How to remove duplicate combinations from <string> using LINQ

Question

I have a list of strings like

List<string> MyList = new List<string>
{ 
    "A-B", 
    "B-A", 
    "C-D", 
    "C-E", 
    "D-C",
    "D-E",
    "E-C",
    "E-D",
    "F-G",
    "G-F"
};

I need to remove the duplicate from the ie list, if there are "AB" and "BA", then I need to save only "AB" (first entry)

So, the result will be similar to

"A-B"   
"C-D"
"C-E"   
"D-E"
"F-G"

Is there a way to do this using LINQ?

Answer 1

This returns the sequence you are looking for:

var result = MyList
    .Select(s => s.Split('-').OrderBy(s1 => s1))
    .Select(a => string.Join("-", a.ToArray()))
    .Distinct();

foreach (var str in result)
{
    Console.WriteLine(str);
}

In short: split each line per character -into two-element arrays. Sort each array and combine them together. Then you can simply use Distinctto get unique values.

: , , Select:

var result = MyList
    .Select(s => string.Join("-", s.Split('-').OrderBy(s1 => s1).ToArray()))
    .Distinct();

: "A-B" "B-A", , .

Answer 2

IEqualityComparer witch true Equals ( "A-B", "B-A" ). Enumerable.Distinct

Answer 3

Enumerable.Distinct(IEnumerable<TSource>, IEqualityComparer<TSource>) .

IEqualityComparer. - :

class Comparer : IEqualityComparer<String>
{

    public bool Equals(String s1, String s2)
    {
        // will need to test for nullity
        return Reverse(s1).Equals(s2);
    }

    public int GetHashCode(String s)
    {
        // will have to implement this
    }

}

Reverse() .

Answer 4

Very simple, but can be written better (but it just works):

class Comparer : IEqualityComparer<string>
  {
      public bool Equals(string x, string y)
      {
          return (x[0] == y[0] && x[2] == y[2]) || (x[0] == y[2] && x[2] == y[0]);
      }

      public int GetHashCode(string obj)
      {
          return 0;
      }
  }

var MyList = new List<String>
{ 
    "A-B", 
    "B-A", 
    "C-D", 
    "C-E", 
    "D-C",
    "D-E",
    "E-C",
    "E-D",
    "F-G",
    "G-F"
}
.Distinct(new Comparer());

foreach (var s in MyList)
{
    Console.WriteLine(s);
}

Answer 5

You need to implement IEqualityComparer as follows:

public class CharComparer : IEqualityComparer<string>
{
    #region IEqualityComparer<string> Members

    public bool Equals(string x, string y)
    {
        if (x == y)
            return true;

        if (x.Length == 3 && y.Length == 3)
        {
            if (x[2] == y[0] && x[0] == y[2])
                return true;

            if (x[0] == y[2] && x[2] == y[0])
                return true;
        }

        return false;
    }

    public int GetHashCode(string obj)
    {
        // return 0 to force the Equals to fire (otherwise it won't...!)
        return 0;
    }

    #endregion
}

Program Example:

class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        List<string> MyList = new List<string>
        { 
            "A-B", 
            "B-A", 
            "C-D", 
            "C-E", 
            "D-C",
            "D-E",
            "E-C",
            "E-D",
            "F-G",
            "G-F"
        };

        var distinct = MyList.Distinct(new CharComparer());
        foreach (string s in distinct)
            Console.WriteLine(s);

        Console.ReadLine();
    }
}

Result:

"AB"   
"Cd"
"CE"   
"DE"
"FG"

Answer 6

int checkID = 0;
while (checkID < MyList.Count)
{
 string szCheckItem = MyList[checkID];
 string []Pairs = szCheckItem.Split("-".ToCharArray());
 string szInvertItem = Pairs[1] + "-" + Pairs[0];
 int i=checkID+1;
 while (i < MyList.Count)
 {
  if((MyList[i] == szCheckItem) || (MyList[i] == szInvertItem))
  {
   MyList.RemoveAt(i);
   continue;
  }
  i++;
 }

 checkID++;
}