Search Algorithm Required

Question

Hi I need a c# program ( search algorithm ) ie When user types a character the display should update to show all valid choices for the next character and a list of possible matching stations. Ex: User Input: D A R T it should display DARTFORD and DARTMOUTH Suggested outline is below: public class Suggestions { HastSet nextLetters { get; set; } HashSet stations { get; set; } } public class StationFinder { private static String[] stations = new String[] {LIVERPOOL LIME STREET BIRMINGHAM NEW STREET KINGSTON  DARTFORD DARTMOUTH }; public Suggestions GetSuggestions( String userInput ) { // TODO Compute result Suggestions result = new Suggestions(); return result; } } Note: The above code snippet is a suggestion it can be modified if wish. Regards Vishnu

Shawn · Answer

Hi again Vishnu. HashSet is a way to eliminate redundancies. The method I used above is using built in methods to use autocomplete which takes care of redundancies. However if you need to use a HashSet it can be done by adding a couple lines of code: public partial class Form1 : Form { private static String[] stations = new String[] { LIVERPOOL LIME STREET BIRMINGHAM NEW STREET KINGSTON  DARTFORD DARTMOUTH BIRMINGHAM NEW STREET}; public Form1() { InitializeComponent(); HashSet stations_Hash = new HashSet (); foreach(string s in stations) { stations_Hash.Add(s); } foreach (string sh in stations_Hash) { comboBox1.AutoCompleteCustomSource.Add(sh.Trim()); } } } Notice I added an extra BIRMINGHAM NEW STREET to the array. However it will only show up once in the autocomplete. I guess the real question is what controls are you wanting to use to display the data? Are you forced to use a text box maybe? I suppose if I understood the circumstances a little more I might be more helpful. I hope this helps.

Vishnu Reghu · Answer

Thanks for the reply. I am looking for a solution using HashSet. Is there any available ?

Shawn · Answer

Hi Vishnu. I thought I'd give it this a go. I created a simple form and added a combo box. I changed the DropDownStyle property to Simple so it looked like a text box. The only thing I used in your code was this line: private static String[] stations = new String[] {LIVERPOOL LIME STREET BIRMINGHAM NEW STREET KINGSTON  DARTFORD DARTMOUTH }; I added that in the class but outside all methods so it was global. I changed the AutoCompleteMode of the combobox to Suggest and the AutoCompleteSource property to CustomSource. Last I added a few lines of code to the form's constructor so it looked like this: public Form1() { InitializeComponent(); foreach(string s in stations) { comboBox1.AutoCompleteCustomSource.Add(s.Trim()); } } One thing to note wsa that you have a space before DARTFORD. Didn't know if that was intentional but I added .Trim() which took care of that. Anyway I hope that helps. Always nice to accomplish something in just a few lines of code.