Search code examples
c#.netuniqueidentifier

.NET Short Unique Identifier


I need a unique identifier in .NET (cannot use GUID as it is too long for this case).

Do people think that the algorithm used here is a good candidate or do you have any other suggestions?


Solution

  • This one a good one - http://www.singular.co.nz/blog/archive/2007/12/20/shortguid-a-shorter-and-url-friendly-guid-in-c-sharp.aspx

    and also here YouTube-like GUID

    You could use Base64:

    string base64Guid = Convert.ToBase64String(Guid.NewGuid().ToByteArray());
    

    That generates a string like E1HKfn68Pkms5zsZsvKONw==. Since a GUID is always 128 bits, you can omit the == that you know will always be present at the end and that will give you a 22 character string. This isn't as short as YouTube though.