StringBuilder.AppendFormat Method (IFormatProvider, String, array<Object[])

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Appends the string returned by processing a composite format string, which contains zero or more format items, to this instance. Each format item is replaced by the string representation of a corresponding argument in a parameter array using a specified format provider.

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

Syntax

'Declaration
Public Function AppendFormat ( _
    provider As IFormatProvider, _
    format As String, _
    ParamArray args As Object() _
) As StringBuilder
public StringBuilder AppendFormat(
    IFormatProvider provider,
    string format,
    params Object[] args
)

Parameters

  • format
    Type: System.String
    A composite format string (see Remarks).
  • args
    Type: array<System.Object[]
    An array of objects to format.

Return Value

Type: System.Text.StringBuilder
A reference to this instance after the append operation has completed. After the append operation, this instance contains any data that existed before the operation, suffixed by a copy of format, where each format item is replaced by the string representation of the corresponding object argument.

Exceptions

Exception Condition
ArgumentNullException

format is nulla null reference (Nothing in Visual Basic).

FormatException

format is invalid.

-or-

The index of a format item is less than 0 (zero), or greater than or equal to the length of the args array.

ArgumentOutOfRangeException

The length of the expanded string would exceed the maximum capacity of this instance.

Remarks

This method uses the composite formatting feature of the .NET Framework to convert the value of an object to its text representation and embed that representation in the current StringBuilder object.

The format parameter consists of zero or more runs of text intermixed with zero or more indexed placeholders, called format items, that correspond to objects in the parameter list of this method. The formatting process replaces each format item with the string representation of the corresponding object.

The syntax of a format item is as follows:

{index[,length][:formatString]}

Elements in square brackets are optional. The following table describes each element.

Element

Description

index

The zero-based position in the parameter list of the object to be formatted. If the object specified by index is nulla null reference (Nothing in Visual Basic), the format item is replaced by String.Empty. If there is no parameter in the index position, a FormatException is thrown.

,length

The minimum number of characters in the string representation of the parameter. If positive, the parameter is right-aligned; if negative, it is left-aligned.

:formatString

A standard or custom format string that is supported by the parameter.

NoteNote:

For the standard and custom format strings used with date and time values, see Standard Date and Time Format Strings and Custom Date and Time Format Strings. For the standard and custom format strings used with numeric values, see Standard Numeric Format Strings and Custom Numeric Format Strings. For the standard format strings used with enumerations, see Enumeration Format Strings.

The provider parameter specifies an IFormatProvider implementation that can provide formatting information for the objects in args. provider can be any of the following:

  • A CultureInfo object that provides culture-specific formatting information.

  • A NumberFormatInfo object that provides culture-specific formatting information for numeric values in args.

  • A DateTimeFormatInfo object that provides culture-specific formatting information for date and time values in args.

  • A custom IFormatProvider implementation that provides formatting information for one or more of the objects in args. Typically, such an implementation also implements the ICustomFormatter interface. The second example in the next section illustrates an StringBuilder.AppendFormat(IFormatProvider, String, array<Object[]) method call with a custom IFormatProvider implementation.

If the provider parameter is nulla null reference (Nothing in Visual Basic), format provider information is obtained from the current culture.

args represents the objects to be formatted. Each format item in format is replaced with the string representation of the corresponding object in args. If the format item includes formatString and the corresponding object in args implements the IFormattable interface, then args[index].Format(formatString, provider) defines the formatting. Otherwise, args[index].ToString(provider) defines the formatting.

Examples

The following code example demonstrates the AppendFormat method.

Imports System.Text
Imports System.Globalization

Class Example
   Private Shared sb As New StringBuilder()

   Public Shared Sub Demo(ByVal outputBlock As System.Windows.Controls.TextBlock)
      Dim var1 As Integer = 111
      Dim var2 As Single = 2.22F
      Dim var3 As String = "abcd"
      Dim var4 As Object() = {3, 4.4, "X"c}

      outputBlock.Text &= vbCrLf
      outputBlock.Text &= "StringBuilder.AppendFormat method:" & vbCrLf
      sb.AppendFormat("1) {0}", var1)
      Show(outputBlock, sb)
      sb.AppendFormat("2) {0}, {1}", var1, var2)
      Show(outputBlock, sb)
      sb.AppendFormat("3) {0}, {1}, {2}", var1, var2, var3)
      Show(outputBlock, sb)
      sb.AppendFormat("4) {0}, {1}, {2}", var4)
      Show(outputBlock, sb)
      Dim ci As New CultureInfo("es-ES")
      sb.AppendFormat(ci, "5) {0}", var2)
      Show(outputBlock, sb)
   End Sub 'Main

   Public Shared Sub Show(ByVal outputBlock As System.Windows.Controls.TextBlock, ByVal sbs As StringBuilder)
      outputBlock.Text &= sbs.ToString() & vbCrLf
      sb.Length = 0
   End Sub 'Show
End Class 'Sample
'
'This example produces the following results:
'
'StringBuilder.AppendFormat method:
'1) 111
'2) 111, 2.22
'3) 111, 2.22, abcd
'4) 3, 4.4, X
'5) 2,22
using System;
using System.Text;
using System.Globalization;

class Example
{
   static StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();

   public static void Demo(System.Windows.Controls.TextBlock outputBlock)
   {
      int var1 = 111;
      float var2 = 2.22F;
      string var3 = "abcd";
      object[] var4 = { 3, 4.4, 'X' };

      outputBlock.Text += "\n";
      outputBlock.Text += "StringBuilder.AppendFormat method:" + "\n";
      sb.AppendFormat("1) {0}", var1);
      Show(outputBlock, sb);
      sb.AppendFormat("2) {0}, {1}", var1, var2);
      Show(outputBlock, sb);
      sb.AppendFormat("3) {0}, {1}, {2}", var1, var2, var3);
      Show(outputBlock, sb);
      sb.AppendFormat("4) {0}, {1}, {2}", var4);
      Show(outputBlock, sb);
      CultureInfo ci = new CultureInfo("es-ES");
      sb.AppendFormat(ci, "5) {0}", var2);
      Show(outputBlock, sb);
   }

   public static void Show(System.Windows.Controls.TextBlock outputBlock, StringBuilder sbs)
   {
      outputBlock.Text += sbs.ToString() + "\n";
      sb.Length = 0;
   }
}
/*
This example produces the following results:

StringBuilder.AppendFormat method:
1) 111
2) 111, 2.22
3) 111, 2.22, abcd
4) 3, 4.4, X
5) 2,22
*/

The following example defines a custom IFormatProvider implementation named CustomerFormatter that formats a 10-digit customer number with hyphens after the fourth and seventh digits. It is passed to the StringBuilder.AppendFormat(IFormatProvider, String, array<Object[]) method to create a string that includes the formatted customer number and customer name.

Imports System.Text

Public Class Customer
   Private custName As String
   Private custNumber As Integer

   Public Sub New(ByVal name As String, ByVal number As Integer)
      custName = name
      custNumber = number
   End Sub

   Public ReadOnly Property Name() As String
      Get
         Return Me.custName
      End Get
   End Property

   Public ReadOnly Property CustomerNumber() As Integer
      Get
         Return Me.custNumber
      End Get
   End Property
End Class

Public Class CustomerNumberFormatter
   Implements IFormatProvider, ICustomFormatter

   Public Function GetFormat(ByVal formatType As Type) As Object _
                   Implements IFormatProvider.GetFormat
      If formatType Is GetType(ICustomFormatter) Then
         Return Me
      End If
      Return Nothing
   End Function

   Public Function Format(ByVal fmt As String, ByVal arg As Object, ByVal provider As IFormatProvider) As String _
                   Implements ICustomFormatter.Format
      If TypeOf arg Is Int32 Then
         Dim custNumber As String = CInt(arg).ToString("D10")
         Return custNumber.Substring(0, 4) + "-" + custNumber.Substring(4, 3) + _
                "-" + custNumber.Substring(7, 3)
      Else
         Return Nothing
      End If
   End Function
End Class

Module Example
   Public Sub Demo(ByVal outputBlock As System.Windows.Controls.TextBlock)
      Dim customer As New Customer("A Plus Software", 903654)
      Dim sb As New StringBuilder()
      sb.AppendFormat(New CustomerNumberFormatter, "{0}: {1}", _
                      customer.CustomerNumber, customer.Name)
      outputBlock.Text &= sb.ToString() & vbCrLf
   End Sub
End Module
' The example displays the following output:
'      0000-903-654: A Plus Software
using System;
using System.Text;

public class Customer
{
   private string custName;
   private int custNumber;

   public Customer(string name, int number)
   {
      this.custName = name;
      this.custNumber = number;
   }

   public string Name
   {
      get { return this.custName; }
   }

   public int CustomerNumber
   {
      get { return this.custNumber; }
   }
}

public class CustomerNumberFormatter : IFormatProvider, ICustomFormatter
{
   public object GetFormat(Type formatType)
   {
      if (formatType == typeof(ICustomFormatter))
         return this;
      return null;
   }

   public string Format(string format, object arg, IFormatProvider provider)
   {
      if (arg is Int32)
      {
         string custNumber = ((int)arg).ToString("D10");
         return custNumber.Substring(0, 4) + "-" + custNumber.Substring(4, 3) +
                "-" + custNumber.Substring(7, 3);
      }
      else
      {
         return null;
      }
   }
}

public class Example
{
   public static void Demo(System.Windows.Controls.TextBlock outputBlock)
   {
      Customer customer = new Customer("A Plus Software", 903654);
      StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
      sb.AppendFormat(new CustomerNumberFormatter(), "{0}: {1}",
                      customer.CustomerNumber, customer.Name);
      outputBlock.Text += sb.ToString() + "\n";
   }
}
// The example displays the following output:
//      0000-903-654: A Plus Software

Version Information

Silverlight

Supported in: 5, 4, 3

Silverlight for Windows Phone

Supported in: Windows Phone OS 7.1, Windows Phone OS 7.0

XNA Framework

Supported in: Xbox 360, Windows Phone OS 7.0

Platforms

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