ReadOnlyCollection(Of T) Constructor
Initializes a new instance of the ReadOnlyCollection(Of T) class that is a read-only wrapper around the specified list.
Assembly: mscorlib (in mscorlib.dll)
| Exception | Condition |
|---|---|
| ArgumentNullException |
list is Nothing. |
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.
The following code example demonstrates this constructor and several members of the ReadOnlyCollection(Of T) class.
The code example creates a List(Of T) of strings and adds four dinosaur names to it. The code example then wraps the list in a ReadOnlyCollection(Of T) by passing it to the constructor.
After demonstrating the Count, Contains, Item, and IList.IndexOf members, the code example shows that the ReadOnlyCollection(Of T) is just a wrapper for the original List(Of T) by adding a new item to the List(Of T) and displaying the contents of the ReadOnlyCollection(Of 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 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" "" */
Windows 7, Windows Vista SP1 or later, Windows XP SP3, Windows XP SP2 x64 Edition, Windows Server 2008 (Server Core not supported), Windows Server 2008 R2 (Server Core supported with SP1 or later), Windows Server 2003 SP2
The .NET Framework does not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see .NET Framework System Requirements.
