How to retrieve actual item from HashSet?

Question

I\'ve read this question about why it is not possible, but haven\'t found a solution to the problem.

I would like to retrieve an item from a .NET HashSet. I

Answer 1

What you're asking for was added to .NET Core a year ago, and was recently added to .NET 4.7.2:

In .NET Framework 4.7.2 we have added a few APIs to the standard Collection types that will enable new functionality as follows.
- ‘TryGetValue‘ is added to SortedSet and HashSet to match the Try pattern used in other collection types.

The signature is as follows (found in .NET 4.7.2 and above):

    //
    // Summary:
    //     Searches the set for a given value and returns the equal value it finds, if any.
    //
    // Parameters:
    //   equalValue:
    //     The value to search for.
    //
    //   actualValue:
    //     The value from the set that the search found, or the default value of T when
    //     the search yielded no match.
    //
    // Returns:
    //     A value indicating whether the search was successful.
    public bool TryGetValue(T equalValue, out T actualValue);

P.S.: In case you're interested, there is related function they're adding in the future - HashSet.GetOrAdd(T).

Answer 2

This method has been added to .NET Framework 4.7.2 (and .NET Core 2.0 before it); see HashSet<T>.TryGetValue. Citing the source:

/// <summary>
/// Searches the set for a given value and returns the equal value it finds, if any.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="equalValue">The value to search for.
/// </param>
/// <param name="actualValue">
/// The value from the set that the search found, or the default value
/// of <typeparamref name="T"/> when the search yielded no match.</param>
/// <returns>A value indicating whether the search was successful.</returns>
/// <remarks>
/// This can be useful when you want to reuse a previously stored reference instead of 
/// a newly constructed one (so that more sharing of references can occur) or to look up
/// a value that has more complete data than the value you currently have, although their
/// comparer functions indicate they are equal.
/// </remarks>
public bool TryGetValue(T equalValue, out T actualValue)

Answer 3

You can also use ToList() method and apply an indexer to that.

HashSet<string> mySet = new HashSet();
mySet.Add("mykey");
string key = mySet.toList()[0];

Answer 4

This is actually a huge omission in the set of collections. You would need either a Dictionary of keys only or a HashSet that allows for the retrieval of object references. So many people have asked for it, why it doesn't get fixed is beyond me.

Without third-party libraries the best workaround is to use Dictionary<T, T> with keys identical to values, since Dictionary stores its entries as a hash table. Performance-wise it is the same as the HashSet, but it wastes memory of course (size of a pointer per entry).

Dictionary<T, T> myHashedCollection;
...
if(myHashedCollection.ContainsKey[item])
    item = myHashedCollection[item]; //replace duplicate
else
    myHashedCollection.Add(item, item); //add previously unknown item
...
//work with unique item

Answer 5

Modified implementation of @mp666 answer so it can be used for any type of HashSet and allows for overriding the default equality comparer.

public interface IRetainingComparer<T> : IEqualityComparer<T>
{
    T Key { get; }
    void ClearKeyCache();
}

/// <summary>
/// An <see cref="IEqualityComparer{T}"/> that retains the last key that successfully passed <see cref="IEqualityComparer{T}.Equals(T,T)"/>.
/// This class relies on the fact that <see cref="HashSet{T}"/> calls the <see cref="IEqualityComparer{T}.Equals(T,T)"/> with the first parameter
/// being an existing element and the second parameter being the one passed to the initiating call to <see cref="HashSet{T}"/> (eg. <see cref="HashSet{T}.Contains(T)"/>).
/// </summary>
/// <typeparam name="T">The type of object being compared.</typeparam>
/// <remarks>This class is thread-safe but may should not be used with any sort of parallel access (PLINQ).</remarks>
public class RetainingEqualityComparerObject<T> : IRetainingComparer<T> where T : class
{
    private readonly IEqualityComparer<T> _comparer;

    [ThreadStatic]
    private static WeakReference<T> _retained;

    public RetainingEqualityComparerObject(IEqualityComparer<T> comparer)
    {
        _comparer = comparer;
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// The retained instance on side 'a' of the <see cref="Equals"/> call which successfully met the equality requirement agains side 'b'.
    /// </summary>
    /// <remarks>Uses a <see cref="WeakReference{T}"/> so unintended memory leaks are not encountered.</remarks>
    public T Key
    {
        get
        {
            T retained;
            return _retained == null ? null : _retained.TryGetTarget(out retained) ? retained : null;
        }
    }


    /// <summary>
    /// Sets the retained <see cref="Key"/> to the default value.
    /// </summary>
    /// <remarks>This should be called prior to performing an operation that calls <see cref="Equals"/>.</remarks>
    public void ClearKeyCache()
    {
        _retained = _retained ?? new WeakReference<T>(null);
        _retained.SetTarget(null);
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Test two objects of type <see cref="T"/> for equality retaining the object if successful.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="a">An instance of <see cref="T"/>.</param>
    /// <param name="b">A second instance of <see cref="T"/> to compare against <paramref name="a"/>.</param>
    /// <returns>True if <paramref name="a"/> and <paramref name="b"/> are equal, false otherwise.</returns>
    public bool Equals(T a, T b)
    {
        if (!_comparer.Equals(a, b))
        {
            return false;
        }

        _retained = _retained ?? new WeakReference<T>(null);
        _retained.SetTarget(a);
        return true;
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Gets the hash code value of an instance of <see cref="T"/>.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="o">The instance of <see cref="T"/> to obtain a hash code from.</param>
    /// <returns>The hash code value from <paramref name="o"/>.</returns>
    public int GetHashCode(T o)
    {
        return _comparer.GetHashCode(o);
    }
}

/// <summary>
/// An <see cref="IEqualityComparer{T}"/> that retains the last key that successfully passed <see cref="IEqualityComparer{T}.Equals(T,T)"/>.
/// This class relies on the fact that <see cref="HashSet{T}"/> calls the <see cref="IEqualityComparer{T}.Equals(T,T)"/> with the first parameter
/// being an existing element and the second parameter being the one passed to the initiating call to <see cref="HashSet{T}"/> (eg. <see cref="HashSet{T}.Contains(T)"/>).
/// </summary>
/// <typeparam name="T">The type of object being compared.</typeparam>
/// <remarks>This class is thread-safe but may should not be used with any sort of parallel access (PLINQ).</remarks>
public class RetainingEqualityComparerStruct<T> : IRetainingComparer<T> where T : struct 
{
    private readonly IEqualityComparer<T> _comparer;

    [ThreadStatic]
    private static T _retained;

    public RetainingEqualityComparerStruct(IEqualityComparer<T> comparer)
    {
        _comparer = comparer;
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// The retained instance on side 'a' of the <see cref="Equals"/> call which successfully met the equality requirement agains side 'b'.
    /// </summary>
    public T Key => _retained;


    /// <summary>
    /// Sets the retained <see cref="Key"/> to the default value.
    /// </summary>
    /// <remarks>This should be called prior to performing an operation that calls <see cref="Equals"/>.</remarks>
    public void ClearKeyCache()
    {
        _retained = default(T);
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Test two objects of type <see cref="T"/> for equality retaining the object if successful.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="a">An instance of <see cref="T"/>.</param>
    /// <param name="b">A second instance of <see cref="T"/> to compare against <paramref name="a"/>.</param>
    /// <returns>True if <paramref name="a"/> and <paramref name="b"/> are equal, false otherwise.</returns>
    public bool Equals(T a, T b)
    {
        if (!_comparer.Equals(a, b))
        {
            return false;
        }

        _retained = a;
        return true;
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Gets the hash code value of an instance of <see cref="T"/>.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="o">The instance of <see cref="T"/> to obtain a hash code from.</param>
    /// <returns>The hash code value from <paramref name="o"/>.</returns>
    public int GetHashCode(T o)
    {
        return _comparer.GetHashCode(o);
    }
}

/// <summary>
/// Provides TryGetValue{T} functionality similar to that of <see cref="IDictionary{TKey,TValue}"/>'s implementation.
/// </summary>
public class ExtendedHashSet<T> : HashSet<T>
{
    /// <summary>
    /// This class is guaranteed to wrap the <see cref="IEqualityComparer{T}"/> with one of the <see cref="IRetainingComparer{T}"/>
    /// implementations so this property gives convenient access to the interfaced comparer.
    /// </summary>
    private IRetainingComparer<T> RetainingComparer => (IRetainingComparer<T>)Comparer;

    /// <summary>
    /// Creates either a <see cref="RetainingEqualityComparerStruct{T}"/> or <see cref="RetainingEqualityComparerObject{T}"/>
    /// depending on if <see cref="T"/> is a reference type or a value type.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="comparer">(optional) The <see cref="IEqualityComparer{T}"/> to wrap. This will be set to <see cref="EqualityComparer{T}.Default"/> if none provided.</param>
    /// <returns>An instance of <see cref="IRetainingComparer{T}"/>.</returns>
    private static IRetainingComparer<T> Create(IEqualityComparer<T> comparer = null)
    {
        return (IRetainingComparer<T>) (typeof(T).IsValueType ? 
            Activator.CreateInstance(typeof(RetainingEqualityComparerStruct<>)
                .MakeGenericType(typeof(T)), comparer ?? EqualityComparer<T>.Default)
            :
            Activator.CreateInstance(typeof(RetainingEqualityComparerObject<>)
                .MakeGenericType(typeof(T)), comparer ?? EqualityComparer<T>.Default));
    }

    public ExtendedHashSet() : base(Create())
    {
    }

    public ExtendedHashSet(IEqualityComparer<T> comparer) : base(Create(comparer))
    {
    }

    public ExtendedHashSet(IEnumerable<T> collection) : base(collection, Create())
    {
    }

    public ExtendedHashSet(IEnumerable<T> collection, IEqualityComparer<T> comparer) : base(collection, Create(comparer))
    {
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Attempts to find a key in the <see cref="HashSet{T}"/> and, if found, places the instance in <paramref name="original"/>.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="value">The key used to search the <see cref="HashSet{T}"/>.</param>
    /// <param name="original">
    /// The matched instance from the <see cref="HashSet{T}"/> which is not neccessarily the same as <paramref name="value"/>.
    /// This will be set to null for reference types or default(T) for value types when no match found.
    /// </param>
    /// <returns>True if a key in the <see cref="HashSet{T}"/> matched <paramref name="value"/>, False if no match found.</returns>
    public bool TryGetValue(T value, out T original)
    {
        var comparer = RetainingComparer;
        comparer.ClearKeyCache();

        if (Contains(value))
        {
            original = comparer.Key;
            return true;
        }

        original = default(T);
        return false;
    }
}

public static class HashSetExtensions
{
    /// <summary>
    /// Attempts to find a key in the <see cref="HashSet{T}"/> and, if found, places the instance in <paramref name="original"/>.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="hashSet">The instance of <see cref="HashSet{T}"/> extended.</param>
    /// <param name="value">The key used to search the <see cref="HashSet{T}"/>.</param>
    /// <param name="original">
    /// The matched instance from the <see cref="HashSet{T}"/> which is not neccessarily the same as <paramref name="value"/>.
    /// This will be set to null for reference types or default(T) for value types when no match found.
    /// </param>
    /// <returns>True if a key in the <see cref="HashSet{T}"/> matched <paramref name="value"/>, False if no match found.</returns>
    /// <exception cref="ArgumentNullException">If <paramref name="hashSet"/> is null.</exception>
    /// <exception cref="ArgumentException">
    /// If <paramref name="hashSet"/> does not have a <see cref="HashSet{T}.Comparer"/> of type <see cref="IRetainingComparer{T}"/>.
    /// </exception>
    public static bool TryGetValue<T>(this HashSet<T> hashSet, T value, out T original)
    {
        if (hashSet == null)
        {
            throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(hashSet));
        }

        if (hashSet.Comparer.GetType().IsInstanceOfType(typeof(IRetainingComparer<T>)))
        {
            throw new ArgumentException($"HashSet must have an equality comparer of type '{nameof(IRetainingComparer<T>)}' to use this functionality", nameof(hashSet));
        }

        var comparer = (IRetainingComparer<T>)hashSet.Comparer;
        comparer.ClearKeyCache();

        if (hashSet.Contains(value))
        {
            original = comparer.Key;
            return true;
        }

        original = default(T);
        return false;
    }
}

Answer 6

HashSet has a Contains(T) method.

You can specify an IEqualityComparer if you need a custom comparison method (e.g., store a person object, but use the SSN for equality comparison).