Issues with ArrayList of Objects C#

[Richard Cane]

I am having a problem with an ArrayList of Objects.

...'object' does not contain a definition for 'NearbyBranchIds' and no extension method 'NearbyBranchIds' accepting a first argument of type 'object' could be found

    public class Parser
    {
        public ArrayList ParseBranch(string dataFileLocation)
        {
            var branchList = new ArrayList();
 
            using (var inData = new StreamReader(dataFileLocation))
            {
                while (!inData.EndOfStream)
                {
                    var branch = Branch(inData);
 
                    if (branch != null)
                        branchList.Add(branch);
                }
            }
 
            foreach (var branch in branchList)
            {
                foreach (var branchID in branch.NearbyBranchIds)
                {
                    foreach (var nextBranch in branchList)
                    {
                        if (branch == nextBranch)
                            continue;
 
                        if (nextBranch.BranchID == branchID)
                        {
                            branch.NearbyBranches.Add(nextBranch);
                            continue;
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
 
            return branchList;
        }
 
        private Branch Branch(StreamReader inData)
        {
            var branch = new Branch();
 
            branch.BranchID = Convert.ToInt32(inData.ReadLine());
            branch.Nickname = inData.ReadLine();
            branch.StreetNumber = inData.ReadLine();
            branch.StreetName = inData.ReadLine();
            branch.City = inData.ReadLine();
            branch.County = inData.ReadLine();
            branch.Postcode = inData.ReadLine();
 
            branch.NearbyBranchIds.Add(Convert.ToInt32(inData.ReadLine()));
            branch.NearbyBranchIds.Add(Convert.ToInt32(inData.ReadLine()));
            branch.NearbyBranchIds.Add(Convert.ToInt32(inData.ReadLine()));
 
            int categories = Convert.ToInt32(inData.ReadLine());
            for (int i = 0; i < categories; ++i)
            {
                var category = ParseCategory(inData);
 
                if (category != null)
                    branch.Categories.Add(category);
            }
 
            return branch;
        }

And the constructor:

    public class Branch
    {
        public int BranchID { get; set; }
        public string Nickname { get; set; }
        public string StreetNumber { get; set; }
        public string StreetName { get; set; }
        public string City { get; set; }
        public string County { get; set; }
        public string Postcode { get; set; }
        public ArrayList NearbyBranchIds { get; private set; }
        public ArrayList NearbyBranches { get; private set; }
        public ArrayList Categories { get; private set; }
 
        public Branch()
        {
            NearbyBranchIds = new ArrayList();
            NearbyBranches = new ArrayList();
            Categories = new ArrayList();
        }
    }

[bshelton3]

In your Parser class try this:

            foreach (Branch branch in branchList)
            {
                foreach (Int32 branchID in branch.NearbyBranchIds)
                {
                    foreach (Branch nextBranch in branchList)
                    {
                        if (branch == nextBranch)
                            continue;
 
                        if (nextBranch.BranchID == branchID)
                        {
                            branch.NearbyBranches.Add(nextBranch);
                            continue;
                        }
                    }
                }
            }

The ArrayLists store their contents as the type 'object' and they are returning their contents as type 'object'. You could use generic List<T> and specify the types of the content that you want to store in the list. This would also prevent boxing/unboxing of basic data types like integers (better performance).

Here is the code using the generic lists:

    public class Parser
    {
        public List<Branch> ParseBranch(string dataFileLocation)
        {
            var branchList = new List<Branch>();
 
            using (var inData = new StreamReader(dataFileLocation))
            {
                while (!inData.EndOfStream)
                {
                    var branch = Branch(inData);
 
                    if (branch != null)
                        branchList.Add(branch);
                }
            }
 
            foreach (var branch in branchList)
            {
                foreach (var branchID in branch.NearbyBranchIds)
                {
                    foreach (var nextBranch in branchList)
                    {
                        if (branch == nextBranch)
                            continue;
 
                        if (nextBranch.BranchID == branchID)
                        {
                            branch.NearbyBranches.Add(nextBranch);
                            continue;
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
 
            return branchList;
        }
 
        private Branch Branch(StreamReader inData)
        {
            var branch = new Branch();
 
            branch.BranchID = Convert.ToInt32(inData.ReadLine());
            branch.Nickname = inData.ReadLine();
            branch.StreetNumber = inData.ReadLine();
            branch.StreetName = inData.ReadLine();
            branch.City = inData.ReadLine();
            branch.County = inData.ReadLine();
            branch.Postcode = inData.ReadLine();
 
            branch.NearbyBranchIds.Add(Convert.ToInt32(inData.ReadLine()));
            branch.NearbyBranchIds.Add(Convert.ToInt32(inData.ReadLine()));
            branch.NearbyBranchIds.Add(Convert.ToInt32(inData.ReadLine()));
 
            int categories = Convert.ToInt32(inData.ReadLine());
             for (int i = 0; i < categories; ++i)
             {
                 var category = ParseCategory(inData);
 
                 if (category != null)
                     branch.Categories.Add(category);
             }
 
            return branch;
        }
    }
    public class Branch
    {
        public int BranchID { get; set; }
        public string Nickname { get; set; }
        public string StreetNumber { get; set; }
        public string StreetName { get; set; }
        public string City { get; set; }
        public string County { get; set; }
        public string Postcode { get; set; }
        public List<int> NearbyBranchIds { get; private set; }
        public List<Branch> NearbyBranches { get; private set; }
        public List<int> Categories { get; private set; }
 
        public Branch()
        {
            NearbyBranchIds = new List<int>();
            NearbyBranches = new List<Branch>();
            Categories = new List<int>();
        }
    }

In my opinion it would be better to use this method.