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How to create a Class List with different numbers of inputs in C#

I'm working on my first real c# project and I have faced a problem with my way of creating List based on a Class, which I have no idea how to solve.
I’m trying to write some code, which takes an input file (txt/csv) of multiple constructions with multiple layers, put it into my program, and later write the constructions into a new txt/csv file.
When having the same numbers of layers, it works fine. But when the constructions have different numbers of layers it causes trouble and I get a “System.IndexOutOfRangeException”.
My question is: Can I make the Class which I’m basing my List on, dynamic (I don’t know if it is the technical term), so it work with different numbers of inputs? Both when Adding the construction to the program and when I write it to a new file?
My code is:
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
// Filepath for the input and output file
string filePathIn_constructions = #"C:\Library\Constructions.txt";
string filePathOut = #"C:\Library\EPlus_Inputfile.txt";
// Creating a list of constructions based on the class. The list is made from the file "filePathIn_constructions"
List<Construction> allConstructions = new List<Construction>();
List<string> lines_constructions = File.ReadAllLines(filePathIn_constructions).ToList(); // add it to a list
// Adding all the data from the fil to the variable "allConstructions"
foreach (var line in lines_constructions)
{
string[] entries = line.Split(',');
Construction newConstruction = new Construction();
newConstruction.EIndex = entries[0];
newConstruction.Name = entries[1];
newConstruction.Layer1 = entries[2];
newConstruction.Layer2 = entries[3];
newConstruction.Layer3 = entries[4];
newConstruction.Layer4 = entries[5];
newConstruction.Layer5 = entries[6];
allConstructions.Add(newConstruction); // Add it to our list of constructions
}
List<string> output = new List<string>();
foreach (var x in allConstructions) // Printing the new
{
output.Add($"{x.EIndex}, {x.Name}, {x.Layer1}, {x.Layer2}, {x.Layer3}, {x.Layer4}, {x.Layer5}");
}
File.WriteAllLines(txtFilePathOut, output);
}
}
My Class for the Constructions is
public class Construction
{
public string EIndex { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
public string Layer1 { get; set; }
public string Layer2 { get; set; }
public string Layer3 { get; set; }
public string Layer4 { get; set; }
public string Layer5 { get; set; }
}
An example of a input/output file could be
Construction,ConcreteWall,Concrete;
Construction,Brickwall1,Birck,Isulation,Brick;
Construction,Brickwall2,Birck,AirGap,Isulation,Brick;
Construction,Wood/Concrete Wall,Wood,Isulation,Concrete,Gypson;
Construction,Wood Wall,Wood,AirGap,Gypson,Isulaiton,Gypson;
I hope someone can help. Thanks.
Edit: I have to be able to excess the construction Name seperatly, because i'm using it to do some sorting of the.

public class Construction
{
public string EIndex { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
public List<string> Layers { get; set; } = new List<string>();
}
foreach (var line in lines_constructions)
{
string[] entries = line.Split(',');
Construction newConstruction = new Construction();
newConstruction.EIndex = entries[0];
newConstruction.Name = entries[1];
for (int i=2; i < entries.Length; i++) {
newConstruction.Layers.Add(entries[i]);
}
allConstructions.Add(newConstruction);
}
foreach(var x in allConstuctions) {
File.AppendAllText(output, $"{x.EIndex}, {x.Name}, {string.Join(", ", x.Layers)}");
}

It is because you are trying to reach a cell of an array that doesn't exist (documentation)
In your input/output file you have lines that have between 3 and 7 values, and you are building an array entries out of those values. This means that you will have arrays with between 3 and 7 cells
The problem is that right after creating those arrays you try to access on every array the cells 0, 1, 2... up to the 7th, even for arrays that have only 3 cells!
What you could do to fix this in a simple way is to add columns to have the same number of separator on each lines (you defined the separator of your lines as column with line.Split(',')). This way, every arrays that you will create will always have 7 cells, even if the value inside is null

How can i see if my JSON contains a certain value and then compare it?

var Name = "Resources.myjson.json";
var NameJSON = new System.IO.StreamReader(typeof(Strings).GetTypeInfo().Assembly.GetManifestResourceStream(Name)).ReadToEnd();
var ParsedBrandJSON = Newtonsoft.Json.JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<TheInfo>(NameJSON);
await JsonCS.LoadJson(ParsedBrandJSON);
And on the page:
static public class TheInfoJSON
{
static public TheInfo Data { get; set; }
static public async Task LoadJson(Data JSON)
{
Data = JSON;
}
}
and
public class TheInfo
{
public List<TheName> TheName { get; set; } = new List<TheName>();
}
My json:
{
"TheInfo":[
{
"TheName": ["Martin", "Jonas", "Alex", "Oscar"]
}
]
}
When i now try to compare how can i see if my JSON contains a certain object and then store that as a single TheName? Is it possible to do it in the same cast?
var TheNameDataFromOtherPage = OtherPage.TheName; //Here i gather the name from another page that i will compare with the JSON
//Wrong syntax
bool DoTheyMatch = TheNameDataFromOtherPage == TheInfoJSON.Data.TheName.Contains("Alex");
This is now wrong syntax because i cant compare the value to a bool. How can i get out the data i find and then instead of having TheInfoJSON.Data.TheName.Contains("Alex"); as a bool, back to a single value of TheName containing "Alex" so I can create a bool out of the two values to see if the JSON has it or not.
I tried to add something along the lines like this after the contains(): as TheInfo.TheName but that isnt the correct syntax either.

bool DoTheyMatch = TheInfoJSON.Data.TheName.Contains(TheNameDataFromOtherPage);

Best way to group strings according to action

With "Best Way" I mean, maybe, without many If, clean code.
I have a function that receives as parameters (string currentVersion, string action)
and it should return a string versionToBe = "";
For action = "installOldVersion"
-------------if "currentVersion"----------------: -------------OldversionToInstall--------------
"windows10(pro)", "windows10(pro)(education)" : "windows81(pro)"
"windows10(enterprise)", "windows10(enterpise)(lstb)" : "windows81(enterprise)"
"windows7(home)", "windows7(home)(basic)", "windows7(basic)", "windows7": "windowsVista(starter)"
"windowsXP(starter)", "windowsXP(starter)(home)", "windowsXP(home)", "windowsXP": "windows2000(professional)"
"windowsNT(workstation)", "windowsNT": "windows95(sp1)"
For action = "installNewVersion"
-------------if "currentVersion"----------------: -------------NewVersionToInstall--------------
"windows81(pro)", "windows81(pro)(education)" : "windows10(pro)"
"windows81(enterprise)", "windows81(enterprise)(education)" : "windows10(enterprise)"
"windowsVista(starter)", "windowsVista(starter)(package)", "windowsVista(package)", "windowsVista": "windows7(home)"
"windowsVista(starter)", "windowsVista(starter)(praok)", "windowsVista(praok)", "windowsVista": "windowsXP(starter)"
"windows95(sp1)", "windows95(sp1)(versionE)", "windows95": "windowsNT(workstation)"
So,for example, everytime the string name comes like: "windows10(pro)" or "windows10(pro)(education)" it should return: "windows81(pro)".
I know this can get done with lots of if like:
if (version.Equals("windows10(pro)") || version.Equals("windows10(pro)(education)"))
{
versionToBe = "windows81(pro)";
}
and the same for the rest of them, anding with 10 If statements in Total.
But If there's a better way to do it, I'd want to know.
Another restriction, or other thing to consider:
if the action is "installOldVersion", versionToBe is OldversionToInstall,
and if the action is "installNewVersion", versionTobe would be NewVersionToInstall.

You could create a list of objects with CurrentVersion, Old Version and New Version and then extract the one you want from the list.
Example Instruction Class Definition
public class VersionInformation
{
public string CurrentVersion {get; set;}
public string NewVersion {get; set;}
public string OldVersion {get; set;}
}
then in your program, have a list of them, either hard coded or loaded from file or whatever datastore you want and do your version check as follows:
private List<VersionInformation> _versionInformation = //Load your list from wherever;
public void DoVersionCheck(string version)
{
var currentversionInfo = _versionInformation.Single(x=> x.CurrentVersion == version);
//Do Whatever you want with the upgrades and downgrades here based on whatever action you are doing
}

Set yourself up a dictionary and perform a lookup.
As an exercise for the reader:
You could drive the dictionary contents from some configuration or other...even from a database if you want.
You'd presumably want to set up your dictionary as a static and initialize it only once.
You'll want some handling for when there is no dictionary entry - you don't specify a default in your question.
Dictionary, string> ActionMatrix = new Dictionary, string>();
ActionMatrix.Add(Tuple.Create ("windows10(pro)", "installOldVersion"), "windows81(pro)");
ActionMatrix.Add(Tuple.Create ("windows10(pro)(education)", "installOldVersion"), "windows81(pro)");
ActionMatrix.Add(Tuple.Create ("windows10(enterprise)", "installOldVersion"), "windows81(enterprise)");
ActionMatrix.Add(Tuple.Create ("windows10(enterpise)(lstb)", "installOldVersion"), "windows81(enterprise)");
// etc
ActionMatrix.Add(Tuple.Create("windows81(pro)", "installNewVersion"), "windows10(pro)");
ActionMatrix.Add(Tuple.Create("windows81(pro)(education)", "installNewVersion"), "windows10(pro)");
ActionMatrix.Add(Tuple.Create("windows81(enterprise)", "installNewVersion"), "windows10(enterprise)");
ActionMatrix.Add(Tuple.Create("windows10(enterpise)(education)", "installNewVersion"), "windows10(enterprise)");
// etc
public string VersionToBe (string currentVersion, string action)
{
return ActionMatrix[Tuple.Create(currentVersion, action)];
}

A simple object with it's own list should do the trick and is visually better to follow.
public class VersionData
{
private static List<VersionData> VersionDatas { get; set; } = new List<VersionData>()
{
new VersionData( "OldversionToInstall", new [] {"windows10(pro)", "windows10(pro)(education)" }.ToList(), "windows81(pro)" ),
new VersionData( "OldversionToInstall", new [] {"windows10(enterprise)", "windows10(enterpise)(lstb)" }.ToList(), "windows81(enterprise)" )
};
public string Action { get; set; } = "";
public List<string> CurrentVersions { get; set; } = new List<string>();
public string Version { get; set; } = "";
public VersionData(string action, List<string> currentVersions, string version)
{
Action = action;
CurrentVersions = currentVersions;
Version = version;
}
public static string GetVersion(string action, string currentVersion)
{
return VersionDatas.FirstOrDefault(o => o.Action == action && o.CurrentVersions.Any(x => x == currentVersion)).Version;
}
}
and to call it's as simple as :
var oldVersion = VersionData.GetVersion("OldversionToInstall", "windows10(enterpise)(lstb)");

How to clone object with a different Primary Key

I have this class Cart_Record, shown below. I want to update the PrimaryKey. To do that I am trying to clone the object into a new object to copy CartLines and update ID. I haven't found much in the issue queue or the documentation to help me.
public class Cart_Record : RealmObject
{
public Cart_Record() { }
public Cart_Record(IList<Cart_Line> cartLines, int id)
{
ID = id;
foreach (var cartLine in cartLines)
CartLines.Add(App.RealmDB.Find<Cart_Line>(cartLine.ProductId));
}
[PrimaryKey]
public int ID { get; set; }
public IList<Cart_Line> CartLines { get; }
}
I am trying this
var appCart = App.RealmDB.All<Cart_Record>().First();
App.RealmDB.Write(() =>
{
var cartLines = new List<Cart_Line>(appCart.CartLines);
App.RealmDB.Remove(App.RealmDB.Find<Cart_Record>(appCart.ID));
App.RealmDB.Add<Cart_Record>(new Cart_Record(cartLines, serverCart.ID));
});
However I keep getting exceptions, specifically RealmObjectManagedByAnotherRealmException. I don't understand how as I am not readding the Cart_Line objects to Realm, just to the CartLine list in the new object.
What am I doing wrong?
Thanks ahead of time.
Edit: I found something that works but I would like to see if someone else have a better method. This is what works for me.
var appCart = App.RealmDB.All<Cart_Record>().First();
App.RealmDB.Write(() =>
{
var cartLines = new List<Cart_Line>(appCart.CartLines);
App.RealmDB.Remove(App.RealmDB.Find<Cart_Record>(appCart.ID));
var newAppCart = App.RealmDB.Add<Cart_Record>(new Cart_Record() { ID = serverCart.ID });
foreach (var cartLine in cartLines)
newAppCart.CartLines.Add(cartLine);
});

I'm not sure what App.RealmDB does under the hood, but using the out-of-the-box Realm API, what you want to achieve can be done by simply adding the CartLines from the original to the updated object:
// Assume want to change Id from 1 to 2
var realm = Realm.GetInstance();
var original = realm.Find<Cart_Record>(1);
var updated = new Cart_Record { ID = 2 }; // other properties must be copied here
foreach (var cart in original.CartLines)
{
updated.CartLines.Add(cart);
}
realm.Write(() =>
{
realm.Remove(original);
realm.Add(updated);
});
// updated now has all the original's CartLines

Deserializing Json array with variable names first using C# Json.NET

I'm getting an irregular JSON array from the Census Bureau's public api.
The variable names are all in the first element, and I'm having trouble deserializing it.
http://api.census.gov/data/2014/pep/agesex?get=AGE,POP,SEX&for=us:*&DATE=7
gives me JSON like this:
[["AGE","POP","SEX","DATE","us"],
["0","3948350","0","7","1"],
["1","3962123","0","7","1"],
["2","3957772","0","7","1"],
["3","4005190","0","7","1"],
["4","4003448","0","7","1"],
["5","4004858","0","7","1"],
["6","4134352","0","7","1"],
["7","4154000","0","7","1"]]
I can successfully deserialize this using:
var test1 = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<String[][]>(jsonStr);
However, I'm trying to deserialize it to a class like this:
public class TestClass
{
public string AGE { get; set; }
public string POP { get; set; }
public string SEX { get; set; }
public string DATE { get; set; }
public string us { get; set; }
}
I'm trying to do this:
var test2 = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<TestClass[]>(jsonStr);
But I'm getting the following exception:
An exception of type 'Newtonsoft.Json.JsonSerializationException'
occurred in Newtonsoft.Json.dll but was not handled in user code
Additional information: Cannot create and populate list type
TestClass. Path '[0]', line 1, position
2.

There's two parts to this.
First is turning the JSON in to data usable in C#, and the second is turning that data in to nice objects.
Here's a working dotNetFiddle.net example of the following code: https://dotnetfiddle.net/Cr0aRL
Each row in your JSON is made up of an array of strings.
So that's an array of an array of strings.
In C# that can be written as string[][].
So to turn the JSON in to usable data with JSON.Net you can do:
var json = "[[\"AGE\",\"POP\",\"SEX\",\"DATE\",\"us\"],[\"0\",\"3948350\",\"0\",\"7\",\"1\"],[\"1\",\"3962123\",\"0\",\"7\",\"1\"],[\"2\",\"3957772\",\"0\",\"7\",\"1\"],[\"3\",\"4005190\",\"0\",\"7\",\"1\"],[\"4\",\"4003448\",\"0\",\"7\",\"1\"],[\"5\",\"4004858\",\"0\",\"7\",\"1\"],[\"6\",\"4134352\",\"0\",\"7\",\"1\"],[\"7\",\"4154000\",\"0\",\"7\",\"1\"]]";
var rawData = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<string[][]>(json);
Next up is is turning that data in to objects.
The first row is the header, containing the column names, so we want to grab that, and then figure out the column index for each column name.
var headerRow = rawData.First();
var ageIndex = Array.IndexOf(headerRow, "AGE");
var popIndex = Array.IndexOf(headerRow, "POP");
var sexIndex = Array.IndexOf(headerRow, "SEX");
var dateIndex = Array.IndexOf(headerRow, "DATE");
var usIndex = Array.IndexOf(headerRow, "us");
Now we have the indexes, we need to take each row, and convert it in to the appropriate object. I've used LINQ for this as it's very good at representing data processing in a clear way.
var testData = rawData
.Skip(1) //The first row is a header, not data
.Select(dataRow => new TestClass()
{
AGE = dataRow[ageIndex],
POP = dataRow[popIndex],
SEX = dataRow[sexIndex],
DATE = dataRow[dateIndex],
us = dataRow[usIndex]
});
Finally a bit of testing, to make sure you have the data you're expecting.
//Get the second data row as an example
var example = testData.Skip(1).First();
//Output example POP to check value
Console.WriteLine(example.POP);
Everything above is very manual.
You have to know what headers you expect, then you manually find the indexes, then you manually map the rows to objects.
It's quite possible for a simple use case that doing that is fine. But in larger and/or more complex systems you might want/need to automate those steps.
Automating those steps is possible, but is beyond the scope of this answer as how you approach it can depend on a lot of different factors.

You could make a custom JsonConverter to handle this conversion during deserialization. The conversion code is really not much different than other answers here, except that it is encapsulated into a separate class so that you don't muddy up your main code with the conversion details. From the point of view of your main code it "just works".
Here is how to write the converter:
public class TestClassArrayConverter : JsonConverter
{
public override bool CanConvert(Type objectType)
{
return (objectType == typeof(TestClass[]));
}
public override object ReadJson(JsonReader reader, Type objectType, object existingValue, JsonSerializer serializer)
{
JArray table = JArray.Load(reader);
TestClass[] items = new TestClass[table.Count - 1];
for (int i = 1; i < table.Count; i++)
{
JArray row = (JArray)table[i];
items[i - 1] = new TestClass
{
AGE = (string)row[0],
POP = (string)row[1],
SEX = (string)row[2],
DATE = (string)row[3],
us = (string)row[4]
};
}
return items;
}
public override bool CanWrite
{
get { return false; }
}
public override void WriteJson(JsonWriter writer, object value, JsonSerializer serializer)
{
throw new NotImplementedException();
}
}
And here is how you would use it:
var test2 = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<TestClass[]>(jsonStr, new TestClassArrayConverter());
Fiddle: https://dotnetfiddle.net/68Q0KT

You have to do the processing on your own, as there is no way the json deserializer can know, how to put the values into the respecitve variables.
If you know, this will be exactly this structure, you could for instance add an appropriate constructor
public TestClass(string[] values) {
AGE = values[0];
...
}
to your class. Then serialize your result to array of arrays of string and then pass the inner arrays to your constructor.
var t1 = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<string[][]>(jsonStr);
//skip the first entry, as this contains the headers
var t2 = t1.Skip(1).Select(x=> new TestClass(x));
If your structure varies, you'll have to write some more complicated mapping code.

You will have to do some custom mapping as your Json does not have any naming conventions so you will have to work with the data in array and index formats. This will work:
var jsonStr = "[[\"AGE\",\"POP\",\"SEX\",\"DATE\",\"us\"], [\"0\",\"3948350\",\"0\",\"7\",\"1\"], [\"1\",\"3962123\",\"0\",\"7\",\"1\"], [\"2\",\"3957772\",\"0\",\"7\",\"1\"], [\"3\",\"4005190\",\"0\",\"7\",\"1\"], [\"4\",\"4003448\",\"0\",\"7\",\"1\"], [\"5\",\"4004858\",\"0\",\"7\",\"1\"], [\"6\",\"4134352\",\"0\",\"7\",\"1\"], [\"7\",\"4154000\",\"0\",\"7\",\"1\"]]";
var test2 = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<string[][]>(jsonStr);
var test3 = test2.Select(x => new TestClass()
{
AGE = x[0].ToString(),
POP = x[1].ToString(),
SEX = x[2].ToString(),
DATE = x[3].ToString(),
us = x[4].ToString()
}).ToList();

//test Case
using Microsoft.VisualStudio.TestTools.UnitTesting;
using System.Collections.Generic;
namespace ApiController.Test
{
[TestClass]
public class DownloadIrregularJsonStringObjects
{
string ApiKey => "YourPersonalCensusKey";
/// <summary>
/// You have to get your own ApiKey from the Census Website
/// </summary>
[TestMethod]
public void TestGetItem()
{
string url = $"http://api.census.gov/data/timeseries/healthins/sahie?get=NIC_PT,NAME,NUI_PT&for=county:*&in=state:*&time=2015&key={YourPersonalCensusKey}";
string expected = "Autauga County, AL";
IList<HealthData> actual = ApiController.DownloadIrregularJsonStringObjects.GetCensusHealthData(url);
Assert.AreEqual(actual[0].NAME, expected);
}
}
}
///Actual Assembly
using Newtonsoft.Json;
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Net;
namespace ApiController
{
public class DownloadIrregularJsonStringObjects
{
public static IList<HealthData> GetCensusHealthData(string url)
{
var json = GetData(url);
var rawData = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<string[][]>(json);
var headerRow = rawData.First();
var nic_pt_Index = Array.IndexOf(headerRow, "NIC_PT");
var name_Index = Array.IndexOf(headerRow, "NAME");
var nui_pt_Index = Array.IndexOf(headerRow, "NUI_PT");
IList<HealthData> retVal = new List<HealthData>();
foreach (var r in rawData.Skip(1))
{
HealthData dataRow = new HealthData();
dataRow.NIC_PT = r[nic_pt_Index];
dataRow.NAME = r[name_Index];
dataRow.NUI_PT = r[nui_pt_Index];
retVal.Add(dataRow);
}
return retVal;
}
private static string GetData(string url)
{
using (var w = new WebClient())
{
var jsonData = string.Empty;
jsonData = w.DownloadString(url);
return jsonData;
}
}
}
public class HealthData
{
public string NIC_PT { get; set; }
public string NAME { get; set; }
public string NUI_PT { get; set; }
}
}