Enumerable.Contains Method

Definition

Determines whether a sequence contains a specified element.

Overloads

Contains<TSource>(IEnumerable<TSource>, TSource)

Determines whether a sequence contains a specified element by using the default equality comparer.

Contains<TSource>(IEnumerable<TSource>, TSource, IEqualityComparer<TSource>)

Determines whether a sequence contains a specified element by using a specified IEqualityComparer<T>.

Contains<TSource>(IEnumerable<TSource>, TSource)

Source:
Contains.cs
Source:
Contains.cs
Source:
Contains.cs

Determines whether a sequence contains a specified element by using the default equality comparer.

public static bool Contains<TSource> (this System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerable<TSource> source, TSource value);

Type Parameters

TSource

The type of the elements of source.

Parameters

source
IEnumerable<TSource>

A sequence in which to locate a value.

value
TSource

The value to locate in the sequence.

Returns

true if the source sequence contains an element that has the specified value; otherwise, false.

Exceptions

source is null.

Examples

The following code example demonstrates how to use Contains<TSource>(IEnumerable<TSource>, TSource) to determine whether an array contains a specific element.

string[] fruits = { "apple", "banana", "mango", "orange", "passionfruit", "grape" };

string fruit = "mango";

bool hasMango = fruits.Contains(fruit);

Console.WriteLine(
    "The array {0} contain '{1}'.",
    hasMango ? "does" : "does not",
    fruit);

// This code produces the following output:
//
// The array does contain 'mango'.

Remarks

If the type of source implements ICollection<T>, the Contains method in that implementation is invoked to obtain the result. Otherwise, this method determines whether source contains the specified element.

Enumeration is terminated as soon as a matching element is found.

Elements are compared to the specified value by using the default equality comparer, Default.

Applies to

.NET 9 and other versions
Product Versions
.NET Core 1.0, Core 1.1, Core 2.0, Core 2.1, Core 2.2, Core 3.0, Core 3.1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
.NET Framework 3.5, 4.0, 4.5, 4.5.1, 4.5.2, 4.6, 4.6.1, 4.6.2, 4.7, 4.7.1, 4.7.2, 4.8, 4.8.1
.NET Standard 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.6, 2.0, 2.1
UWP 10.0

Contains<TSource>(IEnumerable<TSource>, TSource, IEqualityComparer<TSource>)

Source:
Contains.cs
Source:
Contains.cs
Source:
Contains.cs

Determines whether a sequence contains a specified element by using a specified IEqualityComparer<T>.

public static bool Contains<TSource> (this System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerable<TSource> source, TSource value, System.Collections.Generic.IEqualityComparer<TSource> comparer);
public static bool Contains<TSource> (this System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerable<TSource> source, TSource value, System.Collections.Generic.IEqualityComparer<TSource>? comparer);

Type Parameters

TSource

The type of the elements of source.

Parameters

source
IEnumerable<TSource>

A sequence in which to locate a value.

value
TSource

The value to locate in the sequence.

comparer
IEqualityComparer<TSource>

An equality comparer to compare values.

Returns

true if the source sequence contains an element that has the specified value; otherwise, false.

Exceptions

source is null.

Examples

The following example shows how to implement an equality comparer that can be used in the Contains method.

public class Product
{
    public string Name { get; set; }
    public int Code { get; set; }
}

// Custom comparer for the Product class
class ProductComparer : IEqualityComparer<Product>
{
    // Products are equal if their names and product numbers are equal.
    public bool Equals(Product x, Product y)
    {

        //Check whether the compared objects reference the same data.
        if (Object.ReferenceEquals(x, y)) return true;

        //Check whether any of the compared objects is null.
        if (Object.ReferenceEquals(x, null) || Object.ReferenceEquals(y, null))
            return false;

        //Check whether the products' properties are equal.
        return x.Code == y.Code && x.Name == y.Name;
    }

    // If Equals() returns true for a pair of objects
    // then GetHashCode() must return the same value for these objects.

    public int GetHashCode(Product product)
    {
        //Check whether the object is null
        if (Object.ReferenceEquals(product, null)) return 0;

        //Get hash code for the Name field if it is not null.
        int hashProductName = product.Name == null ? 0 : product.Name.GetHashCode();

        //Get hash code for the Code field.
        int hashProductCode = product.Code.GetHashCode();

        //Calculate the hash code for the product.
        return hashProductName ^ hashProductCode;
    }
}

After you implement this comparer, you can use a sequence of Product objects in the Contains method, as shown in the following example:

Product[] fruits = { new Product { Name = "apple", Code = 9 },
                       new Product { Name = "orange", Code = 4 },
                       new Product { Name = "lemon", Code = 12 } };

Product apple = new Product { Name = "apple", Code = 9 };
Product kiwi = new Product { Name = "kiwi", Code = 8 };

ProductComparer prodc = new ProductComparer();

bool hasApple = fruits.Contains(apple, prodc);
bool hasKiwi = fruits.Contains(kiwi, prodc);

Console.WriteLine("Apple? " + hasApple);
Console.WriteLine("Kiwi? " + hasKiwi);

/*
    This code produces the following output:

    Apple? True
    Kiwi? False
*/

Remarks

Enumeration is terminated as soon as a matching element is found.

If comparer is null, the default equality comparer, Default, is used to compare elements to the specified value.

Applies to

.NET 9 and other versions
Product Versions
.NET Core 1.0, Core 1.1, Core 2.0, Core 2.1, Core 2.2, Core 3.0, Core 3.1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
.NET Framework 3.5, 4.0, 4.5, 4.5.1, 4.5.2, 4.6, 4.6.1, 4.6.2, 4.7, 4.7.1, 4.7.2, 4.8, 4.8.1
.NET Standard 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.6, 2.0, 2.1
UWP 10.0