NameValueCollection Class (System.Collections.Specialized)

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Microsoft Visual Studio 2008/.NET Framework 3.5

Other versions are also available for the following:

.NET Framework Class Library

NameValueCollection Class

Represents a collection of associated String keys and String values that can be accessed either with the key or with the index.

Namespace: System.Collections.Specialized
Assembly: System (in System.dll)

Syntax

Visual Basic (Declaration)

<SerializableAttribute> _
Public Class NameValueCollection _
    Inherits NameObjectCollectionBase

Visual Basic (Usage)

Dim instance As NameValueCollection

[SerializableAttribute]
public class NameValueCollection : NameObjectCollectionBase

Visual C++

[SerializableAttribute]
public ref class NameValueCollection : public NameObjectCollectionBase

JScript

public class NameValueCollection extends NameObjectCollectionBase

Remarks

This collection is based on the NameObjectCollectionBase class. However, unlike the NameObjectCollectionBase, this class stores multiple string values under a single key.

This class can be used for headers, query strings and form data.

Each element is a key/value pair.

The capacity of a NameValueCollection is the number of elements the NameValueCollection can hold. As elements are added to a NameValueCollection, the capacity is automatically increased as required through reallocation.

The hash code provider dispenses hash codes for keys in the NameValueCollection. The default hash code provider is the CaseInsensitiveHashCodeProvider.

The comparer determines whether two keys are equal. The default comparer is the CaseInsensitiveComparer.

In .NET Framework version 1.0, this class uses culture-sensitive string comparisons. However, in .NET Framework version 1.1 and later, this class uses CultureInfo..::.InvariantCulture when comparing strings. For more information about how culture affects comparisons and sorting, see Comparing and Sorting Data for a Specific Culture Comparing and Sorting Data for a Specific Cultureand Performing Culture-Insensitive String Operations.

nullNothingnullptra null reference (Nothing in Visual Basic) is allowed as a key or as a value.

Caution:
The Get method does not distinguish between nullNothingnullptra null reference (Nothing in Visual Basic) which is returned because the specified key is not found and nullNothingnullptra null reference (Nothing in Visual Basic) which is returned because the value associated with the key is nullNothingnullptra null reference (Nothing in Visual Basic).

Topic	Location
How to: Read Application Settings from the Web.config File	Configuring ASP .NET Web Applications
How to: Read Application Settings from the Web.config File	Configuring ASP .NET Web Applications
How to: Read Application Settings from the Web.config File	Building ASP .NET Web Applications in Visual Studio
How to: Read Application Settings from the Web.config File	Building ASP .NET Web Applications in Visual Studio

Examples

Visual Basic

' The following code example demonstrates several of the properties and methods of ListDictionary.

Imports System
Imports System.Collections
Imports System.Collections.Specialized


Public Class SamplesNameValueCollection

    Public Shared Sub Main()

        ' Creates and initializes a new NameValueCollection.
        Dim myCol As New NameValueCollection()
        myCol.Add("red", "rojo")
        myCol.Add("green", "verde")
        myCol.Add("blue", "azul")
        myCol.Add("red", "rouge")

        ' Displays the values in the NameValueCollection in two different ways.
        Console.WriteLine("Displays the elements using the AllKeys property and the Item (indexer) property:")
        PrintKeysAndValues(myCol)
        Console.WriteLine("Displays the elements using GetKey and Get:")
        PrintKeysAndValues2(myCol)

        ' Gets a value either by index or by key.
        Console.WriteLine("Index 1 contains the value {0}.", myCol(1))
        Console.WriteLine("Key ""red"" has the value {0}.", myCol("red"))
        Console.WriteLine()

        ' Copies the values to a string array and displays the string array.
        Dim myStrArr(myCol.Count) As String
        myCol.CopyTo(myStrArr, 0)
        Console.WriteLine("The string array contains:")
        Dim s As String
        For Each s In myStrArr
            Console.WriteLine("   {0}", s)
        Next s
        Console.WriteLine()

        ' Searches for a key and deletes it.
        myCol.Remove("green")
        Console.WriteLine("The collection contains the following elements after removing ""green"":")
        PrintKeysAndValues(myCol)

        ' Clears the entire collection.
        myCol.Clear()
        Console.WriteLine("The collection contains the following elements after it is cleared:")
        PrintKeysAndValues(myCol)

    End Sub 'Main

    Public Shared Sub PrintKeysAndValues(myCol As NameValueCollection)
        Dim myEnumerator As IEnumerator = myCol.GetEnumerator()
        Console.WriteLine("   KEY        VALUE")
        Dim s As String
        For Each s In  myCol.AllKeys
            Console.WriteLine("   {0,-10} {1}", s, myCol(s))
        Next s
        Console.WriteLine()
    End Sub 'PrintKeysAndValues

    Public Shared Sub PrintKeysAndValues2(myCol As NameValueCollection)
        Console.WriteLine("   [INDEX] KEY        VALUE")
        Dim i As Integer
        For i = 0 To myCol.Count - 1
            Console.WriteLine("   [{0}]     {1,-10} {2}", i, myCol.GetKey(i), myCol.Get(i))
        Next i
        Console.WriteLine()
    End Sub 'PrintKeysAndValues2

End Class 'SamplesNameValueCollection 


'This code produces the following output.
'
'Displays the elements using the AllKeys property and the Item (indexer) property:
'   KEY        VALUE
'   red        rojo,rouge
'   green      verde
'   blue       azul
'
'Displays the elements using GetKey and Get:
'   [INDEX] KEY        VALUE
'   [0]     red        rojo,rouge
'   [1]     green      verde
'   [2]     blue       azul
'
'Index 1 contains the value verde.
'Key "red" has the value rojo,rouge.
'
'The string array contains:
'   red
'   green
'   blue
'
'
'The collection contains the following elements after removing "green":
'   KEY        VALUE
'   red        rojo,rouge
'   blue       azul
'
'The collection contains the following elements after it is cleared:
'   KEY        VALUE
'
'

using System;
using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Specialized;

public class SamplesNameValueCollection  {

   public static void Main()  {

      // Creates and initializes a new NameValueCollection.
      NameValueCollection myCol = new NameValueCollection();
      myCol.Add( "red", "rojo" );
      myCol.Add( "green", "verde" );
      myCol.Add( "blue", "azul" );
      myCol.Add( "red", "rouge" );

      // Displays the values in the NameValueCollection in two different ways.
      Console.WriteLine( "Displays the elements using the AllKeys property and the Item (indexer) property:" );
      PrintKeysAndValues( myCol );
      Console.WriteLine( "Displays the elements using GetKey and Get:" );
      PrintKeysAndValues2( myCol );

      // Gets a value either by index or by key.
      Console.WriteLine( "Index 1 contains the value {0}.", myCol[1] );
      Console.WriteLine( "Key \"red\" has the value {0}.", myCol["red"] );
      Console.WriteLine();

      // Copies the values to a string array and displays the string array.
      String[] myStrArr = new String[myCol.Count];
      myCol.CopyTo( myStrArr, 0 );
      Console.WriteLine( "The string array contains:" );
      foreach ( String s in myStrArr )
         Console.WriteLine( "   {0}", s );
      Console.WriteLine();

      // Searches for a key and deletes it.
      myCol.Remove( "green" );
      Console.WriteLine( "The collection contains the following elements after removing \"green\":" );
      PrintKeysAndValues( myCol );

      // Clears the entire collection.
      myCol.Clear();
      Console.WriteLine( "The collection contains the following elements after it is cleared:" );
      PrintKeysAndValues( myCol );

   }

   public static void PrintKeysAndValues( NameValueCollection myCol )  {
      IEnumerator myEnumerator = myCol.GetEnumerator();
      Console.WriteLine( "   KEY        VALUE" );
      foreach ( String s in myCol.AllKeys )
         Console.WriteLine( "   {0,-10} {1}", s, myCol[s] );
      Console.WriteLine();
   }

   public static void PrintKeysAndValues2( NameValueCollection myCol )  {
      Console.WriteLine( "   [INDEX] KEY        VALUE" );
      for ( int i = 0; i < myCol.Count; i++ )
         Console.WriteLine( "   [{0}]     {1,-10} {2}", i, myCol.GetKey(i), myCol.Get(i) );
      Console.WriteLine();
   }


}

/*

This code produces the following output.

Displays the elements using the AllKeys property and the Item (indexer) property:
   KEY        VALUE
   red        rojo,rouge
   green      verde
   blue       azul

Displays the elements using GetKey and Get:
   [INDEX] KEY        VALUE
   [0]     red        rojo,rouge
   [1]     green      verde
   [2]     blue       azul

Index 1 contains the value verde.
Key "red" has the value rojo,rouge.

The string array contains:
   rojo,rouge
   verde
   azul

The collection contains the following elements after removing "green":
   KEY        VALUE
   red        rojo,rouge
   blue       azul

The collection contains the following elements after it is cleared:
   KEY        VALUE


*/

Visual C++

#using <System.dll>

using namespace System;
using namespace System::Collections;
using namespace System::Collections::Specialized;

void PrintKeysAndValues( NameValueCollection^ myCol );
void PrintKeysAndValues2( NameValueCollection^ myCol );

int main()
{
   // Creates and initializes a new NameValueCollection.
   NameValueCollection^ myCol = gcnew NameValueCollection;
   myCol->Add( "red", "rojo" );
   myCol->Add( "green", "verde" );
   myCol->Add( "blue", "azul" );
   myCol->Add( "red", "rouge" );

   // Displays the values in the NameValueCollection in two different ways.
   Console::WriteLine( "Displays the elements using the AllKeys property and the Item (indexer) property:" );
   PrintKeysAndValues( myCol );
   Console::WriteLine( "Displays the elements using GetKey and Get:" );
   PrintKeysAndValues2( myCol );

   // Gets a value either by index or by key.
   Console::WriteLine( "Index 1 contains the value {0}.", myCol[ 1 ] );
   Console::WriteLine( "Key \"red\" has the value {0}.", myCol[ "red" ] );
   Console::WriteLine();

   // Copies the values to a string array and displays the string array.
   array<String^>^myStrArr = gcnew array<String^>(myCol->Count);
   myCol->CopyTo( myStrArr, 0 );
   Console::WriteLine( "The string array contains:" );
   for each ( String^ s in myStrArr )
      Console::WriteLine( "   {0}", s );
   Console::WriteLine();

   // Searches for a key and deletes it.
   myCol->Remove( "green" );
   Console::WriteLine( "The collection contains the following elements after removing \"green\":" );
   PrintKeysAndValues( myCol );

   // Clears the entire collection.
   myCol->Clear();
   Console::WriteLine( "The collection contains the following elements after it is cleared:" );
   PrintKeysAndValues( myCol );
}

void PrintKeysAndValues( NameValueCollection^ myCol )
{
   Console::WriteLine( "   KEY        VALUE" );
   for each ( String^ s in myCol->AllKeys )
      Console::WriteLine( "   {0,-10} {1}", s, myCol[s] );
   Console::WriteLine();
}

void PrintKeysAndValues2( NameValueCollection^ myCol )
{
   Console::WriteLine( "   [INDEX] KEY        VALUE" );
   for ( int i = 0; i < myCol->Count; i++ )
      Console::WriteLine( "   [{0}]     {1,-10} {2}", i, myCol->GetKey( i ), myCol->Get( i ) );
   Console::WriteLine();
}

/*

This code produces the following output.

Displays the elements using the AllKeys property and the Item (indexer) property:
   KEY        VALUE
   red        rojo,rouge
   green      verde
   blue       azul

Displays the elements using GetKey and Get:
   [INDEX] KEY        VALUE
   [0]     red        rojo,rouge
   [1]     green      verde
   [2]     blue       azul

Index 1 contains the value verde.
Key "red" has the value rojo,rouge.

The string array contains:
   rojo,rouge
   verde
   azul

The collection contains the following elements after removing "green":
   KEY        VALUE
   red        rojo,rouge
   blue       azul

The collection contains the following elements after it is cleared:
   KEY        VALUE


*/

Inheritance Hierarchy

System..::.Object
  System.Collections.Specialized..::.NameObjectCollectionBase
    System.Collections.Specialized..::.NameValueCollection
      System.Net..::.WebHeaderCollection
      System.Web..::.HttpClientCertificate

Thread Safety

Public static (Shared in Visual Basic) members of this type are thread safe. Any instance members are not guaranteed to be thread safe.

This implementation does not provide a synchronized (thread safe) wrapper for a NameValueCollection, but derived classes can create their own synchronized versions of the NameValueCollection using the SyncRoot property of the NameObjectCollectionBase class.

Enumerating through a collection is intrinsically not a thread safe procedure. Even when a collection is synchronized, other threads can still modify the collection, which causes the enumerator to throw an exception. To guarantee thread safety during enumeration, you can either lock the collection during the entire enumeration or catch the exceptions resulting from changes made by other threads.

Platforms

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

The .NET Framework and .NET Compact Framework do not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see .NET Framework System Requirements.

Version Information

.NET Framework

Supported in: 3.5, 3.0, 2.0, 1.1, 1.0

.NET Compact Framework

Supported in: 3.5, 2.0, 1.0

XNA Framework

Supported in: 3.0, 2.0, 1.0

Reference

NameValueCollection Members

System.Collections.Specialized Namespace

NameObjectCollectionBase

Other Resources

Performing Culture-Insensitive String Operations