Question

I have a jagged array that looks like this:

string[][] list = new string[d.Rows.Count + 1][];

int c = 0;
        while (c < d.Rows.Count)
        {
            list[c] = new string[] 
                {
                  d.Rows[c].ItemArray[2].ToString(),
                  d.Rows[c].ItemArray[1].ToString(),
                  d.Rows[c].ItemArray[4].ToString(),
                  d.Rows[c].ItemArray[5].ToString(),
                  d.Rows[c].ItemArray[7].ToString(),
                  d.Rows[c].ItemArray[3].ToString(),
                  d.Rows[c].ItemArray[14].ToString()
                };

            c += 1;
        }
        return list;

Now, for a new requirement, i need only the items from this array whose value at this location: list[x][0] are equal to any of the following strings: “Text”, “FullText”, “FullMatch”

I got started with a regular array i could do this: but it obvioulsy won’t work for a jagged array.

string[][] newlist = list.where(item => item.equals("Text");

Does any one know how to extend this for my situation?

Answer 1

You can do a where on list which will iterate over each one-dimensional array, then compare element 0 to the strings given.

string[][] newlist = list
    .Where(item => item[0].Equals("Text") 
        || item[0].Equals("FullText") 
        || item[0].Equals("FullMatch"))
    .ToArray();

Tested this on some sample data as shown below:

        var list = new string[][]
            {
                new string[] { "Text", "A", "B", "C", "D" }, 
                new string[] { "None", "Z", "C" },
                new string[] { "FullText", "1", "2", "3" }, 
                new string[] { "FullMatch", "0", "A", "C", "Z" },
                new string[] { "Ooops", "Nothing", "Here" },
            };

        string[][] newlist = list.Where(item => item[0].Equals("Text") 
            || item[0].Equals("FullText") 
            || item[0].Equals("FullMatch")).ToArray();

        // now display all data...
        foreach (string[] row in newlist)
        {
            Console.Write("Row: ");

            foreach (string item in row)
            {
                Console.Write(item + " ");
            }

            Console.WriteLine();
        }

This worked correctly with output being:

Row: Text A B C D
Row: FullText 1 2 3
Row: FullMatch 0 A C Z