Searching sequential file loading into array vb.net and searching - arrays

Question

I'm using VB.NET 2010 and have been trying to wrap my head around implementing a search feature using a sequential file. Originally I was trying to use a sequential file to read from and search but that has proven to be extremely difficult so I've taken a simple approach using two different arrays with data and try to search through Artist and Album.
The code below takes input from txtSearch.Text which will be for search by artist. I have a duplicate artist "TeeBee" but when I search for that artist I only receive one result instead of two as there are two different albums under the artist "TeeBee".
I thought about adding another loop but it doesn't work. I also thought that the results were getting cut off as there isn't a way to add a return to the results to continue on.
I'm a beginner to programming so please keep that in mind.
Private Sub btnSearch_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles btnSearch.Click
' Artist array
Dim strArtist() As String = {"Dillinja", "TeeBee", "Dieselboy", "TeeBee"}
' Album array
Dim strAlbum() As String = {"Untitled", "Scorpion", "Horns", "Blades"}
Dim strSearchForArtist As String
Dim intSub As Integer
' artist search
strSearchForArtist = txtSearch.Text
Do Until intSub = strAlbum.Length OrElse
strSearchForArtist = strArtist(intSub)
intSub = intSub + 1
Loop
If intSub < strArtist.Length Then
lstLibrary.Items.Add(strArtist(intSub) & " " & strAlbum(intSub) & vbNewLine)
Else
MessageBox.Show("Invalid", "Bad", MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Information)
End If
End Sub
Attempt to load text file into array but it doesn't create separate arrays like album, artist genre. - 11-19-14
Private Sub btnLoadArray_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles btnLoadArray.Click
Dim filePath As String = "library.txt"
Dim sr As IO.StreamReader
sr = IO.File.OpenText(filePath)
' look inside file and read every line
' this will be how we put the number for
' our array below
Dim TotalLines As Integer = 0
Dim word As String = ""
' need 3 to be dynamic so we get all lines in the file to build the array words(#)
' wanted to use words(,) but that does not work
Dim words() As String = IO.File.ReadAllLines(filePath)
Dim i As Integer = 0
' when the peak value is -1 we're at the end of the file
Do Until sr.Peek = -1
' load one at a time
word = sr.ReadLine()
' load word into array
words(i) = word
' output
lstArtist.Items.Add(words(i))
' increment counter
i += 1
Loop
'close the file
sr.Close()
End Sub

Answer 1

Well, instead of using arrays and handle all the complications I really suggest you to have a more object oriented approach
So start defining a class to keep the info for an Album like this
Public Class Album
Public ArtistName as String
Public AlbumTitle as String
Public Function ToString() as String
return ArtistName & " - " & AlbumTitle
End Function
End Class
Now you could remove the array mess using a List(Of Album) and asking to each item of this list to render its content via the ToString method.
Also an important role here is reserved to the IEnumerable function Where that extract from the List(Of Album) all the elements that respects the Lambda expression required by the Where method.
Private Sub btnSearch_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles btnSearch.Click
' Here the list is fixed but you can easily build it loading data from a database
' or from some other storage medium like a file etc...
Dim albumList = new List(Of Album) From _
{
new Album With { .ArtistName = "Dillinja", .AlbumTitle = "Untitled" },
new Album With { .ArtistName = "TeeBee", .AlbumTitle = "Scorpion"},
new Album With { .ArtistName = "Dieselboy", .AlbumTitle = "Horns" },
new Album With { .ArtistName = "TeeBee", .AlbumTitle = "Blades" }
}
' To help search you could integrate the ToLower expressions in
' Plutonix answer here...
Dim searchTerm = txtSearch.Text
Dim searchResult = albumList.Where(Function(x) x.ArtistName = searchTerm)
lstLibrary.Items.Clear()
if searchResult.Count > 0 Then
For Each item in searchResult
lstLibrary.Items.Add(item.ToString())
Next
Else
MessageBox.Show("Not found")
End if
End Sub

Answer 2

Rather than arrays, a List(of String) is easier to manage and provides more efficiency and the kind of functions you probably want.
Private Artists As New List(of String)
....
Artists.Addrange({"Dillinja", "TeeBee", "Dieselboy", "TeeBee"})
...
' find a single item:
If Artists.Contains(txtSearch.Text) Then ' no looping required
' a dupe
Else
' not a dupe
End If
To get all the matching items:
Dim find = Artists.Where(Function(s) _
s.ToLowerInvariant = txtSearch.Text.ToLowerInvariant).ToList
The resulting find will also be a List(of String) containing the matching item. This time it is case insensitive. To get the count of dupes:
Dim finds = Artists.LongCount(Function(n) n.ToLowerInvariant = _
txtSearch.Text.ToLowerInvariant.ToLowerInvariant)
I dont know how much value either can be. Neither 2 nor a List of "Teebee", "TeeBee" is very useful or interesting. More typically, you want the return to be the entire object (like an album) associated with the search term. This requires a Class which glues Arist, Album, Genere, Tracks etc together though (see Steve's answer for a start on this part).
As for the whole file part, the list(s) can be easily serialized allowing an entire list to be saved or reloaded from disk in 2-3 lines of code.