Develop Reference

Search for Value as if it were key in Dictionary [duplicate]

How do I get a Dictionary key by value in C#?
Dictionary<string, string> types = new Dictionary<string, string>()
{
{"1", "one"},
{"2", "two"},
{"3", "three"}
};
I want something like this:
getByValueKey(string value);
getByValueKey("one") must be return "1".
What is the best way do this? Maybe HashTable or SortedLists?

Values do not necessarily have to be unique, so you have to do a lookup. You can do something like this:
var myKey = types.FirstOrDefault(x => x.Value == "one").Key;
If values are unique and are inserted less frequently than read, then create an inverse dictionary where values are keys and keys are values.

You could do that:
By looping through all the KeyValuePair<TKey, TValue>'s in the dictionary (which will be a sizable performance hit if you have a number of entries in the dictionary)
Use two dictionaries, one for value-to-key mapping and one for key-to-value mapping (which would take up twice as much space in memory).
Use Method 1 if performance is not a consideration, and use Method 2 if memory is not a consideration.
Also, all keys must be unique, but the values are not required to be unique. You may have more than one key with the specified value.

I was in a situation where LINQ binding was not available and had to expand lambda explicitly. It resulted in a simple function:
public static T KeyByValue<T, W>(this Dictionary<T, W> dict, W val)
{
T key = default;
foreach (KeyValuePair<T, W> pair in dict)
{
if (EqualityComparer<W>.Default.Equals(pair.Value, val))
{
key = pair.Key;
break;
}
}
return key;
}
Call it like follows:
public static void Main()
{
Dictionary<string, string> dict = new Dictionary<string, string>()
{
{"1", "one"},
{"2", "two"},
{"3", "three"}
};
string key = dict.KeyByValue("two");
Console.WriteLine("Key: " + key);
}
It works on .NET 2.0 and in other limited environments.

public static string GetKeyFromValue(string valueVar)
{
foreach (string keyVar in dictionaryVar.Keys)
{
if (dictionaryVar[keyVar] == valueVar)
{
return keyVar;
}
}
return null;
}
Other people may have more efficient answers, but I find this personally more intuitive and it works in my case.

I have created a double-lookup class:
/// <summary>
/// dictionary with double key lookup
/// </summary>
/// <typeparam name="T1">primary key</typeparam>
/// <typeparam name="T2">secondary key</typeparam>
/// <typeparam name="TValue">value type</typeparam>
public class cDoubleKeyDictionary<T1, T2, TValue> {
private struct Key2ValuePair {
internal T2 key2;
internal TValue value;
}
private Dictionary<T1, Key2ValuePair> d1 = new Dictionary<T1, Key2ValuePair>();
private Dictionary<T2, T1> d2 = new Dictionary<T2, T1>();
/// <summary>
/// add item
/// not exacly like add, mote like Dictionary[] = overwriting existing values
/// </summary>
/// <param name="key1"></param>
/// <param name="key2"></param>
public void Add(T1 key1, T2 key2, TValue value) {
lock (d1) {
d1[key1] = new Key2ValuePair {
key2 = key2,
value = value,
};
d2[key2] = key1;
}
}
/// <summary>
/// get key2 by key1
/// </summary>
/// <param name="key1"></param>
/// <param name="key2"></param>
/// <returns></returns>
public bool TryGetValue(T1 key1, out TValue value) {
if (d1.TryGetValue(key1, out Key2ValuePair kvp)) {
value = kvp.value;
return true;
} else {
value = default;
return false;
}
}
/// <summary>
/// get key1 by key2
/// </summary>
/// <param name="key2"></param>
/// <param name="key1"></param>
/// <remarks>
/// 2x O(1) operation
/// </remarks>
/// <returns></returns>
public bool TryGetValue2(T2 key2, out TValue value) {
if (d2.TryGetValue(key2, out T1 key1)) {
return TryGetValue(key1, out value);
} else {
value = default;
return false;
}
}
/// <summary>
/// get key1 by key2
/// </summary>
/// <param name="key2"></param>
/// <param name="key1"></param>
/// <remarks>
/// 2x O(1) operation
/// </remarks>
/// <returns></returns>
public bool TryGetKey1(T2 key2, out T1 key1) {
return d2.TryGetValue(key2, out key1);
}
/// <summary>
/// get key1 by key2
/// </summary>
/// <param name="key2"></param>
/// <param name="key1"></param>
/// <remarks>
/// 2x O(1) operation
/// </remarks>
/// <returns></returns>
public bool TryGetKey2(T1 key1, out T2 key2) {
if (d1.TryGetValue(key1, out Key2ValuePair kvp1)) {
key2 = kvp1.key2;
return true;
} else {
key2 = default;
return false;
}
}
/// <summary>
/// remove item by key 1
/// </summary>
/// <param name="key1"></param>
public void Remove(T1 key1) {
lock (d1) {
if (d1.TryGetValue(key1, out Key2ValuePair kvp)) {
d1.Remove(key1);
d2.Remove(kvp.key2);
}
}
}
/// <summary>
/// remove item by key 2
/// </summary>
/// <param name="key2"></param>
public void Remove2(T2 key2) {
lock (d1) {
if (d2.TryGetValue(key2, out T1 key1)) {
d1.Remove(key1);
d2.Remove(key2);
}
}
}
/// <summary>
/// clear all items
/// </summary>
public void Clear() {
lock (d1) {
d1.Clear();
d2.Clear();
}
}
/// <summary>
/// enumerator on key1, so we can replace Dictionary by cDoubleKeyDictionary
/// </summary>
/// <param name="key1"></param>
/// <returns></returns>
public TValue this[T1 key1] {
get => d1[key1].value;
}
/// <summary>
/// enumerator on key1, so we can replace Dictionary by cDoubleKeyDictionary
/// </summary>
/// <param name="key1"></param>
/// <returns></returns>
public TValue this[T1 key1, T2 key2] {
set {
lock (d1) {
d1[key1] = new Key2ValuePair {
key2 = key2,
value = value,
};
d2[key2] = key1;
}
}
}

A Dictionary<K,V> extension that works. I have been using it for a long time::
public static bool TryGetKey<K, V>(this IDictionary<K, V> instance, V value, out K key)
{
foreach (var entry in instance)
{
if (!entry.Value.Equals(value))
{
continue;
}
key = entry.Key;
return true;
}
key = default(K);
return false;
}
And use as :
public static void Main()
{
Dictionary<string, string> dict = new Dictionary<string, string>()
{
{"1", "one"},
{"2", "two"},
{"3", "three"}
};
string value="two";
if (dict.TryGetKey(value, out var returnedKey))
Console.WriteLine($"Found Key {returnedKey}");
else
Console.WriteLine($"No key found for value {value}");
}

Maybe something like this:
foreach (var keyvaluepair in dict)
{
if(Object.ReferenceEquals(keyvaluepair.Value, searchedObject))
{
//dict.Remove(keyvaluepair.Key);
break;
}
}

The order of the keys in Keys is unspecified, but it is the same as the associated values in Values (from the C# doc).
So an efficient way (in some situations) to do that for a collection of values looks like:
/// <summary>
/// Gets the 1st key matching each value
/// </summary>
public static IEnumerable<TKey> GetKeys<TKey,TValue>(this Dictionary<TKey, TValue> dic, IEnumerable<TValue> values) where TKey : notnull
{
//The order of the keys in Keys is unspecified, but it is the same as the associated values in Values
var dicKeys = dic.Keys.ToList();
var dicValues = dic.Values.ToList();
foreach (var value in values)
{
var i = dicValues.IndexOf(value); //Will return the index of the 1st found value, even when multiple values are present
//we could test if i==-1 there.
yield return dicKeys[i];
}
}

types.Values.ToList().IndexOf("one");
Values.ToList() converts your dictionary values into a List of objects.
IndexOf("one") searches your new List looking for "one" and returns the Index which would match the index of the Key/Value pair in the dictionary.
This method does not care about the dictionary keys, it simply returns the index of the value that you are looking for.
Keep in mind there may be more than one "one" value in your dictionary. And that is the reason there is no "get key" method.

The below code only works if it contains unique value data:
public string getKey(string Value)
{
if (dictionary.ContainsValue(Value))
{
var ListValueData = new List<string>();
var ListKeyData = new List<string>();
var Values = dictionary.Values;
var Keys = dictionary.Keys;
foreach (var item in Values)
{
ListValueData.Add(item);
}
var ValueIndex = ListValueData.IndexOf(Value);
foreach (var item in Keys)
{
ListKeyData.Add(item);
}
return ListKeyData[ValueIndex];
}
return string.Empty;
}

I have a very simple way to do this. It worked out perfect for me.
Dictionary<string, string> types = new Dictionary<string, string>();
types.Add("1", "one");
types.Add("2", "two");
types.Add("3", "three");
Console.WriteLine("Please type a key to show its value: ");
string rLine = Console.ReadLine();
if(types.ContainsKey(rLine))
{
string value_For_Key = types[rLine];
Console.WriteLine("Value for " + rLine + " is" + value_For_Key);
}

Can I use Linq's Except() with a lambda expression comparer?

I know I can call linq's Except and specify a custom IEqualityComparer, but implementing a new Comparer class for each data type seems like an overkill for this purpose. Can I use a lambda expression to provide the equality function, like when I use Where or other LINQ functions?
If I can't, is there an alternative?

For any one still looking; here's another way of implementing a custom lambda comparer.
public class LambdaComparer<T> : IEqualityComparer<T>
{
private readonly Func<T, T, bool> _expression;
public LambdaComparer(Func<T, T, bool> lambda)
{
_expression = lambda;
}
public bool Equals(T x, T y)
{
return _expression(x, y);
}
public int GetHashCode(T obj)
{
/*
If you just return 0 for the hash the Equals comparer will kick in.
The underlying evaluation checks the hash and then short circuits the evaluation if it is false.
Otherwise, it checks the Equals. If you force the hash to be true (by assuming 0 for both objects),
you will always fall through to the Equals check which is what we are always going for.
*/
return 0;
}
}
you can then create an extension for the linq Except an Intersect that take in lambda's
/// <summary>
/// Returns all items in the first collection except the ones in the second collection that match the lambda condition
/// </summary>
/// <typeparam name="T">The type</typeparam>
/// <param name="listA">The first list</param>
/// <param name="listB">The second list</param>
/// <param name="lambda">The filter expression</param>
/// <returns>The filtered list</returns>
public static IEnumerable<T> Except<T>(this IEnumerable<T> listA, IEnumerable<T> listB, Func<T, T, bool> lambda)
{
return listA.Except(listB, new LambdaComparer<T>(lambda));
}
/// <summary>
/// Returns all items in the first collection that intersect the ones in the second collection that match the lambda condition
/// </summary>
/// <typeparam name="T">The type</typeparam>
/// <param name="listA">The first list</param>
/// <param name="listB">The second list</param>
/// <param name="lambda">The filter expression</param>
/// <returns>The filtered list</returns>
public static IEnumerable<T> Intersect<T>(this IEnumerable<T> listA, IEnumerable<T> listB, Func<T, T, bool> lambda)
{
return listA.Intersect(listB, new LambdaComparer<T>(lambda));
}
Usage:
var availableItems = allItems.Except(filterItems, (p, p1) => p.Id== p1.Id);

Can you not use a .Where with a lambda that filters out your required values?
Example as requested:
static void Main(string[] args)
{
var firstCustomers = new[] { new Customer { Id = 1, Name = "Bob" }, new Customer { Id = 2, Name = "Steve" } };
var secondCustomers = new[] { new Customer { Id = 2, Name = "Steve" }, new Customer { Id = 3, Name = "John" } };
var customers = secondCustomers.Where(c => !firstCustomers.Select(fc => fc.Id).Contains(c.Id));
}
public class Customer
{
public int Id { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
}

I don't think you can directly with the basic LINQ interfaces, but I've seen people implement a LambdaComparer class with extension methods which will help you do it.
Here's an example

Here's something simple I whipped up:
public class CustomComparer<TSource, TCompareType> : IEqualityComparer<TSource> where TSource : class
{
private readonly Func<TSource, TCompareType> getComparisonObject;
public CustomComparer(Func<TSource,TCompareType> getComparisonObject)
{
if (getComparisonObject == null) throw new ArgumentNullException("getComparisonObject");
this.getComparisonObject = getComparisonObject;
}
/// <summary>
/// Determines whether the specified objects are equal.
/// </summary>
/// <returns>
/// true if the specified objects are equal; otherwise, false.
/// </returns>
/// <param name="x">The first object of type <paramref name="T"/> to compare.
/// </param><param name="y">The second object of type <paramref name="T"/> to compare.
/// </param>
public bool Equals(TSource x, TSource y)
{
if (x == null)
{
return (y == null);
}
else if (y == null)
{
return false;
}
return EqualityComparer<TCompareType>.Default.Equals(getComparisonObject(x), getComparisonObject(y));
}
/// <summary>
/// Returns a hash code for the specified object.
/// </summary>
/// <returns>
/// A hash code for the specified object.
/// </returns>
/// <param name="obj">The <see cref="T:System.Object"/> for which a hash code is to be returned.
/// </param><exception cref="T:System.ArgumentNullException">The type of <paramref name="obj"/> is a reference type and <paramref name="obj"/> is null.
/// </exception>
public int GetHashCode(TSource obj)
{
return EqualityComparer<TCompareType>.Default.GetHashCode(getComparisonObject(obj));
}
}
Usage:
var myItems = allItems.Except(theirItems, new CustomComparer(item => item.Name));

Use an extension!
public static IEnumerable<T> Except<T, TKey>(this IEnumerable<T> items, IEnumerable<T> other,
Func<T, TKey> getKey)
{
return from item in items
join otherItem in other on getKey(item)
equals getKey(otherItem) into tempItems
from temp in tempItems.DefaultIfEmpty()
where ReferenceEquals(null, temp) || temp.Equals(default(T))
select item;
}
Source

Here' is l except r solution, based on a LINQ outer join technique:
from l in new[] { 1, 2, 3 }
join r in new[] { 2, 4, 5 }
on l equals r
into rr
where !rr.Any()
select l
Will yield: 1, 3

But you may try this. This is so much easy, I think code contains errors. Of course, the code is for small amounts, without LINQ translates to db etc.
public static IEnumerable<TSource> ExceptPredicate<TSource>(this IEnumerable<TSource> first, IEnumerable<TSource> second, Func<TSource, TSource, bool> compare) {
foreach (var itmFirst in first) {
if (!second.Any(itmsecond => compare(itmFirst, itmsecond))) {
yield return itmFirst;
}
}
yield break;
}

Converting a generic list to a CSV string

I have a list of integer values (List) and would like to generate a string of comma delimited values. That is all items in the list output to a single comma delimted list.
My thoughts...
1. pass the list to a method.
2. Use stringbuilder to iterate the list and append commas
3. Test the last character and if it's a comma, delete it.
What are your thoughts? Is this the best way?
How would my code change if I wanted to handle not only integers (my current plan) but strings, longs, doubles, bools, etc, etc. in the future? I guess make it accept a list of any type.

It's amazing what the Framework already does for us.
List<int> myValues;
string csv = String.Join(",", myValues.Select(x => x.ToString()).ToArray());
For the general case:
IEnumerable<T> myList;
string csv = String.Join(",", myList.Select(x => x.ToString()).ToArray());
As you can see, it's effectively no different. Beware that you might need to actually wrap x.ToString() in quotes (i.e., "\"" + x.ToString() + "\"") in case x.ToString() contains commas.
For an interesting read on a slight variant of this: see Comma Quibbling on Eric Lippert's blog.
Note: This was written before .NET 4.0 was officially released. Now we can just say
IEnumerable<T> sequence;
string csv = String.Join(",", sequence);
using the overload String.Join<T>(string, IEnumerable<T>). This method will automatically project each element x to x.ToString().

in 3.5, i was still able to do this. Its much more simpler and doesnt need lambda.
String.Join(",", myList.ToArray<string>());

I explain it in-depth in this post. I'll just paste the code here with brief descriptions.
Here's the method that creates the header row. It uses the property names as column names.
private static void CreateHeader<T>(List<T> list, StreamWriter sw)
{
PropertyInfo[] properties = typeof(T).GetProperties();
for (int i = 0; i < properties.Length - 1; i++)
{
sw.Write(properties[i].Name + ",");
}
var lastProp = properties[properties.Length - 1].Name;
sw.Write(lastProp + sw.NewLine);
}
This method creates all the value rows
private static void CreateRows<T>(List<T> list, StreamWriter sw)
{
foreach (var item in list)
{
PropertyInfo[] properties = typeof(T).GetProperties();
for (int i = 0; i < properties.Length - 1; i++)
{
var prop = properties[i];
sw.Write(prop.GetValue(item) + ",");
}
var lastProp = properties[properties.Length - 1];
sw.Write(lastProp.GetValue(item) + sw.NewLine);
}
}
And here's the method that brings them together and creates the actual file.
public static void CreateCSV<T>(List<T> list, string filePath)
{
using (StreamWriter sw = new StreamWriter(filePath))
{
CreateHeader(list, sw);
CreateRows(list, sw);
}
}

You can create an extension method that you can call on any IEnumerable:
public static string JoinStrings<T>(
this IEnumerable<T> values, string separator)
{
var stringValues = values.Select(item =>
(item == null ? string.Empty : item.ToString()));
return string.Join(separator, stringValues.ToArray());
}
Then you can just call the method on the original list:
string commaSeparated = myList.JoinStrings(", ");

If any body wants to convert list of custom class objects instead of list of string then override the ToString method of your class with csv row representation of your class.
Public Class MyClass{
public int Id{get;set;}
public String PropertyA{get;set;}
public override string ToString()
{
return this.Id+ "," + this.PropertyA;
}
}
Then following code can be used to convert this class list to CSV with header column
string csvHeaderRow = String.Join(",", typeof(MyClass).GetProperties(BindingFlags.Public | BindingFlags.Instance).Select(x => x.Name).ToArray<string>()) + Environment.NewLine;
string csv= csvHeaderRow + String.Join(Environment.NewLine, MyClass.Select(x => x.ToString()).ToArray());

You can use String.Join.
String.Join(
",",
Array.ConvertAll(
list.ToArray(),
element => element.ToString()
)
);

As the code in the link given by #Frank Create a CSV File from a .NET Generic List there was a little issue of ending every line with a , I modified the code to get rid of it.Hope it helps someone.
/// <summary>
/// Creates the CSV from a generic list.
/// </summary>;
/// <typeparam name="T"></typeparam>;
/// <param name="list">The list.</param>;
/// <param name="csvNameWithExt">Name of CSV (w/ path) w/ file ext.</param>;
public static void CreateCSVFromGenericList<T>(List<T> list, string csvCompletePath)
{
if (list == null || list.Count == 0) return;
//get type from 0th member
Type t = list[0].GetType();
string newLine = Environment.NewLine;
if (!Directory.Exists(Path.GetDirectoryName(csvCompletePath))) Directory.CreateDirectory(Path.GetDirectoryName(csvCompletePath));
if (!File.Exists(csvCompletePath)) File.Create(csvCompletePath);
using (var sw = new StreamWriter(csvCompletePath))
{
//make a new instance of the class name we figured out to get its props
object o = Activator.CreateInstance(t);
//gets all properties
PropertyInfo[] props = o.GetType().GetProperties();
//foreach of the properties in class above, write out properties
//this is the header row
sw.Write(string.Join(",", props.Select(d => d.Name).ToArray()) + newLine);
//this acts as datarow
foreach (T item in list)
{
//this acts as datacolumn
var row = string.Join(",", props.Select(d => item.GetType()
.GetProperty(d.Name)
.GetValue(item, null)
.ToString())
.ToArray());
sw.Write(row + newLine);
}
}
}

I like a nice simple extension method
public static string ToCsv(this List<string> itemList)
{
return string.Join(",", itemList);
}
Then you can just call the method on the original list:
string CsvString = myList.ToCsv();
Cleaner and easier to read than some of the other suggestions.

For whatever reason, #AliUmair reverted the edit to his answer that fixes his code that doesn't run as is, so here is the working version that doesn't have the file access error and properly handles null object property values:
/// <summary>
/// Creates the CSV from a generic list.
/// </summary>;
/// <typeparam name="T"></typeparam>;
/// <param name="list">The list.</param>;
/// <param name="csvNameWithExt">Name of CSV (w/ path) w/ file ext.</param>;
public static void CreateCSVFromGenericList<T>(List<T> list, string csvCompletePath)
{
if (list == null || list.Count == 0) return;
//get type from 0th member
Type t = list[0].GetType();
string newLine = Environment.NewLine;
if (!Directory.Exists(Path.GetDirectoryName(csvCompletePath))) Directory.CreateDirectory(Path.GetDirectoryName(csvCompletePath));
using (var sw = new StreamWriter(csvCompletePath))
{
//make a new instance of the class name we figured out to get its props
object o = Activator.CreateInstance(t);
//gets all properties
PropertyInfo[] props = o.GetType().GetProperties();
//foreach of the properties in class above, write out properties
//this is the header row
sw.Write(string.Join(",", props.Select(d => d.Name).ToArray()) + newLine);
//this acts as datarow
foreach (T item in list)
{
//this acts as datacolumn
var row = string.Join(",", props.Select(d => $"\"{item.GetType().GetProperty(d.Name).GetValue(item, null)?.ToString()}\"")
.ToArray());
sw.Write(row + newLine);
}
}
}

Any solution work only if List a list(of string)
If you have a generic list of your own Objects like list(of car) where car has n properties, you must loop the PropertiesInfo of each car object.
Look at: http://www.csharptocsharp.com/generate-csv-from-generic-list

CsvHelper library is very popular in the Nuget.You worth it,man!
https://github.com/JoshClose/CsvHelper/wiki/Basics
Using CsvHelper is really easy. It's default settings are setup for the most common scenarios.
Here is a little setup data.
Actors.csv:
Id,FirstName,LastName
1,Arnold,Schwarzenegger
2,Matt,Damon
3,Christian,Bale
Actor.cs (custom class object that represents an actor):
public class Actor
{
public int Id { get; set; }
public string FirstName { get; set; }
public string LastName { get; set; }
}
Reading the CSV file using CsvReader:
var csv = new CsvReader( new StreamReader( "Actors.csv" ) );
var actorsList = csv.GetRecords();
Writing to a CSV file.
using (var csv = new CsvWriter( new StreamWriter( "Actors.csv" ) ))
{
csv.WriteRecords( actorsList );
}

The problem with String.Join is that you are not handling the case of a comma already existing in the value. When a comma exists then you surround the value in Quotes and replace all existing Quotes with double Quotes.
String.Join(",",{"this value has a , in it","This one doesn't", "This one , does"});
See CSV Module

http://cc.davelozinski.com/c-sharp/the-fastest-way-to-read-and-process-text-files
This website did some extensive testing about how to write to a file using buffered writer, reading line by line seems to be the best way, using string builder was one of the slowest.
I use his techniques a great deal for writing stuff to file it works well.

A general purpose ToCsv() extension method:
Supports Int16/32/64, float, double, decimal, and anything supporting
ToString()
Optional custom join separator
Optional custom selector
Optional null/empty handling specification (*Opt() overloads)
Usage Examples:
"123".ToCsv() // "1,2,3"
"123".ToCsv(", ") // "1, 2, 3"
new List<int> { 1, 2, 3 }.ToCsv() // "1,2,3"
new List<Tuple<int, string>>
{
Tuple.Create(1, "One"),
Tuple.Create(2, "Two")
}
.ToCsv(t => t.Item2); // "One,Two"
((string)null).ToCsv() // throws exception
((string)null).ToCsvOpt() // ""
((string)null).ToCsvOpt(ReturnNullCsv.WhenNull) // null
Implementation
/// <summary>
/// Specifies when ToCsv() should return null. Refer to ToCsv() for IEnumerable[T]
/// </summary>
public enum ReturnNullCsv
{
/// <summary>
/// Return String.Empty when the input list is null or empty.
/// </summary>
Never,
/// <summary>
/// Return null only if input list is null. Return String.Empty if list is empty.
/// </summary>
WhenNull,
/// <summary>
/// Return null when the input list is null or empty
/// </summary>
WhenNullOrEmpty,
/// <summary>
/// Throw if the argument is null
/// </summary>
ThrowIfNull
}
/// <summary>
/// Converts IEnumerable list of values to a comma separated string values.
/// </summary>
/// <typeparam name="T"></typeparam>
/// <param name="values">The values.</param>
/// <param name="joinSeparator"></param>
/// <returns>System.String.</returns>
public static string ToCsv<T>(
this IEnumerable<T> values,
string joinSeparator = ",")
{
return ToCsvOpt<T>(values, null /*selector*/, ReturnNullCsv.ThrowIfNull, joinSeparator);
}
/// <summary>
/// Converts IEnumerable list of values to a comma separated string values.
/// </summary>
/// <typeparam name="T"></typeparam>
/// <param name="values">The values.</param>
/// <param name="selector">An optional selector</param>
/// <param name="joinSeparator"></param>
/// <returns>System.String.</returns>
public static string ToCsv<T>(
this IEnumerable<T> values,
Func<T, string> selector,
string joinSeparator = ",")
{
return ToCsvOpt<T>(values, selector, ReturnNullCsv.ThrowIfNull, joinSeparator);
}
/// <summary>
/// Converts IEnumerable list of values to a comma separated string values.
/// </summary>
/// <typeparam name="T"></typeparam>
/// <param name="values">The values.</param>
/// <param name="returnNullCsv">Return mode (refer to enum ReturnNullCsv).</param>
/// <param name="joinSeparator"></param>
/// <returns>System.String.</returns>
public static string ToCsvOpt<T>(
this IEnumerable<T> values,
ReturnNullCsv returnNullCsv = ReturnNullCsv.Never,
string joinSeparator = ",")
{
return ToCsvOpt<T>(values, null /*selector*/, returnNullCsv, joinSeparator);
}
/// <summary>
/// Converts IEnumerable list of values to a comma separated string values.
/// </summary>
/// <typeparam name="T"></typeparam>
/// <param name="values">The values.</param>
/// <param name="selector">An optional selector</param>
/// <param name="returnNullCsv">Return mode (refer to enum ReturnNullCsv).</param>
/// <param name="joinSeparator"></param>
/// <returns>System.String.</returns>
public static string ToCsvOpt<T>(
this IEnumerable<T> values,
Func<T, string> selector,
ReturnNullCsv returnNullCsv = ReturnNullCsv.Never,
string joinSeparator = ",")
{
switch (returnNullCsv)
{
case ReturnNullCsv.Never:
if (!values.AnyOpt())
return string.Empty;
break;
case ReturnNullCsv.WhenNull:
if (values == null)
return null;
break;
case ReturnNullCsv.WhenNullOrEmpty:
if (!values.AnyOpt())
return null;
break;
case ReturnNullCsv.ThrowIfNull:
if (values == null)
throw new ArgumentOutOfRangeException("ToCsvOpt was passed a null value with ReturnNullCsv = ThrowIfNull.");
break;
default:
throw new ArgumentOutOfRangeException("returnNullCsv", returnNullCsv, "Out of range.");
}
if (selector == null)
{
if (typeof(T) == typeof(Int16) ||
typeof(T) == typeof(Int32) ||
typeof(T) == typeof(Int64))
{
selector = (v) => Convert.ToInt64(v).ToStringInvariant();
}
else if (typeof(T) == typeof(decimal))
{
selector = (v) => Convert.ToDecimal(v).ToStringInvariant();
}
else if (typeof(T) == typeof(float) ||
typeof(T) == typeof(double))
{
selector = (v) => Convert.ToDouble(v).ToString(CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);
}
else
{
selector = (v) => v.ToString();
}
}
return String.Join(joinSeparator, values.Select(v => selector(v)));
}
public static string ToStringInvariantOpt(this Decimal? d)
{
return d.HasValue ? d.Value.ToStringInvariant() : null;
}
public static string ToStringInvariant(this Decimal d)
{
return d.ToString(CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);
}
public static string ToStringInvariantOpt(this Int64? l)
{
return l.HasValue ? l.Value.ToStringInvariant() : null;
}
public static string ToStringInvariant(this Int64 l)
{
return l.ToString(CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);
}
public static string ToStringInvariantOpt(this Int32? i)
{
return i.HasValue ? i.Value.ToStringInvariant() : null;
}
public static string ToStringInvariant(this Int32 i)
{
return i.ToString(CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);
}
public static string ToStringInvariantOpt(this Int16? i)
{
return i.HasValue ? i.Value.ToStringInvariant() : null;
}
public static string ToStringInvariant(this Int16 i)
{
return i.ToString(CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);
}

Here is my extension method, it returns a string for simplicity but my implementation writes the file to a data lake.
It provides for any delimiter, adds quotes to string (in case they contain the delimiter) and deals will nulls and blanks.
/// <summary>
/// A class to hold extension methods for C# Lists
/// </summary>
public static class ListExtensions
{
/// <summary>
/// Convert a list of Type T to a CSV
/// </summary>
/// <typeparam name="T">The type of the object held in the list</typeparam>
/// <param name="items">The list of items to process</param>
/// <param name="delimiter">Specify the delimiter, default is ,</param>
/// <returns></returns>
public static string ToCsv<T>(this List<T> items, string delimiter = ",")
{
Type itemType = typeof(T);
var props = itemType.GetProperties(BindingFlags.Public | BindingFlags.Instance).OrderBy(p => p.Name);
var csv = new StringBuilder();
// Write Headers
csv.AppendLine(string.Join(delimiter, props.Select(p => p.Name)));
// Write Rows
foreach (var item in items)
{
// Write Fields
csv.AppendLine(string.Join(delimiter, props.Select(p => GetCsvFieldasedOnValue(p, item))));
}
return csv.ToString();
}
/// <summary>
/// Provide generic and specific handling of fields
/// </summary>
/// <typeparam name="T"></typeparam>
/// <param name="p"></param>
/// <param name="item"></param>
/// <returns></returns>
private static object GetCsvFieldasedOnValue<T>(PropertyInfo p, T item)
{
string value = "";
try
{
value = p.GetValue(item, null)?.ToString();
if (value == null) return "NULL"; // Deal with nulls
if (value.Trim().Length == 0) return ""; // Deal with spaces and blanks
// Guard strings with "s, they may contain the delimiter!
if (p.PropertyType == typeof(string))
{
value = string.Format("\"{0}\"", value);
}
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
throw ex;
}
return value;
}
}
Usage:
// Tab Delimited (TSV)
var csv = MyList.ToCsv<MyClass>("\t");

The other answers work, but my issue is loading unknown data from the database, so I needed something a bit more robust than what's already here.
I wanted something that fit the following requirements:
able to be opened in excel
had to be able to handle date time formats in an excel compatible way
had to automatically exclude linked entities (EF navigation properties)
had to support column contents containing " and the delimiter ,
had to support nullable columns
had to support a wide array of data types
numbers of every kind
guids
datetimes
custom type definitions (ie name from a linked entity)
I used month/day/year formats for the date exports for compatibility reasons
public static IReadOnlyDictionary<System.Type, Func<object, string>> CsvTypeFormats = new Dictionary<System.Type, Func<object, string>> {
// handles escaping column delimiter (',') and quote marks
{ typeof(string), x => string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(x as string) ? null as string : $"\"{(x as string).Replace("\"", "\"\"")}\""},
{ typeof(DateTime), x => $"{x:M/d/yyyy H:m:s.fff}" },
{ typeof(DateTime?), x => x == null ? "" : $"{x:M/d/yyyy H:m:s.fff}" },
{ typeof(DateTimeOffset), x => $"{x:M/d/yyyy H:m:s.fff}" },
{ typeof(DateTimeOffset?), x => x == null ? "" : $"{x:M/d/yyyy H:m:s.fff}" },
};
public void WriteCsvContent<T>(ICollection<T> data, StringBuilder writer, IDictionary<System.Type, Func<object, string>> explicitMapping = null)
{
var typeMappings = CsvTypeFormats.ToDictionary(x=>x.Key, x=>x.Value);
if (explicitMapping != null) {
foreach(var mapping in explicitMapping) {
typeMappings[mapping.Key] = mapping.Value;
}
}
var props = typeof(T).GetProperties(BindingFlags.Public | BindingFlags.Instance)
.Where(x => IsSimpleType(x.PropertyType))
.ToList();
// header row
writer.AppendJoin(',', props.Select(x => x.Name));
writer.AppendLine();
foreach (var item in data)
{
writer.AppendJoin(',',
props.Select(prop => typeMappings.ContainsKey(prop.PropertyType)
? typeMappings[prop.PropertyType](prop.GetValue(item))
: prop.GetValue(item)?.ToString() ?? ""
)
// escaping and special characters
.Select(x => x != null && x != "" ? $"\"{x.Replace("\"", "\"\"")}\"" : null)
);
writer.AppendLine();
}
}
private bool IsSimpleType(System.Type t)
{
return
t.IsPrimitive ||
t.IsValueType ||
t.IsEnum ||
(t == typeof(string)) ||
CsvTypeFormats.ContainsKey(t);
}
If your class uses fields instead of properties, change the GetProperties to GetFields and the PropertyType accessors to FieldType

What is the generic version of a Hashtable?

I have been learning the basics of generics in .NET. However, I don't see the generic equivalent of Hashtable. Please share some sample C# code for creating generic hashtable classes.

Dictionary<TKey, TValue>
Note that Dictionary is not a 100% drop in replacement for HashTable.
There is a slight difference in the way they handle NULLs.
The dictionary will throw an exception if you try to reference a key that doesn't exist. The HashTable will just return null.
The reason is that the value might be a value type, which cannot be null. In a Hashtable the value was always Object, so returning null was at least possible.

The generic version of Hashtable class is System.Collections.Generic.Dictionary class.
Sample code:
Dictionary<int, string> numbers = new Dictionary<int, string>( );
numbers.Add(1, "one");
numbers.Add(2, "two");
// Display all key/value pairs in the Dictionary.
foreach (KeyValuePair<int, string> kvp in numbers)
{
Console.WriteLine("Key: " + kvp.Key + "\tValue: " + kvp.Value);
}

The generic version of a Hashtable is the Dictionary<TKey,TValue> class (link). Here is some sample code translated from using a Hashtable into the most direct equivalent of Dictionary (argument checking removed for sake of brevity)
public HashTable Create(int[] keys, string[] values) {
HashTable table = new HashTable();
for ( int i = 0; i < keys.Length; i++ ) {
table[keys[i]] = values[i];
}
return table;
}
public Dictionary<object,object> Create(int[] keys, string[] values) {
Dictionary<object,object> map = Dictionary<object,object>();
for ( int i = 0; i < keys.Length; i++) {
map[keys[i]] = values[i];
}
return map;
}
That's a fairly direct translation. But the problem is that this does not actually take advantage of the type safe features of generics. The second function could be written as follows and be much more type safe and inccur no boxing overhead
public Dictionary<int,string> Create(int[] keys, string[] values) {
Dictionary<int,string> map = Dictionary<int,string>();
for ( int i = 0; i < keys.Length; i++) {
map[keys[i]] = values[i];
}
return map;
}
Even better. Here's a completely generic version
public Dictionary<TKey,TValue> Create<TKey,TValue>(TKey[] keys, TValue[] values) {
Dictionary<TKey,TValue> map = Dictionary<TKey,TValue>();
for ( int i = 0; i < keys.Length; i++) {
map[keys[i]] = values[i];
}
return map;
}
And one that is even further flexible (thanks Joel for pointing out I missed this)
public Dictionary<TKey,TValue> Create<TKey,TValue>(
IEnumerable<TKey> keys,
IEnumerable<TValue> values) {
Dictionary<TKey,TValue> map = Dictionary<TKey,TValue>();
using ( IEnumerater<TKey> keyEnum = keys.GetEnumerator() )
using ( IEnumerator<TValue> valueEnum = values.GetEnumerator()) {
while (keyEnum.MoveNext() && valueEnum.MoveNext() ) {
map[keyEnum.Current] = valueEnum.Current;
}
}
return map;
}

For those who are interested, I created a generic Hashtable wrapper class, which is useful for enforcing type safety and can be passed as a generic IDictionary, ICollection and IEnumerable type, whereas the non-generic Hashtable cannot. Below is the implementation.
using System;
using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
namespace Common.Collections.Generic
{
public class Hashtable<TKey, TValue> : IDictionary<TKey, TValue>
, ICollection<KeyValuePair<TKey, TValue>>
, IEnumerable<KeyValuePair<TKey, TValue>>
, IDictionary
, ICollection
, IEnumerable
{
protected Hashtable _items;
/// <summary>
/// Initializes a new, empty instance of the Hashtable class using the default initial capacity, load factor, hash code provider, and comparer.
/// </summary>
public Hashtable()
{
_items = new Hashtable();
}
/// <summary>
/// Initializes a new, empty instance of the Hashtable class using the specified initial capacity, and the default load factor, hash code provider, and comparer.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="capacity">The approximate number of elements that the Hashtable object can initially contain. </param>
public Hashtable(int capacity)
{
_items = new Hashtable(capacity);
}
/// <summary>
/// Actual underlying hashtable object that contains the elements.
/// </summary>
public Hashtable Items { get { return _items; } }
/// <summary>
/// Adds an element with the specified key and value into the Hashtable.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="key">Key of the new element to add.</param>
/// <param name="value">Value of the new elment to add.</param>
public void Add(TKey key, TValue value)
{
_items.Add(key, value);
}
/// <summary>
/// Adds an element with the specified key and value into the Hashtable.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="item">Item containing the key and value to add.</param>
public void Add(KeyValuePair<TKey, TValue> item)
{
_items.Add(item.Key, item.Value);
}
void IDictionary.Add(object key, object value)
{
this.Add((TKey)key, (TValue)value);
}
/// <summary>
/// Add a list of key/value pairs to the hashtable.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="collection">List of key/value pairs to add to hashtable.</param>
public void AddRange(IEnumerable<KeyValuePair<TKey, TValue>> collection)
{
foreach (var item in collection)
_items.Add(item.Key, item.Value);
}
/// <summary>
/// Determines whether the Hashtable contains a specific key.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="key">Key to locate.</param>
/// <returns>True if key is found, otherwise false.</returns>
public bool ContainsKey(TKey key)
{
return _items.ContainsKey(key);
}
/// <summary>
/// Determines whether the Hashtable contains a specific key.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="item">Item containing the key to locate.</param>
/// <returns>True if item.Key is found, otherwise false.</returns>
public bool Contains(KeyValuePair<TKey, TValue> item)
{
return _items.ContainsKey(item.Key);
}
bool IDictionary.Contains(object key)
{
return this.ContainsKey((TKey)key);
}
/// <summary>
/// Gets an ICollection containing the keys in the Hashtable.
/// </summary>
public ICollection<TKey> Keys
{
get { return _items.ToList<TKey>(); }
}
ICollection IDictionary.Keys
{
get { return this.Keys.ToList(); }
}
/// <summary>
/// Gets the value associated with the specified key.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="key">The key of the value to get.</param>
/// <param name="value">When this method returns, contains the value associated with the specified key,
/// if the key is found; otherwise, the default value for the type of the value parameter. This parameter
/// is passed uninitialized.</param>
/// <returns>true if the hashtable contains an element with the specified key, otherwise false.</returns>
public bool TryGetValue(TKey key, out TValue value)
{
value = (TValue)_items[key];
return (value != null);
}
/// <summary>
/// Gets an ICollection containing the values in the Hashtable.
/// </summary>
public ICollection<TValue> Values
{
get { return _items.Values.ToList<TValue>(); }
}
ICollection IDictionary.Values
{
get { return this.Values.ToList(); }
}
/// <summary>
/// Gets or sets the value associated with the specified key.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="key">The key whose value to get or set. </param>
/// <returns>The value associated with the specified key. If the specified key is not found,
/// attempting to get it returns null, and attempting to set it creates a new element using the specified key.</returns>
public TValue this[TKey key]
{
get
{
return (TValue)_items[key];
}
set
{
_items[key] = value;
}
}
/// <summary>
/// Removes all elements from the Hashtable.
/// </summary>
public void Clear()
{
_items.Clear();
}
/// <summary>
/// Copies all key/value pairs in the hashtable to the specified array.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="array">Object array to store objects of type "KeyValuePair<TKey, TValue>"</param>
/// <param name="arrayIndex">Starting index to store objects into array.</param>
public void CopyTo(Array array, int arrayIndex)
{
_items.CopyTo(array, arrayIndex);
}
/// <summary>
/// Copies all key/value pairs in the hashtable to the specified array.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="array">Object array to store objects of type "KeyValuePair<TKey, TValue>"</param>
/// <param name="arrayIndex">Starting index to store objects into array.</param>
public void CopyTo(KeyValuePair<TKey, TValue>[] array, int arrayIndex)
{
_items.CopyTo(array, arrayIndex);
}
/// <summary>
/// Gets the number of key/value pairs contained in the Hashtable.
/// </summary>
public int Count
{
get { return _items.Count; }
}
/// <summary>
/// Gets a value indicating whether the Hashtable has a fixed size.
/// </summary>
public bool IsFixedSize
{
get { return _items.IsFixedSize; }
}
/// <summary>
/// Gets a value indicating whether the Hashtable is read-only.
/// </summary>
public bool IsReadOnly
{
get { return _items.IsReadOnly; }
}
/// <summary>
/// Gets a value indicating whether access to the Hashtable is synchronized (thread safe).
/// </summary>
public bool IsSynchronized
{
get { return _items.IsSynchronized; }
}
/// <summary>
/// Gets an object that can be used to synchronize access to the Hashtable.
/// </summary>
public object SyncRoot
{
get { return _items.SyncRoot; }
}
/// <summary>
/// Removes the element with the specified key from the Hashtable.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="key">Key of the element to remove.</param>
public void Remove(TKey key)
{
_items.Remove(key);
}
/// <summary>
/// Removes the element with the specified key from the Hashtable.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="item">Item containing the key of the element to remove.</param>
public void Remove(KeyValuePair<TKey, TValue> item)
{
this.Remove(item.Key);
}
bool IDictionary<TKey, TValue>.Remove(TKey key)
{
var numValues = _items.Count;
_items.Remove(key);
return numValues > _items.Count;
}
bool ICollection<KeyValuePair<TKey, TValue>>.Remove(KeyValuePair<TKey, TValue> item)
{
var numValues = _items.Count;
_items.Remove(item.Key);
return numValues > _items.Count;
}
void IDictionary.Remove(object key)
{
_items.Remove(key);
}
/// <summary>
/// Returns an enumerator that iterates through the hashtable.
/// </summary>
/// <returns>An enumerator for a list of key/value pairs.</returns>
public IEnumerator<KeyValuePair<TKey, TValue>> GetEnumerator()
{
foreach (DictionaryEntry? item in _items)
yield return new KeyValuePair<TKey, TValue>((TKey)item.Value.Key, (TValue)item.Value.Value);
}
/// <summary>
/// Returns an enumerator that iterates through the hashtable.
/// </summary>
/// <returns>An enumerator for a list of key/value pairs as generic objects.</returns>
IEnumerator IEnumerable.GetEnumerator()
{
return this.GetEnumerator();
}
IDictionaryEnumerator IDictionary.GetEnumerator()
{
// Very old enumerator that no one uses anymore, not supported.
throw new NotImplementedException();
}
object IDictionary.this[object key]
{
get
{
return _items[(TKey)key];
}
set
{
_items[(TKey)key] = value;
}
}
}
}
I have done some testing of this Hashtable vs Dictionary and found the two perform about the same when used with a string key and string value pair, except the Hashtable seems to use less memory. The results of my test are as follows:
TestInitialize Dictionary_50K_Hashtable
Number objects 50000, memory usage 905164
Insert, 22 milliseconds.
A search not found, 0 milliseconds.
Search found, 0 milliseconds.
Remove, 0 milliseconds.
Search found or not found, 0 milliseconds.
TestCleanup Dictionary_50K_Hashtable
TestInitialize Dictionary_50K_Dictionary
Number objects 50000, memory usage 1508316
Insert, 16 milliseconds.
A search not found, 0 milliseconds.
Search found, 0 milliseconds.
Remove, 0 milliseconds.
Search found or not found, 0 milliseconds.
TestCleanup Dictionary_50K_Dictionary

The generic version of System.Collection.Hashtable is System.Collections.Generic.Dictionary<TKey, TValue>.

Getting multiple keys of specified value of a generic Dictionary?

It's easy to get the value of a key from a .NET generic Dictionary:
Dictionary<int, string> greek = new Dictionary<int, string>();
greek.Add(1, "Alpha");
greek.Add(2, "Beta");
string secondGreek = greek[2]; // Beta
But trying to get the keys given a value is not as straightforward because there could be multiple keys:
int[] betaKeys = greek.WhatDoIPutHere("Beta"); // expecting single 2

Okay, here's the multiple bidirectional version:
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Text;
class BiDictionary<TFirst, TSecond>
{
IDictionary<TFirst, IList<TSecond>> firstToSecond = new Dictionary<TFirst, IList<TSecond>>();
IDictionary<TSecond, IList<TFirst>> secondToFirst = new Dictionary<TSecond, IList<TFirst>>();
private static IList<TFirst> EmptyFirstList = new TFirst[0];
private static IList<TSecond> EmptySecondList = new TSecond[0];
public void Add(TFirst first, TSecond second)
{
IList<TFirst> firsts;
IList<TSecond> seconds;
if (!firstToSecond.TryGetValue(first, out seconds))
{
seconds = new List<TSecond>();
firstToSecond[first] = seconds;
}
if (!secondToFirst.TryGetValue(second, out firsts))
{
firsts = new List<TFirst>();
secondToFirst[second] = firsts;
}
seconds.Add(second);
firsts.Add(first);
}
// Note potential ambiguity using indexers (e.g. mapping from int to int)
// Hence the methods as well...
public IList<TSecond> this[TFirst first]
{
get { return GetByFirst(first); }
}
public IList<TFirst> this[TSecond second]
{
get { return GetBySecond(second); }
}
public IList<TSecond> GetByFirst(TFirst first)
{
IList<TSecond> list;
if (!firstToSecond.TryGetValue(first, out list))
{
return EmptySecondList;
}
return new List<TSecond>(list); // Create a copy for sanity
}
public IList<TFirst> GetBySecond(TSecond second)
{
IList<TFirst> list;
if (!secondToFirst.TryGetValue(second, out list))
{
return EmptyFirstList;
}
return new List<TFirst>(list); // Create a copy for sanity
}
}
class Test
{
static void Main()
{
BiDictionary<int, string> greek = new BiDictionary<int, string>();
greek.Add(1, "Alpha");
greek.Add(2, "Beta");
greek.Add(5, "Beta");
ShowEntries(greek, "Alpha");
ShowEntries(greek, "Beta");
ShowEntries(greek, "Gamma");
}
static void ShowEntries(BiDictionary<int, string> dict, string key)
{
IList<int> values = dict[key];
StringBuilder builder = new StringBuilder();
foreach (int value in values)
{
if (builder.Length != 0)
{
builder.Append(", ");
}
builder.Append(value);
}
Console.WriteLine("{0}: [{1}]", key, builder);
}
}

As everyone else has said, there's no mapping within a dictionary from value to key.
I've just noticed you wanted to map to from value to multiple keys - I'm leaving this solution here for the single value version, but I'll then add another answer for a multi-entry bidirectional map.
The normal approach to take here is to have two dictionaries - one mapping one way and one the other. Encapsulate them in a separate class, and work out what you want to do when you have duplicate key or value (e.g. throw an exception, overwrite the existing entry, or ignore the new entry). Personally I'd probably go for throwing an exception - it makes the success behaviour easier to define. Something like this:
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
class BiDictionary<TFirst, TSecond>
{
IDictionary<TFirst, TSecond> firstToSecond = new Dictionary<TFirst, TSecond>();
IDictionary<TSecond, TFirst> secondToFirst = new Dictionary<TSecond, TFirst>();
public void Add(TFirst first, TSecond second)
{
if (firstToSecond.ContainsKey(first) ||
secondToFirst.ContainsKey(second))
{
throw new ArgumentException("Duplicate first or second");
}
firstToSecond.Add(first, second);
secondToFirst.Add(second, first);
}
public bool TryGetByFirst(TFirst first, out TSecond second)
{
return firstToSecond.TryGetValue(first, out second);
}
public bool TryGetBySecond(TSecond second, out TFirst first)
{
return secondToFirst.TryGetValue(second, out first);
}
}
class Test
{
static void Main()
{
BiDictionary<int, string> greek = new BiDictionary<int, string>();
greek.Add(1, "Alpha");
greek.Add(2, "Beta");
int x;
greek.TryGetBySecond("Beta", out x);
Console.WriteLine(x);
}
}

Dictionaries aren't really meant to work like this, because while uniqueness of keys is guaranteed, uniqueness of values isn't. So e.g. if you had
var greek = new Dictionary<int, string> { { 1, "Alpha" }, { 2, "Alpha" } };
What would you expect to get for greek.WhatDoIPutHere("Alpha")?
Therefore you can't expect something like this to be rolled into the framework. You'd need your own method for your own unique uses---do you want to return an array (or IEnumerable<T>)? Do you want to throw an exception if there are multiple keys with the given value? What about if there are none?
Personally I'd go for an enumerable, like so:
IEnumerable<TKey> KeysFromValue<TKey, TValue>(this Dictionary<TKey, TValue> dict, TValue val)
{
if (dict == null)
{
throw new ArgumentNullException("dict");
}
return dict.Keys.Where(k => dict[k] == val);
}
var keys = greek.KeysFromValue("Beta");
int exceptionIfNotExactlyOne = greek.KeysFromValue("Beta").Single();

Maybe the easiest way to do it, without Linq, can be to loop over the pairs:
int betaKey;
foreach (KeyValuePair<int, string> pair in lookup)
{
if (pair.Value == value)
{
betaKey = pair.Key; // Found
break;
}
}
betaKey = -1; // Not found
If you had Linq, it could have done easily this way:
int betaKey = greek.SingleOrDefault(x => x.Value == "Beta").Key;

A dictionary doesn't keep an hash of the values, only the keys, so any search over it using a value is going to take at least linear time. Your best bet is to simply iterate over the elements in the dictionary and keep track of the matching keys or switch to a different data structure, perhaps maintain two dictionary mapping key->value and value->List_of_keys. If you do the latter you will trade storage for look up speed. It wouldn't take much to turn #Cybis example into such a data structure.

As I wanted a full fledged BiDirectional Dictionary (and not only a Map), I added the missing functions to make it an IDictionary compatible class. This is based on the version with unique Key-Value Pairs. Here's the file if desired (Most work was the XMLDoc through):
using System;
using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
namespace Common
{
/// <summary>Represents a bidirectional collection of keys and values.</summary>
/// <typeparam name="TFirst">The type of the keys in the dictionary</typeparam>
/// <typeparam name="TSecond">The type of the values in the dictionary</typeparam>
[System.Runtime.InteropServices.ComVisible(false)]
[System.Diagnostics.DebuggerDisplay("Count = {Count}")]
//[System.Diagnostics.DebuggerTypeProxy(typeof(System.Collections.Generic.Mscorlib_DictionaryDebugView<,>))]
//[System.Reflection.DefaultMember("Item")]
public class BiDictionary<TFirst, TSecond> : Dictionary<TFirst, TSecond>
{
IDictionary<TSecond, TFirst> _ValueKey = new Dictionary<TSecond, TFirst>();
/// <summary> PropertyAccessor for Iterator over KeyValue-Relation </summary>
public IDictionary<TFirst, TSecond> KeyValue => this;
/// <summary> PropertyAccessor for Iterator over ValueKey-Relation </summary>
public IDictionary<TSecond, TFirst> ValueKey => _ValueKey;
#region Implemented members
/// <Summary>Gets or sets the value associated with the specified key.</Summary>
/// <param name="key">The key of the value to get or set.</param>
/// <Returns>The value associated with the specified key. If the specified key is not found,
/// a get operation throws a <see cref="KeyNotFoundException"/>, and
/// a set operation creates a new element with the specified key.</Returns>
/// <exception cref="T:System.ArgumentNullException"><paramref name="key"/> is null.</exception>
/// <exception cref="T:System.Collections.Generic.KeyNotFoundException">
/// The property is retrieved and <paramref name="key"/> does not exist in the collection.</exception>
/// <exception cref="T:System.ArgumentException"> An element with the same key already
/// exists in the <see cref="ValueKey"/> <see cref="Dictionary<TFirst,TSecond>"/>.</exception>
public new TSecond this[TFirst key]
{
get { return base[key]; }
set { _ValueKey.Remove(base[key]); base[key] = value; _ValueKey.Add(value, key); }
}
/// <Summary>Gets or sets the key associated with the specified value.</Summary>
/// <param name="val">The value of the key to get or set.</param>
/// <Returns>The key associated with the specified value. If the specified value is not found,
/// a get operation throws a <see cref="KeyNotFoundException"/>, and
/// a set operation creates a new element with the specified value.</Returns>
/// <exception cref="T:System.ArgumentNullException"><paramref name="val"/> is null.</exception>
/// <exception cref="T:System.Collections.Generic.KeyNotFoundException">
/// The property is retrieved and <paramref name="val"/> does not exist in the collection.</exception>
/// <exception cref="T:System.ArgumentException"> An element with the same value already
/// exists in the <see cref="KeyValue"/> <see cref="Dictionary<TFirst,TSecond>"/>.</exception>
public TFirst this[TSecond val]
{
get { return _ValueKey[val]; }
set { base.Remove(_ValueKey[val]); _ValueKey[val] = value; base.Add(value, val); }
}
/// <Summary>Adds the specified key and value to the dictionary.</Summary>
/// <param name="key">The key of the element to add.</param>
/// <param name="value">The value of the element to add.</param>
/// <exception cref="T:System.ArgumentNullException"><paramref name="key"/> or <paramref name="value"/> is null.</exception>
/// <exception cref="T:System.ArgumentException">An element with the same key or value already exists in the <see cref="Dictionary<TFirst,TSecond>"/>.</exception>
public new void Add(TFirst key, TSecond value) {
base.Add(key, value);
_ValueKey.Add(value, key);
}
/// <Summary>Removes all keys and values from the <see cref="Dictionary<TFirst,TSecond>"/>.</Summary>
public new void Clear() { base.Clear(); _ValueKey.Clear(); }
/// <Summary>Determines whether the <see cref="Dictionary<TFirst,TSecond>"/> contains the specified
/// KeyValuePair.</Summary>
/// <param name="item">The KeyValuePair to locate in the <see cref="Dictionary<TFirst,TSecond>"/>.</param>
/// <Returns>true if the <see cref="Dictionary<TFirst,TSecond>"/> contains an element with
/// the specified key which links to the specified value; otherwise, false.</Returns>
/// <exception cref="T:System.ArgumentNullException"><paramref name="item"/> is null.</exception>
public bool Contains(KeyValuePair<TFirst, TSecond> item) => base.ContainsKey(item.Key) & _ValueKey.ContainsKey(item.Value);
/// <Summary>Removes the specified KeyValuePair from the <see cref="Dictionary<TFirst,TSecond>"/>.</Summary>
/// <param name="item">The KeyValuePair to remove.</param>
/// <Returns>true if the KeyValuePair is successfully found and removed; otherwise, false. This
/// method returns false if <paramref name="item"/> is not found in the <see cref="Dictionary<TFirst,TSecond>"/>.</Returns>
/// <exception cref="T:System.ArgumentNullException"><paramref name="item"/> is null.</exception>
public bool Remove(KeyValuePair<TFirst, TSecond> item) => base.Remove(item.Key) & _ValueKey.Remove(item.Value);
/// <Summary>Removes the value with the specified key from the <see cref="Dictionary<TFirst,TSecond>"/>.</Summary>
/// <param name="key">The key of the element to remove.</param>
/// <Returns>true if the element is successfully found and removed; otherwise, false. This
/// method returns false if <paramref name="key"/> is not found in the <see cref="Dictionary<TFirst,TSecond>"/>.</Returns>
/// <exception cref="T:System.ArgumentNullException"><paramref name="key"/> is null.</exception>
public new bool Remove(TFirst key) => _ValueKey.Remove(base[key]) & base.Remove(key);
/// <Summary>Gets the key associated with the specified value.</Summary>
/// <param name="value">The value of the key to get.</param>
/// <param name="key">When this method returns, contains the key associated with the specified value,
/// if the value is found; otherwise, the default value for the type of the key parameter.
/// This parameter is passed uninitialized.</param>
/// <Returns>true if <see cref="ValueKey"/> contains an element with the specified value;
/// otherwise, false.</Returns>
/// <exception cref="T:System.ArgumentNullException"><paramref name="value"/> is null.</exception>
public bool TryGetValue(TSecond value, out TFirst key) => _ValueKey.TryGetValue(value, out key);
#endregion
}
}

revised: okay to have some kind of find you would need something other than dictionary, since if you think about it dictionary are one way keys. that is, the values might not be unique
that said it looks like you're using c#3.0 so you might not have to resort to looping and could use something like:
var key = (from k in yourDictionary where string.Compare(k.Value, "yourValue", true) == 0 select k.Key).FirstOrDefault();

Dictionary class is not optimized for this case, but if you really wanted to do it (in C# 2.0), you can do:
public List<TKey> GetKeysFromValue<TKey, TVal>(Dictionary<TKey, TVal> dict, TVal val)
{
List<TKey> ks = new List<TKey>();
foreach(TKey k in dict.Keys)
{
if (dict[k] == val) { ks.Add(k); }
}
return ks;
}
I prefer the LINQ solution for elegance, but this is the 2.0 way.

Can't you create a subclass of Dictionary which has that functionality?
public class MyDict &lt TKey, TValue &gt : Dictionary &lt TKey, TValue &gt
{
private Dictionary &lt TValue, TKey &gt _keys;
public TValue this[TKey key]
{
get
{
return base[key];
}
set
{
base[key] = value;
_keys[value] = key;
}
}
public MyDict()
{
_keys = new Dictionary &lt TValue, TKey &gt();
}
public TKey GetKeyFromValue(TValue value)
{
return _keys[value];
}
}
EDIT: Sorry, didn't get code right first time.

The "simple" bidirectional dictionary solution proposed here is complex and may be be difficult to understand, maintain or extend. Also the original question asked for "the key for a value", but clearly there could be multiple keys (I've since edited the question). The whole approach is rather suspicious.
Software changes. Writing code that is easy to maintain should be given priority other "clever" complex workarounds. The way to get keys back from values in a dictionary is to loop. A dictionary isn't designed to be bidirectional.

Use LINQ to do a reverse Dictionary<K, V> lookup. But keep in mind that the values in your Dictionary<K, V> values may not be distinct.
Demonstration:
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
class ReverseDictionaryLookupDemo
{
static void Main()
{
var dict = new Dictionary<int, string>();
dict.Add(4, "Four");
dict.Add(5, "Five");
dict.Add(1, "One");
dict.Add(11, "One"); // duplicate!
dict.Add(3, "Three");
dict.Add(2, "Two");
dict.Add(44, "Four"); // duplicate!
Console.WriteLine("\n== Enumerating Distinct Values ==");
foreach (string value in dict.Values.Distinct())
{
string valueString =
String.Join(", ", GetKeysFromValue(dict, value));
Console.WriteLine("{0} => [{1}]", value, valueString);
}
}
static List<int> GetKeysFromValue(Dictionary<int, string> dict, string value)
{
// Use LINQ to do a reverse dictionary lookup.
// Returns a 'List<T>' to account for the possibility
// of duplicate values.
return
(from item in dict
where item.Value.Equals(value)
select item.Key).ToList();
}
}
Expected Output:
== Enumerating Distinct Values ==
Four => [4, 44]
Five => [5]
One => [1, 11]
Three => [3]
Two => [2]

Dictionary<string, string> dic = new Dictionary<string, string>();
dic["A"] = "Ahmed";
dic["B"] = "Boys";
foreach (string mk in dic.Keys)
{
if(dic[mk] == "Ahmed")
{
Console.WriteLine("The key that contains \"Ahmed\" is " + mk);
}
}

Many of these answers are now outdated, here is a modern C# approach, using LINQ
Since values aren't necessarily unique, you may get multiple results. You can return an IEnumerable<KeyValuePair<int, string>>:
var betaKeys = greek.Where(x => x.Value == "beta");
To transform this into an IEnumerable<int> type, just use .Select():
var betaKeys = greek.Where(x => x.Value == "beta").Select(x => x.Key);

As a twist of the accepted answer (https://stackoverflow.com/a/255638/986160) assuming that the keys will be associated with signle values in the dictionary. Similar to (https://stackoverflow.com/a/255630/986160) but a bit more elegant. The novelty is in that the consuming class can be used as an enumeration alternative (but for strings too) and that the dictionary implements IEnumerable.
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Collections;
namespace MyApp.Dictionaries
{
class BiDictionary<TFirst, TSecond> : IEnumerable
{
IDictionary<TFirst, TSecond> firstToSecond = new Dictionary<TFirst, TSecond>();
IDictionary<TSecond, TFirst> secondToFirst = new Dictionary<TSecond, TFirst>();
public void Add(TFirst first, TSecond second)
{
firstToSecond.Add(first, second);
secondToFirst.Add(second, first);
}
public TSecond this[TFirst first]
{
get { return GetByFirst(first); }
}
public TFirst this[TSecond second]
{
get { return GetBySecond(second); }
}
public TSecond GetByFirst(TFirst first)
{
return firstToSecond[first];
}
public TFirst GetBySecond(TSecond second)
{
return secondToFirst[second];
}
public IEnumerator GetEnumerator()
{
return GetFirstEnumerator();
}
public IEnumerator GetFirstEnumerator()
{
return firstToSecond.GetEnumerator();
}
public IEnumerator GetSecondEnumerator()
{
return secondToFirst.GetEnumerator();
}
}
}
And as a consuming class you could have
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
namespace MyApp.Dictionaries
{
class Greek
{
public static readonly string Alpha = "Alpha";
public static readonly string Beta = "Beta";
public static readonly string Gamma = "Gamma";
public static readonly string Delta = "Delta";
private static readonly BiDictionary<int, string> Dictionary = new BiDictionary<int, string>();
static Greek() {
Dictionary.Add(1, Alpha);
Dictionary.Add(2, Beta);
Dictionary.Add(3, Gamma);
Dictionary.Add(4, Delta);
}
public static string getById(int id){
return Dictionary.GetByFirst(id);
}
public static int getByValue(string value)
{
return Dictionary.GetBySecond(value);
}
}
}

Then layman's solution
A function similar to the one below could be written to make such a dictionary:
public Dictionary<TValue, TKey> Invert(Dictionary<TKey, TValue> dict) {
Dictionary<TValue, TKey> ret = new Dictionary<TValue, TKey>();
foreach (var kvp in dict) {ret[kvp.value] = kvp.key;} return ret; }

Probably, you need a bidirectional dictionary. In my mind, BidirectionalDictionary is the best realization of a bidirectional dictionary. It just provides access to an inverse O(1) dictionary.
var biDictionary = new BidirectionalDictionary<T1,T2> { ... };
This realization, for example, has no indexations problems when TKey equals TValue:
var capital = countryCapitalDictionary["Italy"]; // "Rome"
var country = countryCapitalDictionary.Inverse["Rome"]; // "Italy"
Changing the dictionary causes the reverse dictionary to be changed safely (as well as vice versa):
countryCapitalDictionary.Clear(); // equals countryCapitalDictionary.Inverse.Clear();
var containsCapital = countryCapitalDictionary.ContainsKey("Italy"); // false
var containsCountry = countryCapitalDictionary.Inverse.ContainsKey("Rome"); // false
Also, this library supports a read-only bidirectional dictionary:
var readOnlyBiDictionary = new ReadOnlyBidurectionalDictionary<T1, T2>(biDictionary);
You can use it via the package.