How can i make a list or maybe some kind of dictionary of distances and positions of gameobjects?

Question

private void FindDistances()
    {
        List<float> distances = new List<float>();
        List<Vector3> positions = new List<Vector3>();

        for (int i = 0; i < objects.Count; i++)
        {
            distances.Add(Vector3.Distance(EndStartPoints[0].transform.position, objects[i].transform.position));
            positions.Add(objects[i].transform.position);
        }
        distances.Sort();
    }

For example in distances the first 3 indexes are:

0 = 10
1 = 10
2 = 10

But in the positions List every object have another position. So distance 10 in index 0 is not in the same position as distance 10 in index 2. S o i want somehow to merge the Lists so i know that index 0 distance 10 is at position...x,y,z and index 2 distance 10 is at position...x,y,z

Like keys and values ? Not sure.

Then i want to get from the first 3 distance random of one distance and his position. For example if i in the List distances i have cases of same distance pick random distance and it's position.

If it's only one distance then just get his position.

Last thing i will want then to destroy or color the object at the position of the distance. So i have a List called objects.

So if i picked for example distance index 1 then destroy or color the object on the distance position.

What i tried so far:

using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using UnityEditor;
using UnityEngine;
using UnityEngine.UI;

public class TestGenerator : MonoBehaviour
{
    [System.Serializable]
    public class PosDisPair //Name the pair however you like
    {
        public float Distance;
        public Vector3 Pos;
    }

    public GameObject Node;
    public Vector3 nodeScale = new Vector3(4, 1, 4);
    [Range(3, 100)]
    public int mapSize = 10;
    public float Spacing = 10;
    public float spawnSpeed = 5;
    private List<GameObject> objects = new List<GameObject>();
    private List<GameObject> EndStartPoints = new List<GameObject>();
    private int currentMapSize;
    private List<PosDisPair> pairList = new List<PosDisPair>();

    private void Start()
    {
        currentMapSize = mapSize;
        Generate();
        GenerateRandom(mapSize);
    }

    private void Generate()
    {
        if (objects.Count > 0)
            objects = new List<GameObject>();

        if (Node == null)
            Node = UnityEngine.GameObject.FindGameObjectWithTag("Main Node");

        for (int x = 0; x < mapSize; x++)
        {
            float positionWidth = Spacing * (float)x;

            for (int z = 0; z < mapSize; z++)
            {
                float positionHieght = Spacing * (float)z;
                GameObject block = Instantiate(Node, Vector3.zero, Node.transform.rotation) as GameObject;
                block.transform.parent = transform;
                block.transform.localPosition = new Vector3(positionWidth, 0, positionHieght);
                block.transform.localScale = new Vector3(nodeScale.x, nodeScale.y, nodeScale.z);
                block.tag = "NodeDestroyable";
                objects.Add(block);
            }
        }
    }

    public void GenerateNew()
    {
        currentMapSize = mapSize;

        DestroyNodes();

        Node = UnityEngine.GameObject.FindGameObjectWithTag("Main Node");
        Generate();
        GenerateRandom(mapSize);

        FindDistances();
    }

    public void DestroyNodes()
    {
        GameObject[] nodes = UnityEngine.GameObject.FindGameObjectsWithTag("NodeDestroyable");

        if (nodes.Length == 0)
        {
            //Debug.Log("No nodes to destroy found");
        }
        else
        {
            for (int i = 0; i < nodes.Length; i++)
            {
                DestroyImmediate(nodes[i]);
            }
        }
    }

    private void Update()
    {
        Erase();
    }

    private void Erase()
    {
        if (Input.GetMouseButton(0))
        {
            Ray ray = Camera.main.ScreenPointToRay(Input.mousePosition);
            RaycastHit hit;
            if (Physics.Raycast(ray, out hit))
            {
                if (hit.collider.tag == "NodeDestroyable")
                {
                    Destroy(hit.collider.gameObject);
                }
            }
        }
    }

    private void GenerateRandom(int gridSize)
    {
        List<int> selectedIndexes = new List<int>();

        //Create an array for indexes of the TOP side
        var arr = new int[gridSize];
        for (int i = 0; i < gridSize; i++)
        {
            arr[i] = i;
        }
        int mynum = arr[Random.Range(0, arr.Length)];
        GameObject Top = objects[mynum];
        selectedIndexes.Add(mynum);

        //Create an array for indexes of the LEFT side
        int mynum1 = 0;
        var arr1 = new int[gridSize];
        for (int i = 0; i < gridSize; i++)
        {
            arr1[i] = i * gridSize;
        }
        do
        {
            mynum1 = arr1[Random.Range(0, arr1.Length)];
        }
        while (selectedIndexes.Contains(mynum1));
        GameObject Left = objects[mynum1];
        selectedIndexes.Add(mynum1);


        //Create an array for indexes of the BOTTOM side
        int mynum2 = 0;
        var arr2 = new int[gridSize];
        for (int i = 0; i < gridSize; i++)
        {
            arr2[i] = (gridSize * (gridSize - 1)) + i;   //Reach the last row and iterate with i.
        }
        do
        {
            mynum2 = arr2[Random.Range(0, arr2.Length)];
        }
        while (selectedIndexes.Contains(mynum2));
        GameObject Bottom = objects[mynum2];
        selectedIndexes.Add(mynum2);

        //Create an array for indexes of the RIGHT side
        int mynum3 = 0;
        var arr3 = new int[gridSize];
        for (int i = 0; i < gridSize; i++)
        {
            arr3[i] = (i * gridSize) + gridSize - 1;
        }
        do
        {
            mynum3 = arr3[Random.Range(0, arr3.Length)];
        }
        while (selectedIndexes.Contains(mynum3));
        GameObject Right = objects[mynum3];
        selectedIndexes.Add(mynum3);

        /*DestroyImmediate(Right);
        DestroyImmediate(Left);
        DestroyImmediate(Top);
        DestroyImmediate(Bottom);*/

        EndStartPoints = new List<GameObject>();
        EndStartPoints.Add(Left);
        EndStartPoints.Add(Right);

        selectedIndexes.Clear();
    }

    private void OnValidate()
    {
        if (currentMapSize != mapSize)
        {
            UnityEditor.EditorApplication.delayCall += () =>
            {
                GenerateNew();
            };
        }
    }

    private void FindDistances()
    {
        for (int i = 0; i < objects.Count;)
        {
            PosDisPair pairToAdd = new PosDisPair();
            pairToAdd.Distance = Vector3.Distance(EndStartPoints[0].transform.position, objects[i].transform.position);
            pairToAdd.Pos = objects[i].transform.position;
            pairList.Add(pairToAdd);
        }

        pairList.Sort(delegate (PosDisPair a, PosDisPair b) {
            return (a.Distance.CompareTo(b.Distance));
        });
    }

    private void MoveInPath(List<float> distances, List<Vector3> positions)
    {
        for (int i = 0; i < pairList.Count; i++)
        {

        }
    }
}

In the method GenerateNew i'm calling the method: FindDistances(); And inside FindDistances i'm doing:

private void FindDistances()
        {
            for (int i = 0; i < objects.Count;)
            {
                PosDisPair pairToAdd = new PosDisPair();
                pairToAdd.Distance = Vector3.Distance(EndStartPoints[0].transform.position, objects[i].transform.position);
                pairToAdd.Pos = objects[i].transform.position;
                pairList.Add(pairToAdd);
            }

            pairList.Sort(delegate (PosDisPair a, PosDisPair b) {
                return (a.Distance.CompareTo(b.Distance));
            });
        }

And it keep adding to pairList all the time. Then it's raising the memory usage to 2.3GB and stuck/freezing everything i need to shut down the pc.

And the List objects contain only 100 items but i see in pairList over 2 million items i could debug it for a second.

Not sure why it keep adding items to pairList.

The script is working on editor mode so once i'm opening the project it's executing the script and stuck everything.

I also have another script i'm using for buttons:

using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using UnityEditor;
using UnityEngine;

[CustomEditor(typeof(TestGenerator))]
public class GenerateButton : Editor
{
    public override void OnInspectorGUI()
    {
        TestGenerator Generate = (TestGenerator)target;

        if (GUILayout.Button("Generate New"))
        {
            Generate.GenerateNew();
        }

        DrawDefaultInspector();

        if (GUILayout.Button("Destroy Nodes"))
        {
            Generate.DestroyNodes();
        }
    }
}

Answer 1

I could not understand the operations you want to perform but I can also modify the answer for those needs if you clarify it more (The part after your "Like keys and values ? Not sure." sentence). For the solution I suggest you to create a little class for holding the position and the distance as pairs (Can also be struct I guess):

[Serializable]
public class PosDisPair           //Name the pair however you like
{
      public float Distance;
      public Vector3 Pos;
 }

Create a list from that pairs as follows:

List<PosDisPair> pairList = new List<PosDisPair>();

Modify your for loop to set the elements of the list:

for (int i = 0; i < objects.Count; i++){
     PosDisPair pairToAdd = new PosDisPair();
     pairToAdd.Distance = Vector3.Distance(EndStartPoints[0].transform.position, objects[i].transform.position); 
     pairToAdd.Pos = objects[i].transform.position;
     pairList.Add(pairToAdd);              
}

And finally sort the list with a custom mehtod:

pairList.Sort(delegate(PosDisPair a, PosDisPair b) {
     return (a.Distance.CompareTo(b.Distance));
});

Now you can easily access and modify the items you desire, and manipulate the list according to your needs.