Public Function TryGetValue ( _
    key As TKey, _
    <OutAttribute> ByRef value As TValue _
) As Boolean

Dim instance As Dictionary
Dim key As TKey
Dim value As TValue
Dim returnValue As Boolean

returnValue = instance.TryGetValue(key, _
    value)

public bool TryGetValue(
    TKey key,
    out TValue value
)

public:
virtual bool TryGetValue(
    TKey key, 
    [OutAttribute] TValue% value
) sealed

public final function TryGetValue(
    key : TKey, 
    value : TValue
) : boolean

Implements

This method combines the functionality of the ContainsKey method and the Item property.

If the key is not found, then the value parameter gets the appropriate default value for the value type TValue; for example, 0 (zero) for integer types, false for Boolean types, and nullNothingnullptra null reference (Nothing in Visual Basic) for reference types.

Use the TryGetValue method if your code frequently attempts to access keys that are not in the dictionary. Using this method is more efficient than catching the KeyNotFoundException thrown by the Item property.

This method approaches an O(1) operation.

The example shows how to use the TryGetValue method as a more efficient way to retrieve values in a program that frequently tries keys that are not in the dictionary. For contrast, the example also shows how the Item property (the indexer in C#) throws exceptions when attempting to retrieve nonexistent keys.

This code example is part of a larger example provided for the Dictionary<(Of <(TKey, TValue>)>) class.

' When a program often has to try keys that turn out not to
' be in the dictionary, TryGetValue can be a more efficient 
' way to retrieve values.
Dim value As String = ""
If openWith.TryGetValue("tif", value) Then
    Console.WriteLine("For key = ""tif"", value = {0}.", value)
Else
    Console.WriteLine("Key = ""tif"" is not found.")
End If


...


' The default Item property throws an exception if the requested
' key is not in the dictionary.
Try
    Console.WriteLine("For key = ""tif"", value = {0}.", _
        openWith("tif"))
Catch 
    Console.WriteLine("Key = ""tif"" is not found.")
End Try

// When a program often has to try keys that turn out not to
// be in the dictionary, TryGetValue can be a more efficient 
// way to retrieve values.
string value = "";
if (openWith.TryGetValue("tif", out value))
{
    Console.WriteLine("For key = \"tif\", value = {0}.", value);
}
else
{
    Console.WriteLine("Key = \"tif\" is not found.");
}


...


// The indexer throws an exception if the requested key is
// not in the dictionary.
try
{
    Console.WriteLine("For key = \"tif\", value = {0}.", 
        openWith["tif"]);
}
catch (KeyNotFoundException)
{
    Console.WriteLine("Key = \"tif\" is not found.");
}

Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP SP2, Windows XP Media Center Edition, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Windows XP Starter Edition, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2000 SP4, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows 98, Windows CE, Windows Mobile for Smartphone, Windows Mobile for Pocket PC, Xbox 360, Zune

.NET Framework

.NET Compact Framework

XNA Framework

Reference