Question

I am retrieving five columns through an SQL query. Among the columns retrieved, I have a column RecordID which should act as a key to a dictionary.

I am referring to the solution posted: C# Multi-Value Dictionary at StackOverflow, but I am not able to use it effectively depending upon my situation.

I want to store all the rows of my query but the RecordID column should also act as a key to the dictionary element. I want something like:

Dictionary<RecordID, Entire columns of the current row for this RecordID>

An alternative I think is to use an array, something like:

Dictionary<key,string[]>

But I want to use any super-fast way.

Answer 1

Use a Lookup – you haven’t said much about the data, but you may need something as simple as:

var lookup = list.ToLookup(x => x.RecordID);

There are, of course, overloads for ToLookup which allow you to do other things.