StringCollection.Contains(String) Method

Definition

Namespace:

System.Collections.Specialized

Assembly:

System.Collections.Specialized.dll

Source:

StringCollection.cs

Determines whether the specified string is in the StringCollection.

public:
 bool Contains(System::String ^ value);

public bool Contains (string? value);

member this.Contains : string -> bool

Public Function Contains (value As String) As Boolean

Parameters

value

String

The string to locate in the StringCollection. The value can be null.

Returns

Boolean

true if value is found in the StringCollection; otherwise, false.

Examples

The following code example searches the StringCollection for an element.

#using <System.dll>

using namespace System;
using namespace System::Collections;
using namespace System::Collections::Specialized;
void PrintValues( IEnumerable^ myCol );
int main()
{
   
   // Creates and initializes a new StringCollection.
   StringCollection^ myCol = gcnew StringCollection;
   array<String^>^myArr = {"RED","orange","yellow","RED","green","blue","RED","indigo","violet","RED"};
   myCol->AddRange( myArr );
   Console::WriteLine( "Initial contents of the StringCollection:" );
   PrintValues( myCol );
   
   // Checks whether the collection contains "orange" and, if so, displays its index.
   if ( myCol->Contains( "orange" ) )
      Console::WriteLine( "The collection contains \"orange\" at index {0}.", myCol->IndexOf( "orange" ) );
   else
      Console::WriteLine( "The collection does not contain \"orange\"." );
}

void PrintValues( IEnumerable^ myCol )
{
   IEnumerator^ myEnum = myCol->GetEnumerator();
   while ( myEnum->MoveNext() )
   {
      Object^ obj = safe_cast<Object^>(myEnum->Current);
      Console::WriteLine( "   {0}", obj );
   }

   Console::WriteLine();
}

/*
This code produces the following output.

Initial contents of the StringCollection:
   RED
   orange
   yellow
   RED
   green
   blue
   RED
   indigo
   violet
   RED

The collection contains "orange" at index 1.

*/

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

public class SamplesStringCollection  {

   public static void Main()  {

      // Creates and initializes a new StringCollection.
      StringCollection myCol = new StringCollection();
      String[] myArr = new String[] { "RED", "orange", "yellow", "RED", "green", "blue", "RED", "indigo", "violet", "RED" };
      myCol.AddRange( myArr );

      Console.WriteLine( "Initial contents of the StringCollection:" );
      PrintValues( myCol );

      // Checks whether the collection contains "orange" and, if so, displays its index.
      if ( myCol.Contains( "orange" ) )
         Console.WriteLine( "The collection contains \"orange\" at index {0}.", myCol.IndexOf( "orange" ) );
      else
         Console.WriteLine( "The collection does not contain \"orange\"." );
   }

   public static void PrintValues( IEnumerable myCol )  {
      foreach ( Object obj in myCol )
         Console.WriteLine( "   {0}", obj );
      Console.WriteLine();
   }
}

/*
This code produces the following output.

Initial contents of the StringCollection:
   RED
   orange
   yellow
   RED
   green
   blue
   RED
   indigo
   violet
   RED

The collection contains "orange" at index 1.

*/

Imports System.Collections
Imports System.Collections.Specialized

Public Class SamplesStringCollection   

   Public Shared Sub Main()

      ' Creates and initializes a new StringCollection.
      Dim myCol As New StringCollection()
      Dim myArr() As [String] = {"RED", "orange", "yellow", "RED", "green", "blue", "RED", "indigo", "violet", "RED"}
      myCol.AddRange(myArr)

      Console.WriteLine("Initial contents of the StringCollection:")
      PrintValues(myCol)

      ' Checks whether the collection contains "orange" and, if so, displays its index.
      If myCol.Contains("orange") Then
         Console.WriteLine("The collection contains ""orange"" at index {0}.", myCol.IndexOf("orange"))
      Else
         Console.WriteLine("The collection does not contain ""orange"".")
      End If 

   End Sub

   Public Shared Sub PrintValues(myCol As IEnumerable)
      Dim obj As [Object]
      For Each obj In  myCol
         Console.WriteLine("   {0}", obj)
      Next obj
      Console.WriteLine()
   End Sub

End Class


'This code produces the following output.
'
'Initial contents of the StringCollection:
'   RED
'   orange
'   yellow
'   RED
'   green
'   blue
'   RED
'   indigo
'   violet
'   RED
'
'The collection contains "orange" at index 1.
'

Remarks

The Contains method can confirm the existence of a string before performing further operations.

This method determines equality by calling Object.Equals. String comparisons are case-sensitive.

This method performs a linear search; therefore, this method is an O(n) operation, where n is Count.

Starting with the .NET Framework 2.0, this method uses the collection's objects' Equals and CompareTo methods on item to determine whether item exists. In the earlier versions of the .NET Framework, this determination was made by using the Equals and CompareTo methods of the item parameter on the objects in the collection.

See also

• IndexOf(String)
• Performing Culture-Insensitive String Operations