How to: Split Strings (C# Programming Guide)

The following code example demonstrates how a string can be parsed using the String.Split method. As input, Split takes an array of chars that indicate which characters are to be used as delimiters. In this example, spaces, commas, periods, colons, and tabs are used. An array containing these delimiters is passed to Split, and each word in the sentence is displayed separately using the resulting array of strings.

Example

class TestStringSplit
{
    static void Main()
    {
        char[] delimiterChars = { ' ', ',', '.', ':', '\t' };

        string text = "one\ttwo three:four,five six seven";
        System.Console.WriteLine("Original text: '{0}'", text);

        string[] words = text.Split(delimiterChars);
        System.Console.WriteLine("{0} words in text:", words.Length);

        foreach (string s in words)
        {
            System.Console.WriteLine(s);
        }

        // Keep the console window open in debug mode.
        System.Console.WriteLine("Press any key to exit.");
        System.Console.ReadKey();
    }
}
/* Output:
    Original text: 'one     two three:four,five six seven'
    7 words in text:
    one
    two
    three
    four
    five
    six
    seven
 */

See Also

Concepts

C# Programming Guide

Other Resources

Strings (C# Programming Guide)

.NET Framework Regular Expressions