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IDictionaryEnumerator Interface

Definition

Enumerates the elements of a nongeneric dictionary.

C#
public interface IDictionaryEnumerator : System.Collections.IEnumerator
C#
[System.Runtime.InteropServices.ComVisible(true)]
public interface IDictionaryEnumerator : System.Collections.IEnumerator
Derived
Attributes
Implements

Examples

This code example shows how to define a dictionary enumerator that implements the IDictionaryEnumerator interface.

C#
using System;
using System.Collections;

// This class implements a simple dictionary using an array of DictionaryEntry objects (key/value pairs).
public class SimpleDictionary : IDictionary
{
    // The array of items
    private DictionaryEntry[] items;
    private Int32 ItemsInUse = 0;

    // Construct the SimpleDictionary with the desired number of items.
    // The number of items cannot change for the life time of this SimpleDictionary.
    public SimpleDictionary(Int32 numItems)
    {
        items = new DictionaryEntry[numItems];
    }

    #region IDictionary Members
    public bool IsReadOnly { get { return false; } }
    public bool Contains(object key)
    {
       Int32 index;
       return TryGetIndexOfKey(key, out index);
    }
    public bool IsFixedSize { get { return false; } }
    public void Remove(object key)
    {
        if (key == null) throw new ArgumentNullException("key");
        // Try to find the key in the DictionaryEntry array
        Int32 index;
        if (TryGetIndexOfKey(key, out index))
        {
            // If the key is found, slide all the items up.
            Array.Copy(items, index + 1, items, index, ItemsInUse - index - 1);
            ItemsInUse--;
        }
        else
        {
            // If the key is not in the dictionary, just return.
        }
    }
    public void Clear() { ItemsInUse = 0; }
    public void Add(object key, object value)
    {
        // Add the new key/value pair even if this key already exists in the dictionary.
        if (ItemsInUse == items.Length)
            throw new InvalidOperationException("The dictionary cannot hold any more items.");
        items[ItemsInUse++] = new DictionaryEntry(key, value);
    }
    public ICollection Keys
    {
        get
        {
            // Return an array where each item is a key.
            Object[] keys = new Object[ItemsInUse];
            for (Int32 n = 0; n < ItemsInUse; n++)
                keys[n] = items[n].Key;
            return keys;
        }
    }
    public ICollection Values
    {
        get
        {
            // Return an array where each item is a value.
            Object[] values = new Object[ItemsInUse];
            for (Int32 n = 0; n < ItemsInUse; n++)
                values[n] = items[n].Value;
            return values;
        }
    }
    public object this[object key]
    {
        get
        {
            // If this key is in the dictionary, return its value.
            Int32 index;
            if (TryGetIndexOfKey(key, out index))
            {
                // The key was found; return its value.
                return items[index].Value;
            }
            else
            {
                // The key was not found; return null.
                return null;
            }
        }

        set
        {
            // If this key is in the dictionary, change its value.
            Int32 index;
            if (TryGetIndexOfKey(key, out index))
            {
                // The key was found; change its value.
                items[index].Value = value;
            }
            else
            {
                // This key is not in the dictionary; add this key/value pair.
                Add(key, value);
            }
        }
    }
    private Boolean TryGetIndexOfKey(Object key, out Int32 index)
    {
        for (index = 0; index < ItemsInUse; index++)
        {
            // If the key is found, return true (the index is also returned).
            if (items[index].Key.Equals(key)) return true;
        }

        // Key not found, return false (index should be ignored by the caller).
        return false;
    }
    private class SimpleDictionaryEnumerator : IDictionaryEnumerator
    {
        // A copy of the SimpleDictionary object's key/value pairs.
        DictionaryEntry[] items;
        Int32 index = -1;

        public SimpleDictionaryEnumerator(SimpleDictionary sd)
        {
            // Make a copy of the dictionary entries currently in the SimpleDictionary object.
            items = new DictionaryEntry[sd.Count];
            Array.Copy(sd.items, 0, items, 0, sd.Count);
        }

        // Return the current item.
        public Object Current { get { ValidateIndex(); return items[index]; } }

        // Return the current dictionary entry.
        public DictionaryEntry Entry
        {
            get { return (DictionaryEntry) Current; }
        }

        // Return the key of the current item.
        public Object Key { get { ValidateIndex();  return items[index].Key; } }

        // Return the value of the current item.
        public Object Value { get { ValidateIndex();  return items[index].Value; } }

        // Advance to the next item.
        public Boolean MoveNext()
        {
            if (index < items.Length - 1) { index++; return true; }
            return false;
        }

        // Validate the enumeration index and throw an exception if the index is out of range.
        private void ValidateIndex()
        {
            if (index < 0 || index >= items.Length)
            throw new InvalidOperationException("Enumerator is before or after the collection.");
        }

        // Reset the index to restart the enumeration.
        public void Reset()
        {
            index = -1;
        }
    }
    public IDictionaryEnumerator GetEnumerator()
    {
        // Construct and return an enumerator.
        return new SimpleDictionaryEnumerator(this);
    }
    #endregion

    #region ICollection Members
    public bool IsSynchronized { get { return false; } }
    public object SyncRoot { get { throw new NotImplementedException(); } }
    public int Count { get { return ItemsInUse; } }
    public void CopyTo(Array array, int index) { throw new NotImplementedException(); }
    #endregion

    #region IEnumerable Members
    IEnumerator IEnumerable.GetEnumerator()
    {
        // Construct and return an enumerator.
        return ((IDictionary)this).GetEnumerator();
    }
    #endregion
}

public sealed class App
{
    static void Main()
    {
        // Create a dictionary that contains no more than three entries.
        IDictionary d = new SimpleDictionary(3);

        // Add three people and their ages to the dictionary.
        d.Add("Jeff", 40);
        d.Add("Kristin", 34);
        d.Add("Aidan", 1);

        Console.WriteLine("Number of elements in dictionary = {0}", d.Count);

        Console.WriteLine("Does dictionary contain 'Jeff'? {0}", d.Contains("Jeff"));
        Console.WriteLine("Jeff's age is {0}", d["Jeff"]);

        // Display every entry's key and value.
        foreach (DictionaryEntry de in d)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("{0} is {1} years old.", de.Key, de.Value);
        }

        // Remove an entry that exists.
        d.Remove("Jeff");

        // Remove an entry that does not exist, but do not throw an exception.
        d.Remove("Max");

        // Show the names (keys) of the people in the dictionary.
        foreach (String s in d.Keys)
            Console.WriteLine(s);

        // Show the ages (values) of the people in the dictionary.
        foreach (Int32 age in d.Values)
            Console.WriteLine(age);
    }
}

// This code produces the following output.
//
// Number of elements in dictionary = 3
// Does dictionary contain 'Jeff'? True
// Jeff's age is 40
// Jeff is 40 years old.
// Kristin is 34 years old.
// Aidan is 1 years old.
// Kristin
// Aidan
// 34
// 1

Remarks

The foreach statement of the C# language (for each in Visual Basic) hides the complexity of the enumerators. Therefore, using foreach is recommended instead of directly manipulating the enumerator.

Enumerators can be used to read the data in the collection, but they cannot be used to modify the underlying collection.

Initially, the enumerator is positioned before the first element in the collection. The Reset method also brings the enumerator back to this position. At this position, Current is undefined. Therefore, you must call the MoveNext method to advance the enumerator to the first element of the collection before reading the value of Current.

Current returns the same object until either MoveNext or Reset is called. MoveNext sets Current to the next element.

If MoveNext passes the end of the collection, the enumerator is positioned after the last element in the collection and MoveNext returns false. When the enumerator is at this position, subsequent calls to MoveNext also return false. If the last call to MoveNext returned false, Current is undefined. To set Current to the first element of the collection again, you can call Reset followed by MoveNext.

An enumerator remains valid as long as the collection remains unchanged. If changes are made to the collection, such as adding, modifying, or deleting elements, the enumerator is irrecoverably invalidated and the next call to MoveNext or Reset throws an InvalidOperationException.

The enumerator does not have exclusive access to the collection; therefore, enumerating through a collection is intrinsically not a thread-safe procedure. Even when a collection is synchronized, other threads can still modify the collection, which causes the enumerator to throw an exception. To guarantee thread safety during enumeration, you can either lock the collection during the entire enumeration or catch the exceptions resulting from changes made by other threads.

Notes to Implementers

The Current property that is inherited from IEnumerator returns an Object that is a boxed DictionaryEntry. It is similar to the Entry property, except that Entry returns a DictionaryEntry rather than an Object.

Properties

Current

Gets the element in the collection at the current position of the enumerator.

(Inherited from IEnumerator)
Entry

Gets both the key and the value of the current dictionary entry.

Key

Gets the key of the current dictionary entry.

Value

Gets the value of the current dictionary entry.

Methods

MoveNext()

Advances the enumerator to the next element of the collection.

(Inherited from IEnumerator)
Reset()

Sets the enumerator to its initial position, which is before the first element in the collection.

(Inherited from IEnumerator)

Applies to

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 1.1, 2.0, 3.0, 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, 1.5, 1.6, 2.0, 2.1
UWP 10.0

See also