copying dictionary doesn't give me expected result

Question

I have to copy one dictionary, work with that copy and return to the original one.

What seems to happen is that the orignal dictionary is modified when I do some work on the copied one.

Here is my code :

dmodified_profile = new SortedDictionary<int,SortedDictionary<string,List<string>>>(d_profile);

I don't know why d_profile which is the original one could be modified if my modifications are done on the dmodified_profile dictionary ?

Thanks

You might consider investigating using an immutable data structure. They are highly amenable to the sort of operation you're talking about. — Eric Lippert, Dec 17 '09 at 23:59

score 5 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 12:18

5

You need to deep copy.

edited May 23 '17 at 12:18

Community

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answered Dec 17 '09 at 23:43

Alex Brasetvik

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score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 17 '09 at 23:50

3

Your SortedDictionary maps an integer to a REFERENCE to another SortedDictionary. When you copy that dictionary you copy the values of the keys as well as the REFERENCEs of the values, because your dictionary's value is of a reference type.

answered Dec 17 '09 at 23:50

Andre Pena

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copying dictionary doesn't give me expected result

2 Answers2