Split C# collection into equal parts, maintaining sort

Question

I am trying to split a collection into multiple collections while maintaining a sort I have on the collection. I have tried using the following extension method, but it breaks them incorrectly. Basically, if I was to look at the items in the collection, the order should be the same when compared to the broken up collections joined. Here is the code I am using that doesn't work:

public static IEnumerable<IEnumerable<T>> Split<T>(this IEnumerable<T> list, int parts)
        {
            int i = 0;
            var splits = from name in list
                         group name by i++ % parts into part
                         select part.AsEnumerable();
            return splits;
        }

• int parts = number of sub enumerables

Answer 1

As I understand you want to break enumerable on several parts with equal size and without breaking the order of your elements. It looks like the only choice is to get the length of your input enumerable first, so you would need at least two iterations through the enumerable.

Answer 2

    double partLength = list.Count() / (double)parts;

    int i = 0;
    var splits = from name in list
                 group name by Math.Floor((double)(i++ / partLength)) into part
                 select part;

Answer 3

Jon Skeet's MoreLINQ library might do the trick for you:

http://code.google.com/p/morelinq/source/browse/trunk/MoreLinq/Batch.cs

var items = list.Batch(parts);  // gives you IEnumerable<IEnumerable<T>>
var items = list.Batch(parts, seq => seq.ToList()); // gives you IEnumerable<List<T>>
// etc...

Another example:

public class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        var list = new List<int>();
        for (int i = 1; i < 10000; i++)
        {
            list.Add(i);
        }

        var batched = list.Batch(681);

        // will print 15. The 15th element has 465 items...
        Console.WriteLine(batched.Count().ToString());  
        Console.WriteLine(batched.ElementAt(14).Count().ToString());
        Console.WriteLine();
        Console.WriteLine("Press enter to exit.");
        Console.ReadLine();
    }
}

When I scanned the contents of the batches, the ordering was preserved.

Answer 4

I had to make use of this to compare a list of objects to one another in groups of 4... it will keep the objects in the order that the original possessed. Could be expanded to do something other than 'List'

/// <summary>
/// Partition a list of elements into a smaller group of elements
/// </summary>
/// <typeparam name="T"></typeparam>
/// <param name="list"></param>
/// <param name="totalPartitions"></param>
/// <returns></returns>
public static List<T>[] Partition<T>(List<T> list, int totalPartitions)
{
    if (list == null)
        throw new ArgumentNullException("list");

    if (totalPartitions < 1)
        throw new ArgumentOutOfRangeException("totalPartitions");

    List<T>[] partitions = new List<T>[totalPartitions];

    int maxSize = (int)Math.Ceiling(list.Count / (double)totalPartitions);
    int k = 0;

    for (int i = 0; i < partitions.Length; i++)
    {
        partitions[i] = new List<T>();
        for (int j = k; j < k + maxSize; j++)
        {
            if (j >= list.Count)
                break;
            partitions[i].Add(list[j]);
        }
        k += maxSize;
    }

    return partitions;
}

Answer 5

    public static IEnumerable<IEnumerable<T>> Split<T>(this IEnumerable<T> list, int parts)
    {
        int nGroups = (int)Math.Ceiling(list.Count() / (double)parts);

        var groups = Enumerable.Range(0, nGroups);

        return groups.Select(g => list.Skip(g * parts).Take(parts));
    }