Tree data structure in C#

Question

I was looking for a tree or graph data structure in C# but I guess there isn't one provided. An Extensive Examination of Data Structures Using C# 2.0 explains a bit about why. Is there a convenient library which is commonly used to provide this functionality? Perhaps through a strategy pattern to solve the issues presented in the article.

I feel a bit silly implementing my own tree, just as I would implementing my own ArrayList.

I just want a generic tree which can be unbalanced. Think of a directory tree. C5 looks nifty, but their tree structures seem to be implemented as balanced red-black trees better suited to search than representing a hierarchy of nodes.

Answer 1

I have added complete solution and example using NTree class above, also added "AddChild" method...

    public class NTree<T>
    {
        public T data;
        public LinkedList<NTree<T>> children;

        public NTree(T data)
        {
            this.data = data;
            children = new LinkedList<NTree<T>>();
        }

        public void AddChild(T data)
        {
            var node = new NTree<T>(data) { Parent = this };
            children.AddFirst(node);
        }

        public NTree<T> Parent { get; private set; }

        public NTree<T> GetChild(int i)
        {
            foreach (NTree<T> n in children)
                if (--i == 0)
                    return n;
            return null;
        }

        public void Traverse(NTree<T> node, TreeVisitor<T> visitor, string t, ref NTree<T> r)
        {
            visitor(node.data, node, t, ref r);
            foreach (NTree<T> kid in node.children)
                Traverse(kid, visitor, t, ref r);
        }
    }
    public static void DelegateMethod(KeyValuePair<string, string> data, NTree<KeyValuePair<string, string>> node, string t, ref NTree<KeyValuePair<string, string>> r)
    {
        string a = string.Empty;
        if (node.data.Key == t)
        {
            r = node;
            return;
        }
    }

using

 NTree<KeyValuePair<string, string>> ret = null;
 tree.Traverse(tree, DelegateMethod, node["categoryId"].InnerText, ref ret);

Answer 2

I have a little extension to the solutions.

Using a recursive generic declaration and a deriving subclass you can better concentrate on your actual target.

Notice, it's different from a non generic implementation, you don`t need to cast 'node' in 'NodeWorker'.

Here's my example:

public class GenericTree<T> where T : GenericTree<T> // recursive constraint  
{
  // no specific data declaration  

  protected List<T> children;

  public GenericTree()
  {
    this.children = new List<T>();
  }

  public virtual void AddChild(T newChild)
  {
    this.children.Add(newChild);
  }

  public void Traverse(Action<int, T> visitor)
  {
    this.traverse(0, visitor);
  }

  protected virtual void traverse(int depth, Action<int, T> visitor)
  {
    visitor(depth, (T)this);
    foreach (T child in this.children)
      child.traverse(depth + 1, visitor);
  }
}

public class GenericTreeNext : GenericTree<GenericTreeNext> // concrete derivation
{
  public string Name {get; set;} // user-data example

  public GenericTreeNext(string name)
  {
    this.Name = name;
  }
}

static void Main(string[] args)  
{  
  GenericTreeNext tree = new GenericTreeNext("Main-Harry");  
  tree.AddChild(new GenericTreeNext("Main-Sub-Willy"));  
  GenericTreeNext inter = new GenericTreeNext("Main-Inter-Willy");  
  inter.AddChild(new GenericTreeNext("Inter-Sub-Tom"));  
  inter.AddChild(new GenericTreeNext("Inter-Sub-Magda"));  
  tree.AddChild(inter);  
  tree.AddChild(new GenericTreeNext("Main-Sub-Chantal"));  
  tree.Traverse(NodeWorker);  
}  

static void NodeWorker(int depth, GenericTreeNext node)  
{                                // a little one-line string-concatenation (n-times)
  Console.WriteLine("{0}{1}: {2}", String.Join("   ", new string[depth + 1]), depth, node.Name);  
}