgets[1000]...code here to populate 1000 widgets...
}public Widgets[]
{
get { return this.widgets; }
}
}class widgets
{
public string key;
public string value;
}Now, elsewhere in the the application, I need to be able to extract values from the
widgets[]from instances ofEntryPoint. However I need to be able to do this using the string key, not the index number. So the question is how can I do this? A hacking but slow way is something like this:public string GetWidgetValue(string key)
{
string returnValue = null;foreach(widget w in this.widgets)
{
if (w.Key == key)
{
returnValue = w.value;
break;
}
}return returnValue;
}This would work, however as mentioned enumerating through the array for every value request could prove to be slow. So can anybody give me an idea of what to do? A perfect solution would be to encapsulate the base array with something like a StringDictionary and therefore do something like this:
EntryPoint ep = new EntryPoint();
string value = ep.Widgets["widgetkey"];So the question is, how to do this? Obviously the sample above is a simplified version of the question, in reality I am working with an array that is generated by deserialising an XML file into a class generated by the XSD tool. This means that unless I ditch XSD for something else (any suggestions?) I am stuck with integer indexed arrays.
modified on Friday, May 9, 2008 7:23 AM
Quick ? What sort of subject line is that ? The obvious solution is a Dictionary, that's what they are for.
Christian Graus Please read this if you don't understand the answer I've given you "also I don't think "TranslateOneToTwoBillion OneHundredAndFortySevenMillion FourHundredAndEightyThreeThousand SixHundredAndFortySeven()" is a very good choice for a function name" - SpacixOne ( offering help to someone who really needed it ) ( spaces added for the benefit of people running at < 1280x1024 )
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Quick ? What sort of subject line is that ? The obvious solution is a Dictionary, that's what they are for.
Christian Graus Please read this if you don't understand the answer I've given you "also I don't think "TranslateOneToTwoBillion OneHundredAndFortySevenMillion FourHundredAndEightyThreeThousand SixHundredAndFortySeven()" is a very good choice for a function name" - SpacixOne ( offering help to someone who really needed it ) ( spaces added for the benefit of people running at < 1280x1024 )
Christian Graus wrote:
Quick ? What sort of subject line is that ?
An extremely poor one, my error - we all make them from time to time :doh:
Christian Graus wrote:
The obvious solution is a Dictionary, that's what they are for.
Yes, however as mentioned in the original post, I am working with classes generated by the XSD tool. As such I need underpin the stringdictionary with the simple arrays this tool creates and keep the array and the dictionary in synchronisation as code adds, removes, edits values. Unfortunately this is where I am not sure where to go or what to do.
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Christian Graus wrote:
Quick ? What sort of subject line is that ?
An extremely poor one, my error - we all make them from time to time :doh:
Christian Graus wrote:
The obvious solution is a Dictionary, that's what they are for.
Yes, however as mentioned in the original post, I am working with classes generated by the XSD tool. As such I need underpin the stringdictionary with the simple arrays this tool creates and keep the array and the dictionary in synchronisation as code adds, removes, edits values. Unfortunately this is where I am not sure where to go or what to do.
WEll, you really cannot lookup by string unless you build a container that works that way. Why not just build a dictionary at the point of deserialising the list, then use that for lookups ?
Christian Graus Please read this if you don't understand the answer I've given you "also I don't think "TranslateOneToTwoBillion OneHundredAndFortySevenMillion FourHundredAndEightyThreeThousand SixHundredAndFortySeven()" is a very good choice for a function name" - SpacixOne ( offering help to someone who really needed it ) ( spaces added for the benefit of people running at < 1280x1024 )
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WEll, you really cannot lookup by string unless you build a container that works that way. Why not just build a dictionary at the point of deserialising the list, then use that for lookups ?
Christian Graus Please read this if you don't understand the answer I've given you "also I don't think "TranslateOneToTwoBillion OneHundredAndFortySevenMillion FourHundredAndEightyThreeThousand SixHundredAndFortySeven()" is a very good choice for a function name" - SpacixOne ( offering help to someone who really needed it ) ( spaces added for the benefit of people running at < 1280x1024 )
Well thats the idea, wrap the base array with a StringDictionary. However I need to keep the StringDictionary and base array in sync as code adds/edits/removes items regardless of whether this is done by string key on integer index. So the question is how to do it?
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Well thats the idea, wrap the base array with a StringDictionary. However I need to keep the StringDictionary and base array in sync as code adds/edits/removes items regardless of whether this is done by string key on integer index. So the question is how to do it?
I guess you need to write a class which contains an array and a dictionary, so that you only add/remove/access items via the interface of that class, which then ensures they are kept in sync Or, you could use the Values collection of your dictionary as your plain vanilla list of items ?
Christian Graus Please read this if you don't understand the answer I've given you "also I don't think "TranslateOneToTwoBillion OneHundredAndFortySevenMillion FourHundredAndEightyThreeThousand SixHundredAndFortySeven()" is a very good choice for a function name" - SpacixOne ( offering help to someone who really needed it ) ( spaces added for the benefit of people running at < 1280x1024 )
-
Quick ? What sort of subject line is that ? The obvious solution is a Dictionary, that's what they are for.
Christian Graus Please read this if you don't understand the answer I've given you "also I don't think "TranslateOneToTwoBillion OneHundredAndFortySevenMillion FourHundredAndEightyThreeThousand SixHundredAndFortySeven()" is a very good choice for a function name" - SpacixOne ( offering help to someone who really needed it ) ( spaces added for the benefit of people running at < 1280x1024 )
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Christian Graus wrote:
The obvious solution is a Dictionary
And they work brilliantly.
Excellence is doing ordinary things extraordinarily well.
Yes they do, however what I don't know how to do is encapsulate the XSD tool generate simple array with a StringDictionary while keeping everything in sync and not breaking the (de)serialiser, and therefore allow the following:
string val1 = widget[0]
string val2 = widget["mykey"]Console.Writeline(val1 == val2)
Which would output
true -
Hello all, I have an array of a simple object type:
class EntryPoint
{
private widgets[];public EntryPoint()
{
this.widgets = new widgets[1000]...code here to populate 1000 widgets...
}public Widgets[]
{
get { return this.widgets; }
}
}class widgets
{
public string key;
public string value;
}Now, elsewhere in the the application, I need to be able to extract values from the
widgets[]from instances ofEntryPoint. However I need to be able to do this using the string key, not the index number. So the question is how can I do this? A hacking but slow way is something like this:public string GetWidgetValue(string key)
{
string returnValue = null;foreach(widget w in this.widgets)
{
if (w.Key == key)
{
returnValue = w.value;
break;
}
}return returnValue;
}This would work, however as mentioned enumerating through the array for every value request could prove to be slow. So can anybody give me an idea of what to do? A perfect solution would be to encapsulate the base array with something like a StringDictionary and therefore do something like this:
EntryPoint ep = new EntryPoint();
string value = ep.Widgets["widgetkey"];So the question is, how to do this? Obviously the sample above is a simplified version of the question, in reality I am working with an array that is generated by deserialising an XML file into a class generated by the XSD tool. This means that unless I ditch XSD for something else (any suggestions?) I am stuck with integer indexed arrays.
modified on Friday, May 9, 2008 7:23 AM
If you're using XML, use an XmlDocument. It sounds like your "XSD tool" is causing you more trouble than it's worth.