CODEWITHSUNDEEP
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Kenny
Kenny

Reputation: 1054

Is there a more efficient way to manage an IF statement?

I have a total of 102 values associated with a fieldname called ArrivedFlag.

Then I have a TextBox control with an id of txtFlag on the markup page.

In my codebehind, I have an if statement that says:

If txtFlag <> "value1" and txtFlag <> "another value" Then
  lblMessage.Text ="You don't have the ability to view details"
end if

This works fine.

However, given that there are 102 values, I feel that doing an IF statement 102 times is a bit inefficient.

Does anyone know of a better way to handle this?

Dim allowedFlags = New List(Of String)() 

With { _
    "value1", _
    "another value"
}
End With
If Not allowedFlags.Contains(txtFlag) Then
    lblMessage.Text = "You don't have the ability to view details"
End If

Upvotes: 2

Views: 98

Answers (3)

BrokenGlass
BrokenGlass

Reputation: 160912

Put your allowed values into an array and then just query whether the user's choice is in the array:

if(!allowedFlags.Contains(txtFlag))
   lblMessage.Text ="You don't have the ability to view details";

Even better you can use a HashSet<string> for the allowed values so you have O(1) lookup time.

Upvotes: 2

Jason
Jason

Reputation: 15931

add the values to a list,and then use .Contains

// hopefully you can get the 102 strings from an xml document or db
var listOfFlags = new List<string> { "value1", "another value", .... };

if (!listOfFlags.Contains(txtFlag))
{
  lblMessage.Text = "you dont' have ..."
}

Upvotes: 2

coach_rob
coach_rob

Reputation: 901

A "switch" statement would be cleaner, though 102 "cases" would still be kind of messy. If you went with a strategy pattern, you would likely experience some measure "class explosion".

I'd probably start with a switch statement and then look at extracting some common behaviors and heading towards a strategy pattern.

Upvotes: 2

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