Convert string list to corresponding int c#

Question

I am making a quiz and have pulled a series of strings from a text file and added them a list, further separating the file info into individual strings. My question is, how would I make the individual strings correspond to a numerical value? For example A = 1, B = 2, so on and so forth.

The following code depicts the creation of the list and the adding of elements:

List<string> keyPool = new List<string>();
OpenFileDialog keyLoad = new OpenFileDialog();
        keyLoad.Multiselect = false;

        if (keyLoad.ShowDialog() == DialogResult.OK)
        {
            foreach (String fileName in keyLoad.FileNames)
            {

                key = File.ReadAllText(fileName);

                kLabel.Text = ("Key:" + System.Environment.NewLine);
                k1 = key.Split(new string[] { System.Environment.NewLine }, System.StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries)[0];
                keyPool.Add(k1);
                k2 = key.Split(new string[] { System.Environment.NewLine }, System.StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries)[1];
                keyPool.Add(k2);
                k3 = key.Split(new string[] { System.Environment.NewLine }, System.StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries)[2];
                keyPool.Add(k3);
                k4 = key.Split(new string[] { System.Environment.NewLine }, System.StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries)[3];
                keyPool.Add(k4);
                k5 = key.Split(new string[] { System.Environment.NewLine }, System.StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries)[4];
                keyPool.Add(k5);
                k6 = key.Split(new string[] { System.Environment.NewLine }, System.StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries)[5];
                keyPool.Add(k6);
                k7 = key.Split(new string[] { System.Environment.NewLine }, System.StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries)[6];
                keyPool.Add(k7);
                k8 = key.Split(new string[] { System.Environment.NewLine }, System.StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries)[7];
                keyPool.Add(k8);
                k9 = key.Split(new string[] { System.Environment.NewLine }, System.StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries)[8];
                keyPool.Add(k9);
                k10 = key.Split(new string[] { System.Environment.NewLine }, System.StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries)[9];
                keyPool.Add(k10);
            }
        }

How would this be done?

Answer 1

In general terms, you are looking for a dictionary. In this case, we are using it to define the mapping between strings and numbers:

Dictionary<string, int> mapping = new Dictionary<string, int>();
mapping.Add("A", 1);
...

int value = mapping["A"];

You could take advantage of the ASCII table if you just want to convert the first few capital letters to numbers:

int value = (int)stringValue[0] - (int)'A' + 1;

Answer 2

Assuming each "string" is a single letter, such as A , B , and so on, you can set up an enum and parse each letter into it's appropriate enum value:

public enum Letter
{
    A = 1,
    B = 2,
    C = 3,
    D = 4,
    E = 5,
    F = 6,
    G = 7,
    H = 8,
    I = 9,
    J = 10
}

You only have to split the string once, it puts all values into an array, and you can foreach through that and build up your list:

List<Letter> keyPool = new List<Letter>();
var letters = key.Split(new string[] { System.Environment.NewLine },
    System.StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries);

foreach(var letter in letters)
{
    keyPool.Add((Letter)Enum.Parse(typeof(Letter), letter);
}

To convert and use it as an int, you can just cast it:

Letter letter = Letter.A;
int a = (int)letter;

Answer 3

use an enum

enum Keys
{
A=1,
B,
C,
 //continue onward
}

To convert to/from string:

string s = Keys.B.ToString();
Keys key = (Keys)Enum.Parse(typeof(Keys), s);

To convert to/from int:

int i = (int)Keys.B;
Keys keyFromI = (Keys)i;

Answer 4

You don't need to add enum or dictionary for the alphabet !

    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        string intialString = "abc".ToUpper();
        string numberString = "";

        foreach (char c in intialString)
        {
            numberString += (int)c - 64;
        }

        Console.WriteLine(numberString);
    }

Here is clear example. If you want use it !