When using IEnumerable I'm trying to avoid multiple enumerations. I know I can just use LINQ's .ToList() and be done with it, but that can be a lot of unnecessary list creation. I'd like to:
check and see if the underlying type is a List, and if so return that instance, otherwise
.ToList() it and return the new List
My thought was to use something akin to:
public void Fee()
{
var list = new List<string>(); // I want to retrieve this instance in Foo
Foo(list);
}
public void Foo(IEnumerable<T> enumerable)
{
var list = enumerable as List<T> ?? enumerable.ToList();
// do stuff with original list
}
... but it appears from the documentation that the as operator just performs a cast, which would create a new List rather than returning the underlying one, would it not?
If so, how can I retrieve the underlying list instead of creating a new one?
The as operator does not create a new list. It only checks type and perform cast if type is compatible.
The code in the post is logically correct and matches how many LINQ methods are implemented (for example see source of Enumerable.Count which casts to ICollection to see if it can skip enumeration of items).
Note that it is important to cast to correct generic version of list or maybe one of its interfaces - IList would work if you must use non-generic version. Beware of the fact that List<T> is not co/contra-variant and type must match exactly unlike in case of covariant IEnumerable<out T> where you can cast parameter to IEnumerable<TBase> if IEnumerable<TDerived> passed.
Maybe you wanted to do this:
public void Fee()
{
var list = new List<string>(); // I want to retrieve this instance in Foo
Foo(list);
}
public void Foo<T>(IEnumerable<T> enumerable)
{
List<T> list = enumerable as List<T> ?? enumerable.ToList();
// do stuff with original list
}
I have the following code:
public IList<MyObject> GetSomeData(string inputParam)
{
var temp = repository.GetData(inputParam);
var list = temp as List<MyObject>;
return list;
}
The return value of repository.GetData is IEnumerable<IMyObject>
When I look at the value of temp, it has 400+ records. The moment I cast it to list, it becomes null. Why is this cast not possible?
It returns null because that IEnumerable isn't actually a list. The cast will only succeed if that particularly IEnumerable happens to be a List, instead of some other type of sequence. If you want to have a list, you will need to create a new list and add the items from the sequence into that list.
Unless the underlying object of the value returned from repository.GetData matches what you are trying to cast it to then the result will always be null. Because the generic element types of the method and what is actually return from repository.GetData are different you will need to do some conversions to get the desired result
Assuming that MyObject implements IMyObject I can think of at least to ways using System.Linq to get the result you seek.
Option 1: Cast<T>()
Casts the elements of an System.Collections.IEnumerable to the specified type.
First convert the content of temp using the Cast<MyObject>() linq extension and then use the ToList<T>() extension method to get you resulting IList<MyObject>
public IList<MyObject> GetSomeData(string inputParam)
{
//repository.GetData returns IEnumerable<IMyObject>
var temp = repository.GetData(inputParam);
var list = temp.Cast<MyObject>().ToList();
return list;
}
Option 2: OfType<T>()
Filters the elements of an System.Collections.IEnumerable based on a specified type.
Filter the content of temp using the OfType<MyObject>() linq extension and then use the ToList<MyObject>() extension method to get you resulting IList<MyObject>
public IList<MyObject> GetSomeData(string inputParam)
{
//repository.GetData returns IEnumerable<IMyObject>
var temp = repository.GetData(inputParam);
var list = temp.OfType<MyObject>().ToList();
return list;
}
I need to cast List with references to base type to list with references to derived type. I can't use LINQ ToList, because it creates new list and this is slow for me. Is there in C# some quick cast, maybe like in C++. Thanks.
You can't do that. And there is a reason for it. Consider the following.
List<Animal> animals = new List<Cat>();
animals.Add(new Dog());
You lose the type safety of the List<T> here, this is why List is not covariant on T. What you can do is cast it to IEnumerable<X>, because IEnumerable only supports getting an element and this is why IEnumerable is covariant on its type parameter.
You don't need to create a new list if you want to just iterate the elements, without changing anything about the list itselft.
Do you actually need a new list? Can you use LINQ OfType<T>() or Cast<T>()?
var baseList = new List<BaseType>();
var derivedItems = baseList.OfType<DerivedType>();
Have you tried:
List<Y> listY = new List<Y>()
var listX = ListY.Select(y => new X(y));
This will create an IEnumerable<X> that you can enumerate
LINQ Cast() is going to be you friend here. However, be wary: if you have anything not castable, this code is going to crash.
List<object> newList= new List<Object>();
newList.Add("SomeString");
foreach( string s in newList.Cast<string>())
{
//Do something
}
You can't cast one type to another without creating something new.
Hence, the only option you have is to create a new list, or have something that can iterate over the existing list and acts like a type of another. You could implement your own enumerator, or simply create a method returning a IEnumerable<TypeY> and yield return inside (which kind of create an enumerator).
public IEnumerable<TypeY> Convert(IEnumerable<TypeX> listX)
{
foreach (TypeX x in listX)
{
yield return ConvertXToY(x);
}
}
How can I sort a list of list?
persons.OrderBy(p => p.rate).ToList();
The list of list (persons) is declared like this:
public class Persons : List<Person> { }
When I'm trying to run the first statement I get an error:
Cannot convert from 'System.Collections.Generic.List' to
'Persons'
Is there a way to do this using LINQ?
Just because it inherits from a list doesn't mean you can use it like one.
Remember for everything else to see it as a list use interfaces (IList<T>). Then methods depending on IEnumerable, IList, ICollection, etc. can see that it's something it can deal with.
Otherwise, whose to say your Add() (As defined by IList) method isn't named AddPerson in your class?
You can achive it with that statement:
var persons = new Persons ();
persons.AddRange(persons.OrderBy(p => p.rate));
If you want to order all persons in all lists and huddle up them into one list:
var persons = new System.Collections.Generic.List<Persons>();
var trio = new Persons() { new Person(7), new Person(3), new Person(8) };
var pair = new Persons() { new Person(1), new Person(2) };
persons.Add(trio);
persons.Add(pair);
var ordered = persons.SelectMany(p => p).OrderBy(p => p.rate).ToList();
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.linq.enumerable.selectmany.aspx
To achieve a SortBy behavior, you have to follow these three easy steps:
Store the old items (a. by storing the reference to the old list | b. by copying all entries of the old list into a new one)
Create an empty instance of your container class (a. by creating a new object of the needed type | b. by clearing the old list)
Fill your empty list with the entries while ordering them as you desire.
This little extension method should do the Trick:
public static void SortBy<TList, TItem, TOrder>(this TList source,
Func<TItem, TOrder> sortFunc)
where TList : List<TItem>
{
var l = source.ToList();
source.Clear();
source.AddRange(l.OrderBy(sortFunc));
}
My question as title above. For example
IEnumerable<T> items = new T[]{new T("msg")};
items.ToList().Add(new T("msg2"));
but after all it only has 1 item inside. Can we have a method like items.Add(item) like the List<T>?
You cannot, because IEnumerable<T> does not necessarily represent a collection to which items can be added. In fact, it does not necessarily represent a collection at all! For example:
IEnumerable<string> ReadLines()
{
string s;
do
{
s = Console.ReadLine();
yield return s;
} while (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(s));
}
IEnumerable<string> lines = ReadLines();
lines.Add("foo") // so what is this supposed to do??
What you can do, however, is create a new IEnumerable object (of unspecified type), which, when enumerated, will provide all items of the old one, plus some of your own. You use Enumerable.Concat for that:
items = items.Concat(new[] { "foo" });
This will not change the array object (you cannot insert items into to arrays, anyway). But it will create a new object that will list all items in the array, and then "Foo". Furthermore, that new object will keep track of changes in the array (i.e. whenever you enumerate it, you'll see the current values of items).
The type IEnumerable<T> does not support such operations. The purpose of the IEnumerable<T> interface is to allow a consumer to view the contents of a collection. Not to modify the values.
When you do operations like .ToList().Add() you are creating a new List<T> and adding a value to that list. It has no connection to the original list.
What you can do is use the Add extension method to create a new IEnumerable<T> with the added value.
items = items.Add("msg2");
Even in this case it won't modify the original IEnumerable<T> object. This can be verified by holding a reference to it. For example
var items = new string[]{"foo"};
var temp = items;
items = items.Add("bar");
After this set of operations the variable temp will still only reference an enumerable with a single element "foo" in the set of values while items will reference a different enumerable with values "foo" and "bar".
EDIT
I contstantly forget that Add is not a typical extension method on IEnumerable<T> because it's one of the first ones that I end up defining. Here it is
public static IEnumerable<T> Add<T>(this IEnumerable<T> e, T value) {
foreach ( var cur in e) {
yield return cur;
}
yield return value;
}
Have you considered using ICollection<T> or IList<T> interfaces instead, they exist for the very reason that you want to have an Add method on an IEnumerable<T>.
IEnumerable<T> is used to 'mark' a type as being...well, enumerable or just a sequence of items without necessarily making any guarantees of whether the real underlying object supports adding/removing of items. Also remember that these interfaces implement IEnumerable<T> so you get all the extensions methods that you get with IEnumerable<T> as well.
In .net Core, there is a method Enumerable.Append that does exactly that.
The source code of the method is available on GitHub..... The implementation (more sophisticated than the suggestions in other answers) is worth a look :).
A couple short, sweet extension methods on IEnumerable and IEnumerable<T> do it for me:
public static IEnumerable Append(this IEnumerable first, params object[] second)
{
return first.OfType<object>().Concat(second);
}
public static IEnumerable<T> Append<T>(this IEnumerable<T> first, params T[] second)
{
return first.Concat(second);
}
public static IEnumerable Prepend(this IEnumerable first, params object[] second)
{
return second.Concat(first.OfType<object>());
}
public static IEnumerable<T> Prepend<T>(this IEnumerable<T> first, params T[] second)
{
return second.Concat(first);
}
Elegant (well, except for the non-generic versions). Too bad these methods are not in the BCL.
No, the IEnumerable doesn't support adding items to it. The alternative solution is
var myList = new List(items);
myList.Add(otherItem);
To add second message you need to -
IEnumerable<T> items = new T[]{new T("msg")};
items = items.Concat(new[] {new T("msg2")})
I just come here to say that, aside from Enumerable.Concat extension method, there seems to be another method named Enumerable.Append in .NET Core 1.1.1. The latter allows you to concatenate a single item to an existing sequence. So Aamol's answer can also be written as
IEnumerable<T> items = new T[]{new T("msg")};
items = items.Append(new T("msg2"));
Still, please note that this function will not change the input sequence, it just return a wrapper that put the given sequence and the appended item together.
Not only can you not add items like you state, but if you add an item to a List<T> (or pretty much any other non-read only collection) that you have an existing enumerator for, the enumerator is invalidated (throws InvalidOperationException from then on).
If you are aggregating results from some type of data query, you can use the Concat extension method:
Edit: I originally used the Union extension in the example, which is not really correct. My application uses it extensively to make sure overlapping queries don't duplicate results.
IEnumerable<T> itemsA = ...;
IEnumerable<T> itemsB = ...;
IEnumerable<T> itemsC = ...;
return itemsA.Concat(itemsB).Concat(itemsC);
Others have already given great explanations regarding why you can not (and should not!) be able to add items to an IEnumerable. I will only add that if you are looking to continue coding to an interface that represents a collection and want an add method, you should code to ICollection or IList. As an added bonanza, these interfaces implement IEnumerable.
you can do this.
//Create IEnumerable
IEnumerable<T> items = new T[]{new T("msg")};
//Convert to list.
List<T> list = items.ToList();
//Add new item to list.
list.add(new T("msg2"));
//Cast list to IEnumerable
items = (IEnumerable<T>)items;
Easyest way to do that is simply
IEnumerable<T> items = new T[]{new T("msg")};
List<string> itemsList = new List<string>();
itemsList.AddRange(items.Select(y => y.ToString()));
itemsList.Add("msg2");
Then you can return list as IEnumerable also because it implements IEnumerable interface
Instances implementing IEnumerable and IEnumerator (returned from IEnumerable) don't have any APIs that allow altering collection, the interface give read-only APIs.
The 2 ways to actually alter the collection:
If the instance happens to be some collection with write API (e.g. List) you can try casting to this type:
IList<string> list = enumerableInstance as IList<string>;
Create a list from IEnumerable (e.g. via LINQ extension method toList():
var list = enumerableInstance.toList();
IEnumerable items = Enumerable.Empty(T);
List somevalues = new List();
items.ToList().Add(someValues);
items.ToList().AddRange(someValues);
Sorry for reviving really old question but as it is listed among first google search results I assume that some people keep landing here.
Among a lot of answers, some of them really valuable and well explained, I would like to add a different point of vue as, to me, the problem has not be well identified.
You are declaring a variable which stores data, you need it to be able to change by adding items to it ? So you shouldn't use declare it as IEnumerable.
As proposed by #NightOwl888
For this example, just declare IList instead of IEnumerable: IList items = new T[]{new T("msg")}; items.Add(new T("msg2"));
Trying to bypass the declared interface limitations only shows that you made the wrong choice.
Beyond this, all methods that are proposed to implement things that already exists in other implementations should be deconsidered.
Classes and interfaces that let you add items already exists. Why always recreate things that are already done elsewhere ?
This kind of consideration is a goal of abstracting variables capabilities within interfaces.
TL;DR : IMO these are cleanest ways to do what you need :
// 1st choice : Changing declaration
IList<T> variable = new T[] { };
variable.Add(new T());
// 2nd choice : Changing instantiation, letting the framework taking care of declaration
var variable = new List<T> { };
variable.Add(new T());
When you'll need to use variable as an IEnumerable, you'll be able to. When you'll need to use it as an array, you'll be able to call 'ToArray()', it really always should be that simple. No extension method needed, casts only when really needed, ability to use LinQ on your variable, etc ...
Stop doing weird and/or complex things because you only made a mistake when declaring/instantiating.
Maybe I'm too late but I hope it helps anyone in the future.
You can use the insert function to add an item at a specific index.
list.insert(0, item);
Sure, you can (I am leaving your T-business aside):
public IEnumerable<string> tryAdd(IEnumerable<string> items)
{
List<string> list = items.ToList();
string obj = "";
list.Add(obj);
return list.Select(i => i);
}