Basic question about data storage array/dict/list/etc

Question

OK I'll admit. My mind is fried lol. Trying to find the best way to store some data. They are structured as follows: Agency [DPW - West Broadway Facility]: OU: OU=DPWDC=serverDC=com Security: CN=DPW UsersOU=DPWDC=serverDC=com CN=Water FacilityOU=DPWDC=serverDC=com CN=West SideOU=RegionsDC=serverDC=com So far the best I can think of is doing string[] agencies = new string[403]. Then I could do it like: agencies[10] = DPW - West Broadway Facility; agencies[11] = OU=DPWDC=serverDC=com; agencies[12] = CN=DPW UsersOU=DPWDC=serverDC=com;CN=Water FacilityOU=DPWDC=serverDC=com;CN=West SideOU=RegionsDC=serverDC=com; I can then just split on ; for facet 2. While this will work it doesn't strike me as very elegant. However the dictionary/arraylist/etc all seem to just be 1 key correlated to 1 value. Unless I'm just missing something which is entirely possible lol.

Javeed M Shaikh · Answer

Hi Ken In dictionary you can contain multiple value for a key like this Dictionary > ex: Dictionary > myDict; Please do not forget to mark Accepted Answer.

Ken · Answer

Hmm... have a followup. I just went to implement it. I have: public Dictionary > Agencies = new Dictionary >(); (query crap) at this point i have agency = the agency info ou = the ou ldap DN a string[] groups which has all the groups for that ou So now I can have one dictionary entry for the agency then the children will be ou/security: List tmpvar = new List (); tmpvar.Add(RS[ou].ToString()); tmpvar.Add(String.Join(; RS[groups].ToString()); I see now what you meant by having to still split; I thought you meant to obtain my data originally I see now that I'll still have to split it using the dict. It's not the end of the world but I.. ahhh wait I can just change that List datatype to any datatype right? I can just change ti another dictionary :) Cool tested OK. Nevermind. Now I have in my query loop: Dictionary tmpvar = new Dictionary (); tmpvar.Add(OU RS[ou].ToString()); for (x=0 to groupcoll.length) { tmpvar.Add(Group + x.ToString() groupcoll[x]); } So I can end up just doing MessageBox.Show(Agencies[DPW][OU]); Sweet. Of course this probably ends up being slightly more code than I originally had just doing the string array but it's nicer as I can use a string index rather than remembering numeric facet positions. Thanks again!

Ken · Answer

Thanks for the replies. Wasn't aware you could nest in the dictionary but I guess in retrospect it should've been obvious to just change the type. Doh! Well a day you've learned something (esp something handy hehe) is always a good day :) My key is going to be the agency name. Splitting for list shouldn't be an issue; the var for security groups is built right now in my string array method as it loops through the results from an LDAP query so can just replace the += with the list add. Thanks!

Vulpes · Answer

Notice though that you'd still need to split the strings to get them into the List in the first place. In view of this I'd be inclined to leave them as a single string and then split them as and when needed. You only need a Dictionary if you need to quickly pull out a particular string by key. It wasn't clear to me what the key would be in your example but whatever it is it needs to be unique.

Basic question about data storage, array/dict/list/etc