I need to sort an array containing a list of words and search the same using binarysearch. For certain reasons, the word-list must always be sorted using the sorting-rules of "en-US" i.e. American Regional Settings. The code will run under various international Operating Systems and of course this will mean that the word-list will be sorted differently according to the local Regional Settings in use. One problem could arise on a computer/device running with Lithuanian Regional Settings. Why? Because the letter "Y" in most languages is sorted like X-Y-Z while in Lithuanian, the sort order is I-Y-J. This behavior would create havoc to my program.
On a desktop-PC, I could change momentarily the Regional Settings into American English by using:
Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture = CultureInfo.CreateSpecificCulture("en-US")
however since I am developing for Windows Mobile (CF.NET), this piece of code is not possible to implement.
I found some hacks which could let me change the Regional Settings on the device programatically but they are not "official" and considered risky so I prefer avoiding these.
So my question is: how can I force Array.Sort and Array.BinarySearch to use CultureInfo = "en-US" while sorting and searching regardless of the Regional Settings set on the device?
I believe I could use:
Public Shared Function BinarySearch(Of T) ( _
array As T(), _
value As T, _
comparer As IComparer(Of T) _
) As Integer
and implement Comparer to take into consideration CultureInfo (and set it to "en-US") but I don't know how to do that despite trying hard. If anyone could post some sample-code in VB.Net or C# or an explanation how to do it, I would be very grateful.
If you are aware about any alternative solution which works in CF.Net, then of course I am all ears.
Thanks.
EDIT:
I will consider Twanfosson's answer as the accepted solution since my question clearly stated that I wanted to maintain an association with the English language.
However, in means of flexibility I believe Guffa's answer is the best one. Why? Let's use another example: In German, the letter Ö is sorted Ö-X-Z while in Swedish and Finnish, the order is X-Z-Ö. In Estonian the sort order is Z-Ö-X. Complicated, isn't it? Guffa's solution will let me force Swedish sorting-oder (changing CultureInfo) on a device running under German Regional settings. Using Comparer.DefaultInvariant with its association to English wouldn't help in this case, probably the letter Ö would end up with O. Therefore my vote will go to Guffa.