How to create a Boolean Function to list objects in a Generic Collection? - vb.net

Question

After creating a List(Of T), I want to create aBoolean function. First, we will ask data to add an object in the list. However, in case this new object has the same "DNI" (String attribute from the class Aspirante), then we cannot include this new Object in the list. Therefore, it should be True when we have an Object with the same attribute and False when we don´t, so we can add the new object.
Below is the code I did:
Public Class Oposicion
Private datos As New List(Of Aspirante)()
Public Function Alta(ByRef objAspirante As Aspirante) As Boolean
If datos.Contains(objAspirante.DNI) Then
Return True
Else
datos.Add(objAspirante)
Return False
End If
End Function
End Class
However it doesn´t work. I have no clue on how to do it. Sorry if I was not clear enough.

Answer 1

This doesn't answer your question directly but it involves a significant amount of code, so it won't work in a comment.
You probably shouldn't be using a List(Of T) in the first place. The HashSet(Of T) already includes functionality to prevent adding duplicate items, so that may be a better option. If you want to compare objects on a specific property value then you need to first create a comparer based on that:
Public Class Thing
Public Property Stuff As String
End Class
Public Class ThingComparer
Implements IEqualityComparer(Of Thing)
Public Overloads Function Equals(x As Thing, y As Thing) As Boolean Implements IEqualityComparer(Of Thing).Equals
Return x.Stuff.Equals(y.Stuff)
End Function
Public Overloads Function GetHashCode(obj As Thing) As Integer Implements IEqualityComparer(Of Thing).GetHashCode
Return obj.GetHashCode()
End Function
End Class
You then create a HashSet(Of T) that uses that comparer to determine equality:
Dim things As New HashSet(Of Thing)(New ThingComparer)
You can then just add items as you please by calling Add. That will either add the new item and return True or it will not not add the duplicate item and return False:
Dim variousStuff = {"One", "Two", "One"}
For Each stuff In variousStuff
Dim something As New Thing With {.Stuff = stuff}
If things.Add(something) Then
Console.WriteLine($"'{stuff}' was added successfully.")
Else
Console.WriteLine($"'{stuff}' is a duplicate and was not added.")
End If
Next
The potential drawback is that HasSet(Of T) does not implement IList(Of T), so you cannot access items by index. It does implement ICollection(OF T) though, so it does have a Count property and you can enumerate it with a For Each loop.

Answer 2

You can create a List(Of String) containing the just the DNI property of each object in datos. Then see if the DNI of objAspirante is contained in lst.
Public Class Oposicion
Private datos As New List(Of Aspirante)()
Public Function Alta(objAspirante As Aspirante) As Boolean
Dim lst As New List(Of String)
For Each a As Aspirante In datos
lst.Add(a.DNI)
Next
If lst.Contains(objAspirante.DNI) Then
Return True
Else
datos.Add(objAspirante)
Return False
End If
End Function
End Class
If you can change the type of datos, this might be easier.
Public Class Oposicion
Private datos As New Dictionary(Of String, Aspirante)()
Public Function Alta(objAspirante As Aspirante) As Boolean
If datos.ContainsKey(objAspirante.DNI) Then
Return True
Else
datos.Add(objAspirante.DNI, objAspirante)
Return False
End If
End Function
End Class

Answer 3

If you want to stick with your existing List(Of Aspirante), then simply use .Any() and pass it a Lambda to determine if one already exists. It'd look something like this:
Public Function Alta(ByVal objAspirante As Aspirante) As Boolean
If Not datos.Any(Function(x) x.DNI = objAspirante.DNI) Then
datos.Add(objAspirante)
Return True ' your description and code did not match for these!
End If
Return False ' your description and code did not match for these!
End Function
Note my comment on the Return lines...your code and description did not match here.