Applying a Rule Set to different Lines of Text

[180HPR]

Hello,

The general purpose of my application simply reads a line of text for example:

1. I have a printer issue
2. I have a software issue

I have a rule set as follows:

'Define the class 'Printer' with 14 values as a string...
        Dim Printer(13) As String
        'The string 'Printer' gets assigned a value, this is repeated another 13 times...
        Printer(0) = "Printing"
        Printer(1) = "printing"
        Printer(2) = "Print"
        Printer(3) = "print"
        Printer(4) = "Printer"
        Printer(5) = "printer"
        Printer(6) = "Output"
        Printer(7) = "output"
        Printer(8) = "Toner"
        Printer(9) = "toner"
        Printer(10) = "Paper"
        Printer(11) = "paper"
        Printer(12) = "Jam"
        Printer(13) = "jam"

        'Define the class 'Software' with 14 values as a string...
        Dim Software(13) As String
        'The string 'Software' gets assigned a value, this is repeated another 13 times...
        Software(0) = "Software"
        Software(1) = "software"
        Software(2) = "Loading"
        Software(3) = "loading"
        Software(4) = "Crash"
        Software(5) = "crash"
        Software(6) = "Crashed"
        Software(7) = "crashed"
        Software(8) = "Require"
        Software(9) = "require"
        Software(10) = "Install"
        Software(11) = "install"
        Software(12) = "Installing"
        Software(13) = "installing"

        'Define the class 'Telephone' with 14 values as a string...
        Dim Telephone(13) As String
        'The string 'Telephone' gets assigned a value, this is repeated another 13 times...
        Telephone(0) = "Telephone"
        Telephone(1) = "telephone"
        Telephone(2) = "Phone"
        Telephone(3) = "phone"
        Telephone(4) = "Ringing"
        Telephone(5) = "ringing"
        Telephone(6) = "Dial"
        Telephone(7) = "dial"
        Telephone(8) = "Call"
        Telephone(9) = "call"
        Telephone(10) = "Handset"
        Telephone(11) = "handset"
        Telephone(12) = "Voicemail"
        Telephone(13) = "voicemail"

        'Define the class 'Password' with 14 values as a string...
        Dim Password(13) As String
        'The string 'Password' gets assigned a value, this is repeated another 13 times...
        Password(0) = "Password"
        Password(1) = "password"
        Password(2) = "Incorrect"
        Password(3) = "incorrect"
        Password(4) = "Username"
        Password(5) = "username"
        Password(6) = "log"
        Password(7) = "logging"
        Password(8) = "Message"
        Password(9) = "message"
        Password(10) = "Forgot"
        Password(11) = "forgot"
        Password(12) = "Forgotten"
        Password(13) = "forgotten"

        'Defines i as representing one of the numbers from 0-13...
        Dim i As Integer = 0

        For i = 0 To 13




            'Rule set applies here, the order of the code DOES matter, because the code is applied to the string from top to bottom, hence jam gets searched for before toner
            If InputArea.Text.Contains(Printer(13)) Then
                ClassTextBox.Text = "Printer - Jam"
            ElseIf InputArea.Text.Contains(Printer(9)) Then
                ClassTextBox.Text = "Printer - Toner"
            ElseIf InputArea.Text.Contains(Printer(i)) Then
                ClassTextBox.Text = "Printer"
                'Rule set applies here, the order of the code DOES matter, because the code is applied to the string from top to bottom, hence Failure gets searched for before Install
            ElseIf InputArea.Text.Contains(Software(7)) Then
                ClassTextBox.Text = "Software - Failure"
            ElseIf InputArea.Text.Contains(Software(11)) Then
                ClassTextBox.Text = "Software - Install"
            ElseIf InputArea.Text.Contains(Software(13)) Then
                ClassTextBox.Text = "Software - Install"
            ElseIf InputArea.Text.Contains(Software(i)) Then
                ClassTextBox.Text = "Software"
                'Rule set applies here, the order of the code DOES matter, because the code is applied to the string from top to bottom, hence Voicemail gets searched for before Handset
            ElseIf InputArea.Text.Contains(Telephone(13)) Then
                ClassTextBox.Text = "Telephone - Voicemail"
            ElseIf InputArea.Text.Contains(Telephone(11)) Then
                ClassTextBox.Text = "Telephone - Handset"
            ElseIf InputArea.Text.Contains(Telephone(i)) Then
                ClassTextBox.Text = "Telephone"
                'Rule set applies here, the order of the code DOES matter, because the code is applied to the string from top to bottom, hence Forgotten gets searched for before Logon
            ElseIf InputArea.Text.Contains(Password(11)) Then
                ClassTextBox.Text = "Password - Forgotten"
            ElseIf InputArea.Text.Contains(Password(6)) Then
                ClassTextBox.Text = "Password - Logon"
            ElseIf InputArea.Text.Contains(Password(i)) Then
                ClassTextBox.Text = "Password"
          
            End If

The code simply uses a number of keywords to detect if the issue is a 'printer', 'software', 'telephone',. or 'password' problem.

I want to apply this rule set to 10 issues within the same rich text box, with the results sent to a text file.

The exporting to a text file I can do, however the main issue is, i cannot read the lines individually.

Can anyone help?

[MonkOFox]

InputArea.Text.IndexOf("String", Sytem.StringComparison.CurrentCultureIgnoreCase)

Might work better for you, so you don't have to have so many variations of the word stored.
That way if the use typed "PrInTeR", you could still catch it.

If you use a richtextbox, you can read the entire text, then split it at '/n/r' or whatever the return or linefeed character is. That's assuming they actually separate every sentence by a return.

Why not just let them choose a category and then type their description, then save your file named "[User]-[Tech-Ticket#xxxx]
Then have their details as the text in the file.

Justin

[MattP]

Extension method to add overload of String.Contains that accepts a StringComparison.

Imports System.Runtime.CompilerServices
 
Public Module StringExtensions
 
    <Extension()>
    Public Function Contains(ByRef source As String, value As String, comparison As StringComparison) As Boolean
        If value Is Nothing Then Return False
        Return source.IndexOf(value, comparison) >= 0
    End Function
 
End Module

Here's the start of refactoring the code for reusability. I've left some obvious things left to do. You can see that the property FindMatchingWords and methods GetErrorClass and GetKeywords have been abstracted for reusability.

Public Class Form1
 
    Private ReadOnly Property FindMatchingWords() As Func(Of String, Boolean)
        Get
            Return Function(s) InputArea.Text.Contains(s, StringComparison.CurrentCultureIgnoreCase)
        End Get
    End Property
 
    Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
        Dim Printer = {"printing", "print", "printer", "output", "toner", "paper", "jam"}
        Dim Software = {"software", "loading", "crash", "crashed", "require", "install", "installing"}
        Dim Telephone = {"telephone", "phone", "ringing", "dial", "call", "handset", "voicemail"}
        Dim Password = {"password", "incorrect", "username", "log", "logging", "message", "forgot", "forgotten"}
 
        InputArea.Text = "THE TONER IS OUT FOR MY PRINTER"
 
        If GetErrorClass(Printer) Then PrinterErrors(Printer)
        If GetErrorClass(Software) Then SoftwareErrors(Software)
 
        'Left these as boolean checks
        Dim isTelephone = GetErrorClass(Telephone)
        Dim isPassword = GetErrorClass(Password)
    End Sub
 
    Private Function GetErrorClass(ByVal TheArray As String()) As Boolean
        Return TheArray.Any(Function(s) InputArea.Text.Contains(s, StringComparison.CurrentCultureIgnoreCase))
    End Function
 
    Private Sub PrinterErrors(ByVal PrinterArray As String())
        Const format As String = "Printer - {0}"
        Dim keywords = GetKeywords(PrinterArray)
        If keywords.Contains("jam") Then
            ClassTextBox.Text = String.Format(format, "Jam")
        ElseIf keywords.Contains("toner") Then
            ClassTextBox.Text = String.Format(format, "Toner")
        Else
            ClassTextBox.Text = "Printer"
        End If
    End Sub
 
    Private Sub SoftwareErrors(ByVal SoftwareArray As String())
        Const format As String = "Software - {0}"
        Dim keywords = GetKeywords(SoftwareArray)
        'Conditional checks for Software
    End Sub
 
    Private Function GetKeywords(ByVal TheArray As String()) As String()
        Return TheArray.Where(FindMatchingWords).ToArray()
    End Function
End Class

There is also the question of problems that span multiple arrays.

What do you do for this entry: "I forgot the password to my voicemail"?

[180HPR]

thank you for your replies, very helpful, when trying to use your code you gave me MattP, the line:

StringComparison.CurrentCultureIgnoreCase)

there is a blue line error under this code, do you know how I could fix this?

[180HPR]

Also MonkOfox, when you say I could split the lines with a full stop at the end to show that this is where I want to stop reaidng then move onto the enxt line to then read that, how would this be done?

[MattP]

You'll need to add a module to your project and put the first code snippet that I provided in it.