Sorting/Ordering a BlockingCollecion

Question

What would be the best way to sort the items in a BlockingCollection<T> based on their values in a particular order. I know there is an OrderBy method, can it be utilized to achieve ordering?

Answer 1

It sounds like you need to order the items in the queue according to some comparison criteria. That's basically a Priority Queue.

There is a way to use a priority queue with a BlockingCollection<T>. You have to write a Priority Queue that implements IProducerConsumerCollection and pass an instance of that queue to the appropriate BlockingCollection constructor.

Fortunately, Microsoft have provided sample code that demonstrates how to do this. It also includes the source code for a simple priority queue.

There are many other priority queue implementations available on line, for example here. You would, however, have to modify them to implement IProducerConsumerCollection, which is unlikely to be a trivial task.

[EDIT] I found a concurrent priority queue that implements IProducerConsumerCollection - you should be able to use it.

Answer 2

Check this https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb534966(v=vs.110).aspx

From MSDN:

class Pet
{
    public string Name { get; set; }
    public int Age { get; set; }
}

public static void OrderByEx1()
{
    Pet[] pets = { new Pet { Name="Barley", Age=8 },
                   new Pet { Name="Boots", Age=4 },
                   new Pet { Name="Whiskers", Age=1 } };

    IEnumerable<Pet> query = pets.OrderBy(pet => pet.Age);

    foreach (Pet pet in query)
    {
        Console.WriteLine("{0} - {1}", pet.Name, pet.Age);
    }
}

/*
 This code produces the following output:

 Whiskers - 1
 Boots - 4
 Barley - 8
*/