Is there a list that is sorted automatically in .NET?

Question

I have a collection of Layers where they have names and colors. What I want to do is to sort these first based on colors, then based on their names:

Answer 1

Did you search for it? Generic SortedList and SortedList.

So I missed the duplicate part which make it a little bit harder I agree. But here is how I would solve it:

var sortedList = new SortedList<LayerColor, SortedList<Layer, Layer>>();
var redSortedList = new SortedList<Layer, Layer>();
// Add all layers associated with the color red
sortedList.Add(LayerColor.Red, redSortedList);

Will that work for you. Also, I would prefer to use linq but if you really want a sorted list my solution will most likely work.

Last try:) :

public class YourClass
{
    private List<Layer> _layers;
    public List<Layer> Layers
    {
        get
        {
            _layers = _layers.OrderBy(y => y.LayerColor).ThenBy(y => y.Name).ToList();
            return _layers;
        }
        set
        {
            _layers = value;
        }
    }
}

Note that I'm writing directly in browser without testing it in VS (sitting on OS X), but you probably get the point.

Answer 2

You're on the right track. I would create a custom collection class that inherits from Collection. In this custom collection you can override on the on insert/on delete methods and sort your collection as items are added/removed from it.