Question

I need to build up a List<object> and cache the list and be able to append to it. I also need to be able to blow it away easily and recreate it. What is a simple way to accomplish this?

Answer 1

Something like this perhaps?

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Web;

public class MyListCache
{
    private List<object> _MyList = null;
    public List<object> MyList {
        get {
            if (_MyList == null) {
                _MyList = (HttpContext.Current.Cache["MyList"] as List<object>);
                if (_MyList == null) {
                    _MyList = new List<object>();
                    HttpContext.Current.Cache.Insert("MyList", _MyList);
                }
            }
            return _MyList;
        }
        set {
            HttpContext.Current.Cache.Insert("MyList", _MyList);
        }
    }

    public void ClearList() {
        HttpContext.Current.Cache.Remove("MyList");
    }
}

As for how to use…..

// Get an instance
var listCache = new MyListCache();

// Add something
listCache.MyList.Add(someObject);

// Enumerate
foreach(var o in listCache.MyList) {
  Console.WriteLine(o.ToString());
}  

// Blow it away
listCache.ClearList();