Develop Reference

Get the number of distinct property values in List<T> using LINQ in C#

In a list List<MyClass> ListOfMyClasses, how can one get the how many distinct GroupId property values there are using LINQ?
public class MyClass
{
public int GroupId;
}
For example let's say we have this list:
ListOfMyClasses: {MyClass1 (GroupId = 1), MyClass2 (GroupId = 3), MyClass3 (GroupId = 1)}
Here we should get the result as 2 (Two distinct numbers for GroupId).

Here is one way to do it using Distinct:
ListOfMyClasses.Select(t => t.GroupId).Distinct().Count()
Or you can also use GroupBy:
ListOfMyClasses.GroupBy(t => t.GroupId).Count()

This should work for you.
var result = list.Select(x => x.GroupId).Distinct().Count();
First you are selecting out all the GroupIds. Then you are filtering them to be distinct. Finally you are getting the count of those values.

In addition, just want to share some extension which I use in all my projects and it also solves your task
public class EqualityComparer<TEntity, TProperty>: IEqualityComparer<TEntity>
{
private readonly Func<TEntity, TProperty> _property;
public EqualityComparer(Func<TEntity, TProperty> property)
{
_property = property;
}
public bool Equals(TEntity x, TEntity y)
{
return _property(x).Equals(_property.Invoke(y));
}
public int GetHashCode(TEntity obj)
{
return _property(obj).GetHashCode();
}
}
public static class Extensions
{
public static IEnumerable<T> DistinctByProperty<T, TProp>(this IEnumerable<T> source, Func<T, TProp> propertyFunc)
{
return source.Distinct(new EqualityComparer<T, TProp>(propertyFunc));
}
}
It allows you to write ListOfMyClasses.DistinctByProperty(x => x.GroupId).Count()

Remove objects with duplicate properties from List

I have a List of objects in C#. All of the objects contain the properties dept and course.
There are several objects that have the same dept and course.
How can I trim the List(or make a new List) where there is only one object per unique (dept & course) properties.
[Any additional duplicates are dropped out of the List]
I know how to do this with a single property:
fooList.GroupBy(x => x.dept).Select(x => x.First());
However, I am wondering how to do this for multiple properties (2 or more)?

To use multiple properties you can use an anonymous type:
var query = fooList.GroupBy(x => new { x.Dept, x.Course })
.Select(x => x.First());
Of course, this depends on what types Dept and Course are to determine equality. Alternately, your classes can implement IEqualityComparer<T> and then you could use the Enumerable.Distinct method that accepts a comparer.

Another approach is to use the LINQ Distinct extension method together with an IEqualityComparer<Foo>. It requires you to implement a comparer; however, the latter is reusable and testable.
public class FooDeptCourseEqualityComparer : IEqualityComparer<Foo>
{
public bool Equals(Foo x, Foo y)
{
return
x.Dept == y.Dept &&
x.Course.ToLower() == y.Course.ToLower();
}
public int GetHashCode(Foo obj)
{
unchecked {
return 527 + obj.Dept.GetHashCode() * 31 + obj.Course.GetHashCode();
}
}
#region Singleton Pattern
public static readonly FooDeptCourseEqualityComparer Instance =
new FooDeptCourseEqualityComparer();
private FooDeptCourseEqualityComparer() { }
#endregion
}
My example uses the singleton pattern. Since the class does not have any state information, we do not need to create a new instance each time we use it.
My code does not handle null values. Of course you would have to handle them, if they can occur.
The unique values are returned like this
var result = fooList.Distinct(FooDeptCourseEqualityComparer.Instance);
UPDATE
I suggest using a generic EqualityComparer class that accepts lambda expressions in the constructor and can be reused in multiple situations
public class LambdaEqualityComparer<T> : IEqualityComparer<T>
{
private Func<T, T, bool> _areEqual;
private Func<T, int> _getHashCode;
public LambdaEqualityComparer(Func<T, T, bool> areEqual,
Func<T, int> getHashCode)
{
_areEqual = areEqual;
_getHashCode = getHashCode;
}
public LambdaEqualityComparer(Func<T, T, bool> areEqual)
: this(areEqual, obj => obj.GetHashCode())
{
}
#region IEqualityComparer<T> Members
public bool Equals(T x, T y)
{
return _areEqual(x, y);
}
public int GetHashCode(T obj)
{
return _getHashCode(obj);
}
#endregion
}
You can use it like this
var comparer = new LambdaEqualityComparer<Foo>(
(x, y) => x.Dept == y.Dept && x.Course == y.Course,
obj => {
unchecked {
return 527 + obj.Dept.GetHashCode() * 31 + obj.Course.GetHashCode();
}
}
);
var result = fooList.Distinct(comparer);
Note: You have to provide a calculation of the hash code, since Distinct uses an internal Set<T> class, which in turn uses hash codes.
UPDATE #2
An even more generic equality comparer implements the comparison automatically and accepts a list of property accessors; however, you have no control, on how the comparison is performed.
public class AutoEqualityComparer<T> : IEqualityComparer<T>
{
private Func<T, object>[] _propertyAccessors;
public AutoEqualityComparer(params Func<T, object>[] propertyAccessors)
{
_propertyAccessors = propertyAccessors;
}
#region IEqualityComparer<T> Members
public bool Equals(T x, T y)
{
foreach (var getProp in _propertyAccessors) {
if (!getProp(x).Equals(getProp(y))) {
return false;
}
}
return true;
}
public int GetHashCode(T obj)
{
unchecked {
int hash = 17;
foreach (var getProp in _propertyAccessors) {
hash = hash * 31 + getProp(obj).GetHashCode();
}
return hash;
}
}
#endregion
}
Usage
var comparer = new AutoEqualityComparer<Foo>(foo => foo.Dept,
foo => foo.Course);
var result = fooList.Distinct(comparer);

Using IEqualityComparer for Union

I simply want to remove duplicates from two lists and combine them into one list. I also need to be able to define what a duplicate is. I define a duplicate by the ColumnIndex property, if they are the same, they are duplicates. Here is the approach I took:
I found a nifty example of how to write inline comparers for the random occassions where you need em only once in a code segment.
public class InlineComparer<T> : IEqualityComparer<T>
{
private readonly Func<T, T, bool> getEquals;
private readonly Func<T, int> getHashCode;
public InlineComparer(Func<T, T, bool> equals, Func<T, int> hashCode)
{
getEquals = equals;
getHashCode = hashCode;
}
public bool Equals(T x, T y)
{
return getEquals(x, y);
}
public int GetHashCode(T obj)
{
return getHashCode(obj);
}
}
Then I just have my two lists, and attempt a union on them with the comparer.
var formatIssues = issues.Where(i => i.IsFormatError == true);
var groupIssues = issues.Where(i => i.IsGroupError == true);
var dupComparer = new InlineComparer<Issue>((i1, i2) => i1.ColumnInfo.ColumnIndex == i2.ColumnInfo.ColumnIndex,
i => i.ColumnInfo.ColumnIndex);
var filteredIssues = groupIssues.Union(formatIssues, dupComparer);
The result set however is null.
Where am I going astray?
I have already confirmed that the two lists have columns with equal ColumnIndex properties.

I've just run your code on a test set.... and it works!
public class InlineComparer<T> : IEqualityComparer<T>
{
private readonly Func<T, T, bool> getEquals;
private readonly Func<T, int> getHashCode;
public InlineComparer(Func<T, T, bool> equals, Func<T, int> hashCode)
{
getEquals = equals;
getHashCode = hashCode;
}
public bool Equals(T x, T y)
{
return getEquals(x, y);
}
public int GetHashCode(T obj)
{
return getHashCode(obj);
}
}
class TestClass
{
public string S { get; set; }
}
[TestMethod]
public void testThis()
{
var l1 = new List<TestClass>()
{
new TestClass() {S = "one"},
new TestClass() {S = "two"},
};
var l2 = new List<TestClass>()
{
new TestClass() {S = "three"},
new TestClass() {S = "two"},
};
var dupComparer = new InlineComparer<TestClass>((i1, i2) => i1.S == i2.S, i => i.S.GetHashCode());
var unionList = l1.Union(l2, dupComparer);
Assert.AreEqual(3, unionList);
}
So... maybe go back and check your test data - or run it with some other test data?
After all - for a Union to be empty - that suggests that both your input lists are also empty?

A slightly simpler way:
it does preserve the original order
it ignores dupes as it finds them
Uses a link extension method:
formatIssues.Union(groupIssues).DistinctBy(x => x.ColumnIndex)
This is the DistinctBy lambda method from MoreLinq
public static IEnumerable<TSource> DistinctBy<TSource, TKey>
(this IEnumerable<TSource> source, Func<TSource, TKey> keySelector)
{
HashSet<TKey> knownKeys = new HashSet<TKey>();
foreach (TSource element in source)
{
if (knownKeys.Add(keySelector(element)))
{
yield return element;
}
}
}

Would the Linq Except method not do it for you?
var formatIssues = issues.Where(i => i.IsFormatError == true);
var groupIssues = issues.Where(i => i.IsGroupError == true);
var dupeIssues = issues.Where(i => issues.Except(new List<Issue> {i})
.Any(x => x.ColumnIndex == i.ColumnIndex));
var filteredIssues = formatIssues.Union(groupIssues).Except(dupeIssues);

Filtering duplicates out of an IEnumerable

I have this code:
class MyObj {
int Id;
string Name;
string Location;
}
IEnumerable<MyObj> list;
I want to convert list to a dictionary like this:
list.ToDictionary(x => x.Name);
but it tells me I have duplicate keys. How can I keep only the first item for each key?

I suppose the easiest way would be to group by key and take the first element of each group:
list.GroupBy(x => x.name).Select(g => g.First()).ToDictionary(x => x.name);
Or you could use Distinct if your objects implement IEquatable to compare between themselves by key:
// I'll just randomly call your object Person for this example.
class Person : IEquatable<Person>
{
public string Name { get; set; }
public bool Equals(Person other)
{
if (other == null)
return false;
return Name == other.Name;
}
public override bool Equals(object obj)
{
return base.Equals(obj as Person);
}
public override int GetHashCode()
{
return Name.GetHashCode();
}
}
...
list.Distinct().ToDictionary(x => x.Name);
Or if you don't want to do that (maybe because you normally want to compare for equality in a different way, so Equals is already in use) you could make a custom implementation of IEqualityComparer just for this case:
class PersonComparer : IEqualityComparer<Person>
{
public bool Equals(Person x, Person y)
{
if (x == null)
return y == null;
if (y == null)
return false;
return x.Name == y.Name;
}
public int GetHashCode(Person obj)
{
return obj.Name.GetHashCode();
}
}
...
list.Distinct(new PersonComparer()).ToDictionary(x => x.Name);

list.Distinct().ToDictionary(x => x.Name);

You could also create your own Distinct extension overload method that accepted a Func<> for choosing the distinct key:
public static class EnumerationExtensions
{
public static IEnumerable<TSource> Distinct<TSource,TKey>(
this IEnumerable<TSource> source, Func<TSource,TKey> keySelector)
{
KeyComparer comparer = new KeyComparer(keySelector);
return source.Distinct(comparer);
}
private class KeyComparer<TSource,TKey> : IEqualityComparer<TSource>
{
private Func<TSource,TKey> keySelector;
public DelegatedComparer(Func<TSource,TKey> keySelector)
{
this.keySelector = keySelector;
}
bool IEqualityComparer.Equals(TSource a, TSource b)
{
if (a == null && b == null) return true;
if (a == null || b == null) return false;
return keySelector(a) == keySelector(b);
}
int IEqualityComparer.GetHashCode(TSource obj)
{
return keySelector(obj).GetHashCode();
}
}
}
Apologies for any bad code formatting, I wanted to reduce the size of the code on the page. Anyway, you can then use ToDictionary:
var dictionary = list.Distinct(x => x.Name).ToDictionary(x => x.Name);

Could make your own perhaps? For example:
public static class Extensions
{
public static IDictionary<TKey, TValue> ToDictionary2<TKey, TValue>(
this IEnumerable<TValue> subjects, Func<TValue, TKey> keySelector)
{
var dictionary = new Dictionary<TKey, TValue>();
foreach(var subject in subjects)
{
var key = keySelector(subject);
if(!dictionary.ContainsKey(key))
dictionary.Add(key, subject);
}
return dictionary;
}
}
var dictionary = list.ToDictionary2(x => x.Name);
Haven't tested it, but should work. (and it should probably have a better name than ToDictionary2 :p)
Alternatively, you can implement a DistinctBy method, for example like this:
public static IEnumerable<TSubject> DistinctBy<TSubject, TValue>(this IEnumerable<TSubject> subjects, Func<TSubject, TValue> valueSelector)
{
var set = new HashSet<TValue>();
foreach(var subject in subjects)
if(set.Add(valueSelector(subject)))
yield return subject;
}
var dictionary = list.DistinctBy(x => x.Name).ToDictionary(x => x.Name);

The problem here is that the ToDictionary extension method does not support multiple values with the same key. One solution is to write a version which does and use that instead.
public static Dictionary<TKey,TValue> ToDictionaryAllowDuplicateKeys<TKey,TValue>(
this IEnumerable<TValue> values,
Func<TValue,TKey> keyFunc) {
var map = new Dictionary<TKey,TValue>();
foreach ( var cur in values ) {
var key = keyFunc(cur);
map[key] = cur;
}
return map;
}
Now converting to a dictionary is straight forward
var map = list.ToDictionaryAllowDuplicateKeys(x => x.Name);

The following will work if you have different instances of MyObj with the same value for the Name property. It will take the first instance found for each duplicate (sorry for the obj - obj2 notation, it is just sample code):
list.SelectMany(obj => new MyObj[] {list.Where(obj2 => obj2.Name == obj.Name).First()}).Distinct();
EDIT: Joren's solution is better as it does not create unnecessary arrays in the process.

Can you create a simple 'EqualityComparer<T>' using a lambda expression

Short question:
Is there a simple way in LINQ to objects to get a distinct list of objects from a list based on a key property on the objects.
Long question:
I am trying to do a Distinct() operation on a list of objects that have a key as one of their properties.
class GalleryImage {
public int Key { get;set; }
public string Caption { get;set; }
public string Filename { get; set; }
public string[] Tags {g et; set; }
}
I have a list of Gallery objects that contain GalleryImage[].
Because of the way the webservice works [sic] I have duplicates of the
GalleryImage object. i thought it would be a simple matter to use Distinct() to get a distinct list.
This is the LINQ query I want to use :
var allImages = Galleries.SelectMany(x => x.Images);
var distinctImages = allImages.Distinct<GalleryImage>(new
EqualityComparer<GalleryImage>((a, b) => a.id == b.id));
The problem is that EqualityComparer is an abstract class.
I dont want to :
implement IEquatable on GalleryImage because it is generated
have to write a separate class to implement IEqualityComparer as shown here
Is there a concrete implementation of EqualityComparer somewhere that I'm missing?
I would have thought there would be an easy way to get 'distinct' objects from a set based on a key.

(There are two solutions here - see the end for the second one):
My MiscUtil library has a ProjectionEqualityComparer class (and two supporting classes to make use of type inference).
Here's an example of using it:
EqualityComparer<GalleryImage> comparer =
ProjectionEqualityComparer<GalleryImage>.Create(x => x.id);
Here's the code (comments removed)
// Helper class for construction
public static class ProjectionEqualityComparer
{
public static ProjectionEqualityComparer<TSource, TKey>
Create<TSource, TKey>(Func<TSource, TKey> projection)
{
return new ProjectionEqualityComparer<TSource, TKey>(projection);
}
public static ProjectionEqualityComparer<TSource, TKey>
Create<TSource, TKey> (TSource ignored,
Func<TSource, TKey> projection)
{
return new ProjectionEqualityComparer<TSource, TKey>(projection);
}
}
public static class ProjectionEqualityComparer<TSource>
{
public static ProjectionEqualityComparer<TSource, TKey>
Create<TKey>(Func<TSource, TKey> projection)
{
return new ProjectionEqualityComparer<TSource, TKey>(projection);
}
}
public class ProjectionEqualityComparer<TSource, TKey>
: IEqualityComparer<TSource>
{
readonly Func<TSource, TKey> projection;
readonly IEqualityComparer<TKey> comparer;
public ProjectionEqualityComparer(Func<TSource, TKey> projection)
: this(projection, null)
{
}
public ProjectionEqualityComparer(
Func<TSource, TKey> projection,
IEqualityComparer<TKey> comparer)
{
projection.ThrowIfNull("projection");
this.comparer = comparer ?? EqualityComparer<TKey>.Default;
this.projection = projection;
}
public bool Equals(TSource x, TSource y)
{
if (x == null && y == null)
{
return true;
}
if (x == null || y == null)
{
return false;
}
return comparer.Equals(projection(x), projection(y));
}
public int GetHashCode(TSource obj)
{
if (obj == null)
{
throw new ArgumentNullException("obj");
}
return comparer.GetHashCode(projection(obj));
}
}
Second solution
To do this just for Distinct, you can use the DistinctBy extension in MoreLINQ:
public static IEnumerable<TSource> DistinctBy<TSource, TKey>
(this IEnumerable<TSource> source,
Func<TSource, TKey> keySelector)
{
return source.DistinctBy(keySelector, null);
}
public static IEnumerable<TSource> DistinctBy<TSource, TKey>
(this IEnumerable<TSource> source,
Func<TSource, TKey> keySelector,
IEqualityComparer<TKey> comparer)
{
source.ThrowIfNull("source");
keySelector.ThrowIfNull("keySelector");
return DistinctByImpl(source, keySelector, comparer);
}
private static IEnumerable<TSource> DistinctByImpl<TSource, TKey>
(IEnumerable<TSource> source,
Func<TSource, TKey> keySelector,
IEqualityComparer<TKey> comparer)
{
HashSet<TKey> knownKeys = new HashSet<TKey>(comparer);
foreach (TSource element in source)
{
if (knownKeys.Add(keySelector(element)))
{
yield return element;
}
}
}
In both cases, ThrowIfNull looks like this:
public static void ThrowIfNull<T>(this T data, string name) where T : class
{
if (data == null)
{
throw new ArgumentNullException(name);
}
}

Building on Charlie Flowers' answer, you can create your own extension method to do what you want which internally uses grouping:
public static IEnumerable<T> Distinct<T, U>(
this IEnumerable<T> seq, Func<T, U> getKey)
{
return
from item in seq
group item by getKey(item) into gp
select gp.First();
}
You could also create a generic class deriving from EqualityComparer, but it sounds like you'd like to avoid this:
public class KeyEqualityComparer<T,U> : IEqualityComparer<T>
{
private Func<T,U> GetKey { get; set; }
public KeyEqualityComparer(Func<T,U> getKey) {
GetKey = getKey;
}
public bool Equals(T x, T y)
{
return GetKey(x).Equals(GetKey(y));
}
public int GetHashCode(T obj)
{
return GetKey(obj).GetHashCode();
}
}

This is the best i can come up with for the problem in hand.
Still curious whether theres a nice way to create a EqualityComparer on the fly though.
Galleries.SelectMany(x => x.Images).ToLookup(x => x.id).Select(x => x.First());
Create lookup table and take 'top' from each one
Note: this is the same as #charlie suggested but using ILookup - which i think is what a group must be anyway.

What about a throw away IEqualityComparer generic class?
public class ThrowAwayEqualityComparer<T> : IEqualityComparer<T>
{
Func<T, T, bool> comparer;
public ThrowAwayEqualityComparer(Func<T, T, bool> comparer)
{
this.comparer = comparer;
}
public bool Equals(T a, T b)
{
return comparer(a, b);
}
public int GetHashCode(T a)
{
return a.GetHashCode();
}
}
So now you can use Distinct with a custom comparer.
var distinctImages = allImages.Distinct(
new ThrowAwayEqualityComparer<GalleryImage>((a, b) => a.Key == b.Key));
You might be able to get away with the <GalleryImage>, but I'm not sure if the compiler could infer the type (don't have access to it right now.)
And in an additional extension method:
public static class IEnumerableExtensions
{
public static IEnumerable<TValue> Distinct<TValue>(this IEnumerable<TValue> #this, Func<TValue, TValue, bool> comparer)
{
return #this.Distinct(new ThrowAwayEqualityComparer<TValue>(comparer);
}
private class ThrowAwayEqualityComparer...
}

You could group by the key value and then select the top item from each group. Would that work for you?

This idea is being debated here, and while I'm hoping the .NET Core team adopt a method to generate IEqualityComparer<T>s from lambda, I'd suggest you to please vote and comment on that idea, and use the following:
Usage:
IEqualityComparer<Contact> comp1 = EqualityComparerImpl<Contact>.Create(c => c.Name);
var comp2 = EqualityComparerImpl<Contact>.Create(c => c.Name, c => c.Age);
class Contact { public Name { get; set; } public Age { get; set; } }
Code:
public class EqualityComparerImpl<T> : IEqualityComparer<T>
{
public static EqualityComparerImpl<T> Create(
params Expression<Func<T, object>>[] properties) =>
new EqualityComparerImpl<T>(properties);
PropertyInfo[] _properties;
EqualityComparerImpl(Expression<Func<T, object>>[] properties)
{
if (properties == null)
throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(properties));
if (properties.Length == 0)
throw new ArgumentOutOfRangeException(nameof(properties));
var length = properties.Length;
var extractions = new PropertyInfo[length];
for (int i = 0; i < length; i++)
{
var property = properties[i];
extractions[i] = ExtractProperty(property);
}
_properties = extractions;
}
public bool Equals(T x, T y)
{
if (ReferenceEquals(x, y))
//covers both are null
return true;
if (x == null || y == null)
return false;
var len = _properties.Length;
for (int i = 0; i < _properties.Length; i++)
{
var property = _properties[i];
if (!Equals(property.GetValue(x), property.GetValue(y)))
return false;
}
return true;
}
public int GetHashCode(T obj)
{
if (obj == null)
return 0;
var hashes = _properties
.Select(pi => pi.GetValue(obj)?.GetHashCode() ?? 0).ToArray();
return Combine(hashes);
}
static int Combine(int[] hashes)
{
int result = 0;
foreach (var hash in hashes)
{
uint rol5 = ((uint)result << 5) | ((uint)result >> 27);
result = ((int)rol5 + result) ^ hash;
}
return result;
}
static PropertyInfo ExtractProperty(Expression<Func<T, object>> property)
{
if (property.NodeType != ExpressionType.Lambda)
throwEx();
var body = property.Body;
if (body.NodeType == ExpressionType.Convert)
if (body is UnaryExpression unary)
body = unary.Operand;
else
throwEx();
if (!(body is MemberExpression member))
throwEx();
if (!(member.Member is PropertyInfo pi))
throwEx();
return pi;
void throwEx() =>
throw new NotSupportedException($"The expression '{property}' isn't supported.");
}
}

Here's an interesting article that extends LINQ for this purpose...
http://www.singingeels.com/Articles/Extending_LINQ__Specifying_a_Property_in_the_Distinct_Function.aspx
The default Distinct compares objects based on their hashcode - to easily make your objects work with Distinct, you could override the GetHashcode method.. but you mentioned that you are retrieving your objects from a web service, so you may not be able to do that in this case.

implement IEquatable on GalleryImage because it is generated
A different approach would be to generate GalleryImage as a partial class, and then have another file with the inheritance and IEquatable, Equals, GetHash implementation.