Comparing String to List of String in visual basic - vb.net

Example: How do I compare one string out of a list against my desired string? Please help!
Dim myString As String
Dim myList As List(Of String)
Let's say myString Returns Bob and myList Returns (Bob, Mary, Sally, Joe)
I Need to do the following:
If(myString = myList) Then
//Do some code
End If

In order to compare a string out of a list of strings to your desired string, you must know where in the list the string is that you want to compare with.
Dim myString As String
Dim myList as List(Of String)
'this will compare your string to the first string in the list of strings
If myString = myList(0) Then
'do something
End If
If you would like to see if any of the strings in the list are equal to your string, do this
For i = 0 to myList.Count - 1
If myString = myList(i) Then
'do something
End If
Next

If you want to test whether the list contains "Bob" you can use the Contains Method:
Dim myList As New List(Of String)
myList.Add("Bob")
If(myList.Contains("Bob")) Then
Console.WriteLine("Yes, it is in the list")
End If

Related

Searching Multiple strings with 1st criteria, then searching those returned values with a different criteria and so on

so..
I have a txt file with hundreds of sentences or strings.
I also have 4 comboboxes with options that a user can select from and
each combobox is part of a different selection criteria. They may or may not use all the comboboxes.
When a user selects an option from any combobox I use a For..Next statement to run through the txt file and pick out all the strings that contain or match whatever the user selected. It then displays those strings for the user to see, so that if they wanted to they could further narrow down the search from that point by using the 3 remaining comboboxes making it easier to find what they want.
I can achieve this by using lots of IF statements within the for loop but is that the only way?
No, there are other ways. You can leverage LINQ to get rid of some of those if statements:
Private _lstLinesInFile As List(Of String) = New List(Of String)
Private Function AddClause(ByVal qryTarget As IEnumerable(Of String), ByVal strToken As String) As IEnumerable(Of String)
If Not String.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(strToken) Then
qryTarget = qryTarget.Where(Function(ByVal strLine As String) strLine.Contains(strToken))
End If
Return qryTarget
End Function
Public Sub YourEventHandler()
'Start Mock
Dim strComboBox1Value As String = "Test"
Dim strComboBox2Value As String = "Stack"
Dim strComboBox3Value As String = String.Empty
Dim strComboBox4Value As String = Nothing
'End Mock
If _lstLinesInFile.Count = 0 Then
'Only load from the file once.
_lstLinesInFile = IO.File.ReadAllLines("C:\Temp\Test.txt").ToList()
End If
Dim qryTarget As IEnumerable(Of String) = (From strTarget In _lstLinesInFile)
'Assumes you don't have to match tokens that are split by line breaks.
qryTarget = AddClause(qryTarget, strComboBox1Value)
qryTarget = AddClause(qryTarget, strComboBox2Value)
qryTarget = AddClause(qryTarget, strComboBox3Value)
qryTarget = AddClause(qryTarget, strComboBox4Value)
Dim lstResults As List(Of String) = qryTarget.ToList()
End Sub
Keep in mind this is case sensitive so you may want to throw in some .ToLower() calls in there:
qryTarget = qryTarget.Where(Function(ByVal strLine As String) strLine.ToLower().Contains(strToken.ToLower()))
I think a compound If statement is the simplest:
Dim strLines() As String = IO.File.ReadAllText(strFilename).Split(vbCrLf)
Dim strSearchTerm1 As String = "Foo"
Dim strSearchTerm2 As String = "Bar"
Dim strSearchTerm3 As String = "Two"
Dim strSearchTerm4 As String = ""
Dim lstOutput As New List(Of String)
For Each s As String In strLines
If s.Contains(strSearchTerm1) AndAlso
s.Contains(strSearchTerm2) AndAlso
s.Contains(strSearchTerm3) AndAlso
s.Contains(strSearchTerm4) Then
lstOutput.Add(s)
End If
Next

Splitting string by two conditions in vb.net 2014

I'm trying to split a string into a list of strings with this vb.net code, while adding it to a dictionary of String:
objevt.wbStr.Add(b, objevt.metalbelowwidth.Item(b).Split({",","-"}).ToList)
But I get an error saying "Value of '1-dimentitional arrary of string' cannot be converted to 'Char' "
If I try to implement splitting with just the comma, it works fine. So the following code works.
objevt.wbStr.Add(b, objevt.metalbelowwidth.Item(b).Split(",").ToList)
But I really want to split the string with two conditions. Any help is appreciated. Thanks!
One of the overloads of the Split Method that takes a String array also needs to have a StringSplitOption parameter also set.
objevt.wbStr.Add(b, objevt.metalbelowwidth.Item(b).Split(New String() {",", "-"}, StringSplitOptions.None).ToList)
Sub Main()
Dim myString As String = "H,c,J-Hello-World"
Dim myList As List(Of String) = New List(Of String)
myList = myString.Split(New String() {"-", ","}, StringSplitOptions.None).ToList
For Each s As String In myList
Console.WriteLine(s)
Next
Console.ReadLine()
End Sub
You need to use the overloaded Split method with an array of char as the separators, like so:
objevt.metalbelowwidth.Item(b).Split(New [Char]() {","c, "-"c })
Demo here

List(of String) or Array or ArrayList

Hopefully a simple question to most programmers with some experience.
What is the datatype that lets me do this?
Dim lstOfStrings as *IDK*
Dim String0 As String = "some value"
Dim String1 As String = "some value"
Dim String2 As String = "some value"
Dim String3 As String = "some value"
Dim String4 As String = "some value"
Dim String5 As String = "some value"
lstOfStrings.add(String0, String1, String2, String3)
I would access these like this
Dim s1 = lstOfStrings(0)
Dim s2 = lstOfStrings(1)
Dim s3 = lstOfStrings(2)
Dim s4 = lstOfStrings(3)
if I use List(of String)
I am only able to .add one thing to the list (at a time), and in my function I want to be able to store several values(at a time).
Solution:
Private Function Foo() As List(Of String)
Dim temp1 As String
Dim temp2 As String
Dim temp3 As String
Dim temp4 As String
Dim temp5 As String
Dim temp6 As String
Dim inputs() As String = {temp1, temp2, temp3, temp4, temp5, temp6}
Dim lstWriteBits As List(Of String) = New List(Of String)(inputs)
Return lstWriteBits
End Function
List(Of String) will handle that, mostly - though you need to either use AddRange to add a collection of items, or Add to add one at a time:
lstOfString.Add(String1)
lstOfString.Add(String2)
lstOfString.Add(String3)
lstOfString.Add(String4)
If you're adding known values, as you show, a good option is to use something like:
Dim inputs() As String = { "some value", _
"some value2", _
"some value3", _
"some value4" }
Dim lstOfString as List(Of String) = new List(Of String)(inputs)
' ...
Dim s3 = lstOfStrings(3)
This will still allow you to add items later as desired, but also get your initial values in quickly.
Edit:
In your code, you need to fix the declaration. Change:
Dim lstWriteBits() As List(Of String)
To:
Dim lstWriteBits As List(Of String)
Currently, you're declaring an Array of List(Of String) objects.
You can do something like this,
Dim lstOfStrings As New List(Of String) From {"Value1", "Value2", "Value3"}
Collection Initializers
Neither collection will let you add items that way.
You can make an extension to make for examle List(Of String) have an Add method that can do that:
Imports System.Runtime.CompilerServices
Module StringExtensions
<Extension()>
Public Sub Add(ByVal list As List(Of String), ParamArray values As String())
For Each s As String In values
list.Add(s)
Next
End Sub
End Module
Now you can add multiple value in one call:
Dim lstOfStrings as New List(Of String)
lstOfStrings.Add(String1, String2, String3, String4)
look to the List AddRange method here
Sometimes I don't want to add items to a list when I instantiate it.
Instantiate a blank list
Dim blankList As List(Of String) = New List(Of String)
Add to the list
blankList.Add("Dis be part of me list") 'blankList is no longer blank, but you get the drift
Loop through the list
For Each item in blankList
' write code here, for example:
Console.WriteLine(item)
Next
You can use IList(Of String) in the function :
Private Function getWriteBits() As IList(Of String)
Dim temp1 As String
Dim temp2 As Boolean
Dim temp3 As Boolean
'Pallet Destination Unique
Dim temp4 As Boolean
Dim temp5 As Boolean
Dim temp6 As Boolean
Dim lstWriteBits As Ilist = {temp1, temp2, temp3, temp4, temp5, temp6}
Return lstWriteBits
End Function
use
list1.AddRange(list2) to add lists
Hope it helps.
For those who are stuck maintaining old .net, here is one that works in .net framework 2.x:
Dim lstOfStrings As New List(of String)( new String(){"v1","v2","v3"} )

String Array Thing!

Right - to start with, I'm entering unfamiliar areas with this - so please be kind!
I have a script that looks a little something like this:
Private Function checkString(ByVal strIn As String) As String
Dim astrWords As String() = New String() {"bak", "log", "dfd"}
Dim strOut As String = ""
Dim strWord As String
For Each strWord In astrWords
If strIn.ToLower.IndexOf(strWord.ToLower, 0) >= 0 Then
strOut = strWord.ToLower
Exit For
End If
Next
Return strOut
End Function
It's function is to check the input string and see if any of those 'astrWords' are in there and then return the value.
So I wrote a bit of code to dynamically create those words that goes something like this:
Dim extensionArray As String = ""
Dim count As Integer = 0
For Each item In lstExtentions.Items
If count = 0 Then
extensionArray = extensionArray & """." & item & """"
Else
extensionArray = extensionArray & ", ""." & item & """"
End If
count = count + 1
Next
My.Settings.extensionArray = extensionArray
My.Settings.Save()
Obviously - it's creating that same array using list items. The output of that code is exactly the same as if I hard coded it - but when I change the first bit of code to:
Dim astrWords As String() = New String() {My.Settings.extensionArray}
instead of:
Dim astrWords As String() = New String() {"bak", "log", "dfd"}
It starts looking for the whole statement instead of looping through each individual one?
I think it has something to do with having brackets on the end of the word string - but I'm lost!
Any help appreciated :)
When you use the string from the settings in the literal array, it's just as if you used a single strings containing the delimited strings:
Dim astrWords As String() = New String() {"""bak"", ""log"", ""dfd"""}
What you probably want to do is to put a comma separated string like "bak,log,dfd" in the settings, then you can split it to get it as an array:
Dim astrWords As String() = My.Settings.extensionArray.Split(","C)
You need to set extensionArray up as a string array instead of simply a string.
Note that
Dim something as String
... defines a single string, but
Dim somethingElse as String()
... defines a whole array of strings.
I think with your code, you need something like:
Dim extensionArray As String() = new String(lstExtensions.Items)
Dim count As Integer = 0
For Each item In lstExtentions.Items
extensionArray(count) = item
count = count + 1
Next
My.Settings.extensionArray = extensionArray
My.Settings.Save()
Then at the start of checkString you need something like
Private Function checkString(ByVal strIn As String) As String
Dim astrWords As String() = My.Settings.extensionArray
...
There also might be an even easier way to turn lstExtentions.Items into an Array if Items has a 'ToArray()' method, but I'm not sure what Type you are using there...
What you've done is created a single string containing all 3 words. You need to create an array of strings.
New String() {"bak", "log", "dfd"}
means create a new array of strings containing the 3 strings values "bak", "log" and "dfd".
New String() {My.Settings.extensionArray}
means create a new array of strings containing just one value which is the contents of extensionArray. (Which you have set to ""bak", "log", "dfd""). Note this is one string, not an array of strings. You can't just create 1 string with commas in it, you need to create an array of strings.
If you want to create your array dynamically, you need to define it like this:
Dim astrWords As String() = New String(3)
This creates an array with 3 empty spaces.
You can then assign a string to each space by doing this:
astrWords(0) = "bak"
astrWords(1) = "log"
astrWords(2) = "dfd"
You could do that bit in a for loop:
Dim count As Integer = 0
For Each item In lstExtentions.Items
astrWords(count) = item
count = count + 1
Next
Alternatively, you could look at using a generic collection. That way you could use the Add() method to add multiple strings to it
I think you want your extensionArray to be of type String() and not String. When you are trying to initialize the new array, the initializer doesn't know to parse out multiple values. It just sees your single string.

How can I search an array in VB.NET?

I want to be able to effectively search an array for the contents of a string.
Example:
dim arr() as string={"ravi","Kumar","Ravi","Ramesh"}
I pass the value is "ra" and I want it to return the index of 2 and 3.
How can I do this in VB.NET?
It's not exactly clear how you want to search the array. Here are some alternatives:
Find all items containing the exact string "Ra" (returns items 2 and 3):
Dim result As String() = Array.FindAll(arr, Function(s) s.Contains("Ra"))
Find all items starting with the exact string "Ra" (returns items 2 and 3):
Dim result As String() = Array.FindAll(arr, Function(s) s.StartsWith("Ra"))
Find all items containing any case version of "ra" (returns items 0, 2 and 3):
Dim result As String() = Array.FindAll(arr, Function(s) s.ToLower().Contains("ra"))
Find all items starting with any case version of "ra" (retuns items 0, 2 and 3):
Dim result As String() = Array.FindAll(arr, Function(s) s.ToLower().StartsWith("ra"))
-
If you are not using VB 9+ then you don't have anonymous functions, so you have to create a named function.
Example:
Function ContainsRa(s As String) As Boolean
Return s.Contains("Ra")
End Function
Usage:
Dim result As String() = Array.FindAll(arr, ContainsRa)
Having a function that only can compare to a specific string isn't always very useful, so to be able to specify a string to compare to you would have to put it in a class to have somewhere to store the string:
Public Class ArrayComparer
Private _compareTo As String
Public Sub New(compareTo As String)
_compareTo = compareTo
End Sub
Function Contains(s As String) As Boolean
Return s.Contains(_compareTo)
End Function
Function StartsWith(s As String) As Boolean
Return s.StartsWith(_compareTo)
End Function
End Class
Usage:
Dim result As String() = Array.FindAll(arr, New ArrayComparer("Ra").Contains)
Dim inputString As String = "ra"
Enumerable.Range(0, arr.Length).Where(Function(x) arr(x).ToLower().Contains(inputString.ToLower()))
If you want an efficient search that is often repeated, first sort the array (Array.Sort) and then use Array.BinarySearch.
In case you were looking for an older version of .NET then use:
Module Module1
Sub Main()
Dim arr() As String = {"ravi", "Kumar", "Ravi", "Ramesh"}
Dim result As New List(Of Integer)
For i As Integer = 0 To arr.Length
If arr(i).Contains("ra") Then result.Add(i)
Next
End Sub
End Module
check this..
string[] strArray = { "ABC", "BCD", "CDE", "DEF", "EFG", "FGH", "GHI" };
Array.IndexOf(strArray, "C"); // not found, returns -1
Array.IndexOf(strArray, "CDE"); // found, returns index
compare properties in the array if one matches the input then set something to the value of the loops current position, which is also the index of the current looked up item.
simple eg.
dim x,y,z as integer
dim aNames, aIndexes as array
dim sFind as string
for x = 1 to length(aNames)
if aNames(x) = sFind then y = x
y is then the index of the item in the array, then loop could be used to store these in an array also so instead of the above you would have:
z = 1
for x = 1 to length(aNames)
if aNames(x) = sFind then
aIndexes(z) = x
z = z + 1
endif
VB
Dim arr() As String = {"ravi", "Kumar", "Ravi", "Ramesh"}
Dim result = arr.Where(Function(a) a.Contains("ra")).Select(Function(s) Array.IndexOf(arr, s)).ToArray()
C#
string[] arr = { "ravi", "Kumar", "Ravi", "Ramesh" };
var result = arr.Where(a => a.Contains("Ra")).Select(a => Array.IndexOf(arr, a)).ToArray();
-----Detailed------
Module Module1
Sub Main()
Dim arr() As String = {"ravi", "Kumar", "Ravi", "Ramesh"}
Dim searchStr = "ra"
'Not case sensitive - checks if item starts with searchStr
Dim result1 = arr.Where(Function(a) a.ToLower.StartsWith(searchStr)).Select(Function(s) Array.IndexOf(arr, s)).ToArray
'Case sensitive - checks if item starts with searchStr
Dim result2 = arr.Where(Function(a) a.StartsWith(searchStr)).Select(Function(s) Array.IndexOf(arr, s)).ToArray
'Not case sensitive - checks if item contains searchStr
Dim result3 = arr.Where(Function(a) a.ToLower.Contains(searchStr)).Select(Function(s) Array.IndexOf(arr, s)).ToArray
Stop
End Sub
End Module
Never use .ToLower and .ToUpper.
I just had problems in Turkey where there are 4 "i" letters. When using ToUpper I got the wrong "Ì" one and it fails.
Use invariant string comparisons:
Const LNK as String = "LINK"
Dim myString = "Link"
Bad:
If myString.ToUpper = LNK Then...
Good and works in the entire world:
If String.Equals(myString, LNK , StringComparison.InvariantCultureIgnoreCase) Then...
This would do the trick, returning the values at indeces 0, 2 and 3.
Array.FindAll(arr, Function(s) s.ToLower().StartsWith("ra"))