Question

I have a method to get what items are not checked in a checkbox list like so:

public static string[] GetNotSelectedCheckboxes(CheckBoxList list)
{
    ArrayList values = new ArrayList();
    for (int counter = 0; counter < list.Items.Count; counter++)
    {
        if (!list.Items[counter].Selected)
        {
            values.Add(list.Items[counter].Value);
        }
    }
    return (String[])values.ToArray(typeof(string));
}

I now have a requirement to get not selected items in a radiobutton list, I copied the same method and instead of having a CheckBoxList as parameter I have a RadioButtonList.

public static string[] GetNotSelectedRadioButtons(RadioButtonList list)
{
    ArrayList values = new ArrayList();
    for (int counter = 0; counter < list.Items.Count; counter++)
    {
        if (!list.Items[counter].Selected)
        {
            values.Add(list.Items[counter].Value);
        }
    }
    return (String[])values.ToArray(typeof(string));
}

Now the code does exactly the same thing and I read a bit about generic methods, is this where I should use one? I had a look at it but didn’t get the syntax right and I’m not sure how to use list.Items if I don’t specifically specify it as a radio or checkbox list.

Should I use a generic method here and any input on how I should go on about it?

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

You could use Generics… but in this case, it seems easier just to use polymorphism using the base class for the simple data list controls

public static string[] GetNotSelectedRadioButtons(ListControl list)

If you want to implement generics:

public static string[] GetNonSelectedItems<T>(T list) where T : ListControl
{
    ... do your stuff
}