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Simplest method to prove that the contents of two lists (containing objects) are equal

I am having a bit of a frustrating time finding a simple method to compare and prove that the contents of two lists are equal. I have looked at a number of solutions on stackoverflow but I have not been successful. Some of the solutions look like they will require a large amount of work to implement and do something that on the face of it to my mind should be simpler, but perhaps I am too simple to realize that this cannot be done simply :)
I have created a fiddle with some detail that can be viewed here: https://dotnetfiddle.net/cvQr5d
Alternatively please find the full example below, I am having trouble with the object comparison method (variable finalResult) as it's returning false and if the content were being compared I would expect the value to be true:
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
public class ResponseExample
{
public Guid Id { get; set; } = Guid.Parse("00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000");
public int Value { get; set; } = 0;
public string Initials { get; set; } = "J";
public string FirstName { get; set; } = "Joe";
public string Surname { get; set; } = "Blogs";
public string CellPhone { get; set; } = "0923232199";
public bool EmailVerified { get; set; } = false;
public bool CellPhoneVerified { get; set; } = true;
}
public class Program
{
public static void Main()
{
var responseOne = new ResponseExample();
var responseTwo = new ResponseExample();
var responseThree = new ResponseExample();
var responseFour = new ResponseExample();
List<ResponseExample> objectListOne = new List<ResponseExample>();
objectListOne.Add(responseOne);
objectListOne.Add(responseTwo);
List<ResponseExample> objectListTwo = new List<ResponseExample>();
objectListTwo.Add(responseThree);
objectListTwo.Add(responseFour);
bool result = objectListOne.Count == objectListTwo.Count();
Console.WriteLine($"Count: {result}");
bool finalResult = ScrambledEquals<ResponseExample>(objectListOne, objectListTwo);
Console.WriteLine($"Object compare: {finalResult}");
}
//https://stackoverflow.com/a/3670089/3324415
public static bool ScrambledEquals<T>(IEnumerable<T> list1, IEnumerable<T> list2)
{
var cnt = new Dictionary<T,
int>();
foreach (T s in list1)
{
if (cnt.ContainsKey(s))
{
cnt[s]++;
}
else
{
cnt.Add(s, 1);
}
}
foreach (T s in list2)
{
if (cnt.ContainsKey(s))
{
cnt[s]--;
}
else
{
return false;
}
}
return cnt.Values.All(c => c == 0);
}
}

As people in comments have pointed out this will not work as comparing a complex type by default compares whether the reference is the same. Field by field comparison will not work without implementing equality methods (and then you would need to overload GetHashCode and so on). See https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/api/system.object.equals?view=net-5.0
However, if you can use c# 9, which is what you have in the fiddle you can define the type as a record instead of class. Records have built in field by field comparison. See https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/csharp/whats-new/tutorials/records#characteristics-of-records
So public class ResponseExample would become public record ResponseExample and your code works as you expect.

Use Enumerable.All<TSource>(IEnumerable<TSource>, Func<TSource,Boolean>) Method which Determines whether all elements of a sequence satisfy a condition.
Once you have initilized your two List
list1.All(x=>list2.Contains(x))
This works by ensuring that all elements in list2 are containted in list1 otherwise returns false

Your method as is will compare if the 2 lists contain the same objects. So it is returning false as there are 4 different objects. If you create your list like this, using the same objects, it will return true:
List<ResponseExample> objectListOne = new List<ResponseExample>();
objectListOne.Add(responseOne);
objectListOne.Add(responseTwo);
List<ResponseExample> objectListTwo = new List<ResponseExample>();
objectListTwo.Add(responseTwo);
objectListTwo.Add(responseOne);
To get a true value when the contents of the objects are the same you could serialize the objects into a json string like this:
public static bool ScrambledEquals<T>(IEnumerable<T> list1, IEnumerable<T> list2)
{
JavaScriptSerializer json = new JavaScriptSerializer();
var cnt = new Dictionary<string,
int>();
foreach (T _s in list1)
{
string s = json.Serialize(_s);
if (cnt.ContainsKey(s))
{
cnt[s]++;
}
else
{
cnt.Add(s, 1);
}
}
foreach (T _s in list2)
{
string s = json.Serialize(_s);
if (cnt.ContainsKey(s))
{
cnt[s]--;
}
else
{
return false;
}
}
return cnt.Values.All(c => c == 0);
}

If the performance is not a big deal, you can use Newtonsoft.Json. We will be able to compare different types of objects as well as run a deep equals check.
First install the package:
Install-Package Newtonsoft.Json
Here is the code snip:
public static bool DeepEqualsUsingJson<T>(IList<T> l1, IList<T> l2)
{
if (ReferenceEquals(l1, l2))
return true;
if (ReferenceEquals(l2, null))
return false;
if (l1.Count != l2.Count)
return false;
var l1JObject = l1.Select(i => JObject.FromObject(i)).ToList();
var l2JObject = l2.Select(i => JObject.FromObject(i)).ToList();
foreach (var o1 in l1JObject)
{
var index = l2JObject.FindIndex(o2 => JToken.DeepEquals(o1, o2));
if (index == -1)
return false;
l2JObject.RemoveAt(index);
}
return l2JObject.Count == 0;
}

Checking list for custom object

If you have made a list of Custom objects is it a must to have to do with Hashcodes if you wanna check that list to see if it contains a object before adding it, I mean so that you do not get duplicates in the list or is there an easier way basically I want to use the contains method on a custom object list to see if the object I want to add already exists in the list and if there then is an easier way then to have to deal with hashcodes?
This is my code:
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using DataConverter.Objects;
namespace DataConverter.Converters
{
class CategoryConverter
{
private Category category;
private SubCategory subCategory;
private ExcellObj excellObj;
public CategoryConverter(string path)
{
excellObj = new ExcellObj(path);
}
public List<Category> getCategoryListExcel()
{
List<Category> categories = new List<Category>();
List<string> ColumnNames = new List<string> { "Group1", "Group1Descr" };
List<int> CorrectColumn = new List<int>();
for(int i = 0; i < ColumnNames.Count; i++)
{
CorrectColumn.Add(excellObj.findColumn(ColumnNames[i]));
}
for(int i = 2; i < excellObj.allRows; i++)
{
categories.Add(category = new Category(excellObj.getValuesFromCell(i, CorrectColumn[1]), excellObj.getValuesFromCell(i, CorrectColumn[0]), "Home"));
}
return categories;
}
public List<List<SubCategory>> getSubCategory()
{
List<SubCategory> subCategories1 = new List<SubCategory>();
List<SubCategory> subCategories2 = new List<SubCategory>();
List<List<SubCategory>> subCategoriesList = new List<List<SubCategory>>();
List<string> ColumnNamesSubCategory1 = new List<string> { "Group2", "Group2Descr" };
List<string> ColumnNamesSubCategory2 = new List<string> { "Group3", "Group3Desc" };
List<int> CorrectColumn1 = new List<int>();
List<int> CorrectColumn2 = new List<int>();
for(int i = 0; i < ColumnNamesSubCategory1.Count; i++)
{
CorrectColumn1.Add(excellObj.findColumn(ColumnNamesSubCategory1[i]));
CorrectColumn2.Add(excellObj.findColumn(ColumnNamesSubCategory2[i]));
}
for(int i = 1; i < excellObj.allRows; i++)
{
subCategories1.Add(subCategory = new SubCategory(excellObj.getValuesFromCell(i, CorrectColumn1[1]),excellObj.getValuesFromCell(i,CorrectColumn1[0]), "Home"));
subCategories2.Add(subCategory = new SubCategory(excellObj.getValuesFromCell(i,CorrectColumn2[1]), excellObj.getValuesFromCell(i,CorrectColumn2[0]), "Home"));
}
subCategoriesList.Add(subCategories1);
subCategoriesList.Add(subCategories2);
return subCategoriesList;
}
public void finnishedUsingExcel()
{
excellObj.CloseApplication();
}
}
}
and what i whant to happen is that i whant to run a
if(categories.Contains(category) == false){
categories.add(category)
}
i do not understand this part in the documentation?
public Person(string lastName, string ssn)
{
if (Regex.IsMatch(ssn, #"\d{9}"))
uniqueSsn = $"{ssn.Substring(0, 3)}-{ssn.Substring(3, 2)}-{ssn.Substring(5, 4)}";
else if (Regex.IsMatch(ssn, #"\d{3}-\d{2}-\d{4}"))
uniqueSsn = ssn;
else
throw new FormatException("The social security number has an invalid format.");
this.LastName = lastName;
}

Assuming you have a code like this:
List<CustomObject> listOfCustomObjects = new List<CustomObject>();
Solution 1
If so, you can use listOfCustomObjects.Contains(customObject) to find out if customObject is in listOfCustomObjects. You should add using System.Linq; to the top of your code in order to use this method.
Solution 2
Another way to not have duplicates in your list is basically not using a List. You can use HashSet instead. With this method, duplicate objects won't be added to your list automatically. HashSet is also in LINQ Library, so you should add the line using System.Linq; for this solution too. Here's an example how to create a new HashSet with your CustomObject class:
HashSet<CustomObject> setOfCustomObjects = new HashSet<CustomObject>();

You really should have your class implement IEquatable if it's reasonable to do so and you're going to check for equality with any frequency, just so it does not bite you. The "Contains" method will work, but only to test that the exact same instance is present, not necessarily one that just shares matching properties. Consider the following code:
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
var classInstance = new MySampleClass("testA", "testB");
var classList = new List<MySampleClass>();
classList.Add(classInstance);
if (classList.Contains(new MySampleClass("testA", "testB")))
{
Console.WriteLine("true");
}
else
{
Console.WriteLine("false");
}
if (classList.Contains(classInstance))
{
Console.WriteLine("true");
}
else
{
Console.WriteLine("false");
}
}
}
public class MySampleClass
{
public string SampleProperty1 { get; set; }
public string SampleProperty2 { get; set; }
public MySampleClass(string sampleProperty1, string sampleProperty2)
{
SampleProperty1 = sampleProperty1;
SampleProperty2 = sampleProperty2;
}
}
Even though we're checking for the presence of the class that has the exact same values as the one we previously added, they're still separate instances and you'll end up with duplicates in your list.
An alternative in the very limited case would be to use a LINQ method to check whether the list already contains an entry with a property that can be compared, such as an int ID or something:
yourList.Any(item => item.Id.Equals(otherItem.Id));
Again, if it's more than a one off, implement it the right way with IEquatable. See Microsoft's documentation

How to override ToString method for List of Lists

I'm pretty new with C# and I'm stuck on one university exercise. I have to sort some elements and them display them by overriden method ToString. And override is problem there. List works with ToString, List of Lists not.
Untill now I've tried to create some easy foreach and put it into overriden method, still, without success. It works only out of method. Asked my professor and he told me, it's because I'm acessing List, not Lista1, or something like that. Like I've said, I'm newbie.
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
namespace lista_7
{
class Lista
{
public static Random rand = new Random();
public List<int> nums = new List<int> ();
public Lista(int n)
{
for (int i = 0; i <= n; i++)
{
nums.Add(rand.Next(100));
}
}
public Lista()
{
Random rand = new Random();
for (int i = 0; i <= rand.Next(5); i++)
{
nums.Add(rand.Next(100));
}
}
public override string ToString()
{
String result = "";
foreach (var numbers in nums)
{
result += numbers + " ";
}
return result;
}
}
class Lista1 : Lista, IComparable<Lista1>
{
public Lista1(int n) : base(n) { }
public Lista1() : base() { }
public int CompareTo(Lista1 x)
{
if (x == this) return 0;
else if (x == null) return 1;
for (int i = 0; i < this.nums.Count && i < x.nums.Count; i++)
{
if (this.nums[i] > x.nums[i]) return 1;
else if (this.nums[i] < x.nums[i]) return -1;
}
return x.nums.Count > this.nums.Count ? -1 : 1;
}
}
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
List<Lista1> fir = new List<Lista1> {
new Lista1(5),
new Lista1(),
new Lista1(3)
};
foreach (var variable in fir)
{
//Console.Write ( toString )
foreach (var x in variable.nums)
{
Console.Write(x + " ");
}
Console.WriteLine();
}
Console.WriteLine(fir.ToString());
Console.ReadLine();
}
}
}
I would describe errors, but I dont have any. fir.ToString shows System.Collections.Generic.List`1[lista_7.Lista1]

Put your fir.ToString() inside your loop as variable.ToString():
foreach (var variable in fir)
{
Console.WriteLine(variable.ToString());
}
I'm not sure it's a good idea to override ToString() method, I'd rather create an extension method for this, but that's about how it should work.

From the comments, he's requiring you to inherit from a list and override its ToString() method, and then inherit from a list of that list and override its ToString() method.
First, the inner list (for lack of a better term):
public class InnerList : List<int>
{
public override string ToString()
{
// return the contents of the list somehow formatted as strings.
return string.Join(" ", this);
}
}
Next, a list of that list:
public class OuterList : List<InnerList>
{
public override string ToString()
{
var result = new StringBuilder();
ForEach(inner =>
{
if (inner != null) result.AppendLine(inner.ToString());
});
return result.ToString();
}
}
The ToString() method of the outer list works by calling the ToString() method of all of the lists it contains.
I'm obviously making up what goes in the overridden methods. But this is how you would override them according to the requirements you specified. In "real life" this wouldn't make any sense. We might declare a List<List<int>> without creating any new classes, and then write code to render it as a string. We could write code to render the same List<List<int>> two different ways. If we do this by overriding ToString() it suggests that we would create different inherited classes to format the numbers differently.
(Some courses tend to over-emphasize inheritance. It's useful, but they make it seem like it's the answer to everything.)
Note that there's also no need for either list to populate itself. That just makes it more confusing. You can write separate code to add numbers to it.

c#: collections with unique elements

Is there a collection in C# that guarantees me that I will have only unique elements? I've read about HashSet, but this collection can contain duplicates. Here is my code:
public class Bean
{
public string Name { get; set; }
public int Id { get; set; }
public override bool Equals(object obj)
{
var bean = obj as Bean;
if (bean == null)
{
return false;
}
return this.Name.Equals(bean.Name) && this.Id == bean.Id;
}
public override int GetHashCode()
{
return Name.GetHashCode() * this.Id.GetHashCode();
}
}
You may complain about using non-readonly properties in my GetHashCode method, but this is a way of doing (not the right one).
HashSet<Bean> set = new HashSet<Bean>();
Bean b1 = new Bean {Name = "n", Id = 1};
Bean b2 = new Bean {Name = "n", Id = 2};
set.Add(b1);
set.Add(b2);
b2.Id = 1;
var elements = set.ToList();
var elem1 = elements[0];
var elem2 = elements[1];
if (elem1.Equals(elem2))
{
Console.WriteLine("elements are equal");
}
And in this case, my set contains duplicates.
So is there a collection in C# that guarantees me that it does not contains duplicates?

So is there a collection in C# that guarantees me that it does not
contains duplicates?
There is no existing collection class in C# that does this. You could write your own, but there is no existing one.
Some extra information regarding the issue you are experiencing
If you change a HashSet entry after adding it to the HashSet, then you need to regenerate the HashSet. My below RegenerateHashSet can be used to do that.
The reason you need to regenerate is that duplicate detection only occurs at insertion time (or, in other words, it relies on you not changing an object after you insert it). Which makes sense, if you think about it. The HashSet has no way to detect that an object it contains has changed.
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
namespace Test
{
public static class HashSetExtensions
{
public static HashSet<T> RegenerateHashSet<T>(this HashSet<T> original)
{
return new HashSet<T>(original, original.Comparer);
}
}
public class Bean
{
public string Name { get; set; }
public int Id { get; set; }
public override bool Equals(object obj)
{
var bean = obj as Bean;
if (bean == null)
{
return false;
}
return Name.Equals(bean.Name) && Id == bean.Id;
}
public override int GetHashCode()
{
return Name.GetHashCode() * Id.GetHashCode();
}
}
public class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
HashSet<Bean> set = new HashSet<Bean>();
Bean b1 = new Bean { Name = "n", Id = 1 };
Bean b2 = new Bean { Name = "n", Id = 2 };
set.Add(b1);
set.Add(b2);
b2.Id = 1;
var elements = set.ToList();
var elem1 = elements[0];
var elem2 = elements[1];
if (elem1.Equals(elem2))
{
Console.WriteLine("elements are equal");
}
Console.WriteLine(set.Count);
set = set.RegenerateHashSet();
Console.WriteLine(set.Count);
Console.ReadLine();
}
}
}
Note that the above technique is not bullet-proof - if you add two objects (Object A and Object B) which are duplicates and then change Object B to be different to Object A then the HashSet will still only have one entry in it (since Object B was never added). As such, what you probably want to do is actually store your complete list in a List instead, and then use new HashSet<T>(yourList) whenever you want unique entries. The below class may assist you if you decide to go down that route.
public class RecalculatingHashSet<T>
{
private List<T> originalValues = new List<T>();
public HashSet<T> GetUnique()
{
return new HashSet<T>(originalValues);
}
public void Add(T item)
{
originalValues.Add(item);
}
}

If you don't write your own collection type and handle property changed events to re-evaluate the items, you need to re-evaluate the items at each access. This can be accomplished with LINQ deferred execution:
ICollection<Bean> items= new List<Bean>();
IEnumerable<Bean> reader = items.Distinct();
Rule: only use items to insert or remove elements, use reader for any read access.
Bean b1 = new Bean { Name = "n", Id = 1 };
Bean b2 = new Bean { Name = "n", Id = 2 };
items.Add(b1);
items.Add(b2);
b2.Id = 1;
var elements = reader.ToList();
var elem1 = elements[0];
var elem2 = elements[1]; // throws exception because there is only one element in the result list.

Am I using the LINQ .OfType() operator correctly?

public class Stock
{
}
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
ObjectCache cache = MemoryCache.Default;
cache["test"] = new Stock();
var x = cache.OfType<Stock>().ToList();
}
}
This is returning empty ...I thought OfType is supposed to return all instances in a collection of type T ?
Just to rule out the ObjectCache as a possible culprit I also tried
List<object> lstTest = new List<object>();
lstTest.Add(new Stock());
var y = lstTest.OfType<Stock>().ToList();
This works however - so it seems like the problem is with the ObjectCache, which is an instance of a Dictionary underneath
SOLUTION
cache.Select(item => item.Value).OfType<T>().ToList()
Thanks Alexei!

MemoryChache returns enumerator of KeyValuePair<string,Object>, not just values: MemoryChache.GetEnumerator().
You need to case accordingly to get your items. Something like:
var y = cache.Select(item => item.Value).OfType<Stock>();

This would work
cache.GetValues(new string[] {"test"}).Values.OfType<Order>()
But I don't think you should use this.
Cache works like a Dictionary...so you can get set of KeyValuePairs with GetValues

This worked for me.
public class Stock
{
public Stock()
{
Name = "Erin";
}
public string Name { get; set; }
}
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
System.Collections.ArrayList fruits = new System.Collections.ArrayList(4);
fruits.Add("Mango");
fruits.Add("Orange");
fruits.Add("Apple");
fruits.Add(3.0);
fruits.Add("Banana");
fruits.Add(new Stock());
// Apply OfType() to the ArrayList.
var query1 = fruits.OfType<Stock>();
Console.WriteLine("Elements of type 'stock' are:");
foreach (var fruit in query1)
{
Console.WriteLine(fruit);
}
}
}
Remember IEnumerable is lazily evaluated. Use a foreach to loop through query1 and you will see it only find the Stock object.

Yeah. Sorry myself. ObjectCache is a IEnumerable>
Not really an IDictionary.
This works:
var c = cache.Select(o => o.Value).OfType<Stock>().ToList();