ArrayLastIndexOf - An extended version of Array.LastIndexOf

' An extended version of Array.LastIndexOf, with more options for string 
' searches. The function returns the index of the found element,
'  or -1 if no element is found
'
' Example:
'   Dim arr As String() = {"this is a string for my test", "test number 2",
'  "another String", "do you like this string?", "I like running tests"}
'   Dim i As Integer = arr.GetUpperBound(0) + 1
'
'   Do
'       i = ArrayLastIndexOf(arr, "string", i - 1, True, False)
'       If i > -1 Then
'           Debug.WriteLine(arr(i))
'       End If
'   Loop While i > -1

Function ArrayLastIndexOf(ByVal arr As String(), ByVal search As String) As _
    Integer
    Return ArrayLastIndexOf(arr, search, arr.GetUpperBound(0))
End Function

' this overloaded version allows you to specify also the array's index to start 
' from
Function ArrayLastIndexOf(ByVal arr As String(), ByVal search As String, _
    ByVal startIndex As Integer) As Integer
    Return ArrayLastIndexOf(arr, search, startIndex, True)
End Function

' this overloaded version allows you to specify also whether the search is case-
' sensitive
Function ArrayLastIndexOf(ByVal arr As String(), ByVal search As String, _
    ByVal startIndex As Integer, ByVal caseSensitive As Boolean) As Integer
    Return ArrayLastIndexOf(arr, search, startIndex, caseSensitive, True)
End Function

' this overloaded version allows you to specify also whether only exact matches 
' are valid
Function ArrayLastIndexOf(ByVal arr As String(), ByVal search As String, _
    ByVal startIndex As Integer, ByVal caseSensitive As Boolean, _
    ByVal exactMatch As Boolean) As Integer
    ' if the search is case-sensitive and it runs against exact matches only,
    '  use the standard Array.LastIndexOf function
    If caseSensitive And exactMatch Then
        Return Array.LastIndexOf(arr, search, startIndex)
    End If

    If Not caseSensitive Then search = search.ToLower()

    Dim i As Integer
    For i = startIndex To 0 Step -1
        Dim currElem As String = arr(i)
        ' if the search is not case-sensitive, convert everything to lower-case
        If Not caseSensitive Then currElem = currElem.ToLower()
        If exactMatch Then
            If search = currElem Then Return i
        Else
            ' if partial matches are ok, use the String.IndexOf function,
            '  and return the
            ' current index if a partial match is found
            Dim j As Integer = currElem.IndexOf(search)
            If j > -1 Then Return i
        End If
    Next

    ' if we get here, no element matches the search options, so return -1
    Return -1

    ' =============================
    ' Alternative implementation that clones and reverses the input array,
    '  and passes it to ArrayIndexOf
    ' It results to be slower that the implementation above though
    '
    'Dim arrRev As String() = arr.Clone()
    'Array.Reverse(arrRev)
    'Dim i As Integer = ArrayIndexOf(arrRev, search,
    '  arr.GetUpperBound(0) - startIndex, caseSensitive, exactMatch)

    'If i = -1 Then
    '    Return i
    'Else
    '    Return arr.GetUpperBound(0) - i
    'End If
    ' =============================
End Function