Question

I am trying to create an array or a list where I can put a numeric value together with a string and sort it by the numeric value. I understand how to sort the list. What I can’t figure out is how to put the two values together in a container where I can work with them.

The code below produces results like this

1. 0 / 11
2. 112.312579750842 / 15
3. 2.218114802558 / 16
4. 416.368892799685 / 19
5. 97.820969866657 / 24

Obviously the ArrayList is treating everything like a string so I am not able to sort these results numerically. What can I use in place of an ArrayList to get to where I need to be?

    Dim myLong As String = "-56.5896612"
    Dim myLat As String = "23.2266818"
    Dim Results As New Generic.Dictionary(Of String, Double)
    Dim row As DataRow

    For Each row In BO.DAC.ExecuteDataTable("GeoLocationSelect").Rows
        Dim miles As Double = (Radius.CalcDistance(myLat, _
                                                  myLong, _
                                                  CStr(row("Lat")), _
                                                  CStr(row("Lon"))))
        Results.Add(String.Format("{0} / {1}", miles, row("Store")))
    Next

    ' Updated. I added this below code, which i lifted from the link Brain2000
    ' posted. I do see my key pair in the debugger listing out correctly but
    ' I am unsure of how to get a hold of them now.

    Dim sortedDict = _
    (From entry In Results Order By entry.Value Ascending).ToDictionary(Function(pair) pair.Key, _
                                                                        Function(pair) pair.Value)

    For Each res In sortedDict
    ' How do I get to the values here (for instance to write that key value pair out to the debug windows).
    Next

Answer 1

A SortedDictionary or Linq should do the trick. This was discussed in more detail in the following question:

How do you sort a dictionary by value?