Generate hash of object consistently

Question

I\'m trying to get a hash (md5 or sha) of an object.

I\'ve implemented this: http://alexmg.com/post/2009/04/16/Compute-any-hash-for-any-object-in-C.aspx

I\'m

Answer 1

GetHashCode() returns an Int32 (not an MD5).

If you create two objects with all the same property values they will not have the same Hash if you use the base or system GetHashCode().

String is an object and an exception.

string s1 = "john";
string s2 = "john";
if (s1 == s2) returns true and will return the same GetHashCode()

If you want to control equality comparison of two objects then you should override the GetHash and Equality.

If two object are the same then they must also have the same GetHash(). But two objects with the same GetHash() are not necessarily the same. A comparison will first test the GetHash() and if it gets a match there it will test the Equals. OK there are some comparisons that go straight to Equals but you should still override both and make sure two identical objects produce the same GetHash.

I use this for syncing a client with the server. You could use all the Properties or you could have any Property change change the VerID. The advantage here is a simpler quicker GetHashCode(). In my case I was resetting the VerID with any Property change already.

    public override bool Equals(Object obj)
    {
        //Check for null and compare run-time types.
        if (obj == null || !(obj is FTSdocWord)) return false;
        FTSdocWord item = (FTSdocWord)obj;
        return (OjbID == item.ObjID && VerID == item.VerID);
    }
    public override int GetHashCode()
    {
        return ObjID ^ VerID;
    }

I ended up using ObjID alone so I could do the following

if (myClientObj == myServerObj && myClientObj.VerID <> myServerObj.VerID)
{
   // need to synch
}

Object.GetHashCode Method

Two objects with the same property values. Are they equal? Do they produce the same GetHashCode()?

            personDefault pd1 = new personDefault("John");
            personDefault pd2 = new personDefault("John");
            System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine(po1.GetHashCode().ToString());
            System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine(po2.GetHashCode().ToString()); 
            // different GetHashCode
            if (pd1.Equals(pd2))  // returns false
            {
                System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine("pd1 == pd2");
            }
            List personsDefault = new List();
            personsDefault.Add(pd1);
            if (personsDefault.Contains(pd2))  // returns false
            {
                System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine("Contains(pd2)");
            }

            personOverRide po1 = new personOverRide("John");
            personOverRide po2 = new personOverRide("John");
            System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine(po1.GetHashCode().ToString());
            System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine(po2.GetHashCode().ToString());  
            // same hash
            if (po1.Equals(po2))  // returns true
            {
                System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine("po1 == po2");
            }
            List personsOverRide = new List();
            personsOverRide.Add(po1);
            if (personsOverRide.Contains(po2))  // returns true
            {
                System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine("Contains(p02)");
            }
        }



        public class personDefault
        {
            public string Name { get; private set; }
            public personDefault(string name) { Name = name; }
        }

        public class personOverRide: Object
        {
            public string Name { get; private set; }
            public personOverRide(string name) { Name = name; }

            public override bool Equals(Object obj)
            {
                //Check for null and compare run-time types.
                if (obj == null || !(obj is personOverRide)) return false;
                personOverRide item = (personOverRide)obj;
                return (Name == item.Name);
            }
            public override int GetHashCode()
            {
                return Name.GetHashCode();
            }
        }