Linq OrderBy against specific values

Question

Is there a way in Linq to do an OrderBy against a set of values (strings in this case) without knowing the order of the values?

Consider this data:

A         


        

Answer 1

Danbrucs solution is more elegant, but here is a solution using a custom IComparer. This might be useful if you need more advanced conditions for your sort ordering.

    string[] svals = new string[] {"A", "B", "A", "C", "B", "C", "D", "E"};
    List list = svals.OrderBy(a => a, new CustomComparer()).ToList();

    private class CustomComparer : IComparer
    {
        private string firstPref = "A";
        private string secondPref = "B";
        private string thirdPref = "C";
        public int Compare(string x, string y)
        {
            // first pref 
            if (y == firstPref && x == firstPref)
                return 0;
            else if (x == firstPref && y != firstPref)
                return -1;
            else if (y == firstPref && x != firstPref)
                return 1;
            // second pref
            else if (y == secondPref && x == secondPref)
                return 0;
            else if (x == secondPref && y != secondPref)
                return -1;
            else if (y == secondPref && x != secondPref)
                return 1;
            // third pref
            else if (y == thirdPref && x == thirdPref)
                return 0;
            else if (x == thirdPref && y != thirdPref)
                return -1;
            else
                return string.Compare(x, y);
        }
    }