[vb.net] How can I search an array in VB.NET?

I want to be able to effectively search an array for the contents of a string.
Example:

dim arr() as string={"ravi","Kumar","Ravi","Ramesh"}

I pass the value is "ra" and I want it to return the index of 2 and 3.

How can I do this in VB.NET?

It's not exactly clear how you want to search the array. Here are some alternatives:

Find all items containing the exact string "Ra" (returns items 2 and 3):

Dim result As String() = Array.FindAll(arr, Function(s) s.Contains("Ra"))

Find all items starting with the exact string "Ra" (returns items 2 and 3):

Dim result As String() = Array.FindAll(arr, Function(s) s.StartsWith("Ra"))

Find all items containing any case version of "ra" (returns items 0, 2 and 3):

Dim result As String() = Array.FindAll(arr, Function(s) s.ToLower().Contains("ra"))

Find all items starting with any case version of "ra" (retuns items 0, 2 and 3):

Dim result As String() = Array.FindAll(arr, Function(s) s.ToLower().StartsWith("ra"))

-

If you are not using VB 9+ then you don't have anonymous functions, so you have to create a named function.

Example:

Function ContainsRa(s As String) As Boolean
   Return s.Contains("Ra")
End Function

Usage:

Dim result As String() = Array.FindAll(arr, ContainsRa)

Having a function that only can compare to a specific string isn't always very useful, so to be able to specify a string to compare to you would have to put it in a class to have somewhere to store the string:

Public Class ArrayComparer

   Private _compareTo As String

   Public Sub New(compareTo As String)
      _compareTo = compareTo
   End Sub

   Function Contains(s As String) As Boolean
      Return s.Contains(_compareTo)
   End Function

   Function StartsWith(s As String) As Boolean
      Return s.StartsWith(_compareTo)
   End Function

End Class

Usage:

Dim result As String() = Array.FindAll(arr, New ArrayComparer("Ra").Contains)

If you want an efficient search that is often repeated, first sort the array (Array.Sort) and then use Array.BinarySearch.

check this..

        string[] strArray = { "ABC", "BCD", "CDE", "DEF", "EFG", "FGH", "GHI" };
        Array.IndexOf(strArray, "C"); // not found, returns -1
        Array.IndexOf(strArray, "CDE"); // found, returns index

This would do the trick, returning the values at indeces 0, 2 and 3.

Array.FindAll(arr, Function(s) s.ToLower().StartsWith("ra"))

VB

Dim arr() As String = {"ravi", "Kumar", "Ravi", "Ramesh"}
Dim result = arr.Where(Function(a) a.Contains("ra")).Select(Function(s) Array.IndexOf(arr, s)).ToArray()

C#

string[] arr = { "ravi", "Kumar", "Ravi", "Ramesh" };
var result = arr.Where(a => a.Contains("Ra")).Select(a => Array.IndexOf(arr, a)).ToArray();

-----Detailed------

Module Module1

    Sub Main()
        Dim arr() As String = {"ravi", "Kumar", "Ravi", "Ramesh"}
        Dim searchStr = "ra"
        'Not case sensitive - checks if item starts with searchStr
        Dim result1 = arr.Where(Function(a) a.ToLower.StartsWith(searchStr)).Select(Function(s) Array.IndexOf(arr, s)).ToArray
        'Case sensitive - checks if item starts with searchStr
        Dim result2 = arr.Where(Function(a) a.StartsWith(searchStr)).Select(Function(s) Array.IndexOf(arr, s)).ToArray
        'Not case sensitive - checks if item contains searchStr
        Dim result3 = arr.Where(Function(a) a.ToLower.Contains(searchStr)).Select(Function(s) Array.IndexOf(arr, s)).ToArray
        Stop
    End Sub

End Module

In case you were looking for an older version of .NET then use:

Module Module1

    Sub Main()
        Dim arr() As String = {"ravi", "Kumar", "Ravi", "Ramesh"}
        Dim result As New List(Of Integer)
        For i As Integer = 0 To arr.Length
            If arr(i).Contains("ra") Then result.Add(i)
        Next
    End Sub

End Module

Dim inputString As String = "ra"
Enumerable.Range(0, arr.Length).Where(Function(x) arr(x).ToLower().Contains(inputString.ToLower()))

compare properties in the array if one matches the input then set something to the value of the loops current position, which is also the index of the current looked up item.

simple eg.

dim x,y,z as integer
dim aNames, aIndexes as array
dim sFind as string
for x = 1 to length(aNames)

    if aNames(x) = sFind then y = x

y is then the index of the item in the array, then loop could be used to store these in an array also so instead of the above you would have:

z = 1
for x = 1 to length(aNames)
    if aNames(x) = sFind then 
        aIndexes(z) = x 
        z = z + 1
    endif