Are 2 dimensional Lists possible in c#?

Question

I\'d like to set up a multidimensional list. For reference, I am working on a playlist analyzer.

I have a file/file-list, which my program saves in a standard list.

Answer 1

I used:

List<List<String>> List1 = new List<List<String>>
var List<int> = new List<int>();
List.add("Test");
List.add("Test2");
List1.add(List);
var List<int> = new List<int>();
List.add("Test3");
List1.add(List);

that equals:

List1
(
[0] => List2 // List1[0][x]
    (
        [0] => Test  // List[0][0] etc.
        [1] => Test2

    )
[1] => List2
    (
        [0] => Test3

Answer 2

another work around which i have used was...

List<int []> itemIDs = new List<int[]>();

itemIDs.Add( new int[2] { 101, 202 } );

The library i'm working on has a very formal class structure and i didn't wan't extra stuff in there effectively for the privilege of recording two 'related' ints.

Relies on the programmer entering only a 2 item array but as it's not a common item i think it works.

Answer 3

As Jon Skeet mentioned you can do it with a List<Track> instead. The Track class would look something like this:

public class Track {
    public int TrackID { get; set; }
    public string Name { get; set; }
    public string Artist { get; set; }
    public string Album { get; set; }
    public int PlayCount { get; set; }
    public int SkipCount { get; set; }
}

And to create a track list as a List<Track> you simply do this:

var trackList = new List<Track>();

Adding tracks can be as simple as this:

trackList.add( new Track {
    TrackID = 1234,
    Name = "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)",
    Artist = "The Proclaimers",
    Album = "Finest",
    PlayCount = 10,
    SkipCount = 1
});

Accessing tracks can be done with the indexing operator:

Track firstTrack = trackList[0];

Hope this helps.

Answer 4

This is the easiest way i have found to do it.

List<List<String>> matrix= new List<List<String>>(); //Creates new nested List
matrix.Add(new List<String>()); //Adds new sub List
matrix[0].Add("2349"); //Add values to the sub List at index 0
matrix[0].Add("The Prime of Your Life");
matrix[0].Add("Daft Punk");
matrix[0].Add("Human After All");
matrix[0].Add("3");
matrix[0].Add("2");

To retrieve values is even easier

string title = matrix[0][1]; //Retrieve value at index 1 from sub List at index 0

Answer 5

Here's a little something that I made a while ago for a game engine I was working on. It was used as a local object variable holder. Basically, you use it as a normal list, but it holds the value at the position of what ever the string name is(or ID). A bit of modification, and you will have your 2D list.

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;

namespace GameEngineInterpreter
{
    public class VariableList<T>
    {
        private List<string> list1;
        private List<T> list2;

        /// <summary>
        /// Initialize a new Variable List
        /// </summary>
        public VariableList()
        {
            list1 = new List<string>();
            list2 = new List<T>();
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Set the value of a variable. If the variable does not exist, then it is created
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="variable">Name or ID of the variable</param>
        /// <param name="value">The value of the variable</param>
        public void Set(string variable, T value)
        {
            if (!list1.Contains(variable))
            {
                list1.Add(variable);
                list2.Add(value);
            }
            else
            {
                list2[list1.IndexOf(variable)] = value;
            }
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Remove the variable if it exists
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="variable">Name or ID of the variable</param>
        public void Remove(string variable)
        {
            if (list1.Contains(variable))
            {
                list2.RemoveAt(list1.IndexOf(variable));
                list1.RemoveAt(list1.IndexOf(variable));
            }
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Clears the variable list
        /// </summary>
        public void Clear()
        {
            list1.Clear();
            list2.Clear();
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Get the value of the variable if it exists
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="variable">Name or ID of the variable</param>
        /// <returns>Value</returns>
        public T Get(string variable)
        {
            if (list1.Contains(variable))
            {
                return (list2[list1.IndexOf(variable)]);
            }
            else
            {
                return default(T);
            }
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Get a string list of all the variables 
        /// </summary>
        /// <returns>List string</string></returns>
        public List<string> GetList()
        {
            return (list1);
        }
    }
}

Answer 6

Here is how to make a 2 dimensional list

        // Generating lists in a loop.
        List<List<string>> biglist = new List<List<string>>();

        for(int i = 1; i <= 10; i++)
        {
            List<string> list1 = new List<string>();
            biglist.Add(list1);
        }

        // Populating the lists
        for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++)
        {
            for(int j = 0; j < 10; j++)
            {
                biglist[i].Add((i).ToString() + " " + j.ToString());
            }
        }

        textbox1.Text = biglist[5][9] + "\n";

Be aware of the danger of accessing a location that is not populated.