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C# .net - Read file into array 6 lines at a time.

Hi,

I have a text file with records made up of 6 lines.

I need to read each record of 6 lines into an array. Sort alphabetically on the first record then recreate the file so its in alphabetical order.

Example file:

Lastname Firstname
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Smith John
USA
Kentucky
Male
Married
Blue

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In the example, there are two records made up of 6 lines each.

Can anyone assist with this logic? I can find examples when the file is in CSV format but this file structure is weird.

Thanks

gt2847c

Just a clarification question... Is this a school/homework related project?

mhdi

ASKER

no :) its a work related question.

I have a text file of employees with over 2,500 records that I need to sort easily when required.

SOLUTION

gt2847c

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ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION

kaufmed

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mhdi

ASKER

Thanks guys, I am learning fast here. I hadnt see NuGet before which is really cool.

I have the application working in .net4.

It would be great if I can get it working in .net 3.5 which I beleive is standard in windows 7?

The only issue is this "File.ReadLines(path)" as ReadLines is not available in net3.5. Is there anything I can change it too?

if (file.ShowDialog() == DialogResult.OK)
            {
                btnInput.Enabled = false;
                btnSort.Enabled = false;
                
                newPath = file.FileName;
                lblOutput.Text = newPath;

                using (StreamWriter writer = new StreamWriter(newPath))
                {
                    File.ReadLines(path)
                        .Batch(6)
                        .OrderBy(batch => batch.First())
                        .ForEach(batch => batch.ForEach(line => writer.WriteLine(line)));
                }

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mhdi

ASKER

I've changed "File.ReadLines(path)" to "File.ReadAllLines(path)" which seems to work.

gt2847c

I get to learn something new too, I hadn't seen the MoreLinq (which appears quite cool - thanks kaufmed)..

On your substitution above:

File.ReadLines(path) returns an IEnumerable<string>,
File.ReadAllLines(path) returns a string[] (which is also behind the scenes an IEnumerable)
so Linq extensions should work just fine.

ReadLines was introduced in 4 and is available through 4.5
ReadAllLines was introduced in 2 and is available through 4.5

Other than the return type, I've never tested them against each other for performance or memory usage, but with the small number of records you mentioned above, it's rather academic.