C# Sorting a list of strings that contains numbers

c#, list, sorting

Solution

You can use `String.Split`:

var ordered = list.Select(s => new { Str = s, Split = s.Split(':') })
            .OrderByDescending(x => int.Parse(x.Split[0]))
            .ThenBy(x => x.Split[1])
            .Select(x => x.Str)
            .ToList();

Edit: Here's a demo with your data on Ideone: http://ideone.com/gtRYO7

Problem

I am creating a score system which reads/writes to a text file. My current format reads each line of the file and stores each line into a `List<string>`. A typical line would be something like `50:James (50 being the score, James being the username)`. I need to order the list by the score while keeping the name with the string. Here's an example of what I mean: Unordered text file: ``` 50:James 23:Jessica 70:Ricky 70:Dodger 50:Eric ``` (Notice how there are some scores that are the same, hindering my use of creating a list using numerical keys) Ordered List: ``` 70:Dodger 70:Ricky 50:Eric 50:James 23:Jessica ``` My current code (That does NOT work with two or more of the same score) ``` Dictionary<int, string> scoreLines = new Dictionary<int, string>(); if (!File.Exists(scorePath)) { File.WriteAllText(scorePath, "No Scores", System.Text.Encoding.ASCII); } StreamReader streamReader = new StreamReader(resourcePath + "\\scoreboard.txt"); int failedLines = 0; while (failedLines < 3) { string line = streamReader.ReadLine(); if (String.IsNullOrEmpty(line)) { failedLines++; continue; } scoreLines.Add(int.Parse(line.Split(':')[0]), line.Split(':')[1]); } var arr = scoreLines.Keys.ToArray(); arr = (from a in arr orderby a descending select a).ToArray(); List<string> sortedScoreLines = new List<string>(); foreach (int keyNum in arr) { sortedScoreLines.Add(keyNum + ":" + scoreLines[keyNum]); } return sortedScoreLines; ``` Yes, I know this is TERRIBLY inefficient and ugly, but I spent ages trying so many different methods.

Original source