Splitting the key values in a dictionary

Question

I have several keys (which represents subjects) in a dictionary and with that I associate several values(codes) per key.

CODE SUBJECT

7DIM-039 Communication

7DIM-040 Communication

7DIM-041 Communication

7DIM-042 Communication

7DIM-043 Communication

in order to associate eache subject(key) with the several values(code) i do this in my query. I created a dictionary

Dictionary<string, List<string>> dict = new Dictionary<string,List<string>>();

while (dbReader.Read())
            {
                string code = (string)dbReader["CODE"];
                string subject = (string)dbReader["SUBJECT"];

                if (!dict.ContainsKey(subject))
                {
                    dict.Add(subject, new List<string> { code });
                }
                else
                {
                    dict[subject].Add(code);
                }
            }

so this is the result

The problem I have is some of these keys are seperated by semi colons(so there are several items per key) so naturaly I have to do a split.

example: GenSubject;Careers; Listening Skills; Personal Development; Questioning Skills; Coaching/Mentoring etc.

How can I split these values and still make sure that the various code values are associated to each split value?

foreach(var kvp in dict)
        {
            foreach (var s in kvp.Key)
            {
                //splitting the subject keys?
            }
        }

I have also deviced a split method

static string[] SplitStringAt(string splitItem, char character)
    {
        return splitItem.Split(character);
    }

This is an example CODE GenSubject

7DIM-062 Communication, Questioning Skills, Decision-making

7DIM-063 Communication, Questioning Skills, Decision-making

7DIM-064 Communication, Questioning Skills, Decision-making

7DIM-065 Communication, Questioning Skills, Decision-making

7DIM-066 Communication, Questioning Skills, Decision-making

7DIM-067 Communication, Questioning Skills, Decision-making

so what I want to achieve is all the codes to be 'stored for Comunication, and the the same codes for Questioning Skills etc. but of course only once.

Answer 1

Try this...

        foreach (KeyValuePair<string, List<string>> kvp in dic)
        {
            if (kvp.Key.Contains(";"))
            {
                var lst = kvp.Value;
                foreach (string subKey in kvp.Key.Split(new[] {';'}, StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries))
                {
                    dic[subKey] = lst;
                }
            }
        }

All The subKey needs to be unique!

Answer 2

Sorry, your question contains some parts I do not understand: You are referring to keys and semicolon but then give an example with subjects separated by a comma.

I will assume you have subjects separated by a comma.

If you want to correctly assign your subjects whilst reading, split your subject and assign each single item to the dictionary as you did with the whole subject before.

Dictionary<string, List<string>> dict = new Dictionary<string,List<string>>();

while (dbReader.Read())
{
  string code = (string)dbReader["CODE"];
  string subject = (string)dbReader["SUBJECT"];
  foreach (string singleSubject in subject.Split(','))
  {
    if (!dict.ContainsKey(singleSubject))
    {
      dict.Add(subject, new List<string> { code });
    }
    else
    {
      dict[subject].Add(code);
    }
 }
}