Operation On Dictionary

In this post i will show how we can set value in a Dictionary<string, List<string>> and also retrieve from it:

What we want to add:

Dictionary add values as key value pair. So, we want to achieve a dictionary like:

Key1	Value
Altaf	Radio
	desktop
	Laptop

 

Key2	Value
User2	Radio2
	desktop2
	Laptop

Here is a simple method we can set values to the:

Here I am adding an attribute change object properties to Dictionary:

Which is like:

AttributeChange Class

1. using System;
2. using System.Collections.Generic;
3. using System.Text;
4.  
5. namespace DictionaryCollection
6. {
7.     public class Attributes
8.     {
9.         public Attributes( string fieldName, string attributeName,
10.             string attributeValue, bool overwrite)
11.         {
12.             this.FiledName = fieldName;
13.             this.AttributeName = attributeName;
14.             this.AttributeValue = attributeValue;
15.             this.Overwrite = overwrite;
16.         }
17.         public string FiledName
18.         {
19.             get { return _fieldName; }
20.             set { _fieldName = value; }
21.         }
22.         private string _fieldName;
23.  
24.         public string AttributeName
25.         {
26.             get { return _attributeName; }
27.             set { _attributeName = value; }
28.         }
29.         private string _attributeName;
30.  
31.         public string AttributeValue
32.         {
33.             get { return _attributeValue; }
34.             set { _attributeValue = value; }
35.         }
36.         private string _attributeValue;
37.  
38.         public bool Overwrite
39.         {
40.             get { return _overwrite; }
41.             set { _overwrite = value; }
42.         }
43.         private bool _overwrite;
44.  
45.     }
46. }

 

Here is the Code for Dictionary to Update it :

CreateDictionary

1. private static void CreateDictionary(List<Attributes> attributeList)
2.         {            
3.             foreach (Attributes attribute in attributeList)
4.             {
5.                 List<string> valuesListForThisKey = new List<string>();
6.                 //Check if the Key(attributeName) is already there
7.                 if (customSettingDictionary.ContainsKey(attribute.AttributeName))
8.                 {
9.                     customSettingDictionary.TryGetValue(attribute.AttributeName, out valuesListForThisKey);
10.                     //Check wheter Overwrite is true
11.                     if (attribute.Overwrite == true)
12.                     {                      
13.                         //Clear Previous values and add new value
14.                         valuesListForThisKey.Clear();
15.                         valuesListForThisKey.Add(attribute.AttributeValue);
16.                         customSettingDictionary.Remove(attribute.AttributeName);
17.                         customSettingDictionary.Add(attribute.AttributeName, valuesListForThisKey);
18.                     }
19.                     //If overwrite is flase
20.                     else
21.                     {
22.                         //Check if the Value is doesn’t alredy associate with the same key
23.                         if (!valuesListForThisKey.Contains(attribute.AttributeValue))
24.                         {
25.                             valuesListForThisKey.Add(attribute.AttributeValue);
26.                             customSettingDictionary.Remove(attribute.AttributeName);
27.                             customSettingDictionary.Add(attribute.AttributeName, valuesListForThisKey);
28.                         }
29.                     }
30.                 }
31.                 //If the key doesn’t exits alrady, add a new entry
32.                 else
33.                 {
34.                     valuesListForThisKey.Add(attribute.AttributeValue);
35.                     customSettingDictionary.Add(attribute.AttributeName, valuesListForThisKey);
36.                 }
37.             }
38.         }

 

Here when adding I am checking whether the Key is there then also trying to get the value:

We can do this in a single operation in

if(customSettingDictionary.TryGetValues( currentKey, out valuesListForCurrentKey))

{

………………….

}

To Retrieve Data we can use KeyValuePair thats fits with the Dictionary we are working on:

Code Snippet

1. foreach (KeyValuePair<string, List<string>> kvp in customSettingDictionary)
2.             {
3.                 Console.WriteLine(kvp.Key);
4.                 foreach (string value in kvp.Value)
5.                 {
6.                     Console.WriteLine(“\t” + value);
7.                 }
8.             }

 

Input:

Code Snippet

1. List<Attributes> attributeList = new List<Attributes>();
2.             attributeList.Add(new Attributes(“__CustomSetting”,“MyName”,“Altaf”,true));
3.             attributeList.Add(new Attributes(“__CustomSetting”, “MyName”, “altaf”, false));
4.             attributeList.Add(new Attributes(“__CustomSetting”, “MyName”, “altaf”, false));
5.             attributeList.Add(new Attributes(“__CustomSetting”, “MySetting”, “set”, true));
6.             attributeList.Add(new Attributes(“__CustomSetting”, “MyName”, “altaf”, true));
7.             attributeList.Add(new Attributes(“__CustomSetting”, “MyName”, “altaf23″, false));
8.             attributeList.Add(new Attributes(“__CustomSetting”, “Myname”, “altaf23″, false));

OUT PUT:

Things to be noted here that if Attribute.Overwrite true then it overwrite the previous list and add it self.