C#: How to convert a list of objects to a list of a single property of that object?

Question

Say I have:

IList<Person> people = new List<Person>();

And the person object has properties like FirstName, LastName, and Gender.

How can I convert this to a list of properties of the Person object. For example, to a list of first names.

IList<string> firstNames = ???

Dario · Accepted Answer · 2009-09-22 16:40:17Z

241

List<string> firstNames = people.Select(person => person.FirstName).ToList();

And with sorting

List<string> orderedNames = people.Select(person => person.FirstName).OrderBy(name => name).ToList();

edited Sep 22, 2009 at 16:40

answered Sep 22, 2009 at 16:17

Dario

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4 Comments

User Over a year ago

Thanks. Also, how would I sort that alphabetically by firstname?

Paul Williams Over a year ago

List<string> firstNames = people.Select(person => person.FirstName).ToList().Sort(); This will sort using the default alphabetic sorting of string.

Dario Over a year ago

Sort() doesn't support a fluent interface! Call firstNames.Sort() separately

ConsultUtah Over a year ago

var list = from person in people orderby person.FirstName select person.FirstName;

Jon Sagara · Accepted Answer · 2009-09-22 16:35:28Z

8

IList<string> firstNames = (from person in people select person.FirstName).ToList();

Or

IList<string> firstNames = people.Select(person => person.FirstName).ToList();

answered Sep 22, 2009 at 16:35

Jon Sagara

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Comments

Gregoire · Accepted Answer · 2009-09-22 16:25:20Z

4

firstNames = (from p in people select p=>p.firstName).ToList();

edited Sep 22, 2009 at 16:25

answered Sep 22, 2009 at 16:17

Gregoire

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2 Comments

Jon Skeet Over a year ago

Using a query expression in this case is overkill, IMO. Dot notation has less fluff if you've just got one simple operation.

Dan Esparza Over a year ago

True, but the question was "How can this be done" ... not "How can this be done with the least amount of fluff". No disrespect intended, Jon. (Please don't smite me).

Draken · Accepted Answer · 2016-06-20 11:30:01Z

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Web;
using System.Web.UI;
using System.Web.UI.WebControls;
namespace TestProject
{
    public partial class WebForm3 : System.Web.UI.Page
    {
        protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            SampleDataContext context = new SampleDataContext();
            List<Employee> l = new List<Employee>();
            var qry = from a in context.tbl_employees where a.Gender=="Female"  
                orderby  a.Salary ascending
            select new Employee() {
                           ID=a.Id,
                           Fname=a.FName,
                           Lname=a.Lname,
                           Gender=a.Gender,
                           Salary=a.Salary,
                           DepartmentId=a.DeparmentId
            };
            l= qry.ToList();
            var e1 =  from  emp in context.tbl_employees
                where emp.Gender == "Male"
                orderby emp.Salary descending
                select  emp;
            GridView1.DataSource = l;
            GridView1.DataBind();
        }
    }
    public class Employee
    {
        public Int64 ID { get; set; }
        public String Fname { get; set; }
        public String Lname { get; set; }
        public String Gender { get; set; }
        public decimal? Salary { get; set; }
        public int? DepartmentId { get; set; }
    }
}

M Fatih Koca · Accepted Answer · 2018-01-26 11:26:58Z

2

using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;

IList<Person> people = new List<Person>();
IList<string> firstNames = people.Select(person => person.FirstName).ToList();

answered Jan 26, 2018 at 11:26

M Fatih Koca

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1 Comment

Shawn C. Over a year ago

Thank you for this code snippet, which might provide some limited short-term help. A proper explanation would greatly improve its long-term value by showing why this is a good solution to the problem and would make it more useful to future readers with other, similar questions. Please edit your answer to add some explanation, including the assumptions you've made

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