String.IsInterned(String) Method

Reference

Definition

Namespace:: System

Assembly:: System.Runtime.dll

Assembly:: mscorlib.dll

Assembly:: netstandard.dll

Source:: String.CoreCLR.cs

Source:: String.CoreCLR.cs

Source:: String.CoreCLR.cs

Important

Some information relates to prerelease product that may be substantially modified before it’s released. Microsoft makes no warranties, express or implied, with respect to the information provided here.

Retrieves a reference to a specified String.

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

public static string? IsInterned (string str);

public static string IsInterned (string str);

static member IsInterned : string -> string

Public Shared Function IsInterned (str As String) As String

Parameters

str: String

The string to search for in the intern pool.

Returns

String

A reference to str if it is in the common language runtime intern pool; otherwise, null.

Exceptions

ArgumentNullException

str is null.

Examples

The following example demonstrates that literal strings are interned automatically by the compiler.

// Sample for String::IsInterned(String)
using namespace System;
using namespace System::Text;
using namespace System::Runtime::CompilerServices;

// In the .NET Framework 2.0 the following attribute declaration allows you to 
// avoid the use of the interning when you use NGEN.exe to compile an assembly 
// to the native image cache.
[assembly:CompilationRelaxations(CompilationRelaxations::NoStringInterning)];
void Test( int sequence, String^ str )
{
   Console::Write( "{0} The string '", sequence );
   String^ strInterned = String::IsInterned( str );
   if ( strInterned == nullptr )
      Console::WriteLine( "{0}' is not interned.", str );
   else
      Console::WriteLine( "{0}' is interned.", strInterned );
}

int main()
{
   
   // String str1 is known at compile time, and is automatically interned.
   String^ str1 = "abcd";
   
   // Constructed string, str2, is not explicitly or automatically interned.
   String^ str2 = (gcnew StringBuilder)->Append( "wx" )->Append( "yz" )->ToString();
   Console::WriteLine();
   Test( 1, str1 );
   Test( 2, str2 );
}

//This example produces the following results:

//1) The string, 'abcd', is interned.
//2) The string, 'wxyz', is not interned.

//If you use NGEN.exe to compile the assembly to the native image cache, this
//example produces the following results:

//1) The string, 'abcd', is not interned.
//2) The string, 'wxyz', is not interned.

// Sample for String.IsInterned(String)
using System;
using System.Text;
using System.Runtime.CompilerServices;

// In the .NET Framework 2.0 the following attribute declaration allows you to
// avoid the use of the interning when you use NGEN.exe to compile an assembly
// to the native image cache.
[assembly: CompilationRelaxations(CompilationRelaxations.NoStringInterning)]
class Sample
{
    public static void Main()
    {
        // String str1 is known at compile time, and is automatically interned.
        String str1 = "abcd";

        // Constructed string, str2, is not explicitly or automatically interned.
        String str2 = new StringBuilder().Append("wx").Append("yz").ToString();
        Console.WriteLine();
        Test(1, str1);
        Test(2, str2);
    }

    public static void Test(int sequence, String str)
    {
        Console.Write("{0}) The string, '", sequence);
        String strInterned = String.IsInterned(str);
        if (strInterned == null)
            Console.WriteLine("{0}', is not interned.", str);
        else
            Console.WriteLine("{0}', is interned.", strInterned);
    }
}

//This example produces the following results:

//1) The string, 'abcd', is interned.
//2) The string, 'wxyz', is not interned.

//If you use NGEN.exe to compile the assembly to the native image cache, this
//example produces the following results:

//1) The string, 'abcd', is not interned.
//2) The string, 'wxyz', is not interned.

// Sample for String.IsInterned(String)
open System
open System.Text
open System.Runtime.CompilerServices

// In the .NET Framework 2.0 the following attribute declaration allows you to
// avoid the use of the interning when you use NGEN.exe to compile an assembly
// to the native image cache.
[<assembly: CompilationRelaxations(CompilationRelaxations.NoStringInterning)>]
do ()

let test sequence str =
    printf $"%d{sequence}) The string, '"
    let strInterned = String.IsInterned str
    if isNull strInterned then
        printfn $"{str}', is not interned."
    else
        printfn $"{strInterned}', is interned."

// String str1 is known at compile time, and is automatically interned.
let str1 = "abcd"

// Constructed string, str2, is not explicitly or automatically interned.
let str2 = StringBuilder().Append("wx").Append("yz").ToString()
printfn ""
test 1 str1
test 2 str2


//This example produces the following results:

//1) The string, 'abcd', is interned.
//2) The string, 'wxyz', is not interned.

//If you use NGEN.exe to compile the assembly to the native image cache, this
//example produces the following results:

//1) The string, 'abcd', is not interned.
//2) The string, 'wxyz', is not interned.

' Sample for String.IsInterned(String)
Imports System.Text
Imports System.Runtime.CompilerServices

' In the .NET Framework 2.0 the following attribute declaration allows you to 
' avoid the use of the interning when you use NGEN.exe to compile an assembly 
' to the native image cache.
<Assembly: CompilationRelaxations(CompilationRelaxations.NoStringInterning)> 
Class Sample
    Public Shared Sub Main()
        ' String str1 is known at compile time, and is automatically interned.
        Dim str1 As [String] = "abcd"

        ' Constructed string, str2, is not explicitly or automatically interned.
        Dim str2 As [String] = New StringBuilder().Append("wx").Append("yz").ToString()
        Console.WriteLine()
        Test(1, str1)
        Test(2, str2)
    End Sub

    Public Shared Sub Test(ByVal sequence As Integer, ByVal str As [String])
        Console.Write("{0}) The string, '", sequence)
        Dim strInterned As [String] = [String].IsInterned(str)
        If strInterned Is Nothing Then
            Console.WriteLine("{0}', is not interned.", str)
        Else
            Console.WriteLine("{0}', is interned.", strInterned)
        End If
    End Sub
End Class

'This example produces the following results:

'1) The string, 'abcd', is interned.
'2) The string, 'wxyz', is not interned.

'If you use NGEN.exe to compile the assembly to the native image cache, this
'example produces the following results:

'1) The string, 'abcd', is not interned.
'2) The string, 'wxyz', is not interned.

Remarks

The common language runtime automatically maintains a table, called the intern pool, which contains a single instance of each unique literal string constant declared in a program, as well as any unique instance of String you add programmatically by calling the Intern method.

The intern pool conserves string storage. If you assign a literal string constant to several variables, each variable is set to reference the same constant in the intern pool instead of referencing several different instances of String that have identical values.

This method looks up str in the intern pool. If str has already been interned, a reference to that instance is returned; otherwise, null is returned.

Compare this method to the Intern method.

This method does not return a Boolean value. If you call the method because you want a Boolean value that indicates whether a particular string is interned, you can use code such as the following.

using System;

public class Example
{
   public static void Main()
   {
      string str1 = "a";
      string str2 = str1 + "b";
      string str3 = str2 + "c";
      string[] strings = { "value", "part1" + "_" + "part2", str3, 
                           String.Empty, null };
      foreach (var value in strings) {
         if (value == null) continue;
         
         bool interned = String.IsInterned(value) != null;
         if (interned)
            Console.WriteLine("'{0}' is in the string intern pool.", 
                              value);
         else
            Console.WriteLine("'{0}' is not in the string intern pool.",
                              value);                      
      }
   }
}
// The example displays the following output:
//       'value' is in the string intern pool.
//       'part1_part2' is in the string intern pool.
//       'abc' is not in the string intern pool.
//       '' is in the string intern pool.

open System

let str1 = "a"
let str2 = str1 + "b"
let str3 = str2 + "c"
let strings = 
    [| "value"; "part1" + "_" + "part2"; str3
       String.Empty; null |]
for value in strings do
    if value <> null then
        let interned = String.IsInterned(value) <> null
        if interned then
            printfn $"'{value}' is in the string intern pool."
        else
            printfn $"'{value}' is not in the string intern pool."
// The example displays the following output:
//       'value' is in the string intern pool.
//       'part1_part2' is in the string intern pool.
//       'abc' is not in the string intern pool.
//       '' is in the string intern pool.

Module Example
   Public Sub Main()
      Dim str1 As String = "a"
      Dim str2 As String = str1 + "b"
      Dim str3 As String = str2 + "c"
      Dim strings() As String = { "value", "part1" + "_" + "part2", str3, 
                                  String.Empty, Nothing }
      For Each value In strings
         If value Is Nothing Then Continue For
         
         Dim interned As Boolean = (String.IsInterned(value) IsNot Nothing)
         If interned Then
            Console.WriteLine("'{0}' is in the string intern pool.", 
                              value)
         Else
            Console.WriteLine("'{0}' is not in the string intern pool.",
                              value)                      
         End If
      Next
   End Sub
End Module
' The example displays the following output:
'       'value' is in the string intern pool.
'       'part1_part2' is in the string intern pool.
'       'abc' is not in the string intern pool.
'       '' is in the string intern pool.

Note

You can override the use of the intern pool when you use Ngen.exe (Native Image Generator) to install an assembly to the native image cache on a local computer. For more information, see Performance Considerations in the Remarks section for the Intern property.

Applies to

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