ReadOnlyCollection<T>(IList<T>) Constructor

Definition

Namespace:

System.Collections.ObjectModel

Assembly:

System.Runtime.dll

Source:

ReadOnlyCollection.cs

Initializes a new instance of the ReadOnlyCollection<T> class that is a read-only wrapper around the specified list.

public:
 ReadOnlyCollection(System::Collections::Generic::IList<T> ^ list);

public ReadOnlyCollection (System.Collections.Generic.IList<T> list);

new System.Collections.ObjectModel.ReadOnlyCollection<'T> : System.Collections.Generic.IList<'T> -> System.Collections.ObjectModel.ReadOnlyCollection<'T>

Public Sub New (list As IList(Of T))

Parameters

list

IList<T>

The list to wrap.

Exceptions

ArgumentNullException

list is null.

Examples

The following code example demonstrates this constructor and several members of the ReadOnlyCollection<T> class.

The code example creates a List<T> of strings and adds four dinosaur names to it. The code example then wraps the list in a ReadOnlyCollection<T> by passing it to the constructor.

After demonstrating the Count, Contains, Item[], and IList.IndexOf members, the code example shows that the ReadOnlyCollection<T> is just a wrapper for the original List<T> by adding a new item to the List<T> and displaying the contents of the ReadOnlyCollection<T>.

Finally, the code example creates an array larger than the collection and uses the CopyTo method to insert the elements of the collection into the middle of the array.

using namespace System;
using namespace System::Collections::Generic;
using namespace System::Collections::ObjectModel;

void main()
{
    List<String^>^ dinosaurs = gcnew List<String^>();

    dinosaurs->Add("Tyrannosaurus");
    dinosaurs->Add("Amargasaurus");
    dinosaurs->Add("Deinonychus");
    dinosaurs->Add("Compsognathus");

    ReadOnlyCollection<String^>^ readOnlyDinosaurs = 
        gcnew ReadOnlyCollection<String^>(dinosaurs);

    Console::WriteLine();
    for each(String^ dinosaur in readOnlyDinosaurs )
    {
        Console::WriteLine(dinosaur);
    }

    Console::WriteLine("\nCount: {0}", readOnlyDinosaurs->Count);

    Console::WriteLine("\nContains(\"Deinonychus\"): {0}", 
        readOnlyDinosaurs->Contains("Deinonychus"));

    Console::WriteLine("\nreadOnlyDinosaurs[3]: {0}", 
        readOnlyDinosaurs[3]);

    Console::WriteLine("\nIndexOf(\"Compsognathus\"): {0}", 
        readOnlyDinosaurs->IndexOf("Compsognathus"));

    Console::WriteLine("\nInsert into the wrapped List:");
    Console::WriteLine("Insert(2, \"Oviraptor\")");
    dinosaurs->Insert(2, "Oviraptor");

    Console::WriteLine();
    for each( String^ dinosaur in readOnlyDinosaurs )
    {
        Console::WriteLine(dinosaur);
    }

    array<String^>^ dinoArray = 
        gcnew array<String^>(readOnlyDinosaurs->Count + 2);
    readOnlyDinosaurs->CopyTo(dinoArray, 1);

    Console::WriteLine("\nCopied array has {0} elements:", 
        dinoArray->Length);
    for each( String^ dinosaur in dinoArray )
    {
        Console::WriteLine("\"{0}\"", dinosaur);
    }
}

/* This code example produces the following output:

Tyrannosaurus
Amargasaurus
Deinonychus
Compsognathus

Count: 4

Contains("Deinonychus"): True

readOnlyDinosaurs[3]: Compsognathus

IndexOf("Compsognathus"): 3

Insert into the wrapped List:
Insert(2, "Oviraptor")

Tyrannosaurus
Amargasaurus
Oviraptor
Deinonychus
Compsognathus

Copied array has 7 elements:
""
"Tyrannosaurus"
"Amargasaurus"
"Oviraptor"
"Deinonychus"
"Compsognathus"
""
 */

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Collections.ObjectModel;

public class Example
{
    public static void Main()
    {
        List<string> dinosaurs = new List<string>();

        dinosaurs.Add("Tyrannosaurus");
        dinosaurs.Add("Amargasaurus");
        dinosaurs.Add("Deinonychus");
        dinosaurs.Add("Compsognathus");

        ReadOnlyCollection<string> readOnlyDinosaurs =
            new ReadOnlyCollection<string>(dinosaurs);

        Console.WriteLine();
        foreach( string dinosaur in readOnlyDinosaurs )
        {
            Console.WriteLine(dinosaur);
        }

        Console.WriteLine("\nCount: {0}", readOnlyDinosaurs.Count);

        Console.WriteLine("\nContains(\"Deinonychus\"): {0}",
            readOnlyDinosaurs.Contains("Deinonychus"));

        Console.WriteLine("\nreadOnlyDinosaurs[3]: {0}",
            readOnlyDinosaurs[3]);

        Console.WriteLine("\nIndexOf(\"Compsognathus\"): {0}",
            readOnlyDinosaurs.IndexOf("Compsognathus"));

        Console.WriteLine("\nInsert into the wrapped List:");
        Console.WriteLine("Insert(2, \"Oviraptor\")");
        dinosaurs.Insert(2, "Oviraptor");

        Console.WriteLine();
        foreach( string dinosaur in readOnlyDinosaurs )
        {
            Console.WriteLine(dinosaur);
        }

        string[] dinoArray = new string[readOnlyDinosaurs.Count + 2];
        readOnlyDinosaurs.CopyTo(dinoArray, 1);

        Console.WriteLine("\nCopied array has {0} elements:",
            dinoArray.Length);
        foreach( string dinosaur in dinoArray )
        {
            Console.WriteLine("\"{0}\"", dinosaur);
        }
    }
}

/* This code example produces the following output:

Tyrannosaurus
Amargasaurus
Deinonychus
Compsognathus

Count: 4

Contains("Deinonychus"): True

readOnlyDinosaurs[3]: Compsognathus

IndexOf("Compsognathus"): 3

Insert into the wrapped List:
Insert(2, "Oviraptor")

Tyrannosaurus
Amargasaurus
Oviraptor
Deinonychus
Compsognathus

Copied array has 7 elements:
""
"Tyrannosaurus"
"Amargasaurus"
"Oviraptor"
"Deinonychus"
"Compsognathus"
""
 */

Imports System.Collections.Generic
Imports System.Collections.ObjectModel

Public Class Example

    Public Shared Sub Main()

        Dim dinosaurs As New List(Of String)

        dinosaurs.Add("Tyrannosaurus")
        dinosaurs.Add("Amargasaurus")
        dinosaurs.Add("Deinonychus")
        dinosaurs.Add("Compsognathus")

        Dim readOnlyDinosaurs As _
            New ReadOnlyCollection(Of String)(dinosaurs)

        Console.WriteLine()
        For Each dinosaur As String In readOnlyDinosaurs
            Console.WriteLine(dinosaur)
        Next

        Console.WriteLine(vbLf & "Count: {0}", _
            readOnlyDinosaurs.Count)

        Console.WriteLine(vbLf & "Contains(""Deinonychus""): {0}", _
            readOnlyDinosaurs.Contains("Deinonychus"))

        Console.WriteLine(vbLf & _
            "readOnlyDinosaurs(3): {0}", readOnlyDinosaurs(3))

        Console.WriteLine(vbLf & "IndexOf(""Compsognathus""): {0}", _
            readOnlyDinosaurs.IndexOf("Compsognathus"))

        Console.WriteLine(vbLf & "Insert into the wrapped List:")
        Console.WriteLine("Insert(2, ""Oviraptor"")")
        dinosaurs.Insert(2, "Oviraptor")

        Console.WriteLine()
        For Each dinosaur As String In readOnlyDinosaurs
            Console.WriteLine(dinosaur)
        Next

        Dim dinoArray(readOnlyDinosaurs.Count + 1) As String
        readOnlyDinosaurs.CopyTo(dinoArray, 1)

        Console.WriteLine(vbLf & "Copied array has {0} elements:", _
            dinoArray.Length)
        For Each dinosaur As String In dinoArray
            Console.WriteLine("""{0}""", dinosaur)
        Next

   End Sub
End Class

' This code example produces the following output:
'
'Tyrannosaurus
'Amargasaurus
'Deinonychus
'Compsognathus
'
'Count: 4
'
'Contains("Deinonychus"): True
'
'readOnlyDinosaurs(3): Compsognathus
'
'IndexOf("Compsognathus"): 3
'
'Insert into the wrapped List:
'Insert(2, "Oviraptor")
'
'Tyrannosaurus
'Amargasaurus
'Oviraptor
'Deinonychus
'Compsognathus
'
'Copied array has 7 elements:
'""
'"Tyrannosaurus"
'"Amargasaurus"
'"Oviraptor"
'"Deinonychus"
'"Compsognathus"
'""

Remarks

To prevent any modifications to list, expose list only through this wrapper.

A collection that is read-only is simply a collection with a wrapper that prevents modifying the collection; therefore, if changes are made to the underlying collection, the read-only collection reflects those changes.

This constructor is an O(1) operation.

See also

• IList<T>