How do I search for a phrase in a piece of text in C#?

Question

For example, I have list of texts which each text looks like something like this:

We prefer questions that can be answered, not just discussed. Provide details. Share your research.If your question is about this website

and I want to search for can be answered through the list of text and return the text above as a text which has can be answered . How should I do this?

I tried Contains() but it returns nothing. My code looks like this:

IEnumerable<App_ProjectTask> temp;
if (!String.IsNullOrEmpty(query))
{
    temp = dc.App_ProjectTasks.Where(x => x.Title.Contains(query) || x.Description.Contains(query));
    if (temp.Count() > 0)
    {
        results = temp.ToList();
    }
}

Answer 1

String text = "We prefer questions that can be answered, "+
               "not just discussed.Provide details. Share your research."+
               "If your question is about this website";
if (text.Contains("can be answered"))
{
    Console.WriteLine("Text found");
}

The above code outputs Text found .

To get all the String s that have the text do something like this:

var query =
    from text in yourListOfTexts
    where text.Contains("can be answered")
    select text;

Answer 2

Contains should work.

var strList = new List<String>();
string itemSearch = "string to search for";

foreach (string str in strList)
{
    if(str.Contains(itemSearch))
    {
        return str;
    }
}

Answer 3

This works for me: Which is basically what you did, but I showed my class..

    private void WriteLine(String text)
    {
        textBox1.Text += text + Environment.NewLine;
    }

    private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        List<TestClass> list = new List<TestClass>();

        list.Add(new TestClass { Title = "101 unanswered questions", Description = "There are many questions which go unanswered, here are our top 1001" });
        list.Add(new TestClass { Title = "Best of lifes questions", Description = "Many of lifes questions answered" });
        list.Add(new TestClass { Title = "Top 10 smart answers", Description = "Top 10 smart answers for common interview questions" });

        var results =
            list.Where(x => x.Description.Contains("answered questions") | x.Title.Contains("answered questions"));
        foreach (TestClass res in results)
        {
            WriteLine(String.Format("Title: {0}, Desc: {1}", res.Title, res.Description));
        }
    }
}

public class TestClass
{
    public String Title;
    public String Description;
    public String Contents;

    public TestClass()
    {
        Title = "";
        Description = "";
        Contents = "";
    }
}

Answer 4

There's a few mentions of using ToLower() for the contains method For performance you should use string.IndoexOf("string", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase)

That is if the OP needs his search to be case insensitive

Case insensitive 'Contains(string)'

Answer 5

Try:

 IEnumerable<App_ProjectTask> temp;
if (!String.IsNullOrEmpty(query))
{
temp = dc.App_ProjectTasks.Where(x => x.Title.ToLower().Contains(query.ToLower()) || x.Description.ToLower().Contains(query.ToLower()));
if (temp.Count() > 0)
{
    results = temp.ToList();
}
}