Finding words in array? - c#

I'm trying to find words in a List. I have an Array with words to search, I have a string with word to find and I have a List that I'm adding letters.
I want to find words contained in Array search, looking for in List wordsCollected.
How can I do this ?
I'm trying this.
private string[] search = {"CAKE", "COFFEE"}; //words to search
private string wordFind = "CAKE"; //word find
private List<String> wordsCollected = new List<string>(); //add letters
/** add letters - A B C D E F G H .... */
public void addWordsCollected(string p){
if(!wordsCollected.Contains(p)){
wordsCollected.Add(p);
}
}
/** check if wordFind is found */
public bool isWordFound(){
bool found = false;
for (int x = 0; x < wordsCollected.Count; x++){
found = wordsCollected[x].IndexOf(wordFind);
if(found >= 0){
break;
found = true;
}
}
return found;
}
}

One possibility is to use LINQ to look for a specific word inside an array of strings. But what if you instead consider accepting a string array for searching inside that other array of strings, which will give more a general solution (one word to search for, or many).
Here is some code I put up in LinqPad that should be much more compact than the code you listed here, by using LINQ, I have tested it inside LinqPad and if I have understood the problem you want to solve here, it might be a solution:
void Main()
{
string[] search = { "CAKE", "COFFEE", "TEA", "HONEY", "SUGAR", "CINNEMON" };
string[] wordsToFind = { "CAKE", "TEAPOT" };
List<String> wordCollected = search.Where(s => s == wordsToFind[0]).ToList();
wordCollected.Dump();
wordCollected = search.Where(x => wordsToFind.Any(w => w == x)).ToList();
wordCollected.Dump();
}
The code above first searches for the first word "CAKE", while the next code searches for "CAKE" and "TEAPOT", in the array search.
Please note that the Dump method here is an extension method inside LinqPad for displaying the results. If you will use the code outside of LinqPad (which I guess you want), remove the two lines above of course.
Also note that there is a probability that the Any operator is quicker than Contains, since this exits quicker? Am I correct here?

Related

Best way to find if a value is present in the array, and if so execute code

I'm a student and I was wondering what the most efficient way is to check if a certain value is present in a array.
My second attempt:
string value = "pow";
string[] array = new string[] { "pong", "ping", "pow" };
bool valueIsInArray = false;
foreach(var s in array) if (s == value) valueIsInArray = true;
if (valueIsInArray)
{
// code here
}
I've researched and found if I were to use LINQ the code would look like this:
string value = "oink"; // value given to the method
string[] array = new string[] { "oink", "oink", "baboinkadoink" };
if (array.Contains(value))
{
//code here
}
The question is if using LINQ in anyway negatively impacts the speed or consistency of the code, and if there is an even better way to go about doing this?
Use linq Any(), The enumeration of source is stopped as soon as the result can be determined.
string value = "pow";
string[] array = new string[] { "pong", "ping", "pow" };
bool isValuePresent = array.Any(x => x == value);
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb534972(v=vs.110).aspx
As a commenter said, LiNQ won't really trouble you here. The difference is microscopic (even on larger collections). However, if you must use an alternative, use IndexOf. See: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.array.indexof(v=vs.110).aspx
Example:
string value = "oink"; // value given to the method
string[] array = new string[] { "oink", "oink", "baboinkadoink" };
if (Array.IndexOf(array, value) > -1)
{
//code here
}
Although I'm not sure what Contains ends up doing underwater, but they probably make a call to IndexOf aswell.
Willy-nilly you have to scan the array up to the first match (or entire array if there's no match); you can either put foreach loop:
bool valueIsInArray = false;
foreach (var item in array)
if (item == value) {
valueIsInArray = true;
break;
}
use for one:
bool valueIsInArray = false;
foreach (int i = 0; i < array.Length; ++i)
if (array[i] == value) {
valueIsInArray = true;
break;
}
Try Array class:
bool valueIsInArray = array.Contains(value);
Implement the code with a help of Linq:
bool valueIsInArray = array.Any(item => item == value);
The difference of these methods is a question of microseconds (if any); that's why put the version which is the most readable for you. My own choice is array.Contains(value) - let the system work for you and hide unwanted details (e.g. break in the loop)
You shoud have to iterate through the entire array for checking the value.
Either Linq or Conventional looping methods. Or you can use the
Array.Find()
also for the same. Better to go with the Linq and make the code is more simpler.
Happy coding

How to count from a sentence in C# [closed]

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Edit the question to include desired behavior, a specific problem or error, and the shortest code necessary to reproduce the problem. This will help others answer the question.
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So, I am creating a word filter for a game server in C# and basically I am trying to scourer the sentence for banned words and replace them with clean words. I've already done so, but now I'm up to the part where I want to scan the sentence for a list of sentence banned words. I'm hopeless at this bit, and I can't seem to wrap my head around it.
Basically I am CheckSentence(Message) in the ChatManager, and need the following code to count and return continue; if the value is more than 5. So far I have:
public bool CheckSentence(string Message)
{
foreach (WordFilter Filter in this._filteredWords.ToList())
{
if (Message.ToLower().Contains(Filter.Word) && Filter.IsSentence)
{
// count Message, if message contains >5
// from (Message.Contains(Filter.Word))
// continue; else (ignore)
}
}
return false;
}
I'm not too sure if that makes much sense, but I want it to continue; if there are more than 5 Message.Contains(Filter.Word)
public bool CheckSentence(string rawMessage)
{
var lower = rawMessage.ToLower();
var count = 0;
foreach (WordFilter Filter in this._filteredWords.ToList())
{
if (lower.Contains(Filter.Word) && Filter.IsSentence)
{
count++;
}
}
return count >= 5;
}
If this becomes too slow, you may be better of caching the list of filtered words in a HashSet, and iterating over each word in the message, checking if it exists in the HashSet, which would give you O(n) speed, where N is the number of words.
LINQ Version
public bool CheckSentenceLinq(string rawMessage)
{
var lower = rawMessage.ToLower();
return _filteredWords
.Where(x => x.IsSentence)
.Count(x => lower.Contains(x.Word)) >= 5;
}
EDIT 2: LINQ Updated As per #S.C. Comment
By #S.C.
For the linq version, there's no need to count past the first five. return _filteredWords.Where(x => x.IsSentence && lower.Contains(x.Word)).Skip(5).Any();
public bool CheckSentenceLinq(string rawMessage)
{
var lower = rawMessage.ToLower();
return _filteredWords
.Where(x => x.IsSentence)
.Where(x => lower.Contains(x.Word))
.Skip(5)
.Any();
}
ToUpper vs ToLower
As #DevEstacion mentioned and per Microsoft best practices for using string recommendations here it is best to use ToUpperInvariant() for string comparisons rather than ToLowerInvariant().
EDIT:Using Continue
public bool CheckSentenceWithContinue(string rawMessage)
{
var lower = rawMessage.ToLower();
var count = 0;
foreach (WordFilter Filter in this._filteredWords.ToList())
{
if (!Filter.IsSentence)
continue; // Move on to the next filter, as this is not a senetece word filter
if (!lower.Contains(Filter.Word))
continue; // Move on to the next filter, as the message does not contain this word
// If you are here it means filter is a Sentence filter, and the message contains the word, so increment the counter
count++;
}
return count >= 5;
}
I believe someone already posted a correct answer, I'm just here to provide an alternative.
So instead of doing a forloop or foreach, I'll be providing you with Regex solution.
public bool CheckSentence(string rawMessage)
{
/*
The string.Join("|", _filteredWords) will create the pattern for the Regex
the '|' means or so from the list of filtered words, it will look it up on
the raw message and get all matches
*/
return new Regex(string.Join("|", _filteredWords.Where(x => x.IsSentence)),
RegexOptions.IgnoreCase | RegexOptions.Compiled).Match(rawMessage).Length >= 5;
}
Benefits? much shorter, prevents loop and could be faster :)
Don't forget to add these two lines of using declaration on top of the .cs file
using System.Linq;
using System.Text.RegularExpressions;

Method adds not a necessary line to a list when it should not do so

I'm a beginner in c# and I am working with text exercises. I made a method to filter vehicle's plate numbers. It should consist of 3 letters and 3 integers ( AAA:152 ). My method sends the wrong plate numbers to a file, but also it adds that bad number to a good ones list.
private static string[] InvalidPlates(string[] csvLines, int fieldToCorrect)
{
var toReturn = new List<string>();
var toSend = new List<string>();
int wrongCount = 0;
for (int i = 0; i < csvLines.Length; i++)
{
string[] stringFields = csvLines[i].Split(csvSeparator[0]);
string[] values = stringFields[fieldToCorrect].Split(':');
if(Regex.IsMatch(values[0], #"^[a-zA-Z]+$") && Regex.IsMatch(values[1], "^[0-9]+$"))
{
toReturn.Add(string.Join(csvSeparator, stringFields));
}
else
{
toSend.Add(string.Join(csvSeparator, stringFields));
wrongCount++;
}
}
WriteLinesToFile(OutputFile, toSend.ToArray(), wrongCount);
return toReturn.ToArray();
}
Can somebody help me to fix that?
You need to constrain the possible length using quantifiers:
^[a-zA-Z]{3}\:\d{3}$
which literally means the following, in the strict order:
the strings begins from exactly 3 lowercase or uppercase English alphabet letters, continues with semicolon (:), and ends with exactly three digits
Remember that \ should be escaped in C#.
Also, there is no need to join stringFields back into a string, when you can use non-splitted csvLines[i]:
if (Regex.IsMatch(stringFields, #"^[a-zA-Z]{3}\\:\\d{3}$"))
toReturn.Add(csvLines[i]);
}
else
{
toSend.Add(csvLines[i]);
wrongCount++;
}
Another important thing is that your code is incorrect in terms of OOP. It is pretty inobvious that your method called InvalidPlates will save something to a file. It may confuse you after some time or other developers. There should be no "hidden" functionality, and all methods should actually do only the one thing.
Here is how I would do this using LINQ:
private static bool IsACorrectPlate(string p) => Regex.IsMatch(p, #"^[a-zA-Z]{3}\:\d{3}$");
private static void SortPlatesOut(string[] csvLines, int column, out string[] correct, out string[] incorrect)
{
var isCorrect = csvLines
.GroupBy(l => IsACorrectPlate(l.Split(';')[column]))
.ToDictionary(g => g.Key, g => g.ToArray());
correct = isCorrect[true];
incorrect = isCorrect[false];
}
// Usage:
string[] incorrect, correct;
SortPlatesOut(csvLines, 1, out correct, out incorrect);
File.WriteAllLines("", incorrect);
// do whatever you need with correct
Now, SortPlatesOut method has an expectable behavior without side effects. The code has also become two times shorter. At the same time, it looks more readable for me. If it looks non-readable for you, you can unpack LINQ and split some things other things up.

Using LINQ in a string array to improve efficient C#

I have a equation string and when I split it with a my pattern I get the folowing string array.
string[] equationList = {"code1","+","code2","-","code3"};
Then from this I create a list which only contains the codes.
List<string> codeList = {"code1","code2","code3"};
Then existing code loop through the codeList and retrieve the value of each code and replaces the value in the equationList with the below code.
foreach (var code in codeList ){
var codeVal = GetCodeValue(code);
for (var i = 0; i < equationList.Length; i++){
if (!equationList[i].Equals(code,StringComparison.InvariantCultureIgnoreCase)) continue;
equationList[i] = codeVal;
break;
}
}
I am trying to improve the efficiency and I believe I can get rid of the for loop within the foreach by using linq.
My question is would it be any better if I do in terms of speeding up the process?
If yes then can you please help with the linq statement?
Before jumping to LINQ... which doesn't solve any problems you've described, let's look at the logic you have here.
We split a string with a 'pattern'. How?
We then create a new list of codes. How?
We then loop through those codes and decode them. How?
But since we forgot to keep track of where those code came from, we now loop through the equationList (which is an array, not a List<T>) to substitute the results.
Seems a little convoluted to me.
Maybe a simpler solution would be:
Take in a string, and return IEnumerable<string> of words (similar to what you do now).
Take in a IEnumerable<string> of words, and return a IEnumerable<?> of values.
That is to say with this second step iterate over the strings, and simply return the value you want to return - rather than trying to extract certain values out, parsing them, and then inserting them back into a collection.
//Ideally we return something more specific eg, IEnumerable<Tokens>
public IEnumerable<string> ParseEquation(IEnumerable<string> words)
{
foreach (var word in words)
{
if (IsOperator(word)) yield return ToOperator(word);
else if (IsCode(word)) yield return ToCode(word);
else ...;
}
}
This is quite similar to the LINQ Select Statement... if one insisted I would suggest writing something like so:
var tokens = equationList.Select(ToToken);
...
public Token ToToken(string word)
{
if (IsOperator(word)) return ToOperator(word);
else if (IsCode(word)) return ToCode(word);
else ...;
}
If GetCodeValue(code) doesn't already, I suggest it probably could use some sort of caching/dictionary in its implementation - though the specifics dictate this.
The benefits of this approach is that it is flexible (we can easily add more processing steps), simple to follow (we put in these values and get these as a result, no mutating state) and easy to write. It also breaks the problem down into nice little chunks that solve their own task, which will help immensely when trying to refactor, or find niggly bugs/performance issues.
If your array is always alternating codex then operator this LINQ should do what you want:
string[] equationList = { "code1", "+", "code2", "-", "code3" };
var processedList = equationList.Select((s,j) => (j % 2 == 1) ? s :GetCodeValue(s)).ToArray();
You will need to check if it is faster
I think the fastest solution will be this:
var codeCache = new Dictionary<string, string>();
for (var i = equationList.Length - 1; i >= 0; --i)
{
var item = equationList[i];
if (! < item is valid >) // you know this because you created the codeList
continue;
string codeVal;
if (!codeCache.TryGetValue(item, out codeVal))
{
codeVal = GetCodeValue(item);
codeCache.Add(item, codeVal);
}
equationList[i] = codeVal;
}
You don't need a codeList. If every code is unique you can remove the codeCace.

How to search a string in String array

I need to search a string in the string array. I dont want to use any for looping in it
string [] arr = {"One","Two","Three"};
string theString = "One"
I need to check whether theString variable is present in arr.
Well, something is going to have to look, and looping is more efficient than recursion (since tail-end recursion isn't fully implemented)... so if you just don't want to loop yourself, then either of:
bool has = arr.Contains(var); // .NET 3.5
or
bool has = Array.IndexOf(arr, var) >= 0;
For info: avoid names like var - this is a keyword in C# 3.0.
Every method, mentioned earlier does looping either internally or externally, so it is not really important how to implement it. Here another example of finding all references of target string
string [] arr = {"One","Two","Three"};
var target = "One";
var results = Array.FindAll(arr, s => s.Equals(target));
Does it have to be a string[] ? A List<String> would give you what you need.
List<String> testing = new List<String>();
testing.Add("One");
testing.Add("Two");
testing.Add("Three");
testing.Add("Mouse");
bool inList = testing.Contains("Mouse");
bool exists = arr.Contains("One");
I think it is better to use Array.Exists than Array.FindAll.
Its pretty simple. I always use this code to search string from a string array
string[] stringArray = { "text1", "text2", "text3", "text4" };
string value = "text3";
int pos = Array.IndexOf(stringArray, value);
if (pos > -1)
{
return true;
}
else
{
return false;
}
If the array is sorted, you can use BinarySearch. This is a O(log n) operation, so it is faster as looping. If you need to apply multiple searches and speed is a concern, you could sort it (or a copy) before using it.
Each class implementing IList has a method Contains(Object value). And so does System.Array.
Why the prohibition "I don't want to use any looping"? That's the most obvious solution. When given the chance to be obvious, take it!
Note that calls like arr.Contains(...) are still going to loop, it just won't be you who has written the loop.
Have you considered an alternate representation that's more amenable to searching?
A good Set implementation would perform well. (HashSet, TreeSet or the local equivalent).
If you can be sure that arr is sorted, you could use binary search (which would need to recurse or loop, but not as often as a straight linear search).
You can use Find method of Array type. From .NET 3.5 and higher.
public static T Find<T>(
T[] array,
Predicate<T> match
)
Here is some examples:
// we search an array of strings for a name containing the letter “a”:
static void Main()
{
string[] names = { "Rodney", "Jack", "Jill" };
string match = Array.Find (names, ContainsA);
Console.WriteLine (match); // Jack
}
static bool ContainsA (string name) { return name.Contains ("a"); }
Here’s the same code shortened with an anonymous method:
string[] names = { "Rodney", "Jack", "Jill" };
string match = Array.Find (names, delegate (string name)
{ return name.Contains ("a"); } ); // Jack
A lambda expression shortens it further:
string[] names = { "Rodney", "Jack", "Jill" };
string match = Array.Find (names, n => n.Contains ("a")); // Jack
At first shot, I could come up with something like this (but it's pseudo code and assuming you cannot use any .NET built-in libaries). Might require a bit of tweaking and re-thinking, but should be good enough for a head-start, maybe?
int findString(String var, String[] stringArray, int currentIndex, int stringMaxIndex)
{
if currentIndex > stringMaxIndex
return (-stringMaxIndex-1);
else if var==arr[currentIndex] //or use any string comparison op or function
return 0;
else
return findString(var, stringArray, currentIndex++, stringMaxIndex) + 1 ;
}
//calling code
int index = findString(var, arr, 0, getMaxIndex(arr));
if index == -1 printOnScreen("Not found");
else printOnScreen("Found on index: " + index);
In C#, if you can use an ArrayList, you can use the Contains method, which returns a boolean:
if MyArrayList.Contains("One")
You can check the element existence by
arr.Any(x => x == "One")
it is old one ,but this is the way i do it ,
enter code herevar result = Array.Find(names, element => element == "One");
I'm surprised that no one suggested using Array.IndexOf Method.
Indeed, Array.IndexOf has two advantages :
It allows searching if an element is included into an array,
It gets at the same time the index into the array.
int stringIndex = Array.IndexOf(arr, theString);
if (stringIndex >= 0)
{
// theString has been found
}
Inline version :
if (Array.IndexOf(arr, theString) >= 0)
{
// theString has been found
}
Using Contains()
string [] SomeArray = {"One","Two","Three"};
bool IsExist = SomeArray.Contains("One");
Console.WriteLine("Is string exist: "+ IsExist);
Using Find()
string [] SomeArray = {"One","Two","Three"};
var result = Array.Find(SomeArray, element => element == "One");
Console.WriteLine("Required string is: "+ result);
Another simple & traditional way, very useful for beginners to build logic.
string [] SomeArray = {"One","Two","Three"};
foreach (string value in SomeArray) {
if (value == "One") {
Console.WriteLine("Required string is: "+ value);
}
}

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