Merge values in map kotlin

You can do the following:

(mapA.keys + mapB.keys).associateWith {
    setOf(mapA[it], mapB[it]).filterNotNull().joinToString()
}

1. put all keys in a set
2. iterate over that set and and associate each element with the set of values
3. remove the null values from the value set
4. concatenate the elements in the value list using joinToString().

How about:

val unionList = (mapA.asSequence() + mapB.asSequence())
    .distinct()
    .groupBy({ it.key }, { it.value })
    .mapValues { (_, values) -> values.joinToString(",") }

Result:

{Emergency=112,911, Fire department=101, Police=102}

This will:

• produce a lazy Sequence of both maps' key-value pairs
• group them by key (result: Map<String, List<String>)
• map their values to comma-joined strings (result: Map<String, String>)

While I looked at the other solutions I couldn't believe that there isn't an easier way (or ways as easy as the accepted answer without the need to recreate a Map, intermediate new lists, etc.). Here are 3 (of many ;-)) solutions I came up with:

1. Using the keys and mapping the values later:

    (mapA.keys.asSequence() + mapB.keys)
        .associateWith {
          sequenceOf(mapA[it], mapB[it]) // one of the sides may have null values in it (i.e. no entry in the map)...
              .filterNotNull()
              .distinct()
              .toList() // or if you require/prefer, do the following instead: joinToString()
        }
   

2. Using groupingBy and fold (or have a look at: Group by key and fold each group simultaneously (KEEP)):

    (mapA.asSequence() + mapB.asSequence())
      .groupingBy { it.key }
      .fold({ _, _ -> mutableSetOf() }) { _, accumulator, element ->
        accumulator.apply {
          add(element.value)
        }
      }
   

   You could also just use an empty String instead and concatenate in the fold operation the way you need it. My first approach just used a sequenceOf instead of the MutableSet. It depends on what you require and what you want to do with the result afterwards. Be sure to use the overloaded fold-function that accepts an initial value selector, which creates a new initial value every time a new key is encountered. Thanks xzt for noting it.

3. Using Javas Map.merge, but ignoring duplicates in the value and also just concatenating the values:

    val mergedMap: Map<String, String> = mapA.toMutableMap().apply {
      mapB.forEach { key, value ->
        merge(key, value) { currentValue, addedValue ->
          "$currentValue, $addedValue" // just concatenate... no duplicates-check..
        }
      }
    }
   

   This, of course, can also be written differently, but this way we ensure that mergedMap is still just a Map<String, String> when accessed again.