Easy way to search a string for strings

Question

I'm trying to find the easiest way to search a string for an array of possible strings. I know the easy way to do this for characters is to use myString.IndexOfAny(charArray). But how what if I'd like to search my string for strings and not just characters? Are there any .net tricks or methods that make this easier?

Basically, I'd like to do something like this:

string myName = "rahkim";
string[] names = new string[] {"joe","bob","chris"};

if(myName.IndexOfAny(names) >= 0)
{
      //success code//
}

I know there are ways to do this with loops, etc. But I was hoping for something inherent in the framework.

Answer 1

You should define if you want to to find equal strings or search for a matching substring. Both ways are easy pre-LINQ and with LINQ.

string myName = "rahkim";
string[] names = new string[] { "joe", "bob", "chris" };

Equal Strings, LINQ

bool contains = names.Contains(myName);

Equal Strings, Pre-LINQ

bool contains = new List<string>(name).Contains(myName);

Substrings, LINQ

bool contains = names.Any(name => name.Contains(myName));

Substring, Pre-LINQ

bool contains = false;
foreach(string name in names)
  if (name.Contains(myName))
    contains = true;

Answer 2

If anyone else found this while trying to search for a .Net method like String.IndexOfAny(String[]), this is my solution:

C#

public int IndexOfAny(string test, string[] values)
{
int first = -1;
foreach (string item in values) {
    int i = test.IndexOf(item);
    if (i >= 0) {
        if (first > 0) {
            if (i < first) {
                first = i;
            }
        } else {
            first = i;
        }
    }
}
return first;
}

VB

Public Function IndexOfAny(test As String, values As String()) As Integer
        Dim first As Integer = -1
        For Each item As String In values
            Dim i As Integer = test.IndexOf(item)
            If i >= 0 Then
                If first > 0 Then
                    If i < first Then
                        first = i
                    End If
                Else
                    first = i
                End If
            End If
        Next
        Return first
    End Function

You can do a LastIndexOfAny(String[]) by just switching the

i < first 

to

i > first

Answer 3

You can (also) use the static IndexOf method of the Array class:

bool hasName = Array.IndexOf(names, myName) > -1;