Merging dictionaries in C#

Question

What\'s the best way to merge 2 or more dictionaries (Dictionary) in C#? (3.0 features like LINQ are fine).

I\'m thinking of a method signa

Answer 1

I know this is an old question, but since we now have LINQ you can do it in a single line like this

Dictionary<T1,T2> merged;
Dictionary<T1,T2> mergee;
mergee.ToList().ForEach(kvp => merged.Add(kvp.Key, kvp.Value));

or

mergee.ToList().ForEach(kvp => merged.Append(kvp));

Answer 2

or :

public static IDictionary<TKey, TValue> Merge<TKey, TValue>( IDictionary<TKey, TValue> x, IDictionary<TKey, TValue> y)
    {
        return x
            .Except(x.Join(y, z => z.Key, z => z.Key, (a, b) => a))
            .Concat(y)
            .ToDictionary(z => z.Key, z => z.Value);
    }

the result is a union where for duplicate entries "y" wins.

Answer 3

Based on the answers above, but adding a Func-parameter to let the caller handle the duplicates:

public static Dictionary<TKey, TValue> Merge<TKey, TValue>(this IEnumerable<Dictionary<TKey, TValue>> dicts, 
                                                           Func<IGrouping<TKey, TValue>, TValue> resolveDuplicates)
{
    if (resolveDuplicates == null)
        resolveDuplicates = new Func<IGrouping<TKey, TValue>, TValue>(group => group.First());

    return dicts.SelectMany<Dictionary<TKey, TValue>, KeyValuePair<TKey, TValue>>(dict => dict)
                .ToLookup(pair => pair.Key, pair => pair.Value)
                .ToDictionary(group => group.Key, group => resolveDuplicates(group));
}

Answer 4

Simplified from use compared with my earlier answer with a bool default of non-destructive merge if existing or overwrite entirely if true rather than using an enum. It still suits my own needs without any fancier code ever being required:

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

public static partial class Extensions
{
    public static void Merge<K, V>(this IDictionary<K, V> target, IDictionary<K, V> source, bool overwrite = false)
    {
        source.ToList().ForEach(_ => {
            if ((!target.ContainsKey(_.Key)) || overwrite)
                target[_.Key] = _.Value;
        });
    }
}

Answer 5

Note that if you use an extension method called 'Add', you get to use collection initializers to combine as many dictionaries as needed like this:

public static void Add<K, V>(this Dictionary<K, V> d, Dictionary<K, V> other) {
  foreach (var kvp in other)
  {
    if (!d.ContainsKey(kvp.Key))
    {
      d.Add(kvp.Key, kvp.Value);
    }
  }
}


var s0 = new Dictionary<string, string> {
  { "A", "X"}
};
var s1 = new Dictionary<string, string> {
  { "A", "X" },
  { "B", "Y" }
};
// Combine as many dictionaries and key pairs as needed
var a = new Dictionary<string, string> {
  s0, s1, s0, s1, s1, { "C", "Z" }
};

Answer 6

Merging using an EqualityComparer that maps items for comparison to a different value/type. Here we will map from KeyValuePair (item type when enumerating a dictionary) to Key.

public class MappedEqualityComparer<T,U> : EqualityComparer<T>
{
    Func<T,U> _map;

    public MappedEqualityComparer(Func<T,U> map)
    {
        _map = map;
    }

    public override bool Equals(T x, T y)
    {
        return EqualityComparer<U>.Default.Equals(_map(x), _map(y));
    }

    public override int GetHashCode(T obj)
    {
        return _map(obj).GetHashCode();
    }
}

Usage:

// if dictA and dictB are of type Dictionary<int,string>
var dict = dictA.Concat(dictB)
                .Distinct(new MappedEqualityComparer<KeyValuePair<int,string>,int>(item => item.Key))
                .ToDictionary(item => item.Key, item=> item.Value);