ListDictionary.IEnumerable.GetEnumerator Method

Definition

Namespace:

System.Collections.Specialized

Assemblies:

netstandard.dll, System.Collections.Specialized.dll

Source:

ListDictionary.cs

Returns an IEnumerator that iterates through the ListDictionary.

C#

System.Collections.IEnumerator IEnumerable.GetEnumerator();

Returns

IEnumerator

An IEnumerator for the ListDictionary.

Implements

GetEnumerator()

Examples

The following code example enumerates the elements of a ListDictionary.

C#

using System;
using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Specialized;

public class SamplesListDictionary  {

   public static void Main()  {

      // Creates and initializes a new ListDictionary.
      ListDictionary myCol = new ListDictionary();
      myCol.Add( "Braeburn Apples", "1.49" );
      myCol.Add( "Fuji Apples", "1.29" );
      myCol.Add( "Gala Apples", "1.49" );
      myCol.Add( "Golden Delicious Apples", "1.29" );
      myCol.Add( "Granny Smith Apples", "0.89" );
      myCol.Add( "Red Delicious Apples", "0.99" );

      // Display the contents of the collection using foreach. This is the preferred method.
      Console.WriteLine( "Displays the elements using foreach:" );
      PrintKeysAndValues1( myCol );

      // Display the contents of the collection using the enumerator.
      Console.WriteLine( "Displays the elements using the IDictionaryEnumerator:" );
      PrintKeysAndValues2( myCol );

      // Display the contents of the collection using the Keys, Values, Count, and Item properties.
      Console.WriteLine( "Displays the elements using the Keys, Values, Count, and Item properties:" );
      PrintKeysAndValues3( myCol );
   }

   // Uses the foreach statement which hides the complexity of the enumerator.
   // NOTE: The foreach statement is the preferred way of enumerating the contents of a collection.
   public static void PrintKeysAndValues1( IDictionary myCol )  {
      Console.WriteLine( "   KEY                       VALUE" );
      foreach ( DictionaryEntry de in myCol )
         Console.WriteLine( "   {0,-25} {1}", de.Key, de.Value );
      Console.WriteLine();
   }

   // Uses the enumerator.
   // NOTE: The foreach statement is the preferred way of enumerating the contents of a collection.
   public static void PrintKeysAndValues2( IDictionary myCol )  {
      IDictionaryEnumerator myEnumerator = myCol.GetEnumerator();
      Console.WriteLine( "   KEY                       VALUE" );
      while ( myEnumerator.MoveNext() )
         Console.WriteLine( "   {0,-25} {1}", myEnumerator.Key, myEnumerator.Value );
      Console.WriteLine();
   }

   // Uses the Keys, Values, Count, and Item properties.
   public static void PrintKeysAndValues3( ListDictionary myCol )  {
      String[] myKeys = new String[myCol.Count];
      myCol.Keys.CopyTo( myKeys, 0 );

      Console.WriteLine( "   INDEX KEY                       VALUE" );
      for ( int i = 0; i < myCol.Count; i++ )
         Console.WriteLine( "   {0,-5} {1,-25} {2}", i, myKeys[i], myCol[myKeys[i]] );
      Console.WriteLine();
   }
}

/*
This code produces the following output.

Displays the elements using foreach:
   KEY                       VALUE
   Braeburn Apples           1.49
   Fuji Apples               1.29
   Gala Apples               1.49
   Golden Delicious Apples   1.29
   Granny Smith Apples       0.89
   Red Delicious Apples      0.99

Displays the elements using the IDictionaryEnumerator:
   KEY                       VALUE
   Braeburn Apples           1.49
   Fuji Apples               1.29
   Gala Apples               1.49
   Golden Delicious Apples   1.29
   Granny Smith Apples       0.89
   Red Delicious Apples      0.99

Displays the elements using the Keys, Values, Count, and Item properties:
   INDEX KEY                       VALUE
   0     Braeburn Apples           1.49
   1     Fuji Apples               1.29
   2     Gala Apples               1.49
   3     Golden Delicious Apples   1.29
   4     Granny Smith Apples       0.89
   5     Red Delicious Apples      0.99

*/

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. Reset also brings the enumerator back to this position. At this position, calling Current throws an exception. Therefore, you must call MoveNext 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, calling Current throws an exception. 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. If the collection is modified between MoveNext and Current, Current returns the element that it is set to, even if the enumerator is already invalidated.

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.

This method is an O(1) operation.

Applies to

See also

• IDictionaryEnumerator
• IEnumerator