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String.CompareOrdinal Method

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Definition

Namespace:
System
Assembly:
System.Runtime.dll
Assembly:
mscorlib.dll
Assembly:
netstandard.dll

Compares two String objects by evaluating the numeric values of the corresponding Char objects in each string.

Overloads

CompareOrdinal(String, String)

Compares two specified String objects by evaluating the numeric values of the corresponding Char objects in each string.
CompareOrdinal(String, Int32, String, Int32, Int32)

Compares substrings of two specified String objects by evaluating the numeric values of the corresponding Char objects in each substring.

CompareOrdinal(String, String)

Source:
String.Comparison.cs
Source:
String.Comparison.cs
Source:
String.Comparison.cs

Compares two specified String objects by evaluating the numeric values of the corresponding Char objects in each string.

public:
 static int CompareOrdinal(System::String ^ strA, System::String ^ strB);
public static int CompareOrdinal (string strA, string strB);
public static int CompareOrdinal (string? strA, string? strB);
static member CompareOrdinal : string * string -> int
Public Shared Function CompareOrdinal (strA As String, strB As String) As Integer

Parameters

strA
String

The first string to compare.

strB
String

The second string to compare.

Returns

Int32

An integer that indicates the lexical relationship between the two comparands.

Value Condition
Less than zero strA is less than strB.
Zero strA and strB are equal.
Greater than zero strA is greater than strB.

Examples

The following example performs and ordinal comparison of two strings that only differ in case.

// Sample for String::CompareOrdinal(String, String)
using namespace System;
int main()
{
   String^ str1 = "ABCD";
   String^ str2 = "abcd";
   String^ str;
   int result;
   Console::WriteLine();
   Console::WriteLine( "Compare the numeric values of the corresponding Char objects in each string." );
   Console::WriteLine( "str1 = '{0}', str2 = '{1}'", str1, str2 );
   result = String::CompareOrdinal( str1, str2 );
   str = ((result < 0) ? "less than" : ((result > 0) ? (String^)"greater than" : "equal to"));
   Console::Write( "String '{0}' is ", str1 );
   Console::Write( "{0} ", str );
   Console::WriteLine( "String '{0}'.", str2 );
}

/*
This example produces the following results:

Compare the numeric values of the corresponding Char objects in each string.
str1 = 'ABCD', str2 = 'abcd'
String 'ABCD' is less than String 'abcd'.
*/

// Sample for String.CompareOrdinal(String, String)
using System;

class Sample {
    public static void Main() {
    String str1 = "ABCD";
    String str2 = "abcd";
    String str;
    int result;

    Console.WriteLine();
    Console.WriteLine("Compare the numeric values of the corresponding Char objects in each string.");
    Console.WriteLine("str1 = '{0}', str2 = '{1}'", str1, str2);
    result = String.CompareOrdinal(str1, str2);
    str = ((result < 0) ? "less than" : ((result > 0) ? "greater than" : "equal to"));
    Console.Write("String '{0}' is ", str1);
    Console.Write("{0} ", str);
    Console.WriteLine("String '{0}'.", str2);
    }
}
/*
This example produces the following results:

Compare the numeric values of the corresponding Char objects in each string.
str1 = 'ABCD', str2 = 'abcd'
String 'ABCD' is less than String 'abcd'.
*/

// Sample for String.CompareOrdinal(String, String)
open System

let str1 = "ABCD"
let str2 = "abcd"

printfn "\nCompare the numeric values of the corresponding Char objects in each string."
printfn $"str1 = '{str1}', str2 = '{str2}'"
let result = String.CompareOrdinal(str1, str2)
let str = if result < 0 then "less than" elif result > 0 then "greater than" else "equal to"
printf $"String '{str1}' is "
printf $"{str} "
printfn $"String '{str2}'."

(*
This example produces the following results:

Compare the numeric values of the corresponding Char objects in each string.
str1 = 'ABCD', str2 = 'abcd'
String 'ABCD' is less than String 'abcd'.
*)

' Sample for String.CompareOrdinal(String, String)
Class Sample
   Public Shared Sub Main()
      Dim str1 As [String] = "ABCD"
      Dim str2 As [String] = "abcd"
      Dim str As [String]
      Dim result As Integer
      
      Console.WriteLine()
      Console.WriteLine("Compare the numeric values of the corresponding Char objects in each string.")
      Console.WriteLine("str1 = '{0}', str2 = '{1}'", str1, str2)
      result = [String].CompareOrdinal(str1, str2)
      str = IIf(result < 0, "less than", IIf(result > 0, "greater than", "equal to"))
      Console.Write("String '{0}' is ", str1)
      Console.Write("{0} ", str)
      Console.WriteLine("String '{0}'.", str2)
   End Sub
End Class
'
'This example produces the following results:
'
'Compare the numeric values of the corresponding Char objects in each string.
'str1 = 'ABCD', str2 = 'abcd'
'String 'ABCD' is less than String 'abcd'.
'

Remarks

This method performs a case-sensitive comparison using ordinal sort rules. For more information about word, string, and ordinal sorts, see System.Globalization.CompareOptions. To perform a case-insensitive comparison using ordinal sort rules, call the Compare(String, String, StringComparison) method with the comparisonType argument set to StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase.

Because CompareOrdinal(String, String) is a static method, strA and strB can be null. If both values are null, the method returns 0 (zero), which indicates that strA and strB are equal. If only one of the values is null, the method considers the non-null value to be greater.

See also

Applies to

CompareOrdinal(String, Int32, String, Int32, Int32)

Source:
String.Comparison.cs
Source:
String.Comparison.cs
Source:
String.Comparison.cs

Compares substrings of two specified String objects by evaluating the numeric values of the corresponding Char objects in each substring.

public:
 static int CompareOrdinal(System::String ^ strA, int indexA, System::String ^ strB, int indexB, int length);
public static int CompareOrdinal (string strA, int indexA, string strB, int indexB, int length);
public static int CompareOrdinal (string? strA, int indexA, string? strB, int indexB, int length);
static member CompareOrdinal : string * int * string * int * int -> int
Public Shared Function CompareOrdinal (strA As String, indexA As Integer, strB As String, indexB As Integer, length As Integer) As Integer

Parameters

strA
String

The first string to use in the comparison.

indexA
Int32

The starting index of the substring in strA.

strB
String

The second string to use in the comparison.

indexB
Int32

The starting index of the substring in strB.

length
Int32

The maximum number of characters in the substrings to compare.

Returns

Int32

A 32-bit signed integer that indicates the lexical relationship between the two comparands.

Value Condition
Less than zero The substring in strA is less than the substring in strB.
Zero The substrings are equal, or length is zero.
Greater than zero The substring in strA is greater than the substring in strB.

Exceptions

ArgumentOutOfRangeException

strA is not null and indexA is greater than strA.Length.

-or-

strB is not null and indexB is greater than strB.Length.

-or-

indexA, indexB, or length is negative.

Examples

This following example demonstrates that CompareOrdinal and Compare use different sort orders.

using namespace System;
using namespace System::Globalization;
int main()
{
   String^ strLow = "abc";
   String^ strCap = "ABC";
   String^ result = "equal to ";
   int x = 0;
   int pos = 1;
   
   // The Unicode codepoint for 'b' is greater than the codepoint for 'B'.
   x = String::CompareOrdinal( strLow, pos, strCap, pos, 1 );
   if ( x < 0 )
      result = "less than";

   if ( x > 0 )
      result = "greater than";

   Console::WriteLine( "CompareOrdinal(\"{0}\"[{2}], \"{1}\"[{2}]):", strLow, strCap, pos );
   Console::WriteLine( "   '{0}' is {1} '{2}'", strLow[ pos ], result, strCap[ pos ] );

   // In U.S. English culture, 'b' is linguistically less than 'B'.
   x = String::Compare( strLow, pos, strCap, pos, 1, false, gcnew CultureInfo( "en-US" ) );
   if ( x < 0 )
      result = "less than";
   else
   if ( x > 0 )
      result = "greater than";

   Console::WriteLine( "Compare(\"{0}\"[{2}], \"{1}\"[{2}]):", strLow, strCap, pos );
   Console::WriteLine( "   '{0}' is {1} '{2}'", strLow[ pos ], result, strCap[ pos ] );
}

using System;
using System.Globalization;

class Test
{
    public static void Main(String[] args)
    {
    String strLow = "abc";
    String strCap = "ABC";
    String result = "equal to ";
    int x = 0;
    int pos = 1;

// The Unicode codepoint for 'b' is greater than the codepoint for 'B'.
    x = String.CompareOrdinal(strLow, pos, strCap, pos, 1);
    if (x < 0) result = "less than";
    if (x > 0) result = "greater than";
    Console.WriteLine("CompareOrdinal(\"{0}\"[{2}], \"{1}\"[{2}]):", strLow, strCap, pos);
    Console.WriteLine("   '{0}' is {1} '{2}'", strLow[pos], result, strCap[pos]);

// In U.S. English culture, 'b' is linguistically less than 'B'.
    x = String.Compare(strLow, pos, strCap, pos, 1, false, new CultureInfo("en-US"));
    if (x < 0) result = "less than";
    else if (x > 0) result = "greater than";
    Console.WriteLine("Compare(\"{0}\"[{2}], \"{1}\"[{2}]):", strLow, strCap, pos);
    Console.WriteLine("   '{0}' is {1} '{2}'", strLow[pos], result, strCap[pos]);
    }
}

open System
open System.Globalization

[<EntryPoint>]
let main _ =
    let strLow = "abc"
    let strCap = "ABC"
    let result = "equal to "
    let pos = 1

    // The Unicode codepoint for 'b' is greater than the codepoint for 'B'.
    let x = String.CompareOrdinal(strLow, pos, strCap, pos, 1)
    let result =
        if x < 0 then "less than"
        elif x > 0 then "greater than"
        else "equal to"
    printfn $"CompareOrdinal(\"{strLow}\"[{pos}], \"{strCap}\"[{pos}]):"
    printfn $"   '{strLow[pos]}' is {result} '{strCap[pos]}'"

    // In U.S. English culture, 'b' is linguistically less than 'B'.
    let x = String.Compare(strLow, pos, strCap, pos, 1, false, new CultureInfo("en-US"))
    let result =
        if x < 0 then "less than"
        elif x > 0 then "greater than"
        else "equal to"
    printfn $"Compare(\"{strLow}\"[{pos}], \"{strCap}\"[{pos}]):"
    printfn $"   '{strLow[pos]}' is {result} '{strCap[pos]}'"
    0

Imports System.Globalization

Class Test
   
  Public Shared Sub Main(args() As [String])
      Dim strLow As [String] = "abc"
      Dim strCap As [String] = "ABC"
      Dim result As [String] = "equal to "
      Dim x As Integer = 0
      Dim pos As Integer = 1

' The Unicode codepoint for 'b' is greater than the codepoint for 'B'.      
      x = [String].CompareOrdinal(strLow, pos, strCap, pos, 1)
      If x < 0 Then
         result = "less than"
      End If
      If x > 0 Then
         result = "greater than"
      End If

' In U.S. English culture, 'b' is linguistically less than 'B'.
      Console.WriteLine("CompareOrdinal(""{0}"".Chars({2}), ""{1}"".Chars({2})):", strLow, strCap, pos)
      
      Console.WriteLine("   '{0}' is {1} '{2}'", strLow.Chars(pos), result, strCap.Chars(pos))
      
      x = [String].Compare(strLow, pos, strCap, pos, 1, False, New CultureInfo("en-US"))
      If x < 0 Then
         result = "less than"
      ElseIf x > 0 Then
         result = "greater than"
      End If
      Console.WriteLine("Compare(""{0}"".Chars({2}), ""{1}"".Chars({2})):", strLow, strCap, pos)
      Console.WriteLine("   '{0}' is {1} '{2}'", strLow.Chars(pos), result, strCap.Chars(pos))
   End Sub
End Class

Remarks

The indexA, indexB, and length parameters must be nonnegative.

The number of characters compared is the lesser of the length of strA less indexA, the length of strB less indexB, and length.

This method performs a case-sensitive comparison using ordinal sort rules. For more information about word, string, and ordinal sorts, see System.Globalization.CompareOptions. To perform a case-insensitive comparison using ordinal sort rules, call the Compare(String, Int32, String, Int32, Int32, StringComparison) method with the comparisonType argument set to StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase.

Because CompareOrdinal(String, String) is a static method, strA and strB can be null. If both values are null, the method returns 0 (zero), which indicates that strA and strB are equal. If only one of the values is null, the method considers the non-null value to be greater.

See also

Applies to