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c#compareequalityiequatable

Compare two Lists<object> returning different results


I have a class called TestResult which looks like this:

 public class TestResult : IEquatable<TestResult> {

        public TestResult(string labelName, List<object> correctValues) {
            this.LabelName = labelName;
            this.SelectedValues = correctValues;
        }

        public TestResult() {
        }

        public string LabelName { get; set; }
        public List<object> SelectedValues { get; set; }

        public override bool Equals(object obj) {
            if (ReferenceEquals(null, obj)) {
                return false;
            }
            if (ReferenceEquals(this, obj)) {
                return true;
            }

            return obj.GetType() == GetType() && Equals((TestResult)obj);
        }

        public override int GetHashCode() {
            unchecked {
                int hashCode = this.LabelName.GetHashCode();
                hashCode = (hashCode * 397) ^ this.SelectedValues.GetHashCode();
                return hashCode;
            }
        }

        public bool Equals(TestResult other) {
            if (ReferenceEquals(null, other)) {
                return false;
            }
            if (ReferenceEquals(this, other)) {
                return true;
            }

            bool areEqual = false;

            if (this.LabelName == other.LabelName) {
                areEqual = true;
            }

            if (this.SelectedValues?.Count != other.SelectedValues?.Count) {
                return false;
            }

            areEqual = this.SelectedValues.OrderBy(x => x).SequenceEqual(other.SelectedValues.OrderBy(x => x));

            return areEqual;
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Override ==(you must ovverride this so if a developer called == it will return the same result as if they called Equals
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="obj1"></param>
        /// <param name="obj2"></param>
        /// <returns></returns>
        public static bool operator ==(TestResult obj1, TestResult obj2) {
            if (ReferenceEquals(obj1, obj2)) {
                return true;
            }

            if (ReferenceEquals(obj1, null)) {
                return false;
            }
            if (ReferenceEquals(obj2, null)) {
                return false;
            }

            bool areEqual = false;

            if (obj1.LabelName == obj2.LabelName) {
                areEqual = true;
            }

            if (obj1.SelectedValues?.Count != obj2.SelectedValues?.Count) {
                return false;
            }

            areEqual = obj1.SelectedValues.OrderBy(x => x).SequenceEqual(obj2.SelectedValues.OrderBy(x => x));

            return areEqual;
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// No need to repeat myself, just return the opposite of the == function
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="obj1"></param>
        /// <param name="obj2"></param>
        /// <returns></returns>
        public static bool operator !=(TestResult obj1, TestResult obj2) {
            return !(obj1 == obj2);
        }

As you can see I have overridden the equals methods so I can compare my objects when I create a List.

I then have a unit test which tests my equals methods and it looks like this:

   [TestMethod]
        public void ReturnIncorrectTestResults_IncorrectValuesSubmitted_3LabelsWillBeReturned() {
            List<string> failedLabelNames;

            var submittedResults = new List<Repository.TestManagement.Models.TestResult> {
                new Repository.TestManagement.Models.TestResult("Question1Label", new List<object> { true }),
                new Repository.TestManagement.Models.TestResult("Question2Label", new List<object> { true }), //Difference
                new Repository.TestManagement.Models.TestResult("Question3Label", new List<object> { 3, 4 }),
                new Repository.TestManagement.Models.TestResult("Question4Label", new List<object> { true }),
                new Repository.TestManagement.Models.TestResult("Question5Label", new List<object> { 1, 3 }), //Difference
                new Repository.TestManagement.Models.TestResult("Question6Label", new List<object> { 1, 2, 3, 4 }),
                new Repository.TestManagement.Models.TestResult("Question7Label", new List<object> { 1, 2, 3 }),
                new Repository.TestManagement.Models.TestResult("Question8Label", new List<object> { 2 }),
                new Repository.TestManagement.Models.TestResult("Question9Label", new List<object> { 3 }), //Difference
                new Repository.TestManagement.Models.TestResult("Question10Label", new List<object> { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 })
            };

            var validResults = new List<Repository.TestManagement.Models.TestResult> {
                new Repository.TestManagement.Models.TestResult("Question1Label", new List<object> { false }),
                new Repository.TestManagement.Models.TestResult("Question2Label", new List<object> { true }),
                new Repository.TestManagement.Models.TestResult("Question3Label", new List<object> { 3, 4 }),
                new Repository.TestManagement.Models.TestResult("Question4Label", new List<object> { true }),
                new Repository.TestManagement.Models.TestResult("Question5Label", new List<object> { 5,6 }),
                new Repository.TestManagement.Models.TestResult("Question6Label", new List<object> { 1, 2, 3, 4 }),
                new Repository.TestManagement.Models.TestResult("Question7Label", new List<object> { 1, 2, 3 }),
                new Repository.TestManagement.Models.TestResult("Question8Label", new List<object> { 2 }),
                new Repository.TestManagement.Models.TestResult("Question9Label", new List<object> { 1 }),
                new Repository.TestManagement.Models.TestResult("Question10Label", new List<object> { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 })
            };

            failedLabelNames = _iTestManager.ReturnIncorrectTestLabels(submittedResults, validResults);

            Assert.IsTrue(failedLabelNames.Count == 3);
        }

So I also have a method in my applications code which calls the same equals functions:

  public List<string> ReturnIncorrectTestLabels(List<TestResult> submittedResults, List<TestResult> acceptedResults) {
            if (submittedResults.Count != acceptedResults.Count)
                throw new ArgumentException($"The submitted results count is {submittedResults.Count} and the accepted results count is {acceptedResults.Count}. Amount of results must be equal.");

            /*Compare the valid results against the submitted results. We join on the label names and 
        compare the results. Please not that this works because I have overridden the equals in 
        the TestResult class*/

            var failedResultLabelNames = (from accepted in acceptedResults
                                          join submitted in submittedResults
                         on accepted.LabelName equals submitted.LabelName
                                          where accepted != submitted
                                          select accepted?.LabelName).ToList();

            return failedResultLabelNames;

        }

I use it to compare two lists of results and return any failed values.

What's strange is that my unit test passes, but when I test in my site it returns false and that the objects are not equals.

So for example if I submit two lists which look like this:

var list1 = new List<TestResult> {
                new TestResult("Question1Label", new List<object> { 1,2,3 }),
                new TestResult("Question2Label", new List<object> { 4,5,6 })
            };

            var list2 = new List<TestResult> {
                new TestResult("Question1Label", new List<object> { "1","2","3" }),
                new TestResult("Question2Label", new List<object> { "4","5","6" })
            };

And I call the ReturnIncorrectTestLabels method for my two lists, it returns both list items as "failed".

Why is this happening?


Solution

  •    public static bool operator ==(TestResult obj1, TestResult obj2) {
                if (ReferenceEquals(obj1, obj2)) {
                    return true;
                }
    
                if (ReferenceEquals(obj1, null)) {
                    return false;
                }
                if (ReferenceEquals(obj2, null)) {
                    return false;
                }
    
                bool areEqual = false;
    
                if (obj1.LabelName == obj2.LabelName) {
                    areEqual = true;
                }
    
                if (obj1.SelectedValues?.Count != obj2.SelectedValues?.Count) {
                    return false;
                }
    
                //Order to make sure that they are in correct order to be compared
                obj1.SelectedValues = obj1.SelectedValues.OrderBy(x => x).ToList();
                obj2.SelectedValues = obj2.SelectedValues.OrderBy(x => x).ToList();
    
                for (int i = 0; i < obj1.SelectedValues.Count; i++) {
                    var type = obj1.SelectedValues[i].GetType();
                    //Use a dynamic so I can cast to the correct types at run time and compare
                    dynamic castedObj1Val = Convert.ChangeType(obj1.SelectedValues[i], type);
                    dynamic castedObj2Val = Convert.ChangeType(obj2.SelectedValues[i], type);
                    if (castedObj1Val != castedObj2Val)
                        return false;
                }
    
                return areEqual;
            }
    

    I was comparing two different types so I had to cast them to their correct types before comparing