Tuple<T1, T2, T3, T4, T5, T6>.IComparable.CompareTo Method

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Compares the current Tuple<T1, T2, T3, T4, T5, T6> object to a specified object and returns an integer that indicates whether the current object is before, after, or in the same position as the specified object in the sort order.

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

Syntax

'Declaration
Private Function CompareTo ( _
    obj As Object _
) As Integer Implements IComparable.CompareTo

int IComparable.CompareTo(
    Object obj
)

Parameters

• obj
  Type: System.Object
  An object to compare with the current instance.

Return Value

Type: System.Int32
A signed integer that indicates the relative position of this instance and obj in the sort order, as shown in the following table.

Value	Description
A negative integer	This instance precedes obj.
Zero	This instance and obj have the same position in the sort order.
A positive integer	This instance follows obj.

Implements

IComparable.CompareTo(Object)

Exceptions

Exception	Condition
ArgumentException	obj is not a Tuple<T1, T2, T3, T4, T5, T6> object.

Remarks

This member is an explicit interface member implementation. It can be used only when the Tuple<T1, T2, T3, T4, T5, T6> instance is cast to an IComparable interface.

This method provides the IComparable.CompareTo implementation for the Tuple<T1, T2, T3, T4, T5, T6> class. Although the method can be called directly, it is most commonly called by the default overloads of collection-sorting methods such as Array.Sort(Array).

Caution:
The IComparable.CompareTo method is intended for use in sorting operations. It should not be used when the primary purpose of a comparison is to determine whether two objects are equal. To determine whether two objects are equal, call the Tuple<T1, T2, T3, T4, T5, T6>.Equals(Object) method.

The IComparable.CompareTo(Object) method uses the Comparer<T>.Default comparer.

Examples

The following example creates an array of Tuple<T1, T2, T3, T4, T5, T6> objects that contain population data for three cities in the United States from 1960 to 2000. The six components consist of the city name followed by the city's population at 10-year intervals from 1960 to 2000. The example displays the components of each tuple in the array in unsorted order, sorts the array, and then calls the ToString method to display each tuple in sorted order. The output shows that the array has been sorted by name, which is the first component. Note that the example does not directly call the IComparable.CompareTo(Object) method. This method is called implicitly by the Sort(Array) method for each element in the array.

Module Example
   Public Sub Demo(ByVal outputBlock As System.Windows.Controls.TextBlock)
      ' Create array of sextuple with population data for three U.S. 
      ' cities, 1960-2000.
      Dim cities() = _ 
          { Tuple.Create("Los Angeles", 2479015, 2816061, 2966850, 3485398, 3694820), _
            Tuple.Create("New York", 7781984, 7894862, 7071639, 7322564, 8008278), _
            Tuple.Create("Chicago", 3550904, 3366957, 3005072, 2783726, 2896016) } 

      ' Display array in unsorted order.
      outputBlock.Text &= "In unsorted order:" & vbCrLf
      For Each city In cities
         outputBlock.Text &= city.ToString() & vbCrLf
      Next
      outputBlock.Text &= vbCrLf

      Array.Sort(cities)

      ' Display array in sorted order.
      outputBlock.Text &= "In sorted order:" & vbCrLf
      For Each city In cities
         outputBlock.Text &= city.ToString() & vbCrLf
      Next
   End Sub
End Module
' The example displays the following output:
'    In unsorted order:
'    (Los Angeles, 2479015, 2816061, 2966850, 3485398, 3694820)
'    (New York, 7781984, 7894862, 7071639, 7322564, 8008278)
'    (Chicago, 3550904, 3366957, 3005072, 2783726, 2896016)
'    
'    In sorted order:
'    (Chicago, 3550904, 3366957, 3005072, 2783726, 2896016)
'    (Los Angeles, 2479015, 2816061, 2966850, 3485398, 3694820)
'    (New York, 7781984, 7894862, 7071639, 7322564, 8008278)

using System;

public class Example
{
   public static void Demo(System.Windows.Controls.TextBlock outputBlock)
   {
      // Create array of sextuple with population data for three U.S. 
      // cities, 1960-2000.
      Tuple<string, int, int, int, int, int>[] cities = 
          { Tuple.Create("Los Angeles", 2479015, 2816061, 2966850, 3485398, 3694820),
            Tuple.Create("New York", 7781984, 7894862, 7071639, 7322564, 8008278),  
            Tuple.Create("Chicago", 3550904, 3366957, 3005072, 2783726, 2896016) };

      // Display array in unsorted order.
      outputBlock.Text += "In unsorted order:" + "\n";
      foreach (var city in cities)
         outputBlock.Text += city.ToString() + "\n";

      outputBlock.Text += "\n";

      Array.Sort(cities);

      // Display array in sorted order.
      outputBlock.Text += "In sorted order:" + "\n";
      foreach (var city in cities)
         outputBlock.Text += city.ToString() + "\n";
   }
}
// The example displays the following output:
//    In unsorted order:
//    (Los Angeles, 2479015, 2816061, 2966850, 3485398, 3694820)
//    (New York, 7781984, 7894862, 7071639, 7322564, 8008278)
//    (Chicago, 3550904, 3366957, 3005072, 2783726, 2896016)
//    
//    In sorted order:
//    (Chicago, 3550904, 3366957, 3005072, 2783726, 2896016)
//    (Los Angeles, 2479015, 2816061, 2966850, 3485398, 3694820)
//    (New York, 7781984, 7894862, 7071639, 7322564, 8008278)

Version Information

Silverlight

Supported in: 5, 4

Platforms

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

See Also

Reference

Tuple<T1, T2, T3, T4, T5, T6> Class

System Namespace