Search Algorithm Required

Vishnu Reghu

Hi,

I need a c# program ( search algorithm ), ie, When user types a character, the display should update to show all valid choices for the next character

and a list of possible matching stations.

Ex: User Input: D A R T, it should display DARTFORD and DARTMOUTH

Suggested outline is below:

public class Suggestions

{

HastSet nextLetters { get; set; }

HashSet stations { get; set; }

}

public class StationFinder

{

private static String[] stations = new String[] {"LIVERPOOL LIME STREET", "BIRMINGHAM NEW STREET", "KINGSTON", " DARTFORD", "DARTMOUTH" };

public Suggestions GetSuggestions( String userInput )

{

// TODO Compute result

Suggestions result = new Suggestions();

return result;

}

Note: The above code snippet is a suggestion, it can be modified if wish.

Regards,

Vishnu

3 Replies

Know the answer? Post it — somebody with the same question will find it here.

Shawn14y ago
Hi again Vishnu. HashSet is a way to eliminate redundancies. The method I used above is using built in methods to use autocomplete which takes care of redundancies. However, if you need to use a HashSet, it can be done by adding a couple lines of code:

public partial class Form1 : Form
{
private static String[] stations = new String[] { "LIVERPOOL LIME STREET", "BIRMINGHAM NEW STREET", "KINGSTON", " DARTFORD", "DARTMOUTH", "BIRMINGHAM NEW STREET"};

public Form1()
{
InitializeComponent();

HashSet stations_Hash = new HashSet();

foreach(string s in stations)
{
stations_Hash.Add(s);
}

foreach (string sh in stations_Hash)
{
comboBox1.AutoCompleteCustomSource.Add(sh.Trim());
}
}

}

Notice I added an extra "BIRMINGHAM NEW STREET" to the array. However, it will only show up once in the autocomplete.

I guess the real question is what controls are you wanting to use to display the data? Are you forced to use a text box maybe? I suppose if I understood the circumstances a little more, I might be more helpful. I hope this helps.
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Vishnu Reghu14y ago
Thanks for the reply. I am looking for a solution using HashSet. Is there any available ?
0
Shawn14y ago
Hi Vishnu. I thought I'd give it this a go. I created a simple form and added a combo box. I changed the DropDownStyle property to "Simple" so it looked like a text box. The only thing I used in your code was this line:

private static String[] stations = new String[] {"LIVERPOOL LIME STREET", "BIRMINGHAM NEW STREET", "KINGSTON", " DARTFORD", "DARTMOUTH" };

I added that in the class, but outside all methods so it was global. I changed the AutoCompleteMode of the combobox to "Suggest" and the AutoCompleteSource property to "CustomSource". Last I added a few lines of code to the form's constructor so it looked like this:
public Form1()
{
InitializeComponent();

foreach(string s in stations)
{
comboBox1.AutoCompleteCustomSource.Add(s.Trim());
}
}

One thing to note wsa that you have a space before DARTFORD. Didn't know if that was intentional, but I added .Trim() which took care of that. Anyway, I hope that helps. Always nice to accomplish something in just a few lines of code.

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