How do I get previous key from SortedDictionary?

Question

I have dictionary containing key value pairs.

SortedDictionary<int,int> dictionary=new SortedDictionary<int,int>();
dictionary.Add(1,33);
dictionary.Add(2,20);
dictionary.Add(4,35);

I want to get previous key value pair from a known key value. In the above case, if I have key 4, then how can I get <2,20>?

Answer 1

It's hard to implement this efficiently with a SortedDictionary<TKey, TValue> since it is implemented as a binary search tree that does not expose predecessors or successors.

You could of course just enumerate each KeyValuePair until you find the "known" key. With a little bit of LINQ, this would look like (assuming the key definitely exists and isn't the first key):

SortedDictionary<int, int> dictionary = ...
int knownKey = ...

var previousKvp = dictionary.TakeWhile(kvp => kvp.Key != knownKey)
                            .Last();

If those assumptions don't hold, you could do:

var maybePreviousKvp = dictionary.TakeWhile(kvp => kvp.Key != knownKey)
                                 .Cast<KeyValuePair<int, int>?>()
                                 .LastOrDefault();

(Check that maybePreviousKvp != null to ascertain that the previous KeyValuePair was retrieved successfully.)

But this isn't going to be efficient at all.

---

If feasible, consider using a SortedList<TKey, TValue> instead (obviously, this may not be possible if you can't take its slower inserts and deletes). This collection supports efficient key and value-retrieval by ordered index since it is implemented as a growable array. Then your query becomes as simple as:

SortedList<int, int> dictionary = ...
int knownKey = ...

int indexOfPrevious = dictionary.IndexOfKey(knownKey) - 1;

// if "known" key exists and isn't the first key
if(indexOfPrevious >= 0)
{
   // Wrap these in a KeyValuePair if necessary
   int previousKey = dictionary.Keys[indexOfPrevious];
   int previousValue = dictionary.Values[indexOfPrevious];      
}

IndexOfKey runs a binary search on the keys-list, running in O(log n) time. Everything else should run in constant time, meaning the entire operation should run in logarithmic time.

---

Otherwise, you'll have to implement yourself / find a BST collection that does expose predecessors / successors.

Answer 2

I was also looking for an answer to this problem, and I thought a better solution than all of the answers here is to use the TreeDictionary<K, V> from the C5 Collections (GitHub/NuGet), which is an implementation of a red-black tree.

It has Predecessor/TryPredecessor and WeakPredessor/TryWeakPredecessor methods (as well as equivalent methods for successors) which does exactly what you want.

For example:

TreeDictionary<int,int> dictionary = new TreeDictionary<int,int>();
dictionary.Add(1,33);
dictionary.Add(2,20);
dictionary.Add(4,35);

// applied to the dictionary itself, returns KeyValuePair<int,int>
var previousValue = dictionary.Predecessor(4);
Assert.Equals(previousValue.Key, 2);
Assert.Equals(previousValue.Value, 20);

// applied to the keys of the dictionary, returns key only
var previousKey = dictionary.Keys.Predecessor(4);
Assert.Equals(previousKey, 2);

// it is also possible to specify keys not in the dictionary
previousKey = dictionary.Keys.Predecessor(3);
Assert.Equals(previousKey, 2);

Answer 3

KeyValuePair<int, int> lookingForThis = dictionary
  .Reverse()
  .SkipWhile(kvp => kvp.Key != 4)
  .Skip(1)
  .FirstOrDefault();

Answer 4

You could loop through the dictionary and keep track of values, I guess. Something like this:

public int GetPreviousKey(int currentKey, SortedDictionary<int, int> dictionary)
{
    int previousKey = int.MinValue;
    foreach(KeyValuePair<int,int> pair in dictionary)
    {
        if(pair.Key == currentKey)
        {
            if(previousKey == int.MinValue)
            {
                throw new InvalidOperationException("There is no previous key.");
            }
            return previousKey;
        }
        else
        {
            previousKey = pair.Key;
        }
    }
}

However, this is a pretty odd operation to require. The fact that you need it might be pointing at a problem with your design.

Answer 5

Dictionary<TKey,TValue> is unsorted, so there is no previous thing for some item. Instead you can use SortedDictionary<TKey,TValue>.

EDIT: Sorry I read the title only LOL.

If you have to use LINQ:

int givenKey = 4;
var previousItem = dict.Where((pair, index) => 
                                   index == dict.Count || 
                                   dict.ElementAt(index + 1).Key == givenKey)
                       .FirstOrDefault();

Answer 6

I would prefer to use linq if that's the case... try this it will surely work

SortedDictionary<int,int> dictionary = new SortedDictionary<int,int>();
dictionary.add(1, 33);
dictionary.add(2, 20);
dictionary.add(4, 35);

int SelectedKey = 4;

var ResutValue = ( from n in dictionary    
               where n.Key < TheSelectedKey
               select n.Value).Last();

this.txtResult.Text = ResultValue.ToString();

Answer 7

How about this? I havent tested it though, but should give something to start think in this direction. Hope it helps.

        int input = 4;
        List<int> lKeys = dictionary.Keys.ToList();
        int reqIndex = lKeys.IndexOf(input) - 1;
        int reqAnswer = dictionary[reqIndex];

test for other conditions like if (reqIndex != -1) etc..