Strange issue with bool comparing ToString always false - unity c#

Question

I have another problem with my code that I can't fix :\

Basically i have an enum called 'type' in my Item class, which tells me if the item is consumable, or equipment, etc. In the database script I have made, it sets the type for each item (5 in total). So basically I have an inventory UI, with 5 items (inc. 2x consumables, 3x Equip)

After much debugging/checking things, I've found that the boolean prior to "sortedItems.Add(i);" is always FALSE. But it shouldnt be, BOTH VALUES ARE THE SAME as per the console log. I have input a print() line to check whats going on because my items are'nt sorting by type when I expect them to.

public void SortItemsByType(string type)
{
    sortedItems.Clear();
    foreach (Item i in allItems)
    {
        print("is the following true or false" + i.type.ToString() == type);
        print("this is iToString= " + i.type.ToString());
        print("and this is type: " + type);
        if (i.type.ToString() == type)
            sortedItems.Add(i);
    }
}

and (please note the 3 print lines, here is their output in the console: (sorry but the dumb IDE won't let me copy-paste the console, here is image):

Im still very much a noob to this, so I am sure there is something I have missed. But for the life of me i cannot figure out why that bool is always resulting in FALSE?

Any help is massively appreciated. Thanks

Answer 1

Quick Answer: What your code actually currently does is compare references to check that they are the same, not the values of those references.

Try changing

print("is the following true or false" + i.type.ToString() == type);

to

print("is the following true or false" + string.Equals(i.type.ToString (), type));

When you use string.Equals, you're comparing the values instead of the references themselves. '==' checks to see that the references.

See more info below

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/814878/c-sharp-difference-between-and-equals https://www.dotnetperls.com/string-equals https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.string.equals(v=vs.110).aspx

Answer 2

Your first logging line isn't doing what you think it's doing. Unlike Java, C# overloads operator == on strings so as long as type is a string you don't need the .Equals.

print("is the following true or false" + foo == bar); // wrong 
print("is the following true or false" + (foo == bar)); // right

Otherwise, the function looks like it should work (at least, as far as updating the sortedItems list)