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Best way to find which cell of a string array continues text

I have a block of text which im taking from Gedcom ( Here and Here ) File

The text is flat and mostly broken up into "nodes"

I split each node into \ r char and thus subdivide it into each of its parts (the number of "lines" may vary)

I know that address 0 will always be an id, but after that everything could be anywhere, so I want to test each cell of the array to see if it contains the correct tag for me to execute

an example of what two nodes would look like

 0 @ind23815@ INDI <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Start of node 1
1 NAME Lawrence /Hucstepe/
2 DISPLAY Lawrence Hucstepe
2 GIVN Lawrence
2 SURN Hucstepe
1 POSITION -850,-210
2 BOUNDARY_RECT (-887,-177),(-813,-257)
1 SEX M
1 BIRT 
2 DATE 1521
1 DEAT Y
2 DATE 1559
1 NOTE     * Born: Abt 1521, Kent, England
2 CONT     * Marriage: Jane Pope 17 Aug 1546, Kent, England
2 CONT     * Died: Bef 1559, Kent, England
2 CONT 
1 FAMS @fam08318@
0 @ind23816@ INDI  <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Start of Node 2
1 NAME Jane /Pope/
2 DISPLAY Jane Pope
2 GIVN Jane
2 SURN Pope
1 POSITION -750,-210
2 BOUNDARY_RECT (-787,-177),(-713,-257)
1 SEX F
1 BIRT 
2 DATE 1525
1 DEAT Y
2 DATE 1609
1 NOTE     * Born: Abt 1525, Tenterden, Kent, England
2 CONT     * Marriage: Lawrence Hucstepe 17 Aug 1546, Kent, England
2 CONT     * Died: 23 Oct 1609
2 CONT 
1 FAMS @fam08318@
0 @ind23817@ INDI  <<<<<<<<<<< start of Node 3

      

        
        
        
      

    


So when I did, I have an array that looks like


 address , string
0 = "1 NAME Lawrence /Hucstepe/"
1 = "2 DISPLAY Lawrence Hucstepe"
2 = "2 GIVN Lawrence"
3 = "2 SURN Hucstepe"
4 = "1 POSITION -850,-210"
5 = "2 BOUNDARY_RECT (-887,-177),(-813,-257)"
6 = "1 SEX M"
7 = "1 BIRT "
8 = "1 FAMS @fam08318@"

      

        
        
        
      

    


So my question is the best way to search in the above array to see which cell has SEX tag or NAME tag or FAMS tag


this is the code i


 private int FindIndexinArray(string[] Arr, string search)
{
    int Val = -1;
    for (int i = 0; i < Arr.Length; i++)
    {
        if (Arr[i].Contains(search))
        {
            Val = i;
        }
    }
    return Val;
}

      

        
        
        
      

    


But that seems inefficient because I end up calling it twice to make sure it doesn't return -1


In this way

 if (FindIndexinArray(SubNode, "1 BIRT ") != -1)
{
// add birthday to Struct
I.BirthDay = SubNode[FindIndexinArray(SubNode, "1 BIRT ") + 1].Replace("2 DATE ", "").Trim();
}

      

        
        
        
      

    

Sorry this is a longer post, but hopefully you guys have some expert advice.
 







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4 answers


      

        
        
        
      

    












You can use the static FindAll method of the Array class: It will return a string, though if that works.


string[] test = { "Sex", "Love", "Rock and Roll", "Drugs", "Computer"};
Array.FindAll(test, item => item.Contains("Sex") || item.Contains("Drugs") || item.Contains("Computer"));

      

        
        
        
      

    



      

        
        
        
      

    


The => indicates the expression lamda. Basically a method with no specific implementation. You can also do this if the lamda gives you creeps.


//Declare a method 

     private bool HasTag(string s)
     {
         return s.Contains("Sex") || s.Contains("Drugs") || s.Contains("Computer");
     }

     string[] test = { "Sex", "Love", "Rock and Roll", "Drugs", "Computer"};
     Array.FindAll(test, HasTag);

      

        
        
        
      

    
 






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How about a simple regex ?


^(\d)\s=\s\"\d\s(SEX|BIRT|FAMS){1}.*$

      

        
        
        
      

    



      

        
        
        
      

    


The first group fixes the address, the second group - the tag.


Also, it might be easier to dump all the elements of the array into a string and do the regex on the whole batch at once.
 






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 "But that seems to be inefficient because I end up calling it twice to make sure it doesn't return -1." 




Copy the return value into a variable before testing to prevent multiple calls.


IndexResults = FindIndexinArray(SubNode, "1 BIRT ")
if (IndexResults != -1)
        {
            // add birthday to Struct 
            I.BirthDay = SubNode[IndexResults].Replace("2 DATE ", "").Trim();
        }

      

        
        
        
      

    
 






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The for loop in the FindIndexinArray method of shd breaks if you find a match, if you are only interested in the first match.
 






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