Question

I want to create a strongly typed multidimensional array or collection containing the following values from a database:

• FileName (As String)
• FileSize (As Integer)

Requirements:

• Accessible via index (e.g. Arr(i)(j), Arr.Row(i), etc)
• Efficient (i.e. fast & not resource intensive)
• Easily manipulated, added to, appended, etc.
• .NET 3.5 compatible

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Thanks for the great answers everyone. Here’s what I went with… 🙂

Structure FileRecord
    Dim Name As String
    Dim Size As Integer

    Sub New(ByVal FileName As String, ByVal FileSize As Integer)
        Me.Name = FileName
        Me.Size = FileSize
    End Sub
    Sub New(ByVal Files() As FileRecord)
        For Each f As FileRecord In Files
            Dim fr As New FileRecord(f.Name, f.Size)
        Next
    End Sub
End Structure

Answer 1

You can’t have a multidimensional array containing two separate types.

Instead, you’d typically make a single dimensional array (or List(Of T)) containing a custom class with your data.

In your case, you might want something like:

Public Class FileRecord
    Public Property Name As String
    Public Property Size as Integer
End Class

Then, make a List(Of FileRecord) to hold your data. You’d then be able to access this as:

Dim nameAtIndex = theList(i).Name
Dim sizeAtIndex = theList(i).Size