DistinctValuesCollectorTest.cs

using Lucene.Net.Analysis;
using Lucene.Net.Documents;
using Lucene.Net.Index;
using Lucene.Net.Index.Extensions;
using Lucene.Net.Queries.Function.ValueSources;
using Lucene.Net.Search.Grouping.Function;
using Lucene.Net.Search.Grouping.Terms;
using Lucene.Net.Store;
using Lucene.Net.Util;
using Lucene.Net.Util.Mutable;
using NUnit.Framework;
using System;
using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Globalization;
using System.Linq;
using JCG = J2N.Collections.Generic;

namespace Lucene.Net.Search.Grouping
{
    /*
     * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
     * contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
     * this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
     * The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
     * (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
     * the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
     *
     *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
     *
     * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
     * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
     * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
     * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
     * limitations under the License.
     */

    public class DistinctValuesCollectorTest : AbstractGroupingTestCase
    {
        private readonly static NullComparer nullComparer = new NullComparer();

        private readonly string groupField = "author";
        //private readonly string dvGroupField = "author_dv"; // LUCENENET NOTE: Not used in Lucene
        private readonly string countField = "publisher";
        //private readonly string dvCountField = "publisher_dv"; // LUCENENET NOTE: Not used in Lucene

        [Test]
        public virtual void TestSimple()
        {
            Random random = Random;
            DocValuesType[] dvTypes = new DocValuesType[]{
                DocValuesType.NUMERIC,
                DocValuesType.BINARY,
                DocValuesType.SORTED,
            };
            Directory dir = NewDirectory();
            RandomIndexWriter w = new RandomIndexWriter(
                random,
                dir,
                NewIndexWriterConfig(TEST_VERSION_CURRENT,
                    new MockAnalyzer(random)).SetMergePolicy(NewLogMergePolicy()));
            bool canUseDV = !"Lucene3x".Equals(w.IndexWriter.Config.Codec.Name, StringComparison.Ordinal);
            DocValuesType dvType = canUseDV ? dvTypes[random.nextInt(dvTypes.Length)] : DocValuesType.NONE;

            Document doc = new Document();
            AddField(doc, groupField, "1", dvType);
            AddField(doc, countField, "1", dvType);
            doc.Add(new TextField("content", "random text", Field.Store.NO));
            doc.Add(new StringField("id", "1", Field.Store.NO));
            w.AddDocument(doc);

            // 1
            doc = new Document();
            AddField(doc, groupField, "1", dvType);
            AddField(doc, countField, "1", dvType);
            doc.Add(new TextField("content", "some more random text blob", Field.Store.NO));
            doc.Add(new StringField("id", "2", Field.Store.NO));
            w.AddDocument(doc);

            // 2
            doc = new Document();
            AddField(doc, groupField, "1", dvType);
            AddField(doc, countField, "2", dvType);
            doc.Add(new TextField("content", "some more random textual data", Field.Store.NO));
            doc.Add(new StringField("id", "3", Field.Store.NO));
            w.AddDocument(doc);
            w.Commit(); // To ensure a second segment

            // 3
            doc = new Document();
            AddField(doc, groupField, "2", dvType);
            doc.Add(new TextField("content", "some random text", Field.Store.NO));
            doc.Add(new StringField("id", "4", Field.Store.NO));
            w.AddDocument(doc);

            // 4
            doc = new Document();
            AddField(doc, groupField, "3", dvType);
            AddField(doc, countField, "1", dvType);
            doc.Add(new TextField("content", "some more random text", Field.Store.NO));
            doc.Add(new StringField("id", "5", Field.Store.NO));
            w.AddDocument(doc);

            // 5
            doc = new Document();
            AddField(doc, groupField, "3", dvType);
            AddField(doc, countField, "1", dvType);
            doc.Add(new TextField("content", "random blob", Field.Store.NO));
            doc.Add(new StringField("id", "6", Field.Store.NO));
            w.AddDocument(doc);

            // 6 -- no author field
            doc = new Document();
            doc.Add(new TextField("content", "random word stuck in alot of other text", Field.Store.YES));
            AddField(doc, countField, "1", dvType);
            doc.Add(new StringField("id", "6", Field.Store.NO));
            w.AddDocument(doc);

            IndexSearcher indexSearcher = NewSearcher(w.GetReader());
            w.Dispose();

            var cmp = Comparer<AbstractDistinctValuesCollector.IGroupCount<IComparable>>.Create((groupCount1, groupCount2) =>
            {
                if (groupCount1.GroupValue is null)
                {
                    if (groupCount2.GroupValue is null)
                    {
                        return 0;
                    }
                    return -1;
                }
                else if (groupCount2.GroupValue is null)
                {
                    return 1;
                }
                else
                {
                    return groupCount1.GroupValue.CompareTo(groupCount2.GroupValue);
                }
            });

            // === Search for content:random
            IAbstractFirstPassGroupingCollector<IComparable> firstCollector = CreateRandomFirstPassCollector(dvType, new Sort(), groupField, 10);
            indexSearcher.Search(new TermQuery(new Term("content", "random")), firstCollector);
            IAbstractDistinctValuesCollector<AbstractDistinctValuesCollector.IGroupCount<IComparable>> distinctValuesCollector
                = CreateDistinctCountCollector(firstCollector, groupField, countField, dvType);
            indexSearcher.Search(new TermQuery(new Term("content", "random")), distinctValuesCollector);

            //var gcs = distinctValuesCollector.Groups as JCG.List<IGroupCount<IComparable>>;
            // LUCENENET TODO: Try to work out how to do this without an O(n) operation
            var gcs = new JCG.List<AbstractDistinctValuesCollector.IGroupCount<IComparable>>(distinctValuesCollector.Groups);
            gcs.Sort(cmp);
            assertEquals(4, gcs.Count);

            CompareNull(gcs[0].GroupValue);
            JCG.List<IComparable> countValues = new JCG.List<IComparable>(gcs[0].UniqueValues);
            assertEquals(1, countValues.size());
            Compare("1", countValues[0]);

            Compare("1", gcs[1].GroupValue);
            countValues = new JCG.List<IComparable>(gcs[1].UniqueValues);
            countValues.Sort(nullComparer);
            assertEquals(2, countValues.size());
            Compare("1", countValues[0]);
            Compare("2", countValues[1]);

            Compare("2", gcs[2].GroupValue);
            countValues = new JCG.List<IComparable>(gcs[2].UniqueValues);
            assertEquals(1, countValues.size());
            CompareNull(countValues[0]);

            Compare("3", gcs[3].GroupValue);
            countValues = new JCG.List<IComparable>(gcs[3].UniqueValues);
            assertEquals(1, countValues.size());
            Compare("1", countValues[0]);

            // === Search for content:some
            firstCollector = CreateRandomFirstPassCollector(dvType, new Sort(), groupField, 10);
            indexSearcher.Search(new TermQuery(new Term("content", "some")), firstCollector);
            distinctValuesCollector = CreateDistinctCountCollector(firstCollector, groupField, countField, dvType);
            indexSearcher.Search(new TermQuery(new Term("content", "some")), distinctValuesCollector);

            // LUCENENET TODO: Try to work out how to do this without an O(n) operation
            //gcs = distinctValuesCollector.Groups as JCG.List<IGroupCount<IComparable>>;
            gcs = new JCG.List<AbstractDistinctValuesCollector.IGroupCount<IComparable>>(distinctValuesCollector.Groups);
            gcs.Sort(cmp);
            assertEquals(3, gcs.Count);

            Compare("1", gcs[0].GroupValue);
            countValues = new JCG.List<IComparable>(gcs[0].UniqueValues);
            assertEquals(2, countValues.size());
            countValues.Sort(nullComparer);
            Compare("1", countValues[0]);
            Compare("2", countValues[1]);

            Compare("2", gcs[1].GroupValue);
            countValues = new JCG.List<IComparable>(gcs[1].UniqueValues);
            assertEquals(1, countValues.size());
            CompareNull(countValues[0]);

            Compare("3", gcs[2].GroupValue);
            countValues = new JCG.List<IComparable>(gcs[2].UniqueValues);
            assertEquals(1, countValues.size());
            Compare("1", countValues[0]);

            // === Search for content:blob
            firstCollector = CreateRandomFirstPassCollector(dvType, new Sort(), groupField, 10);
            indexSearcher.Search(new TermQuery(new Term("content", "blob")), firstCollector);
            distinctValuesCollector = CreateDistinctCountCollector(firstCollector, groupField, countField, dvType);
            indexSearcher.Search(new TermQuery(new Term("content", "blob")), distinctValuesCollector);

            // LUCENENET TODO: Try to work out how to do this without an O(n) operation
            //gcs = distinctValuesCollector.Groups as JCG.List<IGroupCount<IComparable>>;
            gcs = new JCG.List<AbstractDistinctValuesCollector.IGroupCount<IComparable>>(distinctValuesCollector.Groups);
            gcs.Sort(cmp);
            assertEquals(2, gcs.Count);

            Compare("1", gcs[0].GroupValue);
            countValues = new JCG.List<IComparable>(gcs[0].UniqueValues);
            // B/c the only one document matched with blob inside the author 1 group
            assertEquals(1, countValues.Count);
            Compare("1", countValues[0]);

            Compare("3", gcs[1].GroupValue);
            countValues = new JCG.List<IComparable>(gcs[1].UniqueValues);
            assertEquals(1, countValues.Count);
            Compare("1", countValues[0]);

            indexSearcher.IndexReader.Dispose();
            dir.Dispose();
        }

        [Test]
        public virtual void TestRandom()
        {
            Random random = Random;
            int numberOfRuns = TestUtil.NextInt32(random, 3, 6);
            for (int indexIter = 0; indexIter < numberOfRuns; indexIter++)
            {
                IndexContext context = CreateIndexContext();
                for (int searchIter = 0; searchIter < 100; searchIter++)
                {
                    IndexSearcher searcher = NewSearcher(context.indexReader);
                    bool useDv = context.dvType != DocValuesType.NONE && random.nextBoolean();
                    DocValuesType dvType = useDv ? context.dvType : DocValuesType.NONE;
                    string term = context.contentStrings[random.nextInt(context.contentStrings.Length)];
                    Sort groupSort = new Sort(new SortField("id", SortFieldType.STRING));
                    int topN = 1 + random.nextInt(10);

                    IList<AbstractDistinctValuesCollector.IGroupCount<IComparable>> expectedResult = CreateExpectedResult(context, term, groupSort, topN);

                    IAbstractFirstPassGroupingCollector<IComparable> firstCollector = CreateRandomFirstPassCollector(dvType, groupSort, groupField, topN);
                    searcher.Search(new TermQuery(new Term("content", term)), firstCollector);
                    IAbstractDistinctValuesCollector<AbstractDistinctValuesCollector.IGroupCount<IComparable>> distinctValuesCollector
                        = CreateDistinctCountCollector(firstCollector, groupField, countField, dvType);
                    searcher.Search(new TermQuery(new Term("content", term)), distinctValuesCollector);

                    // LUCENENET TODO: Try to work out how to do this without an O(n) operation
                    JCG.List<AbstractDistinctValuesCollector.IGroupCount<IComparable>> actualResult = new JCG.List<AbstractDistinctValuesCollector.IGroupCount<IComparable>>(distinctValuesCollector.Groups);

                    if (Verbose)
                    {
                        Console.WriteLine("Index iter=" + indexIter);
                        Console.WriteLine("Search iter=" + searchIter);
                        Console.WriteLine("1st pass collector class name=" + firstCollector.GetType().Name);
                        Console.WriteLine("2nd pass collector class name=" + distinctValuesCollector.GetType().Name);
                        Console.WriteLine("Search term=" + term);
                        Console.WriteLine("DVType=" + dvType);
                        Console.WriteLine("1st pass groups=" + firstCollector.GetTopGroups(0, false).toString());
                        Console.WriteLine("Expected:");
                        PrintGroups(expectedResult);
                        Console.WriteLine("Actual:");
                        PrintGroups(actualResult);
                        Console.Out.Flush();
                    }

                    assertEquals(expectedResult.Count, actualResult.Count);
                    for (int i = 0; i < expectedResult.size(); i++)
                    {
                        AbstractDistinctValuesCollector.IGroupCount<IComparable> expected = expectedResult[i];
                        AbstractDistinctValuesCollector.IGroupCount<IComparable> actual = actualResult[i];
                        AssertValues(expected.GroupValue, actual.GroupValue);
                        assertEquals(expected.UniqueValues.Count(), actual.UniqueValues.Count());
                        JCG.List<IComparable> expectedUniqueValues = new JCG.List<IComparable>(expected.UniqueValues);
                        expectedUniqueValues.Sort(nullComparer);
                        JCG.List<IComparable> actualUniqueValues = new JCG.List<IComparable>(actual.UniqueValues);
                        actualUniqueValues.Sort(nullComparer);
                        for (int j = 0; j < expectedUniqueValues.size(); j++)
                        {
                            AssertValues(expectedUniqueValues[j], actualUniqueValues[j]);
                        }
                    }
                }
                context.indexReader.Dispose();
                context.directory.Dispose();
            }
        }

        private void PrintGroups(IList<AbstractDistinctValuesCollector.IGroupCount<IComparable>> results)
        {
            for (int i = 0; i < results.size(); i++)
            {
                var group = results[i];
                object gv = group.GroupValue;
                if (gv is BytesRef bytesRef)
                {
                    Console.WriteLine(i + ": groupValue=" + bytesRef.Utf8ToString());
                }
                else
                {
                    Console.WriteLine(i + ": groupValue=" + gv);
                }
                foreach (object o in group.UniqueValues)
                {
                    if (o is BytesRef bytesRef2)
                    {
                        Console.WriteLine("  " + bytesRef2.Utf8ToString());
                    }
                    else
                    {
                        Console.WriteLine("  " + o);
                    }
                }
            }
        }

        private void AssertValues(object expected, object actual)
        {
            if (expected is null)
            {
                CompareNull(actual);
            }
            else
            {
                Compare(((BytesRef)expected).Utf8ToString(), actual);
            }
        }

        private void Compare(string expected, object groupValue)
        {
            if (typeof(BytesRef).IsAssignableFrom(groupValue.GetType()))
            {
                assertEquals(expected, ((BytesRef)groupValue).Utf8ToString());
            }
            else if (typeof(double).IsAssignableFrom(groupValue.GetType()))
            {
                assertEquals(double.Parse(expected, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture), groupValue);
            }
            else if (typeof(long).IsAssignableFrom(groupValue.GetType()))
            {
                assertEquals(long.Parse(expected, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture), groupValue);
            }
            else if (typeof(MutableValue).IsAssignableFrom(groupValue.GetType()))
            {
                MutableValueStr mutableValue = new MutableValueStr();
                mutableValue.Value = new BytesRef(expected);
                assertEquals(mutableValue, groupValue);
            }
            else
            {
                fail();
            }
        }

        private void CompareNull(object groupValue)
        {
            if (groupValue is null)
            {
                return; // term based impl...
            }
            // DV based impls..
            if (typeof(BytesRef).IsAssignableFrom(groupValue.GetType()))
            {
                assertEquals("", ((BytesRef)groupValue).Utf8ToString());
            }
            else if (typeof(double).IsAssignableFrom(groupValue.GetType()))
            {
                assertEquals(0.0d, groupValue);
            }
            else if (typeof(long).IsAssignableFrom(groupValue.GetType()))
            {
                assertEquals(0L, groupValue);
                // Function based impl
            }
            else if (typeof(MutableValue).IsAssignableFrom(groupValue.GetType()))
            {
                assertFalse(((MutableValue)groupValue).Exists);
            }
            else
            {
                fail();
            }
        }

        private void AddField(Document doc, string field, string value, DocValuesType type)
        {
            doc.Add(new StringField(field, value, Field.Store.YES));
            if (type == DocValuesType.NONE)
            {
                return;
            }
            string dvField = field + "_dv";

            Field valuesField = null;
            switch (type)
            {
                case DocValuesType.NUMERIC:
                    valuesField = new NumericDocValuesField(dvField, int.Parse(value, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture));
                    break;
                case DocValuesType.BINARY:
                    valuesField = new BinaryDocValuesField(dvField, new BytesRef(value));
                    break;
                case DocValuesType.SORTED:
                    valuesField = new SortedDocValuesField(dvField, new BytesRef(value));
                    break;
            }
            doc.Add(valuesField);
        }

        private IAbstractDistinctValuesCollector<AbstractDistinctValuesCollector.IGroupCount<T>> CreateDistinctCountCollector<T>(IAbstractFirstPassGroupingCollector<T> firstPassGroupingCollector,
                                                                            string groupField,
                                                                            string countField,
                                                                            DocValuesType dvType)
        {
            Random random = Random;
            IEnumerable<ISearchGroup<T>> searchGroups = firstPassGroupingCollector.GetTopGroups(0, false);
            if (typeof(FunctionFirstPassGroupingCollector<MutableValue>).IsAssignableFrom(firstPassGroupingCollector.GetType()))     // LUCENENET Specific type for generic must be specified.
            {
                return (IAbstractDistinctValuesCollector<AbstractDistinctValuesCollector.IGroupCount<T>>)new FunctionDistinctValuesCollector(new Hashtable(), new BytesRefFieldSource(groupField), new BytesRefFieldSource(countField), searchGroups as IEnumerable<ISearchGroup<MutableValue>>);
            }
            else
            {
                return (IAbstractDistinctValuesCollector<AbstractDistinctValuesCollector.IGroupCount<T>>)new TermDistinctValuesCollector(groupField, countField, searchGroups as IEnumerable<ISearchGroup<BytesRef>>);
            }
        }

        private IAbstractFirstPassGroupingCollector<IComparable> CreateRandomFirstPassCollector(DocValuesType dvType, Sort groupSort, string groupField, int topNGroups)
        {
            Random random = Random;
            if (dvType != DocValuesType.NONE)
            {
                if (random.nextBoolean())
                {
                    return new FunctionFirstPassGroupingCollector<MutableValue>(new BytesRefFieldSource(groupField), new Hashtable(), groupSort, topNGroups)        // LUCENENET Specific type for generic must be specified.
                        as IAbstractFirstPassGroupingCollector<IComparable>;
                }
                else
                {
                    return new TermFirstPassGroupingCollector(groupField, groupSort, topNGroups)
                        as IAbstractFirstPassGroupingCollector<IComparable>;
                }
            }
            else
            {
                if (random.nextBoolean())
                {
                    return new FunctionFirstPassGroupingCollector<MutableValue>(new BytesRefFieldSource(groupField), new Hashtable(), groupSort, topNGroups)        // LUCENENET Specific type for generic must be specified.
                        as IAbstractFirstPassGroupingCollector<IComparable>;
                }
                else
                {
                    return new TermFirstPassGroupingCollector(groupField, groupSort, topNGroups)
                        as IAbstractFirstPassGroupingCollector<IComparable>;
                }
            }
        }

        internal class GroupCount : AbstractDistinctValuesCollector.GroupCount<BytesRef>
        {
            internal GroupCount(BytesRef groupValue, IEnumerable<BytesRef> uniqueValues)
                : base(groupValue)
            {
                ((ISet<BytesRef>)this.UniqueValues).UnionWith(uniqueValues);
            }
        }

        private IList<AbstractDistinctValuesCollector.IGroupCount<IComparable>> CreateExpectedResult(IndexContext context, string term, Sort groupSort, int topN)
        {
            JCG.List<AbstractDistinctValuesCollector.IGroupCount<IComparable>> result = new JCG.List<AbstractDistinctValuesCollector.IGroupCount<IComparable>>();
            IDictionary<string, ISet<string>> groupCounts = context.searchTermToGroupCounts[term];
            int i = 0;
            foreach (string group in groupCounts.Keys)
            {
                if (topN <= i++)
                {
                    break;
                }
                ISet<BytesRef> uniqueValues = new JCG.HashSet<BytesRef>();
                foreach (string val in groupCounts[group])
                {
                    uniqueValues.Add(val != null ? new BytesRef(val) : null);
                }
                var gc = new GroupCount(group != null ? new BytesRef(group) : (BytesRef)null, uniqueValues);
                result.Add(gc);
            }
            return result;
        }

        private IndexContext CreateIndexContext()
        {
            Random random = Random;
            DocValuesType[] dvTypes = new DocValuesType[]{
                DocValuesType.BINARY,
                DocValuesType.SORTED
            };

            Directory dir = NewDirectory();
            RandomIndexWriter w = new RandomIndexWriter(
                random,
                dir,
                NewIndexWriterConfig(TEST_VERSION_CURRENT,
                new MockAnalyzer(random)).SetMergePolicy(NewLogMergePolicy())
              );

            bool canUseDV = !"Lucene3x".Equals(w.IndexWriter.Config.Codec.Name, StringComparison.Ordinal);
            DocValuesType dvType = canUseDV ? dvTypes[random.nextInt(dvTypes.Length)] : DocValuesType.NONE;

            int numDocs = 86 + random.nextInt(1087) * RandomMultiplier;
            string[] groupValues = new string[numDocs / 5];
            string[] countValues = new string[numDocs / 10];
            for (int i = 0; i < groupValues.Length; i++)
            {
                groupValues[i] = GenerateRandomNonEmptyString();
            }
            for (int i = 0; i < countValues.Length; i++)
            {
                countValues[i] = GenerateRandomNonEmptyString();
            }

            JCG.List<string> contentStrings = new JCG.List<string>();
            IDictionary<string, IDictionary<string, ISet<string>>> searchTermToGroupCounts = new JCG.Dictionary<string, IDictionary<string, ISet<string>>>();
            for (int i = 1; i <= numDocs; i++)
            {
                string groupValue = random.nextInt(23) == 14 ? null : groupValues[random.nextInt(groupValues.Length)];
                string countValue = random.nextInt(21) == 13 ? null : countValues[random.nextInt(countValues.Length)];
                string content = "random" + random.nextInt(numDocs / 20);
                if (!searchTermToGroupCounts.TryGetValue(content, out var groupToCounts))
                {
                    // Groups sort always DOCID asc...
                    // LUCENENET specific: OrderedDictionary<TKey, TValue> is a replacement for LinkedHashMap<K, V> in the JDK
                    searchTermToGroupCounts.Add(content, groupToCounts = new JCG.OrderedDictionary<string, ISet<string>>());
                    contentStrings.Add(content);
                }

                if (!groupToCounts.TryGetValue(groupValue, out var countsVals))
                {
                    groupToCounts.Add(groupValue, countsVals = new JCG.HashSet<string>());
                }
                countsVals.Add(countValue);

                Document doc = new Document();
                doc.Add(new StringField("id", string.Format(CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, "{0:D9}", i), Field.Store.YES));
                if (groupValue != null)
                {
                    AddField(doc, groupField, groupValue, dvType);
                }
                if (countValue != null)
                {
                    AddField(doc, countField, countValue, dvType);
                }
                doc.Add(new TextField("content", content, Field.Store.YES));
                w.AddDocument(doc);
            }

            DirectoryReader reader = w.GetReader();
            if (Verbose)
            {
                for (int docID = 0; docID < reader.MaxDoc; docID++)
                {
                    Document doc = reader.Document(docID);
                    Console.WriteLine("docID=" + docID + " id=" + doc.Get("id") + " content=" + doc.Get("content") + " author=" + doc.Get("author") + " publisher=" + doc.Get("publisher"));
                }
            }

            w.Dispose();
            return new IndexContext(dir, reader, dvType, searchTermToGroupCounts, contentStrings.ToArray(/*new String[contentStrings.size()]*/));
        }

        internal class IndexContext
        {

            internal readonly Directory directory;
            internal readonly DirectoryReader indexReader;
            internal readonly DocValuesType dvType;
            internal readonly IDictionary<string, IDictionary<string, ISet<string>>> searchTermToGroupCounts;
            internal readonly string[] contentStrings;

            internal IndexContext(Directory directory, DirectoryReader indexReader, DocValuesType dvType,
                         IDictionary<string, IDictionary<string, ISet<string>>> searchTermToGroupCounts, string[] contentStrings)
            {
                this.directory = directory;
                this.indexReader = indexReader;
                this.dvType = dvType;
                this.searchTermToGroupCounts = searchTermToGroupCounts;
                this.contentStrings = contentStrings;
            }
        }

        internal class NullComparer : IComparer<IComparable>
        {

            public int Compare(IComparable a, IComparable b)
            {
                if (a == b)
                {
                    return 0;
                }
                else if (a is null)
                {
                    return -1;
                }
                else if (b is null)
                {
                    return 1;
                }
                else
                {
                    return a.CompareTo(b);
                }
            }

        }
    }
}