Status: Solved
Priority: Medium
Security: Public
Views: 278
Last Modified: 2012-05-11

remove duplicate elements from a Generic list

Hello,
I have function that should query a directory and return files that match a pattern. However, the list contain duplicate elements. How do I remove duplicate element from list<string>

e,g searchPattern = cap|cap.gz
file = f1.cap, f2.cap.gz
* The code below will add the files twice

Public Function GetFilesByExtension(ByVal dir As String, ByVal searchPattern As String) As String()
Dim filelist As New List(Of String)
Dim m_arExt() As String = Split(searchPattern, "|")
For Each FileExt As String In m_arExt
filelist.AddRange((IO.Directory.GetFiles(dir, FileExt)))
Next
return Return filelist.ToArray

SiemensSEN

Asked: 2011-03-14

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Visual Basic.NET

2 Solutions

LVL 21

Craig WagnerSoftware ArchitectCommented: 2011-03-14

It seems like the simplest solution would be to avoid adding the duplicates in the first place.

For Each FileExt As String In m_arExt
            For Each file As String In IO.Directory.GetFiles(Dir, FileExt)
                If Not filelist.Contains(file) Then
                    filelist.Add(file)
                End If
            Next
        Next

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