Dictionary

C# – Convert a list to a dictionary

by

The simplest way to convert a list to a dictionary is to use the Linq ToDictionary() method: This loops through the list and uses the key/element selector lambdas you passed in to build the dictionary. In this article, I’ll go into details about how to use ToDictionary() and show how to deal with duplicate keys. … Read more

C# – Unit testing code that does File IO

by

If your code does File IO, such as reading text from a file, then it’s dependent on the file system. This is an external dependency. In order to make the unit tests fast and reliable, you can mock out the external dependencies. To mock out the file system dependency, you can wrap the File IO … Read more

System.ArgumentException: Complex DataBinding accepts as a data source either an IList or an IListSource

by

If you try to set a list control’s DataSource to a type it can’t handle, then you’ll get the following exception: System.ArgumentException: Complex DataBinding accepts as a data source either an IList or an IListSource. (Parameter ‘value’)at System.Windows.Forms.ListControl.set_DataSource(Object value) Note: This applies to all controls that subclass ListControl, such as ComboBox and ListBox. This is … Read more

System.Text.Json – How to serialize non-public properties

by

By default, the System.Text.Json.JsonSerializer only serializes public properties. If you want to serialize non-public properties, you can create a custom converter and use reflection to get the non-public properties too, like this: Use the custom converter by adding it to JsonSerializerOptions.Converters and passing the options in when serializing, like this: In this article, I’ll show … Read more

Deserializing JSON that contains an embedded JSON string

by

When you send mail, you put a letter in an envelope and put routing information on the envelope. The postal service uses the routing information to deliver the envelope to a specific mailbox. The mailbox owner then opens the envelope and reads the letter. Sometimes you may need to deal with the JSON equivalent of … Read more

C# – Parsing commands and arguments in a console app

by

In a console app there are two ways to get commands: Command line arguments passed into your program via Main(string[] args). User input from Console.ReadLine() (which you then split into a string[]). After getting a command, you have to parse it to figure out what code to execute. Typically commands have the following format: commandName … Read more

C# – Working with tuples

by

Here’s how you create a tuple: Tuples are containers for two or more variables. Without tuples, you’d have to use a class/struct, like this: In other words, tuples provide a convenient alternative to class/structs. Instead of having tons of data container classes, you can use tuples. In this article, I’ll show examples of how to … Read more

C# – Merge two dictionaries in-place

by

When you merge two dictionaries, you can either merge them in-place, or create a new dictionary and copy the values over to it. The following extension method does an in-place merge of two dictionaries. It puts items from the right dictionary into the left dictionary. When duplicate keys exist, it’s keeping the value from the … Read more

System.Text.Json can’t serialize Dictionary unless it has a string key

by

The built-in JSON serializer in .NET Core can’t handle serializing a dictionary unless it has a string key. When I run this code I get the following exception: System.NotSupportedException: The collection type ‘System.Collections.Generic.Dictionary`2[System.Int32,System.String]’ is not supported. It can only serialize dictionaries with string keys. This is bizarre, and another reason to stick with Newtonsoft for … Read more