C# arrays , Getting a sub-array from an existing array.

Question

I Have an array X of 10 elements. I would like to create a new array containing all the elements from X that begin at index 3 and ends in index 7. Sure I can easily write a loop that will do it for me but I would like to keep my code cleaner as possible.I also think its stupid to write methods that already exists. Is there a method in C# that can do it for me ?

Somethign like (pseudo code):

Array NewArray = oldArray.createNewArrayFromRange(int BeginIndex , int EndIndex)

Edit In addition to the proposals below , I also would like to ask whether Array.copy does a shallow copy , or it use something else to the copying (like "clone").

Edit

I started a bounty because no one didn't answer yet , Array.Copy doesn't fit my needs . I need the items in the new array to be clones. Array.copy is just a C-Style memcpy equivalent , its not what I looking for.

Answer 1

You can use Array.Copy(...) to copy into the new array after you've created it, but I don't think there's a method which creates the new array and copies a range of elements.

If you're using .NET 3.5 you could use LINQ:

var newArray = array.Skip(3).Take(5).ToArray();

but that will be somewhat less efficient.

See this answer to a similar question for options for more specific situations.

Answer 2

You could add it as an extension method:

public static T[] SubArray<T>(this T[] data, int index, int length)
{
    T[] result = new T[length];
    Array.Copy(data, index, result, 0, length);
    return result;
}
static void Main()
{
    int[] data = { 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 };
    int[] sub = data.SubArray(3, 4); // contains {3,4,5,6}
}

---

Update re cloning (which wasn't obvious in the original question). If you really want a deep clone; something like:

public static T[] SubArrayDeepClone<T>(this T[] data, int index, int length)
{
    T[] arrCopy = new T[length];
    Array.Copy(data, index, arrCopy, 0, length);
    using (MemoryStream ms = new MemoryStream())
    {
        var bf = new BinaryFormatter();
        bf.Serialize(ms, arrCopy);
        ms.Position = 0;
        return (T[])bf.Deserialize(ms);
    }
}

This does require the objects to be serializable ([Serializable] or ISerializable), though. You could easily substitute for any other serializer as appropriate - XmlSerializer, DataContractSerializer, protobuf-net, etc.

Note that deep clone is tricky without serialization; in particular, ICloneable is hard to trust in most cases.

Answer 3

Array.ConstrainedCopy will work.

public static void ConstrainedCopy (
    Array sourceArray,
    int sourceIndex,
    Array destinationArray,
    int destinationIndex,
    int length
)

Answer 4

I think that the code you are looking for is:

Array.Copy(oldArray, 0, newArray, BeginIndex, EndIndex - BeginIndex)

Answer 5

You can do this fairly easially;

    object[] foo = new object[10];
    object[] bar = null;    
    Array.Copy(foo, 3, bar, 0, 7);

Answer 6

As an alternative to copying the data you can make a wrapper that gives you access to a part of the original array as if it was a copy of the part of the array. The advantage is that you don't get another copy of the data in memory, and the drawback is a slight overhead when accessing the data.

public class SubArray<T> : IEnumerable<T> {

   private T[] _original;
   private int _start;

   public SubArray(T[] original, int start, int len) {
      _original = original;
      _start = start;
      Length = len;
   }

   public T this[int index] {
      get {
         if (index < 0 || index >= Length) throw new IndexOutOfRangeException();
         return _original[_start + index];
      }
   }

   public int Length { get; private set; }

   public IEnumerator<T> GetEnumerator() {
      for (int i = 0; i < Length; i++) {
        yield return _original[_start + i];
      }
   }

   IEnumerator IEnumerable.GetEnumerator() {
      return GetEnumerator();
   }

}

Usage:

int[] original = { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 };
SubArray<int> copy = new SubArray<int>(original, 2, 2);

Console.WriteLine(copy.Length); // shows: 2
Console.WriteLine(copy[0]); // shows: 3
foreach (int i in copy) Console.WriteLine(i); // shows 3 and 4

Answer 7

I see you want to do Cloning, not just copying references. In this case you can use .Select to project array members to their clones. For example, if your elements implemented IClonable you could do something like this:

var newArray = array.Skip(3).Take(5).Select(eachElement => eachElement.Clone()).ToArray();

Answer 8

Building on Marc's answer but adding the desired cloning behaviour

public static T[] CloneSubArray<T>(this T[] data, int index, int length)
    where T : ICloneable
{
    T[] result = new T[length];
    for (int i = 0; i < length; i++)
    { 
        var original = data[index + i];
        if (original != null)
            result[i] = (T)original.Clone();            
    return result;
}

And if implementing ICloneable is too much like hard work a reflective one using Håvard Stranden’s Copyable library to do the heavy lifting required.

using OX.Copyable;

public static T[] DeepCopySubArray<T>(
    this T[] data, int index, int length)
{
    T[] result = new T[length];
    for (int i = 0; i < length; i++)
    { 
        var original = data[index + i];
        if (original != null)
            result[i] = (T)original.Copy();            
    return result;
}

Note that the OX.Copyable implementation works with any of:

For the automated copy to work, though, one of the following statements must hold for instance:

• Its type must have a parameterless constructor, or
• It must be a Copyable, or
• It must have an IInstanceProvider registered for its type.

So this should cover almost any situation you have. If you are cloning objects where the sub graph contains things like db connections or file/stream handles you obviously have issues but that it true for any generalized deep copy.

If you want to use some other deep copy approach instead this article lists several others so I would suggest not trying to write your own.

Answer 9

There's no single method that will do what you want. You will need to make a clone method available for the class in your array. Then, if LINQ is an option:

Foo[] newArray = oldArray.Skip(3).Take(5).Select(item => item.Clone()).ToArray();

class Foo
{
    public Foo Clone()
    {
        return (Foo)MemberwiseClone();
    }
}

Answer 10

Cloning elements in an array is not something that can be done in a universal way. Do you want deep cloning or a simple copy of all members?

Let's go for the "best effort" approach: cloning objects using the ICloneable interface or binary serialization:

public static class ArrayExtensions
{
  public static T[] SubArray<T>(this T[] array, int index, int length)
  {
    T[] result = new T[length];

    for (int i=index;i<length+index && i<array.Length;i++)
    {
       if (array[i] is ICloneable)
          result[i-index] = (T) ((ICloneable)array[i]).Clone();
       else
          result[i-index] = (T) CloneObject(array[i]);
    }

    return result;
  }

  private static object CloneObject(object obj)
  {
    BinaryFormatter formatter = new BinaryFormatter();

    using (MemoryStream stream = new MemoryStream())
    {
      formatter.Serialize(stream, obj);

      stream.Seek(0,SeekOrigin.Begin);

      return formatter.Deserialize(stream);
    }
  }
}

This is not a perfect solution, because there simply is none that will work for any type of object.

Answer 11

As far as cloning goes, I don't think serialization calls your constructors. This may break class invariants if you're doing interesting things in the ctor's.

It seems the safer bet is virtual clone methods calling copy constructors.

protected MyDerivedClass(MyDerivedClass myClass) 
{
  ...
}

public override MyBaseClass Clone()
{
  return new MyDerivedClass(this);
}

Answer 12

How about useing Array.ConstrainedCopy:

int[] ArrayOne = new int[8] {1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8};
int[] ArrayTwo = new int[5];
Array.ConstrainedCopy(ArrayOne, 3, ArrayTwo, 0, 7-3);

---

Below is my original post. It will not work

You could use Array.CopyTo:

int[] ArrayOne = new int[8] {1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8};
int[] ArrayTwo = new int[5];
ArrayOne.CopyTo(ArrayTwo,3); //starts copy at index=3 until it reaches end of
                             //either array

Answer 13

Have you considered using ArraySegment?

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/1hsbd92d.aspx

Answer 14

How about this:

public T[] CloneCopy(T[] array, int startIndex, int endIndex) where T : ICloneable
{
    T[] retArray = new T[endIndex - startIndex];
    for (int i = startIndex; i < endIndex; i++)
    {
        array[i - startIndex] = array[i].Clone();
    }
    return retArray;

}

You then need to implement the ICloneable interface on all of the classes you need to use this on but that should do it.

Answer 15

I'm not sure how deep it really is, but:

MyArray.ToList<TSource>().GetRange(beginningIndex, endIndex).ToArray()

It's a bit of overhead, but it might cut out an unnecessary method.