asked on

Compare array list to a string, asp.net, c#

Hi,

I have the following code

while (rdrEUrls.Read())
{
string requrls = rdrEUrls["requrl"].ToString();
GetalldUrlsFromDase.Add(requrl);

}

where GetalldUrlsFromDase is an array list

what i want to do is i have a string called X which has a value I want to loop through the whole array list and check if the value of x is in the array list. if it is then do nothing if it isnt then lbltext="Something there"

please help.

Thanks.

R8VI

angus_young_acdc

Try this (assuming your arraylist is full of strings, if not just do .To.String())

            string X = "The string you want to check for";
            foreach (string obj in myArrayListName)
            {
                if (X == obj)
                {
                    // do whatever processing you wish
                }
            }

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Avodah

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Avodah

First two lines now included

ArrayList alst = new ArrayList();
string X = "a string";
 
// Option 1
int index = alst.BinarySearch(X, delegate(object a, object b) { return String.Compare(a, b, true); });
 
if (index < 0)
{
    lbltext="Something there"
}
 
// Option 2
bool found = false;
foreach(string item in alst)
{
    if (String.Compare(X, item, true) == 0)
    {
        found = true;
        break;
    }
}
 
if (!found)
{
    lbltext="Something there"
}

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Göran Andersson

Don't use ArrayList at all, it's practically obsolete. Use a generic list of strings:

List<string> urls = new List<string>();
while (rdrEUrls.Read()) {
string requrls = rdrEUrls["requrl"].ToString();
urls.Add(requrl);
}

Now you don't have to loop through the list yourself to look for a value, there are ready made methods for that:

if (!urls.Contains(X)) {
lbltext="Something there"
}

If you are doing a lot of lookups in the list, you could use a dictionary instead, as it's a lot faster to look for a key in a dictionary:

Dictionary<string,int> urls = new Dictionary<string,int>();
while (rdrEUrls.Read()) {
string requrls = rdrEUrls["requrl"].ToString();
if (!url.ContainsKey(requrl)) {
urls.Add(requrl, 0);
}
}

Now checking for a string is practically instant, even if you would have a million strings in the dictionary.

if (!urls.ContainsKey(X)) {
lbltext="Something there"
}