Filtering collections in C#
If you're using C# 3.0 you can use linq, way better and way more elegant:
List<int> myList = GetListOfIntsFromSomewhere();
// This will filter out the list of ints that are > than 7, Where returns an
// IEnumerable<T> so a call to ToList is required to convert back to a List<T>.
List<int> filteredList = myList.Where( x => x > 7).ToList();
If you can't find the .Where
, that means you need to import using System.Linq;
at the top of your file.
Here is a code block / example of some list filtering using three different methods that I put together to show Lambdas and LINQ based list filtering.
#region List Filtering
static void Main(string[] args)
{
ListFiltering();
Console.ReadLine();
}
private static void ListFiltering()
{
var PersonList = new List<Person>();
PersonList.Add(new Person() { Age = 23, Name = "Jon", Gender = "M" }); //Non-Constructor Object Property Initialization
PersonList.Add(new Person() { Age = 24, Name = "Jack", Gender = "M" });
PersonList.Add(new Person() { Age = 29, Name = "Billy", Gender = "M" });
PersonList.Add(new Person() { Age = 33, Name = "Bob", Gender = "M" });
PersonList.Add(new Person() { Age = 45, Name = "Frank", Gender = "M" });
PersonList.Add(new Person() { Age = 24, Name = "Anna", Gender = "F" });
PersonList.Add(new Person() { Age = 29, Name = "Sue", Gender = "F" });
PersonList.Add(new Person() { Age = 35, Name = "Sally", Gender = "F" });
PersonList.Add(new Person() { Age = 36, Name = "Jane", Gender = "F" });
PersonList.Add(new Person() { Age = 42, Name = "Jill", Gender = "F" });
//Logic: Show me all males that are less than 30 years old.
Console.WriteLine("");
//Iterative Method
Console.WriteLine("List Filter Normal Way:");
foreach (var p in PersonList)
if (p.Gender == "M" && p.Age < 30)
Console.WriteLine(p.Name + " is " + p.Age);
Console.WriteLine("");
//Lambda Filter Method
Console.WriteLine("List Filter Lambda Way");
foreach (var p in PersonList.Where(p => (p.Gender == "M" && p.Age < 30))) //.Where is an extension method
Console.WriteLine(p.Name + " is " + p.Age);
Console.WriteLine("");
//LINQ Query Method
Console.WriteLine("List Filter LINQ Way:");
foreach (var v in from p in PersonList
where p.Gender == "M" && p.Age < 30
select new { p.Name, p.Age })
Console.WriteLine(v.Name + " is " + v.Age);
}
private class Person
{
public Person() { }
public int Age { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
public string Gender { get; set; }
}
#endregion
List<T>
has a FindAll
method that will do the filtering for you and return a subset of the list.
MSDN has a great code example here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa701359(VS.80).aspx
EDIT: I wrote this before I had a good understanding of LINQ and the Where()
method. If I were to write this today i would probably use the method Jorge mentions above. The FindAll
method still works if you're stuck in a .NET 2.0 environment though.