ListDictionary Class

Definition

Implements IDictionary using a singly linked list. Recommended for collections that typically include fewer than 10 items.

C#
public class ListDictionary : System.Collections.IDictionary
C#
[System.Serializable]
public class ListDictionary : System.Collections.IDictionary
Inheritance
ListDictionary
Attributes
Implements

Examples

The following code example demonstrates several of the properties and methods of 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 );

      // Copies the ListDictionary to an array with DictionaryEntry elements.
      DictionaryEntry[] myArr = new DictionaryEntry[myCol.Count];
      myCol.CopyTo( myArr, 0 );

      // Displays the values in the array.
      Console.WriteLine( "Displays the elements in the array:" );
      Console.WriteLine( "   KEY                       VALUE" );
      for ( int i = 0; i < myArr.Length; i++ )
         Console.WriteLine( "   {0,-25} {1}", myArr[i].Key, myArr[i].Value );
      Console.WriteLine();

      // Searches for a key.
      if ( myCol.Contains( "Kiwis" ) )
         Console.WriteLine( "The collection contains the key \"Kiwis\"." );
      else
         Console.WriteLine( "The collection does not contain the key \"Kiwis\"." );
      Console.WriteLine();

      // Deletes a key.
      myCol.Remove( "Plums" );
      Console.WriteLine( "The collection contains the following elements after removing \"Plums\":" );
      PrintKeysAndValues1( myCol );

      // Clears the entire collection.
      myCol.Clear();
      Console.WriteLine( "The collection contains the following elements after it is cleared:" );
      PrintKeysAndValues1( 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 output similar to the following.
Note that because a dictionary is implemented for fast keyed access the order
of the items in the dictionary are not gauranteed and, as a result, should not
be depended on.

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

Displays the elements in the array:
   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

The collection does not contain the key "Kiwis".

The collection contains the following elements after removing "Plums":
   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

The collection contains the following elements after it is cleared:
   KEY                       VALUE


*/

Remarks

This is a simple implementation of IDictionary using a singly linked list. It is smaller and faster than a Hashtable if the number of elements is 10 or less. This should not be used if performance is important for large numbers of elements.

Items in a ListDictionary are not in any guaranteed order; code should not depend on the current order. The ListDictionary is implemented for fast keyed retrieval; the actual internal order of items is implementation-dependent and could change in future versions of the product.

Members, such as Item[], Add, Remove, and Contains are O(n) operations, where n is Count.

A key cannot be null, but a value can.

The foreach statement of the C# language (for each in Visual Basic) returns an object of the type of the elements in the collection. Since each element of the ListDictionary is a key/value pair, the element type is not the type of the key or the type of the value. Instead, the element type is DictionaryEntry. For example:

C#
foreach (DictionaryEntry de in myListDictionary)
{
    //...
}

The foreach statement is a wrapper around the enumerator, which only allows reading from, not writing to, the collection.

Constructors

ListDictionary()

Creates an empty ListDictionary using the default comparer.

ListDictionary(IComparer)

Creates an empty ListDictionary using the specified comparer.

Properties

Count

Gets the number of key/value pairs contained in the ListDictionary.

IsFixedSize

Gets a value indicating whether the ListDictionary has a fixed size.

IsReadOnly

Gets a value indicating whether the ListDictionary is read-only.

IsSynchronized

Gets a value indicating whether the ListDictionary is synchronized (thread safe).

Item[Object]

Gets or sets the value associated with the specified key.

Keys

Gets an ICollection containing the keys in the ListDictionary.

SyncRoot

Gets an object that can be used to synchronize access to the ListDictionary.

Values

Gets an ICollection containing the values in the ListDictionary.

Methods

Add(Object, Object)

Adds an entry with the specified key and value into the ListDictionary.

Clear()

Removes all entries from the ListDictionary.

Contains(Object)

Determines whether the ListDictionary contains a specific key.

CopyTo(Array, Int32)

Copies the ListDictionary entries to a one-dimensional Array instance at the specified index.

Equals(Object)

Determines whether the specified object is equal to the current object.

(Inherited from Object)
GetEnumerator()

Returns an IDictionaryEnumerator that iterates through the ListDictionary.

GetHashCode()

Serves as the default hash function.

(Inherited from Object)
GetType()

Gets the Type of the current instance.

(Inherited from Object)
MemberwiseClone()

Creates a shallow copy of the current Object.

(Inherited from Object)
Remove(Object)

Removes the entry with the specified key from the ListDictionary.

ToString()

Returns a string that represents the current object.

(Inherited from Object)

Explicit Interface Implementations

IEnumerable.GetEnumerator()

Returns an IEnumerator that iterates through the ListDictionary.

Extension Methods

Cast<TResult>(IEnumerable)

Casts the elements of an IEnumerable to the specified type.

OfType<TResult>(IEnumerable)

Filters the elements of an IEnumerable based on a specified type.

AsParallel(IEnumerable)

Enables parallelization of a query.

AsQueryable(IEnumerable)

Converts an IEnumerable to an IQueryable.

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 2.0, 2.1
UWP 10.0

Thread Safety

Public static (Shared in Visual Basic) members of this type are thread safe. Any instance members are not guaranteed to be thread safe.

This implementation does not provide a synchronized (thread safe) wrapper for a ListDictionary, but derived classes can create their own synchronized versions of the ListDictionary using the SyncRoot property.

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.

See also