what is best way to sort lines in RichTextBox

Question

I'm looking for the best way to sort lines of RichTextBox, I'm using this at moment:

public void SortLines(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    TextPointer pStart = TextInput.Document.ContentStart;
    TextPointer pEnd = TextInput.Document.ContentEnd;
    TextRange text = new TextRange(pStart, pEnd);

    string[] lines = text.Text.Split('\n');
    Array.Sort(lines);
    text.Text = String.Join(String.Empty, lines);
}

1. Is there an best way to do this?

2. When I call it, the cursor is placed into first RichTextBox line, how do I to put it where it was before? I tried to set pStart/pEnd and CaretPositiom, but the properties are read only.

I hope this is clear. Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

An inelegant but practical solution; back and forth richtextbox to ListBox : In the properties on your listBox you click 'sorted'> true

[c#]

ListBox1.Items.AddRange(RichTextBox1.Lines);
for (int x = 0; (x 
            <= (ListBox1.Items.Count - 1)); x++) {
    RichTextBox1.AppendText((ListBox1.Items(x).ToString.Environment.NewLine));
}

[VB.NET]

ListBox1.Items.AddRange(RichTextBox1.Lines)
For x As Integer = 0 To ListBox1.Items.Count - 1
RichTextBox1.AppendText(ListBox1.Items(x).ToString & Environment.NewLine)
Next

Answer 2

As far is it comes to sorting this solution is not to different from you suggested one, but I find it more elegant + it handles cursor location & selection:

public void SortLines(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
       rtb.HideSelection = false; //for showing selection
        /*Saving current selection*/
        string selectedText = rtb.SelectedText;
        /*Saving curr line*/
        int firstCharInLineIndex = rtb.GetFirstCharIndexOfCurrentLine();
        int currLineIndex = rtb.Text.Substring(0, firstCharInLineIndex).Count(c => c == '\n');
        string currLine = rtb.Lines[currLineIndex];
        int offset = rtb.SelectionStart -firstCharInLineIndex;


        /*Sorting*/
        string[] lines = rtb.Lines;
        Array.Sort(lines, delegate(string str1, string str2) { return str1.CompareTo(str2); });
        rtb.Lines = lines;

        if (!String.IsNullOrEmpty((selectedText)))
        {
            /*restoring selection*/
            int newIndex = rtb.Text.IndexOf(selectedText);
            rtb.Select(newIndex, selectedText.Length);
        }
        else
        {   /*Restoring the cursor*/

            //location of the current line
            int lineIdx = Array.IndexOf(rtb.Lines, currLine);
            int textIndex = rtb.Text.IndexOf(currLine);
            int fullIndex = textIndex + offset;
            rtb.SelectionStart =  fullIndex;
            rtb.SelectionLength = 0;
        }
}

Answer 3

Thanks Eric Paroissien for your simple solution! The C# code had a couple of issues - Here's his solution with the fix

ListBox1.Items.Clear();
ListBox1.Items.AddRange(RichTextBox1.Lines);
RichTextBox1.Clear();
for (int x = 0; (x <= (ListBox1.Items.Count - 1)); x++)
{
    RichTextBox1.AppendText(ListBox1.Items[x].ToString());
    RichTextBox1.AppendText(Environment.NewLine);
}

Answer 4

RichTextBox works like an array, we can use array.sort this way :

    Dim MyArray() As String
    MyArray = RichTextBox1.Lines
    Array.Sort(MyArray)
    RichTextBox1.Clear()
    For Each item In MyArray
        RichTextBox1.Text &= item & Environment.NewLine
    Next