Join collection of objects into comma-separated string
I found string.Join and lambda Select<Func<>>
helps to write minimum code.
List<string> fruits = new List<string>();
fruits.Add("Mango");
fruits.Add("Banana");
fruits.Add("Papaya");
string commaSepFruits = string.Join(",", fruits.Select(f => "'" + f + "'"));
Console.WriteLine(commaSepFruits);
List<int> ids = new List<int>();
ids.Add(1001);
ids.Add(1002);
ids.Add(1003);
string commaSepIds = string.Join(",", ids);
Console.WriteLine(commaSepIds);
List<Customer> customers = new List<Customer>();
customers.Add(new Customer { Id = 10001, Name = "John" });
customers.Add(new Customer { Id = 10002, Name = "Robert" });
customers.Add(new Customer { Id = 10002, Name = "Ryan" });
string commaSepCustIds = string.Join(", ", customers.Select(cust => cust.Id));
string commaSepCustNames = string.Join(", ", customers.Select(cust => "'" + cust.Name + "'"));
Console.WriteLine(commaSepCustIds);
Console.WriteLine(commaSepCustNames);
Console.ReadLine();
string.Join(", ", Array.ConvertAll(somelist.ToArray(), i => i.ToString()))
static string ToCsv<T>(IEnumerable<T> things, Func<T, string> toStringMethod)
{
StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
foreach (T thing in things)
sb.Append(toStringMethod(thing)).Append(',');
return sb.ToString(0, sb.Length - 1); //remove trailing ,
}
Use like this:
DataTable dt = ...; //datatable with some data
Console.WriteLine(ToCsv(dt.Rows, row => row["ColName"]));
or:
List<Customer> customers = ...; //assume Customer has a Name property
Console.WriteLine(ToCsv(customers, c => c.Name));
I don't have a compiler to hand but in theory it should work. And as everyone knows, in theory, practice and theory are the same. In practice, they're not.