BigInteger.IComparable.CompareTo(Object) Method

Definition

Compares this instance to a specified object and returns an integer that indicates whether the value of this instance is less than, equal to, or greater than the value of the specified object.

 virtual int System.IComparable.CompareTo(System::Object ^ obj) = IComparable::CompareTo;
int IComparable.CompareTo (object obj);
abstract member System.IComparable.CompareTo : obj -> int
override this.System.IComparable.CompareTo : obj -> int
Function CompareTo (obj As Object) As Integer Implements IComparable.CompareTo

Parameters

obj
Object

The object to compare.

Returns

A signed integer that indicates the relationship of the current instance to the obj parameter, as shown in the following table.

Return value Description
Less than zero The current instance is less than obj.
Zero The current instance equals obj.
Greater than zero The current instance is greater than obj, or the obj parameter is null.

Implements

Exceptions

Examples

The following example calls the CompareTo(Object) method to compare a BigInteger value with each element in an object array:

object[] values = { BigInteger.Pow(Int64.MaxValue, 10), null,
                    12.534, Int64.MaxValue, BigInteger.One };
BigInteger number = UInt64.MaxValue;

foreach (object value in values)
{
   try {
      Console.WriteLine("Comparing {0} with '{1}': {2}", number, value,
                        number.CompareTo(value));
   }
   catch (ArgumentException) {
      Console.WriteLine("Unable to compare the {0} value {1} with a BigInteger.",
                        value.GetType().Name, value);
   }
}
// The example displays the following output:
//    Comparing 18446744073709551615 with '4.4555084156466750133735972424E+189': -1
//    Comparing 18446744073709551615 with '': 1
//    Unable to compare the Double value 12.534 with a BigInteger.
//    Unable to compare the Int64 value 9223372036854775807 with a BigInteger.
//    Comparing 18446744073709551615 with '1': 1
Dim values() As Object = { BigInteger.Pow(Int64.MaxValue, 10), Nothing, 
                           12.534, Int64.MaxValue, BigInteger.One }
Dim number As BigInteger = UInt64.MaxValue

For Each value As Object In values
   Try
      Console.WriteLine("Comparing {0} with '{1}': {2}", number, value, 
                        number.CompareTo(value))
   Catch e As ArgumentException
      Console.WriteLine("Unable to compare the {0} value {1} with a BigInteger.",
                        value.GetType().Name, value)
   End Try                     
Next                                 
' The example displays the following output:
'    Comparing 18446744073709551615 with '4.4555084156466750133735972424E+189': -1
'    Comparing 18446744073709551615 with '': 1
'    Unable to compare the Double value 12.534 with a BigInteger.
'    Unable to compare the Int64 value 9223372036854775807 with a BigInteger.
'    Comparing 18446744073709551615 with '1': 1

Remarks

The obj parameter must be one of the following:

  • An object whose run-time type is BigInteger.

  • An Object variable whose value is null. If the value of the obj parameter is null, the method returns 1, which indicates that the current instance is greater than obj.

Applies to

See also