linq query to return distinct field values from a list of objects

Question

class obj
{
    int typeId; //10 types  0-9 
    string uniqueString; //this is unique
}

Assume there is list with 100 elements of obj, but only 10

Answer 1

If just want to user pure Linq, you can use groupby:

List distinct =
  objs.GroupBy(car => car.typeID).Select(g => g.First()).ToList();

If you want a method to be used all across the app, similar to what MoreLinq does:

public static IEnumerable DistinctBy
    (this IEnumerable source, Func keySelector)
{
    HashSet seenKeys = new HashSet();
    foreach (TSource element in source)
    {
        if (!seenKeys.Contains(keySelector(element)))
        {
            seenKeys.Add(keySelector(element));
            yield return element;
        }
    }
}

Using this method to find the distinct values using just the Id property, you could use:

var query = objs.DistinctBy(p => p.TypeId);

you can use multiple properties:

var query = objs.DistinctBy(p => new { p.TypeId, p.Name });