C# Sort array element in list by date

Question

I have a list

List<string[]> myList = new List<string[]>();

that holds an array that I want to sort by date inside of the list.

string[] myArray = new string[3];

The date is saved in place 0 in the array.

myArray[0] = (Convert.ToDateTime(Console.ReadLine())).ToString("yyyy/MM/dd");

How is that possible, when my print code looks like this?

foreach (string[] element in myList) {
   Console.WriteLine("{0} {1} {2}", element[0], element[1], element[2]);
}

Answer 1

You can use List.Sort and DateTime.ParseExact :

myList.Sort((arr1, arr2) => DateTime.ParseExact(arr1[0], "yyyy'/'MM'/'dd", null)
                 .CompareTo(DateTime.ParseExact(arr2[0], "yyyy'/'MM'/'dd", null)));

This presumes that all have a valid format, otherwise you'll get an exception.

Answer 2

Instead of accessing data from an arbitrary array of strings, you should construct an object that represents your data and then make your list a list of this class.

public class MyObject
{
    public DateTime Date {get;set;}
    public string Param2  {get;set;}
    public string Param3  {get;set;}
}
List<MyObject> myList = new List<MyObject>();

In which case the sorting becomes trivial

foreach (var element in myList.OrderBy(x => x.Date))