Splitting a string into a dictionary VB.net - vb.net

Question

Here's my string:
gamename\jbnightfire\hostname\testserver\hostport\26015
I'm trying to split this string into a dictionary(of string, string). Please note that this string is not static and could contain many more keys and values.
The dictionary would contain the following:
key = gamename, value = jbnightfire
key = hostname, value = testserver
key = hostport, value = 26015
I've tried at least 5 different methods and can't seem to get any that work. It should be extremely simple, but for the life of me I cannot get it to work. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Answer 1

Split the string and loop through it with a step of 2 to advance 2 items at a time. That means the key would be at index i, and i + 1 would be the value.
Dim input = "gamename\jbnightfire\hostname\testserver\hostport\26015"
Dim split = input.Split(New String() { "\" },
StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries)
Dim dict As New Dictionary(Of String, String)
For i As Integer = 0 To split.Length - 1 Step 2
dict.Add(split(i), split(i + 1))
Next
Note that the above approach uses the Add method, which will throw an exception if a duplicate key exists. Use the above approach if you don't expect duplicates.
Alternately, you may assign the value directly to key, in which case it will overwrite any existing value if the key exists:
dict(split(i)) = split(i + 1)
Another option is to use ContainsKey and skip it if it exists, or perform some additional logic to determine whether to skip it or keep it. For example, this will skip it if it already exists:
For i As Integer = 0 To split.Length - 1 Step 2
If dict.ContainsKey(split(i)) Then Continue For
dict.Add(split(i), split(i + 1))
Next