VB Moving several indexes at one time-CodePudding

Just wanted to ask a question on moving several indexes of an array at once while in a sorting algorithm.

Basically I'm using a bubblesort algorithm (in VB.NET) to sort a list of data which contains names, height, weight and age. Each name is essentially associated with each extra piece of data. This data is sent in from a txt file and then sorted using the algorithm. This file can also be edited to add new names or pieces of data.

Is there a way I am able to associate the pieces of data so that when the array is sorted the data stays with the names while the names have been sorted alphabetically?

Example of how txt file is set out and sorting method:

Unsorted:

Monty Reyes

1700

70.7

Kier Burke

1800

93.5

Sorted:

Kier Burke

1800

93.5

Monty Reyes

1700

70.7

My current code is just a simple bubblesort which sorts the entire array.

Private Sub btnNameSort_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles btnNameSort.Click
    'turn the listbox items found in lstCurrentData to an array()
    Dim Data() As String = lstCurrentData.Items.Cast(Of Object).Select(Function(o) lstCurrentData.GetItemText(o)).ToArray
    Dim temp As String


    For ii = 0 To Data.Length - 2
        For i = 0 To Data.Length - 2
            If Data(i) > Data(i   1) Then
                temp = Data(i)
                Data(i) = Data(i   1)
                Data(i   1) = temp
            End If
        Next
    Next
    For Each st In Data
        lstSortArray.Items.Add(st)
    Next
End Sub

If anyone has an idea on a way to create these associations within an array please inform me, I truly have no idea where to go from here. I tried to use Array.Copy but it got to complicated for me and I couldn't understand anything, I tried moving the new index in front of the name but then realised that would create an infinite loop. If there is a variable or something on this earth please just give me an idea of where to go. If anymore clarification is needed just ask. I'm still pretty new to VB so if I don't understand some terminology forgive me.

CodePudding user response：

If you make a class for the data (Objects and classes in Visual Basic), you can use LINQ (Introduction to LINQ in Visual Basic) to sort it on whichever property you like.

To demonstrate, I made this as a Console App for simplicity, and you will have to write the part to read in and parse the data from the file:

Module Module1

    Public Class Person
        Property Name As String
        Property Age As Integer
        Property Height As Integer
        Property Weight As Double

        Public Overrides Function ToString() As String
            Return String.Format("({0}: {1} years old, {2} mm, {3} kg)", Name, Age, Height, Weight)
        End Function

    End Class

    Public Sub ShowPeople(people As IEnumerable(Of Person))
        Console.WriteLine(String.Join(vbCrLf, people))

    End Sub

    Public Sub BubbleSortPeopleByName(ByRef people As List(Of Person))
        For i = 0 To people.Count - 2
            Dim doneSwap = False
            For j = i   1 To people.Count - 1
                If people(i).Name > people(j).Name Then
                    Dim tmp = people(j)
                    people(j) = people(i)
                    people(i) = tmp
                    doneSwap = True
                End If
            Next
            If Not doneSwap Then Return
        Next

    End Sub

    Sub Main()
        Dim people As New List(Of Person)

        'TODO: Load the data from a file.
        people.Add(New Person With {.Name = "Monty Reyes", .Age = 28, .Height = 1700, .Weight = 70.7})
        people.Add(New Person With {.Name = "Kier Burke", .Age = 45, .Height = 1800, .Weight = 93.5})

        Console.WriteLine("Unsorted:-")
        ShowPeople(people)

        BubbleSortPeopleByName(people)

        Console.WriteLine("Sorted:-")
        ShowPeople(people)

        Console.ReadLine()

    End Sub

End Module

Outputs:

Unsorted:-
(Monty Reyes: 28 years old, 1700 mm, 70.7 kg)
(Kier Burke: 45 years old, 1800 mm, 93.5 kg)
Sorted:-
(Kier Burke: 45 years old, 1800 mm, 93.5 kg)
(Monty Reyes: 28 years old, 1700 mm, 70.7 kg)

The Person class has its own .ToString() method to make it easy to show an instance of Person as a string.

The ShowPeople method has people As IEnumerable(Of Person) as its parameter instead of a List(Of Person) because a List is an IEnumerable but not vice versa, and it makes it more versatile.