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linqgroup-by

How to get a list of the grouped values in linq groupby?


Linq newbie here, struggling with my first GroupBy query.

I have a list of objects of type KeywordInstance which represents a keyword, and the ID of the database record to which the keyword was applied.

Keyword      RecordID
macrophages  1
macrophages  2
cell cycle   3 
map kinase   2
cell cycle   1

What I want is a collection of all keywords, with a list of the RecordIDs to which each keyword was applied.

Keyword     RecordIDs 
macrophages 1, 2
cell cycle  1, 3
map kinase  2

I tried using Linq to get it into a new object. I only managed to get the distinct keywords.

var keywords = allWords .GroupBy(w => w.keyword) .Select(g => new {keyword = g.Key});

The problem is that I can't seem to get the values of g in any way. g is of the type IGrouping<String, KeywordInstance> and by documentation, it only has the property Key, but not even the property Value. All the examples I have seen on the Internet for groupby just tell me to select g itself, but the result of

var keywords = allWords
    .GroupBy(w => w.keyword)
    .Select(g => new {keyword = g.Key, RecordIDs = g});

is not what I want.

screenshot of result

Any try to get something out of g fails with the error message System.Linq.IGropuing<string, UserQuery.KeywordInstance> does not have a definition for [whatever I tried].

What am I doing wrong here?


Solution

  • I think you are close to you solution.

    var keywords = allWords
        .GroupBy(w => w.keyword)
        .Select(g => new 
               { 
                  keyword = g.Key, 
                  RecordIDs = g.Select(c => c.ID)
               });
    

    Just Select the records you need.
    The reason you are seeing the Keyword-column as well as the ID-column, is becuase it's part of g