String.Intern(String) Method

Definition

Namespace:

System

Assemblies:

netstandard.dll, System.Runtime.dll

Source:

String.CoreCLR.cs

Retrieves the system's reference to the specified String.

public:
 static System::String ^ Intern(System::String ^ str);

public static string Intern(string str);

static member Intern : string -> string

Public Shared Function Intern (str As String) As String

Parameters

str

String

A string to search for in the intern pool.

Returns

String

The system's reference to str, if it is interned; otherwise, a new reference to a string with the value of str.

Exceptions

ArgumentNullException

str is null.

Examples

The following example creates two strings with equal values and demonstrates that interning them yields the same reference.

// Sample for String.Intern(String)
using System;
using System.Text;

class Sample
{
    public static void Main()
    {
        string s1 = new StringBuilder().Append("My").Append("Test").ToString();
        string s2 = new StringBuilder().Append("My").Append("Test").ToString();
        Console.WriteLine($"s1 == {s1}");
        Console.WriteLine($"s2 == {s2}");
        Console.WriteLine($"Are s1 and s2 equal in value? {s1 == s2}");
        Console.WriteLine($"Are s1 and s2 the same reference? {Object.ReferenceEquals(s1, s2)}");

        string i1 = String.Intern(s1);
        string i2 = String.Intern(s2);
        Console.WriteLine($"After interning:");
        Console.WriteLine($"  Are i1 and i2 equal in value? {i1 == i2}");
        Console.WriteLine($"  Are i1 and i2 the same reference? {Object.ReferenceEquals(i1, i2)}");
    }
}
/*
This example produces the following results:
s1 == MyTest
s2 == MyTest
Are s1 and s2 equal in value? True
Are s1 and s2 the same reference? False
After interning:
  Are i1 and i2 equal in value? True
  Are i1 and i2 the same reference? True
*/

// Sample for String.Intern(String)
open System
open System.Text

let s1 = StringBuilder().Append("My").Append("Test").ToString()
let s2 = StringBuilder().Append("My").Append("Test").ToString()
printfn $"s1 = {s1}"
printfn $"s2 = {s2}"
printfn $"Are s1 and s2 equal in value? {s1 = s2}"
printfn $"Are s1 and s2 the same reference? {Object.ReferenceEquals(s1, s2)}"

let i1 = String.Intern s1
let i2 = String.Intern s2
printfn "After interning:"
printfn $"  Are i1 and i2 equal in value? {i1 = i2}"
printfn $"  Are i1 and i2 the same reference? {Object.ReferenceEquals(i1, i2)}"
(*
This example produces the following results:
s1 = MyTest
s2 = MyTest
Are s1 and s2 equal in value? True
Are s1 and s2 the same reference? False
After interning:
  Are i1 and i2 equal in value? True
  Are i1 and i2 the same reference? True
*)

Imports System.Text

Class Sample

    Public Shared Sub Main()
        Dim s1 As String = New StringBuilder().Append("My").Append("Test").ToString()
        Dim s2 As String = New StringBuilder().Append("My").Append("Test").ToString()
        Console.WriteLine($"s1 = {s1}")
        Console.WriteLine($"s2 = {s2}")
        Console.WriteLine($"Are s1 and s2 equal in value? {s1 = s2}")
        Console.WriteLine($"Are s1 and s2 the same reference? {s1 Is s2}")

        Dim i1 As String = String.Intern(s1)
        Dim i2 As String = String.Intern(s2)
        Console.WriteLine("After interning:")
        Console.WriteLine($"  Are i1 and i2 equal in value? {i1 = i2}")
        Console.WriteLine($"  Are i1 and i2 the same reference? {i1 Is i2}")
    End Sub
End Class
'
's1 = MyTest
's2 = MyTest
'Are s1 and s2 equal in value? True
'Are s1 and s2 the same reference? False
'After interning:
'  Are i1 and i2 equal in value? True
'  Are i1 and i2 the same reference? True
'

Remarks

![NOTE] While String.Intern guarantees that two strings with equal values return the same interned reference, it doesn't guarantee that the returned reference is the same as a string literal.

For more information about this API, see Supplemental API remarks for String.Intern.

See also

• IsInterned(String)