Array string multidimension index

Question

I am looking for an advise on the right data structure to use. I am sure this should be obvious but I cannot manage to find the right answer. I need to store SOAP service instance into a data structure which will allow me to access them like:

AXLAPIService myInstance = instances["DEV"]["EU"]

// table values
["DEV"]["EU"][instance]
["DEV"]["AM"][instance]
["PROD"]["EU"][instance]
["PROD"]["AM"][instance]

// Data to store
[String][String][Object]

I thought about Tuple and dictionary but is a bit unsure about if I can access them using multiple indexes based on string. Anyone could help to declare the right structure to achieve this? Thanks

Answer 1

Dictionary with composite key is an option. Tuple is cheap way to create such keys that already have all necessary comparison/hashing methods:

 Dictionary<Tuple<string,string>, Instance> instances = new ....;

 instances.Add(Tuple.Create("DEV", "EU"), euDevInstance);....


 var find = instances[Tuple.Create("PROD", "AM");

Note: If you decide to go this route creating custom class with necessary fields and comparison/hashing methods may make your code more readable.

Answer 2

Conceptually it could be something like this:

class ConcreteAXLAPIService<T>
{
  private Dictionary<string, T> servicePool;

  public T this[string id]
  {
    get
    {
        return servicePool[id];
    }
  }
}


class MyService<T>
{
    private Dictionary<string, T> methodPool;

    public T this[string id]
    {
      get
      {
          return methodPool[id];
      }
    }
}

USAGE:

var api = new ConcreteAXLAPIService<MyService>();
...
var apiMethod = api["ServiceName"]["MethodName"];