string.Equals evaluates to false

Question

I have two strings:

• lp.Name

  A string returned from a backend server database contained in the class LocalPlayer:

  public class LocalPlayer
  {
       public string Name;
  }
  

• playerName

  A local string variable.

Here is the code block I am running:

private void UpdatePlayer()
{
    bool localPlayerFound = false;

    if (player != null)
    {
        if (player.localPlayers != null)
        {
            if (player.localPlayers.Count > 0)
            {
                foreach (LocalPlayer lp in player.localPlayers)
                {

                   Debug.Log("Name =" + lp.Name + " Length " + lp.Name.Length + " Bytes " + string.Join(",", System.Text.Encoding.Unicode.GetBytes(lp.Name)));
                   Debug.Log("Name =" + playerName + " Length " + playerName.Length + " Bytes " + string.Join(",", System.Text.Encoding.Unicode.GetBytes(playerName)));

                    bool areEqual = string.Equals(lp.Name.Trim(), playerName.Trim());

                    Debug.Log(areEqual);

                    if (areEqual)
                    {
                        localPlayerFound = true;
                        // Fill out Player stats
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
    if (localPlayerFound == false) // NO players yet in Local Database - Create a new one
    {
        AddNewLocalPlayer();
    }
}

The output of the Debug statements are:

After a few suggestions I added Length and encoding to the debug statements. Here is what comes up in the debug statements.

Name =Flash Length 5 Bytes 70,0,108,0,97,0,115,0,104,0


Name =Flash​ Length 6 Bytes 70,0,108,0,97,0,115,0,104,0,11,32


False

If trim doesn't remove the hidden characters, what can I use?

It says that The output confirms that byte 11 corresponds to the vertical tab character, and byte 32 corresponds to the space character.

Thanks

Answer 1

If trim doesn't remove the hidden characters, what can I use?

Consider using RegEx which would offer a highly customizable fallback option. Here are three basic extensions to try for starters, any of which work on the specific case you show.

/// <summary>
/// Basic examples.
/// </summary>
static partial class Extensions
{
    /// <summary>
    /// First pass. Very basic.
    /// </summary>
    public static string ToSafeCompare(this string input) =>
        Regex.Replace(input, "[^a-zA-Z0-9]", "");

    /// <summary>
    /// Use categories. Attempts to keep letters, marks, numbers, symbols, punctuation.
    /// </summary>
    public static string ToVisibleCharacters(this string input) =>
        Regex.Replace(input, "[^\\p{L}\\p{M}\\p{N}\\p{P}\\p{S}]", "");

    /// <summary>
    /// Remove control characters
    /// </summary>
    public static string ToNegateControlCharacters(this string input) =>
        Regex.Replace(input, "\\p{C}", "");

}

Console mock with the provided test bytes shown in the post.

using System.Text;
using System.Text.RegularExpressions;

Console.Title = "Try Regex";

string flash1 = Encoding.Unicode.GetString(new byte[]{ 70, 0, 108, 0, 97, 0, 115, 0, 104, 0 });
string flash2 = Encoding.Unicode.GetString(new byte[] { 70, 0, 108, 0, 97, 0, 115, 0, 104, 0, 11, 32 });

Console.WriteLine($"{flash1} {flash2}");
Console.WriteLine(string.Equals(flash1, flash2));
Console.WriteLine();

Console.WriteLine("Basic alphanumeric");
var test1A = flash1.ToSafeCompare();
var test1B = flash2.ToSafeCompare();
Console.WriteLine($"{test1A} {test1B}");
Console.WriteLine(string.Equals(test1A, test1B));
Console.WriteLine();

Console.WriteLine("Prelim filter using character categories");
var test2A = flash1.ToVisibleCharacters();
var test2B = flash2.ToVisibleCharacters();
Console.WriteLine($"{test2A} {test2B}");
Console.WriteLine(string.Equals(test2A, test2B));
Console.WriteLine();

Console.WriteLine("Prelim filter removes control characters");
var test3A = flash1.ToNegateControlCharacters();
var test3B = flash2.ToNegateControlCharacters();
Console.WriteLine($"{test3A} {test3B}");
Console.WriteLine(string.Equals(test3A, test3B));

Console.ReadKey();