Using IComparer IComparable for Sorting in WPF

IComparer / IComparable are interfaces used to compare two objects. The implementing class has to define the logic for sorting. It provides a way to customize the sort order of a collection. Implementation of IComparable in WPF. Here, we implement the CompareTo method and sort the Emp objects based on Age property. Just create a sample WPF application and paste the code as seen below : Emp class implements IComparable which defines the sort logic. namespace WpfApplication1 { /// /// Interaction logic for MainWindow.xaml /// public partial class MainWindow : Window { public MainWindow() { InitializeComponent(); List empList = new List(); empList.AddRange(new List(){new Emp { Name = "A", Age = 25, Address = "Test Str eetA" }, new Emp { Name = "A", Age = 26, Address = "Test StreetA1" }, new Emp { Name = "B", Age = 25, Address = "Test StreetB" }, new Emp { Name = "C", Age = 26, Address = "Test StreetC" }, new Emp { Name = "Z", Age = 25, Address = "Test StreetZ" }, new Emp { Name = "D", Age = 26, Address = "Test StreetD" }}); empList.Sort(); } } public class Emp { public string Name { get; set; } public int Age { get; set; } public string Address { get; set; } } public class Emp : IComparable { public string Name { get; set; } public int Age { get; set; } public string Address { get; set; } #region IComparable Members public int CompareTo(Emp other) { // Sort based on Age

if (this.Age > other.Age) { return 1; } else if (other.Age > this.Age) return -1; else return 0; } #endregion } }

Note: List test = new List(); test.Add("B"); test.Add("C"); test.Add("A"); test.Sort(); This will work because by default List and Array implement IComparable. But the example below won't work. public class Emp { public string Name { get; set; } } // Sorting using IComparable based Age ascending order List empList = new List(); empList.AddRange(new List(){new Emp { Name = "C25"}, new Emp { Name = "B35"}, new Emp { Name = "A15"}}); empList.Sort(); C# compiler is not smart enough to figure out which instance of type "Emp" should come first etc. IComparer interface: But sometimes, we may need to sort a list of objects when the class does not implement IComparable<> interface and also we may need various kinds of sorting on that class like: 1. Sort Emp by Age in Ascending Order 2. Sort Emp by Age in Descending Order 3. Sort Emp by Name To solve this problem, .NET provides a special interface called IComparer<> which has a method Compare(), takes two object parameters X, Y and returns an int. Use of IComparer<> interface tells List how exactly you want to sort.

namespace WpfApplication1 { /// /// Interaction logic for MainWindow.xaml /// public partial class MainWindow : Window { public MainWindow() { InitializeComponent(); // Sorting using IComparable based Age ascending order List empList = new List(); empList.AddRange(new List(){new Emp { Name = "A25", Age = 25, Address = "Te st StreetA25" }, new Emp { Name = "B35", Age = 35, Address = "Test StreetB3 5" }, new Emp { Name = "C15", Age = 15, Address = "Test StreetC1 5" }, new Emp { Name = "D45", Age = 45, Address = "Test StreetD4 5" }, new Emp { Name = "E5", Age = 5, Address = "Test StreetE5" } }); // Default sort as defined by IComparable empList.Sort(); foreach (dynamic emp in empList) { string listTemp = emp.Name + "-" + emp.Age + "-" + emp.Address; myListBox.Items.Add(listTemp); } // Create IComparer instance Emp_SortByAgeByDescendingOrder descSort = new Emp_SortByAgeByDescending Order(); // Specify the type empList.Sort(descSort); foreach (dynamic emp in empList) { string listTemp = emp.Name + "-" + emp.Age + "-" + emp.Address; myListBox1.Items.Add(listTemp); } } } public class Emp : IComparable { public string Name { get; set; } public int Age { get; set; } public string Address { get; set; } public int CompareTo(Emp other) { // Sort based on Age if (this.Age > other.Age) {

return 1; } else if (other.Age > this.Age) return -1; else return 0; } } class Emp_SortByAgeByDescendingOrder : IComparer { #region IComparer Members public int Compare(Emp x, Emp y) { if (x.Age < y.Age) return 1; else if (x.Age > y.Age) return -1; else return 0; } #endregion } class Emp_SortByName : IComparer { #region IComparer Members public int Compare(Emp x, Emp y) { return string.Compare(x.Name, y.Name); } #endregion } } Special case : If we have both IComparer and IComparable implemented Sort will take place based on IComparer logic first and then followed by IComparable logic. public partial class MainWindow : Window { public MainWindow() { InitializeComponent(); List empList = new List(); empList.AddRange(new List(){new Emp { Name = "A", Age = 25, Address = "Test Str eetA25" }, new Emp { Name = "A", Age = 35, Address = "Test StreetB35" }, new Emp { Name = "B", Age = 15, Address = "Test StreetC15" }, new Emp { Name = "B", Age = 45, Address = "Test StreetD45" }, new Emp { Name = "C", Age = 5, Address = "Test StreetE5" }}); // Create IComparer instance // IComparer sorts by Name asc // IComparable sorts by Age desc // Sort should be Name asc and Age desc Emp_SortByName descSort = new Emp_SortByName();

} }

// Specify the type empList.Sort(descSort); foreach (dynamic emp in empList) { string listTemp = emp.Name + "-" + emp.Age + "-" + emp.Address; myListBox1.Items.Add(listTemp); }

public class Emp : IComparable { public string Name { get; set; } public int Age { get; set; } public string Address { get; set; } public int CompareTo(Emp other) { // Sort based on Age if (this.Age > other.Age) { return 1; } else if (other.Age > this.Age) return -1; else return 0; } } class Emp_SortByName : IComparer { #region IComparer Members public int Compare(Emp x, Emp y) { return string.Compare(x.Name, y.Name); } #endregion } Happy Reading...
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