Develop Reference

Perform Linq Orderby generic list contain integer and string value [duplicate]

Anyone have a good resource or provide a sample of a natural order sort in C# for an FileInfo array? I am implementing the IComparer interface in my sorts.

The easiest thing to do is just P/Invoke the built-in function in Windows, and use it as the comparison function in your IComparer:
[DllImport("shlwapi.dll", CharSet = CharSet.Unicode)]
private static extern int StrCmpLogicalW(string psz1, string psz2);
Michael Kaplan has some examples of how this function works here, and the changes that were made for Vista to make it work more intuitively. The plus side of this function is that it will have the same behaviour as the version of Windows it runs on, however this does mean that it differs between versions of Windows so you need to consider whether this is a problem for you.
So a complete implementation would be something like:
[SuppressUnmanagedCodeSecurity]
internal static class SafeNativeMethods
{
[DllImport("shlwapi.dll", CharSet = CharSet.Unicode)]
public static extern int StrCmpLogicalW(string psz1, string psz2);
}
public sealed class NaturalStringComparer : IComparer<string>
{
public int Compare(string a, string b)
{
return SafeNativeMethods.StrCmpLogicalW(a, b);
}
}
public sealed class NaturalFileInfoNameComparer : IComparer<FileInfo>
{
public int Compare(FileInfo a, FileInfo b)
{
return SafeNativeMethods.StrCmpLogicalW(a.Name, b.Name);
}
}

Just thought I'd add to this (with the most concise solution I could find):
public static IOrderedEnumerable<T> OrderByAlphaNumeric<T>(this IEnumerable<T> source, Func<T, string> selector)
{
int max = source
.SelectMany(i => Regex.Matches(selector(i), #"\d+").Cast<Match>().Select(m => (int?)m.Value.Length))
.Max() ?? 0;
return source.OrderBy(i => Regex.Replace(selector(i), #"\d+", m => m.Value.PadLeft(max, '0')));
}
The above pads any numbers in the string to the max length of all numbers in all strings and uses the resulting string to sort.
The cast to (int?) is to allow for collections of strings without any numbers (.Max() on an empty enumerable throws an InvalidOperationException).

None of the existing implementations looked great so I wrote my own. The results are almost identical to the sorting used by modern versions of Windows Explorer (Windows 7/8). The only differences I've seen are 1) although Windows used to (e.g. XP) handle numbers of any length, it's now limited to 19 digits - mine is unlimited, 2) Windows gives inconsistent results with certain sets of Unicode digits - mine works fine (although it doesn't numerically compare digits from surrogate pairs; nor does Windows), and 3) mine can't distinguish different types of non-primary sort weights if they occur in different sections (e.g. "e-1é" vs "é1e-" - the sections before and after the number have diacritic and punctuation weight differences).
public static int CompareNatural(string strA, string strB) {
return CompareNatural(strA, strB, CultureInfo.CurrentCulture, CompareOptions.IgnoreCase);
}
public static int CompareNatural(string strA, string strB, CultureInfo culture, CompareOptions options) {
CompareInfo cmp = culture.CompareInfo;
int iA = 0;
int iB = 0;
int softResult = 0;
int softResultWeight = 0;
while (iA < strA.Length && iB < strB.Length) {
bool isDigitA = Char.IsDigit(strA[iA]);
bool isDigitB = Char.IsDigit(strB[iB]);
if (isDigitA != isDigitB) {
return cmp.Compare(strA, iA, strB, iB, options);
}
else if (!isDigitA && !isDigitB) {
int jA = iA + 1;
int jB = iB + 1;
while (jA < strA.Length && !Char.IsDigit(strA[jA])) jA++;
while (jB < strB.Length && !Char.IsDigit(strB[jB])) jB++;
int cmpResult = cmp.Compare(strA, iA, jA - iA, strB, iB, jB - iB, options);
if (cmpResult != 0) {
// Certain strings may be considered different due to "soft" differences that are
// ignored if more significant differences follow, e.g. a hyphen only affects the
// comparison if no other differences follow
string sectionA = strA.Substring(iA, jA - iA);
string sectionB = strB.Substring(iB, jB - iB);
if (cmp.Compare(sectionA + "1", sectionB + "2", options) ==
cmp.Compare(sectionA + "2", sectionB + "1", options))
{
return cmp.Compare(strA, iA, strB, iB, options);
}
else if (softResultWeight < 1) {
softResult = cmpResult;
softResultWeight = 1;
}
}
iA = jA;
iB = jB;
}
else {
char zeroA = (char)(strA[iA] - (int)Char.GetNumericValue(strA[iA]));
char zeroB = (char)(strB[iB] - (int)Char.GetNumericValue(strB[iB]));
int jA = iA;
int jB = iB;
while (jA < strA.Length && strA[jA] == zeroA) jA++;
while (jB < strB.Length && strB[jB] == zeroB) jB++;
int resultIfSameLength = 0;
do {
isDigitA = jA < strA.Length && Char.IsDigit(strA[jA]);
isDigitB = jB < strB.Length && Char.IsDigit(strB[jB]);
int numA = isDigitA ? (int)Char.GetNumericValue(strA[jA]) : 0;
int numB = isDigitB ? (int)Char.GetNumericValue(strB[jB]) : 0;
if (isDigitA && (char)(strA[jA] - numA) != zeroA) isDigitA = false;
if (isDigitB && (char)(strB[jB] - numB) != zeroB) isDigitB = false;
if (isDigitA && isDigitB) {
if (numA != numB && resultIfSameLength == 0) {
resultIfSameLength = numA < numB ? -1 : 1;
}
jA++;
jB++;
}
}
while (isDigitA && isDigitB);
if (isDigitA != isDigitB) {
// One number has more digits than the other (ignoring leading zeros) - the longer
// number must be larger
return isDigitA ? 1 : -1;
}
else if (resultIfSameLength != 0) {
// Both numbers are the same length (ignoring leading zeros) and at least one of
// the digits differed - the first difference determines the result
return resultIfSameLength;
}
int lA = jA - iA;
int lB = jB - iB;
if (lA != lB) {
// Both numbers are equivalent but one has more leading zeros
return lA > lB ? -1 : 1;
}
else if (zeroA != zeroB && softResultWeight < 2) {
softResult = cmp.Compare(strA, iA, 1, strB, iB, 1, options);
softResultWeight = 2;
}
iA = jA;
iB = jB;
}
}
if (iA < strA.Length || iB < strB.Length) {
return iA < strA.Length ? 1 : -1;
}
else if (softResult != 0) {
return softResult;
}
return 0;
}
The signature matches the Comparison<string> delegate:
string[] files = Directory.GetFiles(#"C:\");
Array.Sort(files, CompareNatural);
Here's a wrapper class for use as IComparer<string>:
public class CustomComparer<T> : IComparer<T> {
private Comparison<T> _comparison;
public CustomComparer(Comparison<T> comparison) {
_comparison = comparison;
}
public int Compare(T x, T y) {
return _comparison(x, y);
}
}
Example:
string[] files = Directory.EnumerateFiles(#"C:\")
.OrderBy(f => f, new CustomComparer<string>(CompareNatural))
.ToArray();
Here's a good set of filenames I use for testing:
Func<string, string> expand = (s) => { int o; while ((o = s.IndexOf('\\')) != -1) { int p = o + 1;
int z = 1; while (s[p] == '0') { z++; p++; } int c = Int32.Parse(s.Substring(p, z));
s = s.Substring(0, o) + new string(s[o - 1], c) + s.Substring(p + z); } return s; };
string encodedFileNames =
"KDEqLW4xMiotbjEzKjAwMDFcMDY2KjAwMlwwMTcqMDA5XDAxNyowMlwwMTcqMDlcMDE3KjEhKjEtISox" +
"LWEqMS4yNT8xLjI1KjEuNT8xLjUqMSoxXDAxNyoxXDAxOCoxXDAxOSoxXDA2NioxXDA2NyoxYSoyXDAx" +
"NyoyXDAxOCo5XDAxNyo5XDAxOCo5XDA2Nio9MSphMDAxdGVzdDAxKmEwMDF0ZXN0aW5nYTBcMzEqYTAw" +
"Mj9hMDAyIGE/YTAwMiBhKmEwMDIqYTAwMmE/YTAwMmEqYTAxdGVzdGluZ2EwMDEqYTAxdnNmcyphMSph" +
"MWEqYTF6KmEyKmIwMDAzcTYqYjAwM3E0KmIwM3E1KmMtZSpjZCpjZipmIDEqZipnP2cgMT9oLW4qaG8t" +
"bipJKmljZS1jcmVhbT9pY2VjcmVhbT9pY2VjcmVhbS0/ajBcNDE/ajAwMWE/ajAxP2shKmsnKmstKmsx" +
"KmthKmxpc3QqbTAwMDNhMDA1YSptMDAzYTAwMDVhKm0wMDNhMDA1Km0wMDNhMDA1YSpuMTIqbjEzKm8t" +
"bjAxMypvLW4xMipvLW40P28tbjQhP28tbjR6P28tbjlhLWI1Km8tbjlhYjUqb24wMTMqb24xMipvbjQ/" +
"b240IT9vbjR6P29uOWEtYjUqb245YWI1Km/CrW4wMTMqb8KtbjEyKnAwMCpwMDEqcDAxwr0hKnAwMcK9" +
"KnAwMcK9YSpwMDHCvcK+KnAwMipwMMK9KnEtbjAxMypxLW4xMipxbjAxMypxbjEyKnItMDAhKnItMDAh" +
"NSpyLTAwIe+8lSpyLTAwYSpyLe+8kFwxIS01KnIt77yQXDEhLe+8lSpyLe+8kFwxISpyLe+8kFwxITUq" +
"ci3vvJBcMSHvvJUqci3vvJBcMWEqci3vvJBcMyE1KnIwMCEqcjAwLTUqcjAwLjUqcjAwNSpyMDBhKnIw" +
"NSpyMDYqcjQqcjUqctmg2aYqctmkKnLZpSpy27Dbtipy27Qqctu1KnLfgN+GKnLfhCpy34UqcuClpuCl" +
"rCpy4KWqKnLgpasqcuCnpuCnrCpy4KeqKnLgp6sqcuCppuCprCpy4KmqKnLgqasqcuCrpuCrrCpy4Kuq" +
"KnLgq6sqcuCtpuCtrCpy4K2qKnLgrasqcuCvpuCvrCpy4K+qKnLgr6sqcuCxpuCxrCpy4LGqKnLgsasq" +
"cuCzpuCzrCpy4LOqKnLgs6sqcuC1puC1rCpy4LWqKnLgtasqcuC5kOC5lipy4LmUKnLguZUqcuC7kOC7" +
"lipy4LuUKnLgu5UqcuC8oOC8pipy4LykKnLgvKUqcuGBgOGBhipy4YGEKnLhgYUqcuGCkOGClipy4YKU" +
"KnLhgpUqcuGfoOGfpipy4Z+kKnLhn6UqcuGgkOGglipy4aCUKnLhoJUqcuGlhuGljCpy4aWKKnLhpYsq" +
"cuGnkOGnlipy4aeUKnLhp5UqcuGtkOGtlipy4a2UKnLhrZUqcuGusOGutipy4a60KnLhrrUqcuGxgOGx" +
"hipy4bGEKnLhsYUqcuGxkOGxlipy4bGUKnLhsZUqcuqYoFwx6pilKnLqmKDqmKUqcuqYoOqYpipy6pik" +
"KnLqmKUqcuqjkOqjlipy6qOUKnLqo5UqcuqkgOqkhipy6qSEKnLqpIUqcuqpkOqplipy6qmUKnLqqZUq" +
"cvCQkqAqcvCQkqUqcvCdn5gqcvCdn50qcu+8kFwxISpy77yQXDEt77yVKnLvvJBcMS7vvJUqcu+8kFwx" +
"YSpy77yQXDHqmKUqcu+8kFwx77yO77yVKnLvvJBcMe+8lSpy77yQ77yVKnLvvJDvvJYqcu+8lCpy77yV" +
"KnNpKnPEsSp0ZXN02aIqdGVzdNmi2aAqdGVzdNmjKnVBZS0qdWFlKnViZS0qdUJlKnVjZS0xw6kqdWNl" +
"McOpLSp1Y2Uxw6kqdWPDqS0xZSp1Y8OpMWUtKnVjw6kxZSp3ZWlhMSp3ZWlhMip3ZWlzczEqd2Vpc3My" +
"KndlaXoxKndlaXoyKndlacOfMSp3ZWnDnzIqeSBhMyp5IGE0KnknYTMqeSdhNCp5K2EzKnkrYTQqeS1h" +
"Myp5LWE0KnlhMyp5YTQqej96IDA1MD96IDIxP3ohMjE/ejIwP3oyMj96YTIxP3rCqTIxP1sxKl8xKsKt" +
"bjEyKsKtbjEzKsSwKg==";
string[] fileNames = Encoding.UTF8.GetString(Convert.FromBase64String(encodedFileNames))
.Replace("*", ".txt?").Split(new[] { "?" }, StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries)
.Select(n => expand(n)).ToArray();

Matthews Horsleys answer is the fastest method which doesn't change behaviour depending on which version of windows your program is running on. However, it can be even faster by creating the regex once, and using RegexOptions.Compiled. I also added the option of inserting a string comparer so you can ignore case if needed, and improved readability a bit.
public static IEnumerable<T> OrderByNatural<T>(this IEnumerable<T> items, Func<T, string> selector, StringComparer stringComparer = null)
{
var regex = new Regex(#"\d+", RegexOptions.Compiled);
int maxDigits = items
.SelectMany(i => regex.Matches(selector(i)).Cast<Match>().Select(digitChunk => (int?)digitChunk.Value.Length))
.Max() ?? 0;
return items.OrderBy(i => regex.Replace(selector(i), match => match.Value.PadLeft(maxDigits, '0')), stringComparer ?? StringComparer.CurrentCulture);
}
Use by
var sortedEmployees = employees.OrderByNatural(emp => emp.Name);
This takes 450ms to sort 100,000 strings compared to 300ms for the default .net string comparison - pretty fast!

Pure C# solution for linq orderby:
http://zootfroot.blogspot.com/2009/09/natural-sort-compare-with-linq-orderby.html
public class NaturalSortComparer<T> : IComparer<string>, IDisposable
{
private bool isAscending;
public NaturalSortComparer(bool inAscendingOrder = true)
{
this.isAscending = inAscendingOrder;
}
#region IComparer<string> Members
public int Compare(string x, string y)
{
throw new NotImplementedException();
}
#endregion
#region IComparer<string> Members
int IComparer<string>.Compare(string x, string y)
{
if (x == y)
return 0;
string[] x1, y1;
if (!table.TryGetValue(x, out x1))
{
x1 = Regex.Split(x.Replace(" ", ""), "([0-9]+)");
table.Add(x, x1);
}
if (!table.TryGetValue(y, out y1))
{
y1 = Regex.Split(y.Replace(" ", ""), "([0-9]+)");
table.Add(y, y1);
}
int returnVal;
for (int i = 0; i < x1.Length && i < y1.Length; i++)
{
if (x1[i] != y1[i])
{
returnVal = PartCompare(x1[i], y1[i]);
return isAscending ? returnVal : -returnVal;
}
}
if (y1.Length > x1.Length)
{
returnVal = 1;
}
else if (x1.Length > y1.Length)
{
returnVal = -1;
}
else
{
returnVal = 0;
}
return isAscending ? returnVal : -returnVal;
}
private static int PartCompare(string left, string right)
{
int x, y;
if (!int.TryParse(left, out x))
return left.CompareTo(right);
if (!int.TryParse(right, out y))
return left.CompareTo(right);
return x.CompareTo(y);
}
#endregion
private Dictionary<string, string[]> table = new Dictionary<string, string[]>();
public void Dispose()
{
table.Clear();
table = null;
}
}

My solution:
void Main()
{
new[] {"a4","a3","a2","a10","b5","b4","b400","1","C1d","c1d2"}.OrderBy(x => x, new NaturalStringComparer()).Dump();
}
public class NaturalStringComparer : IComparer<string>
{
private static readonly Regex _re = new Regex(#"(?<=\D)(?=\d)|(?<=\d)(?=\D)", RegexOptions.Compiled);
public int Compare(string x, string y)
{
x = x.ToLower();
y = y.ToLower();
if(string.Compare(x, 0, y, 0, Math.Min(x.Length, y.Length)) == 0)
{
if(x.Length == y.Length) return 0;
return x.Length < y.Length ? -1 : 1;
}
var a = _re.Split(x);
var b = _re.Split(y);
int i = 0;
while(true)
{
int r = PartCompare(a[i], b[i]);
if(r != 0) return r;
++i;
}
}
private static int PartCompare(string x, string y)
{
int a, b;
if(int.TryParse(x, out a) && int.TryParse(y, out b))
return a.CompareTo(b);
return x.CompareTo(y);
}
}
Results:
1
a2
a3
a4
a10
b4
b5
b400
C1d
c1d2

You do need to be careful -- I vaguely recall reading that StrCmpLogicalW, or something like it, was not strictly transitive, and I have observed .NET's sort methods to sometimes get stuck in infinite loops if the comparison function breaks that rule.
A transitive comparison will always report that a < c if a < b and b < c. There exists a function that does a natural sort order comparison that does not always meet that criterion, but I can't recall whether it is StrCmpLogicalW or something else.

This is my code to sort a string having both alpha and numeric characters.
First, this extension method:
public static IEnumerable<string> AlphanumericSort(this IEnumerable<string> me)
{
return me.OrderBy(x => Regex.Replace(x, #"\d+", m => m.Value.PadLeft(50, '0')));
}
Then, simply use it anywhere in your code like this:
List<string> test = new List<string>() { "The 1st", "The 12th", "The 2nd" };
test = test.AlphanumericSort();
How does it works ? By replaceing with zeros:
Original | Regex Replace | The | Returned
List | Apply PadLeft | Sorting | List
| | |
"The 1st" | "The 001st" | "The 001st" | "The 1st"
"The 12th" | "The 012th" | "The 002nd" | "The 2nd"
"The 2nd" | "The 002nd" | "The 012th" | "The 12th"
Works with multiples numbers:
Alphabetical Sorting | Alphanumeric Sorting
|
"Page 21, Line 42" | "Page 3, Line 7"
"Page 21, Line 5" | "Page 3, Line 32"
"Page 3, Line 32" | "Page 21, Line 5"
"Page 3, Line 7" | "Page 21, Line 42"
Hope that's will help.

Here's a version for .NET Core 2.1+ / .NET 5.0+, using spans to avoid allocations
public class NaturalSortStringComparer : IComparer<string>
{
public static NaturalSortStringComparer Ordinal { get; } = new NaturalSortStringComparer(StringComparison.Ordinal);
public static NaturalSortStringComparer OrdinalIgnoreCase { get; } = new NaturalSortStringComparer(StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase);
public static NaturalSortStringComparer CurrentCulture { get; } = new NaturalSortStringComparer(StringComparison.CurrentCulture);
public static NaturalSortStringComparer CurrentCultureIgnoreCase { get; } = new NaturalSortStringComparer(StringComparison.CurrentCultureIgnoreCase);
public static NaturalSortStringComparer InvariantCulture { get; } = new NaturalSortStringComparer(StringComparison.InvariantCulture);
public static NaturalSortStringComparer InvariantCultureIgnoreCase { get; } = new NaturalSortStringComparer(StringComparison.InvariantCultureIgnoreCase);
private readonly StringComparison _comparison;
public NaturalSortStringComparer(StringComparison comparison)
{
_comparison = comparison;
}
public int Compare(string x, string y)
{
// Let string.Compare handle the case where x or y is null
if (x is null || y is null)
return string.Compare(x, y, _comparison);
var xSegments = GetSegments(x);
var ySegments = GetSegments(y);
while (xSegments.MoveNext() && ySegments.MoveNext())
{
int cmp;
// If they're both numbers, compare the value
if (xSegments.CurrentIsNumber && ySegments.CurrentIsNumber)
{
var xValue = long.Parse(xSegments.Current);
var yValue = long.Parse(ySegments.Current);
cmp = xValue.CompareTo(yValue);
if (cmp != 0)
return cmp;
}
// If x is a number and y is not, x is "lesser than" y
else if (xSegments.CurrentIsNumber)
{
return -1;
}
// If y is a number and x is not, x is "greater than" y
else if (ySegments.CurrentIsNumber)
{
return 1;
}
// OK, neither are number, compare the segments as text
cmp = xSegments.Current.CompareTo(ySegments.Current, _comparison);
if (cmp != 0)
return cmp;
}
// At this point, either all segments are equal, or one string is shorter than the other
// If x is shorter, it's "lesser than" y
if (x.Length < y.Length)
return -1;
// If x is longer, it's "greater than" y
if (x.Length > y.Length)
return 1;
// If they have the same length, they're equal
return 0;
}
private static StringSegmentEnumerator GetSegments(string s) => new StringSegmentEnumerator(s);
private struct StringSegmentEnumerator
{
private readonly string _s;
private int _start;
private int _length;
public StringSegmentEnumerator(string s)
{
_s = s;
_start = -1;
_length = 0;
CurrentIsNumber = false;
}
public ReadOnlySpan<char> Current => _s.AsSpan(_start, _length);
public bool CurrentIsNumber { get; private set; }
public bool MoveNext()
{
var currentPosition = _start >= 0
? _start + _length
: 0;
if (currentPosition >= _s.Length)
return false;
int start = currentPosition;
bool isFirstCharDigit = Char.IsDigit(_s[currentPosition]);
while (++currentPosition < _s.Length && Char.IsDigit(_s[currentPosition]) == isFirstCharDigit)
{
}
_start = start;
_length = currentPosition - start;
CurrentIsNumber = isFirstCharDigit;
return true;
}
}
}

Adding to Greg Beech's answer (because I've just been searching for that), if you want to use this from Linq you can use the OrderBy that takes an IComparer. E.g.:
var items = new List<MyItem>();
// fill items
var sorted = items.OrderBy(item => item.Name, new NaturalStringComparer());

Here's a relatively simple example that doesn't use P/Invoke and avoids any allocation during execution.
Feel free to use the code from here, or if it's easier there's a NuGet package:
https://www.nuget.org/packages/NaturalSort
https://github.com/drewnoakes/natural-sort
internal sealed class NaturalStringComparer : IComparer<string>
{
public static NaturalStringComparer Instance { get; } = new NaturalStringComparer();
public int Compare(string x, string y)
{
// sort nulls to the start
if (x == null)
return y == null ? 0 : -1;
if (y == null)
return 1;
var ix = 0;
var iy = 0;
while (true)
{
// sort shorter strings to the start
if (ix >= x.Length)
return iy >= y.Length ? 0 : -1;
if (iy >= y.Length)
return 1;
var cx = x[ix];
var cy = y[iy];
int result;
if (char.IsDigit(cx) && char.IsDigit(cy))
result = CompareInteger(x, y, ref ix, ref iy);
else
result = cx.CompareTo(y[iy]);
if (result != 0)
return result;
ix++;
iy++;
}
}
private static int CompareInteger(string x, string y, ref int ix, ref int iy)
{
var lx = GetNumLength(x, ix);
var ly = GetNumLength(y, iy);
// shorter number first (note, doesn't handle leading zeroes)
if (lx != ly)
return lx.CompareTo(ly);
for (var i = 0; i < lx; i++)
{
var result = x[ix++].CompareTo(y[iy++]);
if (result != 0)
return result;
}
return 0;
}
private static int GetNumLength(string s, int i)
{
var length = 0;
while (i < s.Length && char.IsDigit(s[i++]))
length++;
return length;
}
}
It doesn't ignore leading zeroes, so 01 comes after 2.
Corresponding unit test:
public class NumericStringComparerTests
{
[Fact]
public void OrdersCorrectly()
{
AssertEqual("", "");
AssertEqual(null, null);
AssertEqual("Hello", "Hello");
AssertEqual("Hello123", "Hello123");
AssertEqual("123", "123");
AssertEqual("123Hello", "123Hello");
AssertOrdered("", "Hello");
AssertOrdered(null, "Hello");
AssertOrdered("Hello", "Hello1");
AssertOrdered("Hello123", "Hello124");
AssertOrdered("Hello123", "Hello133");
AssertOrdered("Hello123", "Hello223");
AssertOrdered("123", "124");
AssertOrdered("123", "133");
AssertOrdered("123", "223");
AssertOrdered("123", "1234");
AssertOrdered("123", "2345");
AssertOrdered("0", "1");
AssertOrdered("123Hello", "124Hello");
AssertOrdered("123Hello", "133Hello");
AssertOrdered("123Hello", "223Hello");
AssertOrdered("123Hello", "1234Hello");
}
private static void AssertEqual(string x, string y)
{
Assert.Equal(0, NaturalStringComparer.Instance.Compare(x, y));
Assert.Equal(0, NaturalStringComparer.Instance.Compare(y, x));
}
private static void AssertOrdered(string x, string y)
{
Assert.Equal(-1, NaturalStringComparer.Instance.Compare(x, y));
Assert.Equal( 1, NaturalStringComparer.Instance.Compare(y, x));
}
}

I've actually implemented it as an extension method on the StringComparer so that you could do for example:
StringComparer.CurrentCulture.WithNaturalSort() or
StringComparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase.WithNaturalSort().
The resulting IComparer<string> can be used in all places like OrderBy, OrderByDescending, ThenBy, ThenByDescending, SortedSet<string>, etc. And you can still easily tweak case sensitivity, culture, etc.
The implementation is fairly trivial and it should perform quite well even on large sequences.
I've also published it as a tiny NuGet package, so you can just do:
Install-Package NaturalSort.Extension
The code including XML documentation comments and suite of tests is available in the NaturalSort.Extension GitHub repository.
The entire code is this (if you cannot use C# 7 yet, just install the NuGet package):
public static class StringComparerNaturalSortExtension
{
public static IComparer<string> WithNaturalSort(this StringComparer stringComparer) => new NaturalSortComparer(stringComparer);
private class NaturalSortComparer : IComparer<string>
{
public NaturalSortComparer(StringComparer stringComparer)
{
_stringComparer = stringComparer;
}
private readonly StringComparer _stringComparer;
private static readonly Regex NumberSequenceRegex = new Regex(#"(\d+)", RegexOptions.Compiled | RegexOptions.CultureInvariant);
private static string[] Tokenize(string s) => s == null ? new string[] { } : NumberSequenceRegex.Split(s);
private static ulong ParseNumberOrZero(string s) => ulong.TryParse(s, NumberStyles.None, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, out var result) ? result : 0;
public int Compare(string s1, string s2)
{
var tokens1 = Tokenize(s1);
var tokens2 = Tokenize(s2);
var zipCompare = tokens1.Zip(tokens2, TokenCompare).FirstOrDefault(x => x != 0);
if (zipCompare != 0)
return zipCompare;
var lengthCompare = tokens1.Length.CompareTo(tokens2.Length);
return lengthCompare;
}
private int TokenCompare(string token1, string token2)
{
var number1 = ParseNumberOrZero(token1);
var number2 = ParseNumberOrZero(token2);
var numberCompare = number1.CompareTo(number2);
if (numberCompare != 0)
return numberCompare;
var stringCompare = _stringComparer.Compare(token1, token2);
return stringCompare;
}
}
}

Inspired by Michael Parker's solution, here is an IComparer implementation that you can drop in to any of the linq ordering methods:
private class NaturalStringComparer : IComparer<string>
{
public int Compare(string left, string right)
{
int max = new[] { left, right }
.SelectMany(x => Regex.Matches(x, #"\d+").Cast<Match>().Select(y => (int?)y.Value.Length))
.Max() ?? 0;
var leftPadded = Regex.Replace(left, #"\d+", m => m.Value.PadLeft(max, '0'));
var rightPadded = Regex.Replace(right, #"\d+", m => m.Value.PadLeft(max, '0'));
return string.Compare(leftPadded, rightPadded);
}
}

Here is a naive one-line regex-less LINQ way (borrowed from python):
var alphaStrings = new List<string>() { "10","2","3","4","50","11","100","a12","b12" };
var orderedString = alphaStrings.OrderBy(g => new Tuple<int, string>(g.ToCharArray().All(char.IsDigit)? int.Parse(g) : int.MaxValue, g));
// Order Now: ["2","3","4","10","11","50","100","a12","b12"]

Expanding on a couple of the previous answers and making use of extension methods, I came up with the following that doesn't have the caveats of potential multiple enumerable enumeration, or performance issues concerned with using multiple regex objects, or calling regex needlessly, that being said, it does use ToList(), which can negate the benefits in larger collections.
The selector supports generic typing to allow any delegate to be assigned, the elements in the source collection are mutated by the selector, then converted to strings with ToString().
private static readonly Regex _NaturalOrderExpr = new Regex(#"\d+", RegexOptions.Compiled);
public static IEnumerable<TSource> OrderByNatural<TSource, TKey>(
this IEnumerable<TSource> source, Func<TSource, TKey> selector)
{
int max = 0;
var selection = source.Select(
o =>
{
var v = selector(o);
var s = v != null ? v.ToString() : String.Empty;
if (!String.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(s))
{
var mc = _NaturalOrderExpr.Matches(s);
if (mc.Count > 0)
{
max = Math.Max(max, mc.Cast<Match>().Max(m => m.Value.Length));
}
}
return new
{
Key = o,
Value = s
};
}).ToList();
return
selection.OrderBy(
o =>
String.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(o.Value) ? o.Value : _NaturalOrderExpr.Replace(o.Value, m => m.Value.PadLeft(max, '0')))
.Select(o => o.Key);
}
public static IEnumerable<TSource> OrderByDescendingNatural<TSource, TKey>(
this IEnumerable<TSource> source, Func<TSource, TKey> selector)
{
int max = 0;
var selection = source.Select(
o =>
{
var v = selector(o);
var s = v != null ? v.ToString() : String.Empty;
if (!String.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(s))
{
var mc = _NaturalOrderExpr.Matches(s);
if (mc.Count > 0)
{
max = Math.Max(max, mc.Cast<Match>().Max(m => m.Value.Length));
}
}
return new
{
Key = o,
Value = s
};
}).ToList();
return
selection.OrderByDescending(
o =>
String.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(o.Value) ? o.Value : _NaturalOrderExpr.Replace(o.Value, m => m.Value.PadLeft(max, '0')))
.Select(o => o.Key);
}

A version that's easier to read/maintain.
public class NaturalStringComparer : IComparer<string>
{
public static NaturalStringComparer Instance { get; } = new NaturalStringComparer();
public int Compare(string x, string y) {
const int LeftIsSmaller = -1;
const int RightIsSmaller = 1;
const int Equal = 0;
var leftString = x;
var rightString = y;
var stringComparer = CultureInfo.CurrentCulture.CompareInfo;
int rightIndex;
int leftIndex;
for (leftIndex = 0, rightIndex = 0;
leftIndex < leftString.Length && rightIndex < rightString.Length;
leftIndex++, rightIndex++) {
var leftChar = leftString[leftIndex];
var rightChar = rightString[leftIndex];
var leftIsNumber = char.IsNumber(leftChar);
var rightIsNumber = char.IsNumber(rightChar);
if (!leftIsNumber && !rightIsNumber) {
var result = stringComparer.Compare(leftString, leftIndex, 1, rightString, leftIndex, 1);
if (result != 0) return result;
} else if (leftIsNumber && !rightIsNumber) {
return LeftIsSmaller;
} else if (!leftIsNumber && rightIsNumber) {
return RightIsSmaller;
} else {
var leftNumberLength = NumberLength(leftString, leftIndex, out var leftNumber);
var rightNumberLength = NumberLength(rightString, rightIndex, out var rightNumber);
if (leftNumberLength < rightNumberLength) {
return LeftIsSmaller;
} else if (leftNumberLength > rightNumberLength) {
return RightIsSmaller;
} else {
if(leftNumber < rightNumber) {
return LeftIsSmaller;
} else if(leftNumber > rightNumber) {
return RightIsSmaller;
}
}
}
}
if (leftString.Length < rightString.Length) {
return LeftIsSmaller;
} else if(leftString.Length > rightString.Length) {
return RightIsSmaller;
}
return Equal;
}
public int NumberLength(string str, int offset, out int number) {
if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(str)) throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(str));
if (offset >= str.Length) throw new ArgumentOutOfRangeException(nameof(offset), offset, "Offset must be less than the length of the string.");
var currentOffset = offset;
var curChar = str[currentOffset];
if (!char.IsNumber(curChar))
throw new ArgumentException($"'{curChar}' is not a number.", nameof(offset));
int length = 1;
var numberString = string.Empty;
for (currentOffset = offset + 1;
currentOffset < str.Length;
currentOffset++, length++) {
curChar = str[currentOffset];
numberString += curChar;
if (!char.IsNumber(curChar)) {
number = int.Parse(numberString);
return length;
}
}
number = int.Parse(numberString);
return length;
}
}

We had a need for a natural sort to deal with text with the following pattern:
"Test 1-1-1 something"
"Test 1-2-3 something"
...
For some reason when I first looked on SO, I didn't find this post and implemented our own. Compared to some of the solutions presented here, while similar in concept, it could have the benefit of maybe being simpler and easier to understand. However, while I did try to look at performance bottlenecks, It is still a much slower implementation than the default OrderBy().
Here is the extension method I implement:
public static class EnumerableExtensions
{
// set up the regex parser once and for all
private static readonly Regex Regex = new Regex(#"\d+|\D+", RegexOptions.Compiled | RegexOptions.Singleline);
// stateless comparer can be built once
private static readonly AggregateComparer Comparer = new AggregateComparer();
public static IEnumerable<T> OrderByNatural<T>(this IEnumerable<T> source, Func<T, string> selector)
{
// first extract string from object using selector
// then extract digit and non-digit groups
Func<T, IEnumerable<IComparable>> splitter =
s => Regex.Matches(selector(s))
.Cast<Match>()
.Select(m => Char.IsDigit(m.Value[0]) ? (IComparable) int.Parse(m.Value) : m.Value);
return source.OrderBy(splitter, Comparer);
}
/// <summary>
/// This comparer will compare two lists of objects against each other
/// </summary>
/// <remarks>Objects in each list are compare to their corresponding elements in the other
/// list until a difference is found.</remarks>
private class AggregateComparer : IComparer<IEnumerable<IComparable>>
{
public int Compare(IEnumerable<IComparable> x, IEnumerable<IComparable> y)
{
return
x.Zip(y, (a, b) => new {a, b}) // walk both lists
.Select(pair => pair.a.CompareTo(pair.b)) // compare each object
.FirstOrDefault(result => result != 0); // until a difference is found
}
}
}
The idea is to split the original strings into blocks of digits and non-digits ("\d+|\D+"). Since this is a potentially expensive task, it is done only once per entry. We then use a comparer of comparable objects (sorry, I can't find a more proper way to say it). It compares each block to its corresponding block in the other string.
I would like feedback on how this could be improved and what the major flaws are. Note that maintainability is important to us at this point and we are not currently using this in extremely large data sets.

Let me explain my problem and how i was able to solve it.
Problem:- Sort files based on FileName from FileInfo objects which are retrieved from a Directory.
Solution:- I selected the file names from FileInfo and trimed the ".png" part of the file name. Now, just do List.Sort(), which sorts the filenames in Natural sorting order. Based on my testing i found that having .png messes up sorting order. Have a look at the below code
var imageNameList = new DirectoryInfo(#"C:\Temp\Images").GetFiles("*.png").Select(x =>x.Name.Substring(0, x.Name.Length - 4)).ToList();
imageNameList.Sort();

Substract shortest string containing all search criteria

I have a problem to solve where given a string source and a collection of search criteria criteria, the algorithm has to return the shortest possible substring of source that contains all items of criteria.
=================================
UPDATE
The same search criteria might be in the source string multiple
times. In that case, it is required to return the sub-string
containing the particular instance of the search criteria such that
it is the shortest among all possible sub-strings.
The search items can contain spaces in them such as hello world
The order in which the search criteria are found does not matter as long as they are all in the resultant sub-string
==================================
String source = "aaa wwwww fgffsd ththththt sss sgsgsgsghs bfbfb hhh sdfg kkk dhdhtrherhrhrthrthrt ddfhdetehehe kkk wdwd aaa vcvc hhh zxzx sss nbnbn";
List<String> criteria = new List<string> { "kkk", "aaa", "sss", "hhh" };
The input above should return the following substring: kkk wdwd aaa vcvc hhh zxzx sss
Unfortunately, I spent a lot of time trying to write such an algorithm but I couldn't get it just right. Below is the code I have got so far:
public struct Extraction
{
public int Start { get; set; }
public int End { get; set; }
public int Length
{
get
{
var length = this.End - this.Start;
return length;
}
}
public Extraction(int start, int end)
{
this.Start = start;
this.End = end;
}
}
public class TextExtractor
{
private String _source;
private Dictionary<String, List<Int32>> _criteriaIndexes;
private Dictionary<String, int> _entryIndex;
public TextExtractor(String source, List<String> searchCriteria)
{
this._source = source;
this._criteriaIndexes = this.ExtractIndexes(source, searchCriteria);
this._entryIndex = _criteriaIndexes.ToDictionary(x => x.Key, v => 0);
}
public String Extract()
{
List<Extraction> possibleExtractions = new List<Extraction>();
int index = 0;
int min = int.MaxValue;
int max = 0;
bool shouldStop = false;
while (index < _criteriaIndexes.Count && !shouldStop)
{
Boolean compareWithAll = index == _criteriaIndexes.Count - 1;
if (!compareWithAll)
{
var current = _criteriaIndexes.ElementAt(index);
this.CalculateMinMax(current, ref min, ref max);
index++;
}
else
{
var entry = _criteriaIndexes.Last();
while (_entryIndex[entry.Key] < entry.Value.Count)
{
int a = min;
int b = max;
this.CalculateMinMax(entry, ref a, ref b);
_entryIndex[entry.Key]++;
Extraction ext = new Extraction(a, b);
possibleExtractions.Add(ext);
}
int k = index - 1;
while (k >= 0)
{
var prev = _criteriaIndexes.ElementAt(k);
if (prev.Value.Count - 1 > _entryIndex[prev.Key])
{
_entryIndex[prev.Key]++;
break;
}
else
{
k--;
}
}
shouldStop = _criteriaIndexes.All(x => x.Value.Count - 1 <= _entryIndex[x.Key]);
_entryIndex[entry.Key] = 0;
index = 0;
min = int.MaxValue;
max = 0;
}
}
Extraction shortest = possibleExtractions.First(x => x.Length.Equals(possibleExtractions.Min(p => p.Length)));
String result = _source.Substring(shortest.Start, shortest.Length);
return result;
}
private Dictionary<String, List<Int32>> ExtractIndexes(String source, List<String> searchCriteria)
{
Dictionary<String, List<Int32>> result = new Dictionary<string, List<int>>();
foreach (var criteria in searchCriteria)
{
Int32 i = 0;
Int32 startingIndex = 0;
var indexes = new List<int>();
while (i > -1)
{
i = source.IndexOf(criteria, startingIndex);
if (i > -1)
{
startingIndex = i + 1;
indexes.Add(i);
}
}
if (indexes.Any())
{
result.Add(criteria, indexes);
}
}
return result;
}
private void CalculateMinMax(KeyValuePair<String, List<int>> current, ref int min, ref int max)
{
int j = current.Value[_entryIndex[current.Key]];
if (j < min)
{
min = j;
}
int indexPlusWordLength = j + current.Key.Length;
if (indexPlusWordLength > max)
{
max = indexPlusWordLength;
}
}
}
I would appreciate it if someone could point out where did I go wrong in my algorithm. Moreover, I kinda feel this is a very naive implementation. Maybe there is a better approach to solve this problem than trying to try out combinations of indexes?
Thanks!

This is a much simpler algorithm that will give you the shortest substring.
void Main()
{
String source = "aaa wwwww fgffsd ththththt sss ww sgsgsgsghs bfbfb hhh sdfg kkk " +
"dhdhtrherhrhrthrthrt ddfhdetehehe kkk wdwd aaa vcvc hhh zxzx sss ww nbnbn";
List<String> criteria = new List<string> { "kkk", "aaa", "sss ww", "hhh" };
var result = GetAllSubstringContainingCriteria(source, criteria)
.OrderBy(sub => sub.Length).FirstOrDefault();
// result is "kkk wdwd aaa vcvc hhh zxzx sss ww"
}
private IEnumerable<string> GetAllSubstringContainingCriteria(
string source, List<string> criteria)
{
for (int i = 0; i < source.Length; i++)
{
var subString = source.Substring(i);
if (criteria.Any(crit => subString.StartsWith(crit)))
{
var lastWordIndex =
GetLastCharacterIndexFromLastCriteriaInSubstring(subString, criteria);
if (lastWordIndex >= 0)
yield return string.Join(" ", subString.Substring(0, lastWordIndex));
}
else
continue;
}
}
private int GetLastCharacterIndexFromLastCriteriaInSubstring(
string subString, List<string> criteria)
{
var results = criteria.Select(crit => new {
index = subString.IndexOf(crit),
criteria = crit});
return results.All(result => result.index >= 0)
? results.Select(result => result.index + result.criteria.Length).Max()
: -1;
}

Let the Java built-in classes do the work. How about converting your criteria to a regular expression Pattern. If the criteria are X or Y or Z . . ., convert this into a regular expression of the form "(X)|(Y)|(Z)|...", compile it, and execute it against the source string.
This, of course, returns the leftmost match. You could code a very straightforward loop that iterates across all occurrences, caches them, and chooses the shortest--or the leftmost shortest--or, if two or more are equally short, then all of those.

IOrderComparer unique ordering situation [duplicate]

This question already has answers here:
Natural Sort Order in C#
(18 answers)
Closed 7 years ago.
I am trying to order mixed strings in a unique way and am wondering if anyone else has done this. I have found several articles on using IOrderConparer but can not find a solution for my particular sorting problem.
I have the following:
1017, 650, 650C, 650B, W323, 10, 20, 1000, W1000
I need to order them as follows:
10, 20, 650, 650B, 650C, 1000, 1017, W323, W1000
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Implement the compare using StrCmpLogicalW:
[DllImport("shlwapi.dll", CharSet = CharSet.Unicode)]
public static extern int StrCmpLogicalW(string x, string y);
This will do a logical (taking numbers into account) string compare rather then a standard string based one which will give you the result you are after.

A bit longer but all managed code
public class LogicalSorter : IComparer
{
public int Compare(object a, object b)
{
var first = Regex.Split((string)a,"([0-9]+)").Where(s => s != "").ToArray();
var second = Regex.Split((string)b,"([0-9]+)").Where(s => s != "").ToArray();
var endIdx = Math.Min(first.Count(), second.Count());
for (var i = 0; i < endIdx; i++)
{
var part1 = first.ElementAt(i);
var part2 = second.ElementAt(i);
if (part1.All(char.IsDigit) && part2.All(char.IsDigit) && part1 != part2)
{
return int.Parse(part1).CompareTo(int.Parse(part2));
}
if (part1 != part2) return part1.CompareTo(part2);
}
return first.Count().CompareTo(second.Count());
}
}
Use it like this
string[] values = { "1017", "650", "650C", "650B", "W323", "10", "20", "1000", "W1000" };
Array.Sort(values, new LogicalSorter());
foreach (var value in values)
Console.WriteLine(value);
Or using generics as suggested by Mrinal (preferred)
public class LogicalSorter : IComparer<String>
{
public int Compare(String a, String b)
{
var first = Regex.Split(a, "([0-9]+)").Where(s => s != "").ToArray();
var second = Regex.Split(b, "([0-9]+)").Where(s => s != "").ToArray();
var endIdx = Math.Min(first.Count(), second.Count());
for (var i = 0; i < endIdx; i++)
{
var part1 = first.ElementAt(i);
var part2 = second.ElementAt(i);
if (part1.All(char.IsDigit) && part2.All(char.IsDigit) && part1 != part2)
{
return int.Parse(part1).CompareTo(int.Parse(part2));
}
if (part1 != part2) return part1.CompareTo(part2);
}
return first.Count().CompareTo(second.Count());
}
}
Example of optimized managed code (for speed not for looks), performs at 47x the regex version
public class LogicalSorter : IComparer<String>
{
public int Compare(String a, String b)
{
var aLength = a.Length;
var bLength = b.Length;
var aIdx = 0;
var bIdx = 0;
int aPartLen;
int bPartLen;
int aPartEndIndex;
int bPartEndIndex;
bool aIsString;
bool bIsString;
// Examine both strings on character level, keep track of where
// we are in each string since lengths might differ
while (aIdx < aLength && bIdx < bLength)
{
// If both strings contain digit at current index
// compare numbers
if (char.IsDigit(a[aIdx]) && char.IsDigit(b[bIdx]))
{
// Get longest consecutive list of digits from each string
aPartEndIndex = aIdx;
while (aPartEndIndex < aLength && char.IsDigit(a[aPartEndIndex])) { aPartEndIndex++; }
bPartEndIndex = bIdx;
while (bPartEndIndex < bLength && char.IsDigit(b[bPartEndIndex])) { bPartEndIndex++; }
aPartLen = aPartEndIndex - aIdx;
bPartLen = bPartEndIndex - bIdx;
// Compare lengths (longest number is greater)
if (aPartLen != bPartLen) return aPartLen < bPartLen ? -1 : 1;
// Same length numbers, compare chars until not same or end
while (aIdx < aPartEndIndex && a[aIdx] == b[bIdx])
{
aIdx++;
bIdx++;
}
// If not at end compare last characters that were not same
if(aIdx != aPartEndIndex)
return a[aIdx] < b[bIdx] ? -1 : 1;
}
else
{
// Comparing string vs number or string vs string
aIsString = char.IsLetter(a[aIdx]);
bIsString = char.IsLetter(b[bIdx]);
// if not 2 strings, number is always first
if (aIsString != bIsString) return aIsString ? 1 : -1;
// Get longest consecutive list of letters from each string
aPartEndIndex = aIdx;
while (aPartEndIndex < aLength && (char.IsLetter(a[aPartEndIndex]) == aIsString))
{
aPartEndIndex++;
}
bPartEndIndex = bIdx;
while (bPartEndIndex < bLength && (char.IsLetter(b[bPartEndIndex]) == bIsString))
{
bPartEndIndex++;
}
// Compare chars until not same or end
while (aIdx < aPartEndIndex && bIdx < bPartEndIndex && a[aIdx] == b[bIdx])
{
aIdx++;
bIdx++;
}
// if not at end compare last letters found
if ((aIdx != aPartEndIndex) || (bIdx != bPartEndIndex))
return a[aIdx] < b[bIdx] ? -1 : 1;
}
}
// Use length as tie breaker
return aLength < bLength ? -1 : 1;
}
}

How to sort objects by a string field that contains numbers

i have a class:
public class Essay
{
public int ID{get;set;}
public string Name{get;set;}
}
and list of Essay type
List<Essay> essays=new List<Essay>();
on the name property contains numbers and letters.
i want to sort the list by the name property
for example:
essays=
{1,"ccccc"},
{2,"aaaa"},
{3,"bbbb"},
{4,"10"},
{5,"1"},
{6,"2"},
{7,"1a"}
i want to sort:
essays=
{2,"aaaa"},
{3,"bbbb"},
{1,"ccccc"},
{5,"1"},
{7,"1a"},
{6,"2"},
{4,"10"}
how i do it?
thank to all.

The name mixes characters and numbers, which leads to a awkward sorting if you simply sort alphabetically.
What you more seems to prefer is called naturally sorting, where the numbers within the text are really recognized as a number and the sort short apply their on a numeric basis.
A few implementations of this algorithm can be found on Jeffs webpage.
The one i most prefer is the one from Dave:
/*
* The Alphanum Algorithm is an improved sorting algorithm for strings
* containing numbers. Instead of sorting numbers in ASCII order like
* a standard sort, this algorithm sorts numbers in numeric order.
*
* The Alphanum Algorithm is discussed at http://www.DaveKoelle.com
*
* Based on the Java implementation of Dave Koelle's Alphanum algorithm.
* Contributed by Jonathan Ruckwood <jonathan.ruckwood#gmail.com>
*
* Adapted by Dominik Hurnaus <dominik.hurnaus#gmail.com> to
* - correctly sort words where one word starts with another word
* - have slightly better performance
*
* This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
* modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
* License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
* version 2.1 of the License, or any later version.
*
* This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
* but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
* MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU
* Lesser General Public License for more details.
*
* You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
* License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software
* Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA
*
*/
using System;
using System.Collections;
using System.Text;
/*
* Please compare against the latest Java version at http://www.DaveKoelle.com
* to see the most recent modifications
*/
namespace AlphanumComparator
{
public class AlphanumComparator : IComparer
{
private enum ChunkType {Alphanumeric, Numeric};
private bool InChunk(char ch, char otherCh)
{
ChunkType type = ChunkType.Alphanumeric;
if (char.IsDigit(otherCh))
{
type = ChunkType.Numeric;
}
if ((type == ChunkType.Alphanumeric && char.IsDigit(ch))
|| (type == ChunkType.Numeric && !char.IsDigit(ch)))
{
return false;
}
return true;
}
public int Compare(object x, object y)
{
String s1 = x as string;
String s2 = y as string;
if (s1 == null || s2 == null)
{
return 0;
}
int thisMarker = 0, thisNumericChunk = 0;
int thatMarker = 0, thatNumericChunk = 0;
while ((thisMarker < s1.Length) || (thatMarker < s2.Length))
{
if (thisMarker >= s1.Length)
{
return -1;
}
else if (thatMarker >= s2.Length)
{
return 1;
}
char thisCh = s1[thisMarker];
char thatCh = s2[thatMarker];
StringBuilder thisChunk = new StringBuilder();
StringBuilder thatChunk = new StringBuilder();
while ((thisMarker < s1.Length) && (thisChunk.Length==0 ||InChunk(thisCh, thisChunk[0])))
{
thisChunk.Append(thisCh);
thisMarker++;
if (thisMarker < s1.Length)
{
thisCh = s1[thisMarker];
}
}
while ((thatMarker < s2.Length) && (thatChunk.Length==0 ||InChunk(thatCh, thatChunk[0])))
{
thatChunk.Append(thatCh);
thatMarker++;
if (thatMarker < s2.Length)
{
thatCh = s2[thatMarker];
}
}
int result = 0;
// If both chunks contain numeric characters, sort them numerically
if (char.IsDigit(thisChunk[0]) && char.IsDigit(thatChunk[0]))
{
thisNumericChunk = Convert.ToInt32(thisChunk.ToString());
thatNumericChunk = Convert.ToInt32(thatChunk.ToString());
if (thisNumericChunk < thatNumericChunk)
{
result = -1;
}
if (thisNumericChunk > thatNumericChunk)
{
result = 1;
}
}
else
{
result = thisChunk.ToString().CompareTo(thatChunk.ToString());
}
if (result != 0)
{
return result;
}
}
return 0;
}
}
}

There are several elements to the answer.
The first part is being able to in-place sort a List using Sort() and a lambda comparison method. That's solved by using an extension method for IList and a helper "ComparisonDelegator" class. Combining those, it's possible to pass a lambda to List.Sort().
The second part has been addressed in another post here (which I have upvoted) and the code from which I have shamelessly pasted into the AlphanumComparator class in this answer.
(As a side note, I should point out that all the Linq examples posted elsewhere in this thread make a COPY of the list. This is fine for short lists, but if you have a long list it can cause performance problems. The solution presented here does NOT make a copy of the list.)
Putting it all together, we get the following code, which outputs:
ID=2, Name=aaaa
ID=3, Name=bbbb
ID=1, Name=ccccc
ID=5, Name=1
ID=7, Name=1a
ID=6, Name=2
ID=4, Name=10
And the full code sample (compilable as a console application):
using System;
using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Globalization;
using System.Text;
namespace Demo
{
public static class Program
{
public static void Main()
{
var list = new List<Essay>
{
new Essay {ID=1, Name="ccccc"},
new Essay {ID=2, Name="aaaa"},
new Essay {ID=3, Name="bbbb"},
new Essay {ID=4, Name="10"},
new Essay {ID=5, Name="1"},
new Essay {ID=6, Name="2"},
new Essay {ID=7, Name="1a"}
};
var comp = new AlphanumComparator();
list.Sort((lhs, rhs) => comp.Compare(lhs.Name, rhs.Name));
foreach (var essay in list)
{
Console.WriteLine("ID={0}, Name={1}", essay.ID, essay.Name);
}
}
}
public class Essay
{
public int ID
{
get;
set;
}
public string Name
{
get;
set;
}
}
/// <summary>Extensions for IList{T}</summary>
public static class ListExt
{
/// <summary> Sorts an IList{T} in place. </summary>
public static void Sort<T>(this IList<T> list, Comparison<T> comparison)
{
ArrayList.Adapter((IList)list).Sort(new ComparisonDelegator<T>(comparison));
}
}
/// <summary>
/// Provides a mechanism for easily converting a Comparison<> delegate (or lambda) to an IComparer<>.
/// This can be used for List.BinarySearch(), for example.
/// </summary>
/// <typeparam name="T">The type of items to be compared.</typeparam>
public sealed class ComparisonDelegator<T>: IComparer<T>, IComparer
{
/// <summary>Create from a Comparison<> delegate.</summary>
/// <param name="comparison">A Comparison<> delegate.</param>
public ComparisonDelegator(Comparison<T> comparison)
{
this._comparison = comparison;
}
/// <summary>Implements the IComparer.Compare() method.</summary>
public int Compare(T x, T y)
{
return _comparison(x, y);
}
/// <summary>Implements the IComparer.Compare() method.</summary>
public int Compare(object x, object y)
{
return _comparison((T)x, (T)y);
}
/// <summary>Used to store the Comparison delegate.</summary>
private readonly Comparison<T> _comparison;
}
/// <summary>
/// Special class to sort strings "naturally",
/// but to place non-numeric items *before* numeric items.
/// </summary>
public class AlphanumComparator : IComparer
{
private enum ChunkType {Alphanumeric, Numeric};
private bool InChunk(char ch, char otherCh)
{
ChunkType type = ChunkType.Alphanumeric;
if (char.IsDigit(otherCh))
{
type = ChunkType.Numeric;
}
if ((type == ChunkType.Alphanumeric && char.IsDigit(ch))
|| (type == ChunkType.Numeric && !char.IsDigit(ch)))
{
return false;
}
return true;
}
public int Compare(object x, object y)
{
String s1 = x as string;
String s2 = y as string;
if (s1 == null || s2 == null)
{
return 0;
}
int thisMarker = 0, thisNumericChunk = 0;
int thatMarker = 0, thatNumericChunk = 0;
while ((thisMarker < s1.Length) || (thatMarker < s2.Length))
{
if (thisMarker >= s1.Length)
{
return -1;
}
else if (thatMarker >= s2.Length)
{
return 1;
}
char thisCh = s1[thisMarker];
char thatCh = s2[thatMarker];
StringBuilder thisChunk = new StringBuilder();
StringBuilder thatChunk = new StringBuilder();
while ((thisMarker < s1.Length) && (thisChunk.Length==0 ||InChunk(thisCh, thisChunk[0])))
{
thisChunk.Append(thisCh);
thisMarker++;
if (thisMarker < s1.Length)
{
thisCh = s1[thisMarker];
}
}
while ((thatMarker < s2.Length) && (thatChunk.Length==0 ||InChunk(thatCh, thatChunk[0])))
{
thatChunk.Append(thatCh);
thatMarker++;
if (thatMarker < s2.Length)
{
thatCh = s2[thatMarker];
}
}
int result = 0;
// If both chunks contain numeric characters, sort them numerically
if (char.IsDigit(thisChunk[0]) && char.IsDigit(thatChunk[0]))
{
thisNumericChunk = Convert.ToInt32(thisChunk.ToString());
thatNumericChunk = Convert.ToInt32(thatChunk.ToString());
if (thisNumericChunk < thatNumericChunk)
{
result = -1;
}
if (thisNumericChunk > thatNumericChunk)
{
result = 1;
}
}
else if (char.IsDigit(thisChunk[0]) && !char.IsDigit(thatChunk[0]))
{
return 1; // Ensure that non-numeric sorts before numeric.
}
else if (!char.IsDigit(thisChunk[0]) && char.IsDigit(thatChunk[0]))
{
return -1; // Ensure that non-numeric sorts before numeric.
}
else
{
result = thisChunk.ToString().CompareTo(thatChunk.ToString());
}
if (result != 0)
{
return result;
}
}
return 0;
}
}
}

You may just change numeric chars with chars with higher ascii values and do a orderby and revert back.
List<Essay> essays = new List<Essay>();
essays.Add(new Essay(){ID = 1, Name = "ccccc"});
essays.Add(new Essay(){ID = 2, Name = "aaaa"});
essays.Add(new Essay(){ID = 3, Name = "bbbb"});
essays.Add(new Essay(){ID = 4, Name = "10"});
essays.Add(new Essay(){ID = 5, Name = "1"});
essays.Add(new Essay(){ID = 6, Name = "2"});
essays.Add(new Essay(){ID = 7, Name = "1a"});
essays.ForEach(q => Replace(q));
var result = essays.OrderBy(q => q.Name).ToList();
result.ForEach(q => Revert(q));
Related Functions:
public void Replace(Essay x)
{
x.Name = x.Name.Replace('0', ((char)240));
x.Name = x.Name.Replace('1', ((char)241));
x.Name = x.Name.Replace('2', ((char)242));
x.Name = x.Name.Replace('3', ((char)243));
x.Name = x.Name.Replace('4', ((char)244));
x.Name = x.Name.Replace('5', ((char)245));
x.Name = x.Name.Replace('6', ((char)246));
x.Name = x.Name.Replace('7', ((char)247));
x.Name = x.Name.Replace('8', ((char)248));
x.Name = x.Name.Replace('9', ((char)249));
}
public void Revert(Essay x)
{
x.Name = x.Name.Replace(((char)240), '0');
x.Name = x.Name.Replace(((char)241), '1');
x.Name = x.Name.Replace(((char)242), '2');
x.Name = x.Name.Replace(((char)243), '3');
x.Name = x.Name.Replace(((char)244), '4');
x.Name = x.Name.Replace(((char)245), '5');
x.Name = x.Name.Replace(((char)246), '6');
x.Name = x.Name.Replace(((char)247), '7');
x.Name = x.Name.Replace(((char)248), '8');
x.Name = x.Name.Replace(((char)249), '9');
}

I have created an IComparer implementation and use OrderBy to sort the list. I use a regex to capture the digits at the start of the Name and if they exist use those to order the items, if not then just compare the names using a string comparison. A name starting with a number always comes after all names starting with letters. It gives the output you have requested.
public class EssayNameComparer : IComparer<string>
{
private Regex _digits = new Regex("(\\d+)(.*)");
public int Compare(string a, string b)
{
Match matcha = _digits.Match(a);
Match matchb = _digits.Match(b);
if (matcha.Success && matchb.Success)
{
int numa = int.Parse(matcha.Groups[1].Value);
int numb = int.Parse(matchb.Groups[1].Value);
return numa.CompareTo(numb);
}
else if (matcha.Success)
{
return 1;
}
else if (matchb.Success)
{
return -1;
}
else
{
return string.Compare(a, b);
}
}
}
public class Program
{
public static void Main(string[] args)
{
List<Essay> essays= new List<Essay>() {
new Essay { ID = 1, Name = "ccccc"},
new Essay { ID = 2, Name = "aaaa"},
new Essay { ID = 3, Name = "bbbb"},
new Essay { ID = 4, Name = "10"},
new Essay { ID = 5, Name = "1"},
new Essay { ID = 6, Name = "2"},
new Essay { ID = 7, Name = "1a"}
};
foreach(Essay essay in essays.OrderBy(e => e.Name, new EssayNameComparer()))
{
Console.WriteLine(essay.Name);
}
}
}
Output:
aaaa
bbbb
ccccc
1
1a
2
10

Use own IComparer<T> with Linq OrderBy

I have a generic
List<MyClass>
where MyClass has a property InvoiceNumber which contains values such as:
200906/1
200906/2
..
200906/10
200906/11
200906/12
My list is bound to a
BindingList<T>
which supports sorting with linq:
protected override void ApplySortCore(
PropertyDescriptor property, ListSortDirection direction)
{
_sortProperty = property;
_sortDirection = direction;
var items = this.Items;
switch (direction)
{
case ListSortDirection.Ascending:
items = items.OrderByDescending(x => property.GetValue(x)).ToList();
break;
case ListSortDirection.Descending:
items = items.OrderByDescending(x => property.GetValue(x)).ToList();
break;
}
this.Items = items;
}
However the default comparer sorts (as supposed) like this:
200906/1
200906/10
200906/11
200906/12
200906/2
which is nasty in this case.
Now I want to use my own IComparer<T> with this. It looks like this:
public class MyComparer : IComparer<Object>
{
public int Compare(Object stringA, Object stringB)
{
String[] valueA = stringA.ToString().Split('/');
String[] valueB = stringB.ToString().Split('/');
if(valueA .Length != 2 || valueB .Length != 2)
return String.Compare(stringA.ToString(), stringB.ToString());
if (valueA[0] == valueB[0])
{
return String.Compare(valueA[1], valueB[1]);
}
else
{
return String.Compare(valueA[0], valueB[0]);
}
}
}
and changed the ApplySortCore code to use this IComparer:
case ListSortDirection.Ascending:
MyComparer comparer = new MyComparer();
items = items.OrderByDescending(
x => property.GetValue(x), comparer).ToList();
break;
When I debug my code, I see that MyComparer.Compare(object, object) is called multiple times and returns the right values (-1, 0, 1) for a compare method.
But my list is still sorted the "wrong" way. Am I missing something? I have no clue.

Your comparer looks wrong to me. You're still just sorting in the default text ordering. Surely you want to be parsing the two numbers and sorting based on that:
public int Compare(Object stringA, Object stringB)
{
string[] valueA = stringA.ToString().Split('/');
string[] valueB = stringB.ToString().Split('/');
if (valueA.Length != 2 || valueB.Length != 2)
{
stringA.ToString().CompareTo(stringB.ToString());
}
// Note: do error checking and consider i18n issues too :)
if (valueA[0] == valueB[0])
{
return int.Parse(valueA[1]).CompareTo(int.Parse(valueB[1]));
}
else
{
return int.Parse(valueA[0]).CompareTo(int.Parse(valueB[0]));
}
}
(Note that this doesn't sit well with your question stating that you've debugged through and verified that Compare is returning the right value - but I'm afraid I suspect human error on that front.)
Additionally, Sven's right - changing the value of items doesn't change your bound list at all. You should add:
this.Items = items;
at the bottom of your method.

I encountered the issue of general natural sorting and blogged the solution here:
Natural Sort Compare with Linq OrderBy()
public class NaturalSortComparer<T> : IComparer<string>, IDisposable
{
private bool isAscending;
public NaturalSortComparer(bool inAscendingOrder = true)
{
this.isAscending = inAscendingOrder;
}
#region IComparer<string> Members
public int Compare(string x, string y)
{
throw new NotImplementedException();
}
#endregion
#region IComparer<string> Members
int IComparer<string>.Compare(string x, string y)
{
if (x == y)
return 0;
string[] x1, y1;
if (!table.TryGetValue(x, out x1))
{
x1 = Regex.Split(x.Replace(" ", ""), "([0-9]+)");
table.Add(x, x1);
}
if (!table.TryGetValue(y, out y1))
{
y1 = Regex.Split(y.Replace(" ", ""), "([0-9]+)");
table.Add(y, y1);
}
int returnVal;
for (int i = 0; i < x1.Length && i < y1.Length; i++)
{
if (x1[i] != y1[i])
{
returnVal = PartCompare(x1[i], y1[i]);
return isAscending ? returnVal : -returnVal;
}
}
if (y1.Length > x1.Length)
{
returnVal = 1;
}
else if (x1.Length > y1.Length)
{
returnVal = -1;
}
else
{
returnVal = 0;
}
return isAscending ? returnVal : -returnVal;
}
private static int PartCompare(string left, string right)
{
int x, y;
if (!int.TryParse(left, out x))
return left.CompareTo(right);
if (!int.TryParse(right, out y))
return left.CompareTo(right);
return x.CompareTo(y);
}
#endregion
private Dictionary<string, string[]> table = new Dictionary<string, string[]>();
public void Dispose()
{
table.Clear();
table = null;
}
}

Can't we do like this:
public class MyComparer : IComparer<string>
{
public int Compare(string stringA, string stringB)
{
string small = stringA;
string big = stringB;
if (stringA.Length > stringB.Length)
{
small = stringB;
big = stringA;
}
else if (stringA.Length < stringB.Length)
{
small = stringA;
big = stringB;
}
for (int j = 0; j < small.Length; j++)
{
if (Convert.ToInt32(small[j]) > Convert.ToInt32(big[j])) return -1;
if (Convert.ToInt32(small[j]) < Convert.ToInt32(big[j])) return 1;
}
//big is indeed bigger
if (big.Length > small.Length) return 1;
//finally they are smae
return 0;
}
}
Usage:
string[] inputStrings = {"_abc*&","#almnp","abc" };
//string[] inputStrings = { "#", "_", "_a", "#", "_" };
MyComparer computer = new MyComparer();
var kola = inputStrings.OrderBy(x => x, new MyComparer()).ToArray();
This is same as :
Array.Sort(inputStrings, StringComparer.Ordinal);

You can use The Alphanum Algorithm:
(...)
items.OrderBy(x => property.GetValue(x), new AlphanumComparator())
(...)
AlphanumComparator
/*
* The Alphanum Algorithm is an improved sorting algorithm for strings
* containing numbers. Instead of sorting numbers in ASCII order like
* a standard sort, this algorithm sorts numbers in numeric order.
*
* The Alphanum Algorithm is discussed at http://www.DaveKoelle.com
*
* Based on the Java implementation of Dave Koelle's Alphanum algorithm.
* Contributed by Jonathan Ruckwood <jonathan.ruckwood#gmail.com>
*
* Adapted by Dominik Hurnaus <dominik.hurnaus#gmail.com> to
* - correctly sort words where one word starts with another word
* - have slightly better performance
*
* Released under the MIT License - https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT
*
* Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining
* a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"),
* to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation
* the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense,
* and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the
* Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
*
* The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included
* in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
*
* THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND,
* EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF
* MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT.
* IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM,
* DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR
* OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE
* USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
*
*/
using System;
using System.Collections;
using System.Text;
/*
* Please compare against the latest Java version at http://www.DaveKoelle.com
* to see the most recent modifications
*/
namespace AlphanumComparator
{
public class AlphanumComparator : IComparer
{
private enum ChunkType {Alphanumeric, Numeric};
private bool InChunk(char ch, char otherCh)
{
ChunkType type = ChunkType.Alphanumeric;
if (char.IsDigit(otherCh))
{
type = ChunkType.Numeric;
}
if ((type == ChunkType.Alphanumeric && char.IsDigit(ch))
|| (type == ChunkType.Numeric && !char.IsDigit(ch)))
{
return false;
}
return true;
}
public int Compare(object x, object y)
{
String s1 = x as string;
String s2 = y as string;
if (s1 == null || s2 == null)
{
return 0;
}
int thisMarker = 0, thisNumericChunk = 0;
int thatMarker = 0, thatNumericChunk = 0;
while ((thisMarker < s1.Length) || (thatMarker < s2.Length))
{
if (thisMarker >= s1.Length)
{
return -1;
}
else if (thatMarker >= s2.Length)
{
return 1;
}
char thisCh = s1[thisMarker];
char thatCh = s2[thatMarker];
StringBuilder thisChunk = new StringBuilder();
StringBuilder thatChunk = new StringBuilder();
while ((thisMarker < s1.Length) && (thisChunk.Length==0 ||InChunk(thisCh, thisChunk[0])))
{
thisChunk.Append(thisCh);
thisMarker++;
if (thisMarker < s1.Length)
{
thisCh = s1[thisMarker];
}
}
while ((thatMarker < s2.Length) && (thatChunk.Length==0 ||InChunk(thatCh, thatChunk[0])))
{
thatChunk.Append(thatCh);
thatMarker++;
if (thatMarker < s2.Length)
{
thatCh = s2[thatMarker];
}
}
int result = 0;
// If both chunks contain numeric characters, sort them numerically
if (char.IsDigit(thisChunk[0]) && char.IsDigit(thatChunk[0]))
{
thisNumericChunk = Convert.ToInt32(thisChunk.ToString());
thatNumericChunk = Convert.ToInt32(thatChunk.ToString());
if (thisNumericChunk < thatNumericChunk)
{
result = -1;
}
if (thisNumericChunk > thatNumericChunk)
{
result = 1;
}
}
else
{
result = thisChunk.ToString().CompareTo(thatChunk.ToString());
}
if (result != 0)
{
return result;
}
}
return 0;
}
}
}

The sorted list is only bound to the local variable items, not to the Items property of your binding list, hence it remains unsorted.
[Edit] Basically, you're simply throwing away the result of your sorting efforts ;-)