Question

I have got a collection. The coll has strings:

Location='Theater=2, Name=regal, Area=Area1' 

and so on. I have to extract just the Name bit from the string. For example, here I have to extract the text ‘regal’

I am struggling with the query:

Collection.Location.???? (what to add here)

Which is the most short and precise way to do it?

[Edit] : What if I have to add to a GroupBy clause

Collection.GroupBy(????);

Answer 1

Another LINQ-style answer (without the overhead of a dictionary):

var name = (from part in location.Split(',')             let pair = part.Split('=')             where pair[0].Trim() == 'Name'             select pair[1].Trim()).FirstOrDefault(); 

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re group by (edit):

    var records = new[] {         new {Foo = 123, Location='Theater=2, Name=regal, Area=Area1'},         new {Foo = 123, Location='Name=cineplex, Area=Area1, Theater=1'},         new {Foo = 123, Location='Theater=2, Area=Area2, Name=regal'},     };     var qry = from record in records               let name = (from part in record.Location.Split(',')                           let pair = part.Split('=')                           where pair[0].Trim() == 'Name'                           select pair[1].Trim()).FirstOrDefault()               group record by name;     foreach (var grp in qry)     {         Console.WriteLine('{0}: {1}', grp.Key, grp.Count());     }