Article
11/18/2011

String.CompareTo Method (Object)

Microsoft Silverlight will reach end of support after October 2021. Learn more.

Compares this instance with a specified Object and indicates whether this instance precedes, follows, or appears in the same position in the sort order as the specified Object.

Namespace: System
Assembly: mscorlib (in mscorlib.dll)

Syntax

'Declaration
Public Function CompareTo ( _
    value As Object _
) As Integer

public int CompareTo(
    Object value
)

Parameters

value
Type: System.Object
An object that evaluates to a String.

Return Value

Type: System.Int32
A 32-bit signed integer that indicates whether this instance precedes, follows, or appears in the same position in the sort order as the value parameter.

Value	Condition
Less than zero	This instance precedes value.
Zero	This instance has the same position in the sort order as value.
Greater than zero	This instance follows value. -or- value is nulla null reference (Nothing in Visual Basic).

Less than zero

This instance precedes value.

Zero

This instance has the same position in the sort order as value.

Greater than zero

This instance follows value.

-or-

value is nulla null reference (Nothing in Visual Basic).

Implements

IComparable.CompareTo(Object)

Exceptions

Exception	Condition
ArgumentException	value is not a String.

Remarks

value must be a String object.

This method performs a word (case-sensitive and culture-sensitive) comparison using the current culture. For more information about word, string, and ordinal sorts, see System.Globalization.CompareOptions.

Caution:
The CompareTo(Object) method is designed primarily for use in sorting or alphabetizing operations. It should not be used when the primary purpose of the method call is to determine whether two strings are equivalent (that is, when the purpose of the method call is to test for a return value of zero). To determine whether two strings are equivalent, call the Equals method.

For more information about the behavior of this method, see the Remarks section of the Compare method.

Examples

The following code example demonstrates how you can use the CompareTo method with an Object.


Public Class [MyClass]
End Class '[MyClass]

Public Class Example

   Public Shared Sub Demo(ByVal outputBlock As System.Windows.Controls.TextBlock)
      Dim my As New [MyClass]()
      Dim s As String = "sometext"
      Try
         Dim i As Integer = s.CompareTo(my)
      Catch e As Exception
         outputBlock.Text += String.Format("Error: {0}", e.ToString()) & vbCrLf
      End Try
   End Sub 'Main
End Class 'ArgExceptionExample

using System;

public class MyClass { }
public class Example
{
   public static void Demo(System.Windows.Controls.TextBlock outputBlock)
   {
      MyClass my = new MyClass();
      string s = "sometext";
      try
      {
         int i = s.CompareTo(my);
      }
      catch (Exception e)
      {
         outputBlock.Text += String.Format("Error: {0}", e.ToString()) + "\n";
      }
   }
}

Version Information

Silverlight

Supported in: 5, 4, 3

Silverlight for Windows Phone

Supported in: Windows Phone OS 7.1, Windows Phone OS 7.0

XNA Framework

Supported in: Xbox 360, Windows Phone OS 7.0

Platforms

For a list of the operating systems and browsers that are supported by Silverlight, see Supported Operating Systems and Browsers.

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