String.IndexOf Method

Definition

Reports the zero-based index of the first occurrence of a specified Unicode character or string within this instance. The method returns -1 if the character or string is not found in this instance.

Overloads

IndexOf(String, Int32, Int32)

Reports the zero-based index of the first occurrence of the specified string in this instance. The search starts at a specified character position and examines a specified number of character positions.

IndexOf(String, Int32, Int32, StringComparison)

Reports the zero-based index of the first occurrence of the specified string in the current String object. Parameters specify the starting search position in the current string, the number of characters in the current string to search, and the type of search to use for the specified string.

IndexOf(String, Int32, StringComparison)

Reports the zero-based index of the first occurrence of the specified string in the current String object. Parameters specify the starting search position in the current string and the type of search to use for the specified string.

IndexOf(String, StringComparison)

Reports the zero-based index of the first occurrence of the specified string in the current String object. A parameter specifies the type of search to use for the specified string.

IndexOf(Char, Int32, Int32)

Reports the zero-based index of the first occurrence of the specified character in this instance. The search starts at a specified character position and examines a specified number of character positions.

IndexOf(Char, StringComparison)

Reports the zero-based index of the first occurrence of the specified Unicode character in this string. A parameter specifies the type of search to use for the specified character.

IndexOf(Char, Int32)

Reports the zero-based index of the first occurrence of the specified Unicode character in this string. The search starts at a specified character position.

IndexOf(String)

Reports the zero-based index of the first occurrence of the specified string in this instance.

IndexOf(Char)

Reports the zero-based index of the first occurrence of the specified Unicode character in this string.

IndexOf(String, Int32)

Reports the zero-based index of the first occurrence of the specified string in this instance. The search starts at a specified character position.

IndexOf(String, Int32, Int32)

Reports the zero-based index of the first occurrence of the specified string in this instance. The search starts at a specified character position and examines a specified number of character positions.

public:
 int IndexOf(System::String ^ value, int startIndex, int count);
public int IndexOf (string value, int startIndex, int count);
member this.IndexOf : string * int * int -> int
Public Function IndexOf (value As String, startIndex As Integer, count As Integer) As Integer

Parameters

value
String

The string to seek.

startIndex
Int32

The search starting position.

count
Int32

The number of character positions to examine.

Returns

The zero-based index position of value from the start of the current instance if that string is found, or -1 if it is not. If value is Empty, the return value is startIndex.

Exceptions

value is null.

count or startIndex is negative.

-or-

startIndex is greater than the length of this string.

-or-

count is greater than the length of this string minus startIndex.

Examples

The following example finds the index of all occurrences of the string "he" within a substring of another string. Note that the number of characters to be searched must be recalculated for each search iteration.

// Sample for String::IndexOf(String, Int32, Int32)
using namespace System;
int main()
{
   String^ br1 = "0----+----1----+----2----+----3----+----4----+----5----+----6----+-";
   String^ br2 = "0123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456";
   String^ str = "Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their party.";
   int start;
   int at;
   int end;
   int count;
   end = str->Length;
   start = end / 2;
   Console::WriteLine();
   Console::WriteLine( "All occurrences of 'he' from position {0} to {1}.", start, end - 1 );
   Console::WriteLine( "{1}{0}{2}{0}{3}{0}", Environment::NewLine, br1, br2, str );
   Console::Write( "The string 'he' occurs at position(s): " );
   count = 0;
   at = 0;
   while ( (start <= end) && (at > -1) )
   {
      
      // start+count must be a position within -str-.
      count = end - start;
      at = str->IndexOf( "he", start, count );
      if ( at == -1 )
            break;

      Console::Write( "{0} ", at );
      start = at + 1;
   }

   Console::WriteLine();
}

/*
This example produces the following results:

All occurrences of 'he' from position 33 to 66.
0----+----1----+----2----+----3----+----4----+----5----+----6----+-
0123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456
Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their party.

The string 'he' occurs at position(s): 45 56

*/
string br1 = "0----+----1----+----2----+----3----+----4----+----5----+----6----+---";
string br2 = "012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678";
string str = "Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country.";
int start;
int at;
int end;
int count;

end = str.Length;
start = end/2;
Console.WriteLine();
Console.WriteLine("All occurrences of 'he' from position {0} to {1}.", start, end-1);
Console.WriteLine("{1}{0}{2}{0}{3}{0}", Environment.NewLine, br1, br2, str);
Console.Write("The string 'he' occurs at position(s): ");

count = 0;
at = 0;
while((start <= end) && (at > -1))
{
    // start+count must be a position within -str-.
    count = end - start;
    at = str.IndexOf("he", start, count);
    if (at == -1) break;
    Console.Write("{0} ", at);
    start = at+1;
}
Console.WriteLine();

/*
This example produces the following results:

All occurrences of 'he' from position 34 to 68.
0----+----1----+----2----+----3----+----4----+----5----+----6----+---
012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678
Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country.

The string 'he' occurs at position(s): 45 56

*/
let br1 = "0----+----1----+----2----+----3----+----4----+----5----+----6----+---"
let br2 = "012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678"
let str = "Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country."

let last = str.Length
let mutable start = last / 2
printfn $"\nAll occurrences of 'he' from position {start} to {last - 1}."
printfn $"{br1}{Environment.NewLine}{br2}{Environment.NewLine}{str}{Environment.NewLine}"
printf "The string 'he' occurs at position(s): "

let mutable broken = false
let mutable at = 0
while (start <= last) && (at > -1) do
    // start+count must be a position within -str-.
    let count = last - start
    at <- str.IndexOf("he", start, count)
    if at = -1 then
        broken <- true
    else
        printf $"{at} "
        start <- at + 1
printfn ""

(*
This example produces the following results:

All occurrences of 'he' from position 34 to 68.
0----+----1----+----2----+----3----+----4----+----5----+----6----+---
012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678
Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country.

The string 'he' occurs at position(s): 45 56

*)
' Sample for String.IndexOf(String, Int32, Int32)
Class Sample
   
   Public Shared Sub Main()
      
      Dim br1 As String = "0----+----1----+----2----+----3----+----4----+----5----+----6----+-"
      Dim br2 As String = "0123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456"
      Dim str As String = "Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their party."
      Dim start As Integer
      Dim at As Integer
      Dim [end] As Integer
      Dim count As Integer
      
      [end] = str.Length
      start = [end] / 2
      Console.WriteLine()
      Console.WriteLine("All occurrences of 'he' from position {0} to {1}.", start, [end] - 1)
      Console.WriteLine("{1}{0}{2}{0}{3}{0}", Environment.NewLine, br1, br2, str)
      Console.Write("The string 'he' occurs at position(s): ")
      
      count = 0
      at = 0
      While start <= [end] AndAlso at > - 1
         ' start+count must be a position within -str-.
         count = [end] - start
         at = str.IndexOf("he", start, count)
         If at = - 1 Then
            Exit While
         End If
         Console.Write("{0} ", at)
         start = at + 1
      End While
      Console.WriteLine()
   End Sub
End Class
'
'This example produces the following results:
'
'All occurrences of 'he' from position 33 to 66.
'0----+----1----+----2----+----3----+----4----+----5----+----6----+-
'0123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456
'Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their party.
'
'The string 'he' occurs at position(s): 45 56
'
'

Remarks

Index numbering starts from 0 (zero). The startIndex parameter can range from 0 to the length of the string instance.

This method performs a word (case-sensitive and culture-sensitive) search using the current culture. The search begins at startIndex and continues to startIndex + count -1. The character at startIndex + count is not included in the search.

Character sets include ignorable characters, which are characters that are not considered when performing a linguistic or culture-sensitive comparison. In a culture-sensitive search, if value contains an ignorable character, the result is equivalent to searching with that character removed. If value consists only of one or more ignorable characters, the IndexOf(String, Int32, Int32) method always returns startIndex, which is the character position at which the search begins. In the following example, the IndexOf(String, Int32, Int32) method is used to find the position of a soft hyphen (U+00AD) followed by an "m" starting in the third through sixth character positions in two strings. Only one of the strings contains the required substring. If the example is run on the .NET Framework 4 or later, in both cases, because the soft hyphen is an ignorable character, the method returns the index of "m" in the string when it performs a culture-sensitive comparison. Note that in the case of the first string, which includes the soft hyphen followed by an "m", the method fails to return the index of the soft hyphen but instead returns the index of the "m".

using System;

public class Example
{
    public static void Main()
    {
        string searchString = "\u00ADm";
        string s1 = "ani\u00ADmal" ;
        string s2 = "animal";

        Console.WriteLine(s1.IndexOf(searchString, 2, 4));
        Console.WriteLine(s2.IndexOf(searchString, 2, 4));

        // The example displays the following output:
        //       4
        //       3
    }
}
let searchString = "\u00ADm"
let s1 = "ani\u00ADmal"
let s2 = "animal"

printfn $"{s1.IndexOf(searchString, 2, 4)}"
printfn $"{s2.IndexOf(searchString, 2, 4)}"

// The example displays the following output:
//       4
//       3
Module Example
   Public Sub Main()
      Dim searchString As String = Chrw(&h00AD) + "m"
      Dim s1 As String = "ani" + ChrW(&h00AD) + "mal"
      Dim s2 As String = "animal"

      Console.WriteLine(s1.IndexOf(searchString, 2, 4))
      Console.WriteLine(s2.IndexOf(searchString, 2, 4))
   End Sub
End Module
' The example displays the following output:
'       4
'       3

Notes to Callers

As explained in Best Practices for Using Strings, we recommend that you avoid calling string comparison methods that substitute default values and instead call methods that require parameters to be explicitly specified. To use the comparison rules of the current culture to perform this operation, signal your intention explicitly by calling the IndexOf(String, Int32, Int32, StringComparison) method overload with a value of CurrentCulture for its comparisonType parameter. If you don't need linguistic-aware comparison, consider using Ordinal.

See also

Applies to

IndexOf(String, Int32, Int32, StringComparison)

Reports the zero-based index of the first occurrence of the specified string in the current String object. Parameters specify the starting search position in the current string, the number of characters in the current string to search, and the type of search to use for the specified string.

public:
 int IndexOf(System::String ^ value, int startIndex, int count, StringComparison comparisonType);
public int IndexOf (string value, int startIndex, int count, StringComparison comparisonType);
member this.IndexOf : string * int * int * StringComparison -> int
Public Function IndexOf (value As String, startIndex As Integer, count As Integer, comparisonType As StringComparison) As Integer

Parameters

value
String

The string to seek.

startIndex
Int32

The search starting position.

count
Int32

The number of character positions to examine.

comparisonType
StringComparison

One of the enumeration values that specifies the rules for the search.

Returns

The zero-based index position of the value parameter from the start of the current instance if that string is found, or -1 if it is not. If value is Empty, the return value is startIndex.

Exceptions

value is null.

count or startIndex is negative.

-or-

startIndex is greater than the length of this instance.

-or-

count is greater than the length of this string minus startIndex.

comparisonType is not a valid StringComparison value.

Examples

The following example demonstrates three overloads of the IndexOf method that find the first occurrence of a string within another string using different values of the StringComparison enumeration.

// This code example demonstrates the 
// System.String.IndexOf(String, ..., StringComparison) methods.

using System;
using System.Threading;
using System.Globalization;

class Sample 
{
    public static void Main() 
    {
    string intro = "Find the first occurrence of a character using different " + 
                   "values of StringComparison.";
    string resultFmt = "Comparison: {0,-28} Location: {1,3}";

// Define a string to search for.
// U+00c5 = LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A WITH RING ABOVE
    string CapitalAWithRing = "\u00c5"; 

// Define a string to search. 
// The result of combining the characters LATIN SMALL LETTER A and COMBINING 
// RING ABOVE (U+0061, U+030a) is linguistically equivalent to the character 
// LATIN SMALL LETTER A WITH RING ABOVE (U+00e5).
    string cat = "A Cheshire c" + "\u0061\u030a" + "t";

    int loc = 0;
    StringComparison[] scValues = {
        StringComparison.CurrentCulture,
        StringComparison.CurrentCultureIgnoreCase,
        StringComparison.InvariantCulture,
        StringComparison.InvariantCultureIgnoreCase,
        StringComparison.Ordinal,
        StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase };

// Clear the screen and display an introduction.
    Console.Clear();
    Console.WriteLine(intro);

// Display the current culture because culture affects the result. For example, 
// try this code example with the "sv-SE" (Swedish-Sweden) culture.

    Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture = new CultureInfo("en-US");
    Console.WriteLine("The current culture is \"{0}\" - {1}.", 
                       Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture.Name,
                       Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture.DisplayName);

// Display the string to search for and the string to search.
    Console.WriteLine("Search for the string \"{0}\" in the string \"{1}\"", 
                       CapitalAWithRing, cat);
    Console.WriteLine();

// Note that in each of the following searches, we look for 
// LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A WITH RING ABOVE in a string that contains 
// LATIN SMALL LETTER A WITH RING ABOVE. A result value of -1 indicates 
// the string was not found.
// Search using different values of StringComparison. Specify the start 
// index and count. 

    Console.WriteLine("Part 1: Start index and count are specified.");
    foreach (StringComparison sc in scValues)
        {
        loc = cat.IndexOf(CapitalAWithRing, 0, cat.Length, sc);
        Console.WriteLine(resultFmt, sc, loc);
        }

// Search using different values of StringComparison. Specify the 
// start index. 
    Console.WriteLine("\nPart 2: Start index is specified.");
    foreach (StringComparison sc in scValues)
        {
        loc = cat.IndexOf(CapitalAWithRing, 0, sc);
        Console.WriteLine(resultFmt, sc, loc);
        }

// Search using different values of StringComparison. 
    Console.WriteLine("\nPart 3: Neither start index nor count is specified.");
    foreach (StringComparison sc in scValues)
        {
        loc = cat.IndexOf(CapitalAWithRing, sc);
        Console.WriteLine(resultFmt, sc, loc);
        }
    }
}

/*
Note: This code example was executed on a console whose user interface 
culture is "en-US" (English-United States).

This code example produces the following results:

Find the first occurrence of a character using different values of StringComparison.
The current culture is "en-US" - English (United States).
Search for the string "Å" in the string "A Cheshire ca°t"

Part 1: Start index and count are specified.
Comparison: CurrentCulture               Location:  -1
Comparison: CurrentCultureIgnoreCase     Location:  12
Comparison: InvariantCulture             Location:  -1
Comparison: InvariantCultureIgnoreCase   Location:  12
Comparison: Ordinal                      Location:  -1
Comparison: OrdinalIgnoreCase            Location:  -1

Part 2: Start index is specified.
Comparison: CurrentCulture               Location:  -1
Comparison: CurrentCultureIgnoreCase     Location:  12
Comparison: InvariantCulture             Location:  -1
Comparison: InvariantCultureIgnoreCase   Location:  12
Comparison: Ordinal                      Location:  -1
Comparison: OrdinalIgnoreCase            Location:  -1

Part 3: Neither start index nor count is specified.
Comparison: CurrentCulture               Location:  -1
Comparison: CurrentCultureIgnoreCase     Location:  12
Comparison: InvariantCulture             Location:  -1
Comparison: InvariantCultureIgnoreCase   Location:  12
Comparison: Ordinal                      Location:  -1
Comparison: OrdinalIgnoreCase            Location:  -1

*/
// This code example demonstrates the
// System.String.IndexOf(String, ..., StringComparison) methods.

open System
open System.Threading
open System.Globalization

let intro = "Find the first occurrence of a character using different values of StringComparison."

// Define a string to search for.
// U+00c5 = LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A WITH RING ABOVE
let CapitalAWithRing = "\u00c5"

// Define a string to search.
// The result of combining the characters LATIN SMALL LETTER A and COMBINING
// RING ABOVE (U+0061, U+030a) is linguistically equivalent to the character
// LATIN SMALL LETTER A WITH RING ABOVE (U+00e5).
let cat = "A Cheshire c" + "\u0061\u030a" + "t"

let scValues = 
    [| StringComparison.CurrentCulture
       StringComparison.CurrentCultureIgnoreCase
       StringComparison.InvariantCulture
       StringComparison.InvariantCultureIgnoreCase
       StringComparison.Ordinal
       StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase |]

// Clear the screen and display an introduction.
Console.Clear()
printfn $"{intro}"

// Display the current culture because culture affects the result. For example,
// try this code example with the "sv-SE" (Swedish-Sweden) culture.

Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture <- CultureInfo "en-US"
printfn $"The current culture is \"{Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture.Name}\" - {Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture.DisplayName}."

// Display the string to search for and the string to search.
printfn $"Search for the string \"{CapitalAWithRing}\" in the string \"{cat}\"\n"

// Note that in each of the following searches, we look for
// LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A WITH RING ABOVE in a string that contains
// LATIN SMALL LETTER A WITH RING ABOVE. A result value of -1 indicates
// the string was not found.
// Search using different values of StringComparison. Specify the start
// index and count.

printfn "Part 1: Start index and count are specified."
for sc in scValues do
    let loc = cat.IndexOf(CapitalAWithRing, 0, cat.Length, sc)
    printfn $"Comparison: {sc,-28} Location: {loc,3}"

// Search using different values of StringComparison. Specify the
// start index.
printfn "\nPart 2: Start index is specified."
for sc in scValues do
    let loc = cat.IndexOf(CapitalAWithRing, 0, sc)
    printfn $"Comparison: {sc,-28} Location: {loc,3}"

// Search using different values of StringComparison.
Console.WriteLine("\nPart 3: Neither start index nor count is specified.")
for sc in scValues do
    let loc = cat.IndexOf(CapitalAWithRing, sc)
    Console.WriteLine("Comparison: {0,-28} Location: {1,3}", sc, loc)

(*
Note: This code example was executed on a console whose user interface
culture is "en-US" (English-United States).

This code example produces the following results:

Find the first occurrence of a character using different values of StringComparison.
The current culture is "en-US" - English (United States).
Search for the string "Å" in the string "A Cheshire ca°t"

Part 1: Start index and count are specified.
Comparison: CurrentCulture               Location:  -1
Comparison: CurrentCultureIgnoreCase     Location:  12
Comparison: InvariantCulture             Location:  -1
Comparison: InvariantCultureIgnoreCase   Location:  12
Comparison: Ordinal                      Location:  -1
Comparison: OrdinalIgnoreCase            Location:  -1

Part 2: Start index is specified.
Comparison: CurrentCulture               Location:  -1
Comparison: CurrentCultureIgnoreCase     Location:  12
Comparison: InvariantCulture             Location:  -1
Comparison: InvariantCultureIgnoreCase   Location:  12
Comparison: Ordinal                      Location:  -1
Comparison: OrdinalIgnoreCase            Location:  -1

Part 3: Neither start index nor count is specified.
Comparison: CurrentCulture               Location:  -1
Comparison: CurrentCultureIgnoreCase     Location:  12
Comparison: InvariantCulture             Location:  -1
Comparison: InvariantCultureIgnoreCase   Location:  12
Comparison: Ordinal                      Location:  -1
Comparison: OrdinalIgnoreCase            Location:  -1

*)
' This code example demonstrates the 
' System.String.IndexOf(String, ..., StringComparison) methods.

Imports System.Threading
Imports System.Globalization

Class Sample
    Public Shared Sub Main() 
        Dim intro As String = "Find the first occurrence of a character using different " & _
                              "values of StringComparison."
        Dim resultFmt As String = "Comparison: {0,-28} Location: {1,3}"
        
        ' Define a string to search for.
        ' U+00c5 = LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A WITH RING ABOVE
        Dim CapitalAWithRing As String = "Å"
        
        ' Define a string to search. 
        ' The result of combining the characters LATIN SMALL LETTER A and COMBINING 
        ' RING ABOVE (U+0061, U+030a) is linguistically equivalent to the character 
        ' LATIN SMALL LETTER A WITH RING ABOVE (U+00e5).
        Dim cat As String = "A Cheshire c" & "å" & "t"
        
        Dim loc As Integer = 0
        Dim scValues As StringComparison() =  { _
                        StringComparison.CurrentCulture, _
                        StringComparison.CurrentCultureIgnoreCase, _
                        StringComparison.InvariantCulture, _
                        StringComparison.InvariantCultureIgnoreCase, _
                        StringComparison.Ordinal, _
                        StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase }
        Dim sc As StringComparison
        
        ' Clear the screen and display an introduction.
        Console.Clear()
        Console.WriteLine(intro)
        
        ' Display the current culture because culture affects the result. For example, 
        ' try this code example with the "sv-SE" (Swedish-Sweden) culture.
        Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture = New CultureInfo("en-US")
        Console.WriteLine("The current culture is ""{0}"" - {1}.", _
                           Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture.Name, _ 
                           Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture.DisplayName)
        
        ' Display the string to search for and the string to search.
        Console.WriteLine("Search for the string ""{0}"" in the string ""{1}""", _
                           CapitalAWithRing, cat)
        Console.WriteLine()
        
        ' Note that in each of the following searches, we look for 
        ' LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A WITH RING ABOVE in a string that contains 
        ' LATIN SMALL LETTER A WITH RING ABOVE. A result value of -1 indicates 
        ' the string was not found.
        ' Search using different values of StringComparison. Specify the start 
        ' index and count.

        Console.WriteLine("Part 1: Start index and count are specified.")
        For Each sc In  scValues
            loc = cat.IndexOf(CapitalAWithRing, 0, cat.Length, sc)
            Console.WriteLine(resultFmt, sc, loc)
        Next sc
        
        ' Search using different values of StringComparison. Specify the 
        ' start index. 

        Console.WriteLine(vbCrLf & "Part 2: Start index is specified.")
        For Each sc In  scValues
            loc = cat.IndexOf(CapitalAWithRing, 0, sc)
            Console.WriteLine(resultFmt, sc, loc)
        Next sc
        
        ' Search using different values of StringComparison. 

        Console.WriteLine(vbCrLf & "Part 3: Neither start index nor count is specified.")
        For Each sc In  scValues
            loc = cat.IndexOf(CapitalAWithRing, sc)
            Console.WriteLine(resultFmt, sc, loc)
        Next sc
    
    End Sub
End Class

'
'Note: This code example was executed on a console whose user interface 
'culture is "en-US" (English-United States).
'
'This code example produces the following results:
'
'Find the first occurrence of a character using different values of StringComparison.
'The current culture is "en-US" - English (United States).
'Search for the string "Å" in the string "A Cheshire ca°t"
'
'Part 1: Start index and count are specified.
'Comparison: CurrentCulture               Location:  -1
'Comparison: CurrentCultureIgnoreCase     Location:  12
'Comparison: InvariantCulture             Location:  -1
'Comparison: InvariantCultureIgnoreCase   Location:  12
'Comparison: Ordinal                      Location:  -1
'Comparison: OrdinalIgnoreCase            Location:  -1
'
'Part 2: Start index is specified.
'Comparison: CurrentCulture               Location:  -1
'Comparison: CurrentCultureIgnoreCase     Location:  12
'Comparison: InvariantCulture             Location:  -1
'Comparison: InvariantCultureIgnoreCase   Location:  12
'Comparison: Ordinal                      Location:  -1
'Comparison: OrdinalIgnoreCase            Location:  -1
'
'Part 3: Neither start index nor count is specified.
'Comparison: CurrentCulture               Location:  -1
'Comparison: CurrentCultureIgnoreCase     Location:  12
'Comparison: InvariantCulture             Location:  -1
'Comparison: InvariantCultureIgnoreCase   Location:  12
'Comparison: Ordinal                      Location:  -1
'Comparison: OrdinalIgnoreCase            Location:  -1
'

Remarks

Index numbering starts from 0 (zero). The startIndex parameter can range from 0 to the length of the string instance.

The search begins at startIndex and continues to startIndex + count -1. The character at startIndex + count is not included in the search.

The comparisonType parameter specifies to search for the value parameter using the current or invariant culture, using a case-sensitive or case-insensitive search, and using word or ordinal comparison rules.

Notes to Callers

Character sets include ignorable characters, which are characters that are not considered when performing a linguistic or culture-sensitive comparison. In a culture-sensitive search (that is, if comparisonType is not Ordinal or OrdinalIgnoreCase), if value contains an ignorable character, the result is equivalent to searching with that character removed. If value consists only of one or more ignorable characters, the IndexOf(String, Int32, Int32, StringComparison) method always returns startIndex, which is the character position at which the search begins.

In the following example, the IndexOf(String, Int32, Int32, StringComparison) method is used to find the position of a soft hyphen (U+00AD) followed by an "m" starting in the third through sixth character positions in two strings. Only one of the strings contains the required substring. If the example is run on the .NET Framework 4 or later, in both cases, because the soft hyphen is an ignorable character, the method returns the index of "m" in the string when it performs a culture-sensitive comparison. When it performs an ordinal comparison, however, it finds the substring only in the first string. Note that in the case of the first string, which includes the soft hyphen followed by an "m", the method fails to return the index of the soft hyphen but instead returns the index of the "m" when it performs a culture-sensitive comparison. The method returns the index of the soft hyphen in the first string only when it performs an ordinal comparison.

using System;

public class Example
{
    public static void Main()
    {

        string searchString = "\u00ADm";
        string s1 = "ani\u00ADmal" ;
        string s2 = "animal";

        Console.WriteLine(s1.IndexOf(searchString, 2, 4, StringComparison.CurrentCulture));
        Console.WriteLine(s1.IndexOf(searchString, 2, 4, StringComparison.Ordinal));
        Console.WriteLine(s2.IndexOf(searchString, 2, 4, StringComparison.CurrentCulture));
        Console.WriteLine(s2.IndexOf(searchString, 2, 4, StringComparison.Ordinal));

        // The example displays the following output:
        //       4
        //       3
        //       3
        //       -1
    }
}
open System

let searchString = "\u00ADm"
let s1 = "ani\u00ADmal"
let s2 = "animal"

printfn $"{s1.IndexOf(searchString, 2, 4, StringComparison.CurrentCulture)}"
printfn $"{s1.IndexOf(searchString, 2, 4, StringComparison.Ordinal)}"
printfn $"{s2.IndexOf(searchString, 2, 4, StringComparison.CurrentCulture)}"
printfn $"{s2.IndexOf(searchString, 2, 4, StringComparison.Ordinal)}"

// The example displays the following output:
//       4
//       3
//       3
//       -1
Module Example
   Public Sub Main()
      Dim searchString As String = Chrw(&h00AD) + "m"
      Dim s1 As String = "ani" + ChrW(&h00AD) + "mal"
      Dim s2 As String = "animal"

      Console.WriteLine(s1.IndexOf(searchString, 2, 4, StringComparison.CurrentCulture))
      Console.WriteLine(s1.IndexOf(searchString, 2, 4, StringComparison.Ordinal))
      Console.WriteLine(s2.IndexOf(searchString, 2, 4, StringComparison.CurrentCulture))
      Console.WriteLine(s2.IndexOf(searchString, 2, 4, StringComparison.Ordinal))
   End Sub
End Module
' The example displays the following output:
'       4
'       3
'       3
'       -1

Applies to

IndexOf(String, Int32, StringComparison)

Reports the zero-based index of the first occurrence of the specified string in the current String object. Parameters specify the starting search position in the current string and the type of search to use for the specified string.

public:
 int IndexOf(System::String ^ value, int startIndex, StringComparison comparisonType);
public int IndexOf (string value, int startIndex, StringComparison comparisonType);
member this.IndexOf : string * int * StringComparison -> int
Public Function IndexOf (value As String, startIndex As Integer, comparisonType As StringComparison) As Integer

Parameters

value
String

The string to seek.

startIndex
Int32

The search starting position.

comparisonType
StringComparison

One of the enumeration values that specifies the rules for the search.

Returns

The zero-based index position of the value parameter from the start of the current instance if that string is found, or -1 if it is not. If value is Empty, the return value is startIndex.

Exceptions

value is null.

startIndex is less than 0 (zero) or greater than the length of this string.

comparisonType is not a valid StringComparison value.

Examples

The following example demonstrates three overloads of the IndexOf method that find the first occurrence of a string within another string using different values of the StringComparison enumeration.

// This code example demonstrates the 
// System.String.IndexOf(String, ..., StringComparison) methods.

using System;
using System.Threading;
using System.Globalization;

class Sample 
{
    public static void Main() 
    {
    string intro = "Find the first occurrence of a character using different " + 
                   "values of StringComparison.";
    string resultFmt = "Comparison: {0,-28} Location: {1,3}";

// Define a string to search for.
// U+00c5 = LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A WITH RING ABOVE
    string CapitalAWithRing = "\u00c5"; 

// Define a string to search. 
// The result of combining the characters LATIN SMALL LETTER A and COMBINING 
// RING ABOVE (U+0061, U+030a) is linguistically equivalent to the character 
// LATIN SMALL LETTER A WITH RING ABOVE (U+00e5).
    string cat = "A Cheshire c" + "\u0061\u030a" + "t";

    int loc = 0;
    StringComparison[] scValues = {
        StringComparison.CurrentCulture,
        StringComparison.CurrentCultureIgnoreCase,
        StringComparison.InvariantCulture,
        StringComparison.InvariantCultureIgnoreCase,
        StringComparison.Ordinal,
        StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase };

// Clear the screen and display an introduction.
    Console.Clear();
    Console.WriteLine(intro);

// Display the current culture because culture affects the result. For example, 
// try this code example with the "sv-SE" (Swedish-Sweden) culture.

    Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture = new CultureInfo("en-US");
    Console.WriteLine("The current culture is \"{0}\" - {1}.", 
                       Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture.Name,
                       Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture.DisplayName);

// Display the string to search for and the string to search.
    Console.WriteLine("Search for the string \"{0}\" in the string \"{1}\"", 
                       CapitalAWithRing, cat);
    Console.WriteLine();

// Note that in each of the following searches, we look for 
// LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A WITH RING ABOVE in a string that contains 
// LATIN SMALL LETTER A WITH RING ABOVE. A result value of -1 indicates 
// the string was not found.
// Search using different values of StringComparison. Specify the start 
// index and count. 

    Console.WriteLine("Part 1: Start index and count are specified.");
    foreach (StringComparison sc in scValues)
        {
        loc = cat.IndexOf(CapitalAWithRing, 0, cat.Length, sc);
        Console.WriteLine(resultFmt, sc, loc);
        }

// Search using different values of StringComparison. Specify the 
// start index. 
    Console.WriteLine("\nPart 2: Start index is specified.");
    foreach (StringComparison sc in scValues)
        {
        loc = cat.IndexOf(CapitalAWithRing, 0, sc);
        Console.WriteLine(resultFmt, sc, loc);
        }

// Search using different values of StringComparison. 
    Console.WriteLine("\nPart 3: Neither start index nor count is specified.");
    foreach (StringComparison sc in scValues)
        {
        loc = cat.IndexOf(CapitalAWithRing, sc);
        Console.WriteLine(resultFmt, sc, loc);
        }
    }
}

/*
Note: This code example was executed on a console whose user interface 
culture is "en-US" (English-United States).

This code example produces the following results:

Find the first occurrence of a character using different values of StringComparison.
The current culture is "en-US" - English (United States).
Search for the string "Å" in the string "A Cheshire ca°t"

Part 1: Start index and count are specified.
Comparison: CurrentCulture               Location:  -1
Comparison: CurrentCultureIgnoreCase     Location:  12
Comparison: InvariantCulture             Location:  -1
Comparison: InvariantCultureIgnoreCase   Location:  12
Comparison: Ordinal                      Location:  -1
Comparison: OrdinalIgnoreCase            Location:  -1

Part 2: Start index is specified.
Comparison: CurrentCulture               Location:  -1
Comparison: CurrentCultureIgnoreCase     Location:  12
Comparison: InvariantCulture             Location:  -1
Comparison: InvariantCultureIgnoreCase   Location:  12
Comparison: Ordinal                      Location:  -1
Comparison: OrdinalIgnoreCase            Location:  -1

Part 3: Neither start index nor count is specified.
Comparison: CurrentCulture               Location:  -1
Comparison: CurrentCultureIgnoreCase     Location:  12
Comparison: InvariantCulture             Location:  -1
Comparison: InvariantCultureIgnoreCase   Location:  12
Comparison: Ordinal                      Location:  -1
Comparison: OrdinalIgnoreCase            Location:  -1

*/
// This code example demonstrates the
// System.String.IndexOf(String, ..., StringComparison) methods.

open System
open System.Threading
open System.Globalization

let intro = "Find the first occurrence of a character using different values of StringComparison."

// Define a string to search for.
// U+00c5 = LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A WITH RING ABOVE
let CapitalAWithRing = "\u00c5"

// Define a string to search.
// The result of combining the characters LATIN SMALL LETTER A and COMBINING
// RING ABOVE (U+0061, U+030a) is linguistically equivalent to the character
// LATIN SMALL LETTER A WITH RING ABOVE (U+00e5).
let cat = "A Cheshire c" + "\u0061\u030a" + "t"

let scValues = 
    [| StringComparison.CurrentCulture
       StringComparison.CurrentCultureIgnoreCase
       StringComparison.InvariantCulture
       StringComparison.InvariantCultureIgnoreCase
       StringComparison.Ordinal
       StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase |]

// Clear the screen and display an introduction.
Console.Clear()
printfn $"{intro}"

// Display the current culture because culture affects the result. For example,
// try this code example with the "sv-SE" (Swedish-Sweden) culture.

Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture <- CultureInfo "en-US"
printfn $"The current culture is \"{Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture.Name}\" - {Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture.DisplayName}."

// Display the string to search for and the string to search.
printfn $"Search for the string \"{CapitalAWithRing}\" in the string \"{cat}\"\n"

// Note that in each of the following searches, we look for
// LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A WITH RING ABOVE in a string that contains
// LATIN SMALL LETTER A WITH RING ABOVE. A result value of -1 indicates
// the string was not found.
// Search using different values of StringComparison. Specify the start
// index and count.

printfn "Part 1: Start index and count are specified."
for sc in scValues do
    let loc = cat.IndexOf(CapitalAWithRing, 0, cat.Length, sc)
    printfn $"Comparison: {sc,-28} Location: {loc,3}"

// Search using different values of StringComparison. Specify the
// start index.
printfn "\nPart 2: Start index is specified."
for sc in scValues do
    let loc = cat.IndexOf(CapitalAWithRing, 0, sc)
    printfn $"Comparison: {sc,-28} Location: {loc,3}"

// Search using different values of StringComparison.
Console.WriteLine("\nPart 3: Neither start index nor count is specified.")
for sc in scValues do
    let loc = cat.IndexOf(CapitalAWithRing, sc)
    Console.WriteLine("Comparison: {0,-28} Location: {1,3}", sc, loc)

(*
Note: This code example was executed on a console whose user interface
culture is "en-US" (English-United States).

This code example produces the following results:

Find the first occurrence of a character using different values of StringComparison.
The current culture is "en-US" - English (United States).
Search for the string "Å" in the string "A Cheshire ca°t"

Part 1: Start index and count are specified.
Comparison: CurrentCulture               Location:  -1
Comparison: CurrentCultureIgnoreCase     Location:  12
Comparison: InvariantCulture             Location:  -1
Comparison: InvariantCultureIgnoreCase   Location:  12
Comparison: Ordinal                      Location:  -1
Comparison: OrdinalIgnoreCase            Location:  -1

Part 2: Start index is specified.
Comparison: CurrentCulture               Location:  -1
Comparison: CurrentCultureIgnoreCase     Location:  12
Comparison: InvariantCulture             Location:  -1
Comparison: InvariantCultureIgnoreCase   Location:  12
Comparison: Ordinal                      Location:  -1
Comparison: OrdinalIgnoreCase            Location:  -1

Part 3: Neither start index nor count is specified.
Comparison: CurrentCulture               Location:  -1
Comparison: CurrentCultureIgnoreCase     Location:  12
Comparison: InvariantCulture             Location:  -1
Comparison: InvariantCultureIgnoreCase   Location:  12
Comparison: Ordinal                      Location:  -1
Comparison: OrdinalIgnoreCase            Location:  -1

*)
' This code example demonstrates the 
' System.String.IndexOf(String, ..., StringComparison) methods.

Imports System.Threading
Imports System.Globalization

Class Sample
    Public Shared Sub Main() 
        Dim intro As String = "Find the first occurrence of a character using different " & _
                              "values of StringComparison."
        Dim resultFmt As String = "Comparison: {0,-28} Location: {1,3}"
        
        ' Define a string to search for.
        ' U+00c5 = LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A WITH RING ABOVE
        Dim CapitalAWithRing As String = "Å"
        
        ' Define a string to search. 
        ' The result of combining the characters LATIN SMALL LETTER A and COMBINING 
        ' RING ABOVE (U+0061, U+030a) is linguistically equivalent to the character 
        ' LATIN SMALL LETTER A WITH RING ABOVE (U+00e5).
        Dim cat As String = "A Cheshire c" & "å" & "t"
        
        Dim loc As Integer = 0
        Dim scValues As StringComparison() =  { _
                        StringComparison.CurrentCulture, _
                        StringComparison.CurrentCultureIgnoreCase, _
                        StringComparison.InvariantCulture, _
                        StringComparison.InvariantCultureIgnoreCase, _
                        StringComparison.Ordinal, _
                        StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase }
        Dim sc As StringComparison
        
        ' Clear the screen and display an introduction.
        Console.Clear()
        Console.WriteLine(intro)
        
        ' Display the current culture because culture affects the result. For example, 
        ' try this code example with the "sv-SE" (Swedish-Sweden) culture.
        Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture = New CultureInfo("en-US")
        Console.WriteLine("The current culture is ""{0}"" - {1}.", _
                           Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture.Name, _ 
                           Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture.DisplayName)
        
        ' Display the string to search for and the string to search.
        Console.WriteLine("Search for the string ""{0}"" in the string ""{1}""", _
                           CapitalAWithRing, cat)
        Console.WriteLine()
        
        ' Note that in each of the following searches, we look for 
        ' LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A WITH RING ABOVE in a string that contains 
        ' LATIN SMALL LETTER A WITH RING ABOVE. A result value of -1 indicates 
        ' the string was not found.
        ' Search using different values of StringComparison. Specify the start 
        ' index and count.

        Console.WriteLine("Part 1: Start index and count are specified.")
        For Each sc In  scValues
            loc = cat.IndexOf(CapitalAWithRing, 0, cat.Length, sc)
            Console.WriteLine(resultFmt, sc, loc)
        Next sc
        
        ' Search using different values of StringComparison. Specify the 
        ' start index. 

        Console.WriteLine(vbCrLf & "Part 2: Start index is specified.")
        For Each sc In  scValues
            loc = cat.IndexOf(CapitalAWithRing, 0, sc)
            Console.WriteLine(resultFmt, sc, loc)
        Next sc
        
        ' Search using different values of StringComparison. 

        Console.WriteLine(vbCrLf & "Part 3: Neither start index nor count is specified.")
        For Each sc In  scValues
            loc = cat.IndexOf(CapitalAWithRing, sc)
            Console.WriteLine(resultFmt, sc, loc)
        Next sc
    
    End Sub
End Class

'
'Note: This code example was executed on a console whose user interface 
'culture is "en-US" (English-United States).
'
'This code example produces the following results:
'
'Find the first occurrence of a character using different values of StringComparison.
'The current culture is "en-US" - English (United States).
'Search for the string "Å" in the string "A Cheshire ca°t"
'
'Part 1: Start index and count are specified.
'Comparison: CurrentCulture               Location:  -1
'Comparison: CurrentCultureIgnoreCase     Location:  12
'Comparison: InvariantCulture             Location:  -1
'Comparison: InvariantCultureIgnoreCase   Location:  12
'Comparison: Ordinal                      Location:  -1
'Comparison: OrdinalIgnoreCase            Location:  -1
'
'Part 2: Start index is specified.
'Comparison: CurrentCulture               Location:  -1
'Comparison: CurrentCultureIgnoreCase     Location:  12
'Comparison: InvariantCulture             Location:  -1
'Comparison: InvariantCultureIgnoreCase   Location:  12
'Comparison: Ordinal                      Location:  -1
'Comparison: OrdinalIgnoreCase            Location:  -1
'
'Part 3: Neither start index nor count is specified.
'Comparison: CurrentCulture               Location:  -1
'Comparison: CurrentCultureIgnoreCase     Location:  12
'Comparison: InvariantCulture             Location:  -1
'Comparison: InvariantCultureIgnoreCase   Location:  12
'Comparison: Ordinal                      Location:  -1
'Comparison: OrdinalIgnoreCase            Location:  -1
'

Remarks

Index numbering starts from 0. The startIndex parameter can range from 0 to the length of the string instance. If startIndex equals the length of the string instance, the method returns -1.

The comparisonType parameter specifies to search for the value parameter using the current or invariant culture, using a case-sensitive or case-insensitive search, and using word or ordinal comparison rules.

Notes to Callers

Character sets include ignorable characters, which are characters that are not considered when performing a linguistic or culture-sensitive comparison. In a culture-sensitive search (that is, if comparisonType is not Ordinal or OrdinalIgnoreCase), if value contains an ignorable character, the result is equivalent to searching with that character removed. If value consists only of one or more ignorable characters, the IndexOf(String, Int32, StringComparison) method always returns startIndex, which is the character position at which the search begins.

In the following example, the IndexOf(String, Int32, StringComparison) method is used to find the position of a soft hyphen (U+00AD) followed by an "m" starting with the third character position in two strings. Only one of the strings contains the required substring. If the example is run on the .NET Framework 4 or later, in both cases, because the soft hyphen is an ignorable character, the method returns the index of "m" in the string when it performs a culture-sensitive comparison. Note that in the case of the first string, which includes the soft hyphen followed by an "m", the method fails to return the index of the soft hyphen but instead returns the index of the "m". The method returns the index of the soft hyphen in the first string only when it performs an ordinal comparison.

using System;

public class Example
{
    public static void Main()
    {
      
        string searchString = "\u00ADm";
        string s1 = "ani\u00ADmal" ;
        string s2 = "animal";

        Console.WriteLine(s1.IndexOf(searchString, 2, StringComparison.CurrentCulture));
        Console.WriteLine(s1.IndexOf(searchString, 2, StringComparison.Ordinal));
        Console.WriteLine(s2.IndexOf(searchString, 2, StringComparison.CurrentCulture));
        Console.WriteLine(s2.IndexOf(searchString, 2, StringComparison.Ordinal));

        // The example displays the following output:
        //       4
        //       3
        //       3
        //       -1
    }
}
open System

let searchString = "\u00ADm"
let s1 = "ani\u00ADmal"
let s2 = "animal"

printfn $"{s1.IndexOf(searchString, 2, StringComparison.CurrentCulture)}"
printfn $"{s1.IndexOf(searchString, 2, StringComparison.Ordinal)}"
printfn $"{s2.IndexOf(searchString, 2, StringComparison.CurrentCulture)}"
printfn $"{s2.IndexOf(searchString, 2, StringComparison.Ordinal)}"

// The example displays the following output:
//       4
//       3
//       3
//       -1
Module Example
   Public Sub Main()
      Dim searchString As String = Chrw(&h00AD) + "m"
      Dim s1 As String = "ani" + ChrW(&h00AD) + "mal"
      Dim s2 As String = "animal"

      Console.WriteLine(s1.IndexOf(searchString, 2, StringComparison.CurrentCulture))
      Console.WriteLine(s1.IndexOf(searchString, 2, StringComparison.Ordinal))
      Console.WriteLine(s2.IndexOf(searchString, 2, StringComparison.CurrentCulture))
      Console.WriteLine(s2.IndexOf(searchString, 2, StringComparison.Ordinal))
   End Sub
End Module
' The example displays the following output:
'       4
'       3
'       3
'       -1

Applies to

IndexOf(String, StringComparison)

Reports the zero-based index of the first occurrence of the specified string in the current String object. A parameter specifies the type of search to use for the specified string.

public:
 int IndexOf(System::String ^ value, StringComparison comparisonType);
public int IndexOf (string value, StringComparison comparisonType);
member this.IndexOf : string * StringComparison -> int
Public Function IndexOf (value As String, comparisonType As StringComparison) As Integer

Parameters

value
String

The string to seek.

comparisonType
StringComparison

One of the enumeration values that specifies the rules for the search.

Returns

The index position of the value parameter if that string is found, or -1 if it is not. If value is Empty, the return value is 0.

Exceptions

value is null.

comparisonType is not a valid StringComparison value.

Examples

The following example demonstrates three overloads of the IndexOf method that find the first occurrence of a string within another string using different values of the StringComparison enumeration.

// This code example demonstrates the 
// System.String.IndexOf(String, ..., StringComparison) methods.

using System;
using System.Threading;
using System.Globalization;

class Sample 
{
    public static void Main() 
    {
    string intro = "Find the first occurrence of a character using different " + 
                   "values of StringComparison.";
    string resultFmt = "Comparison: {0,-28} Location: {1,3}";

// Define a string to search for.
// U+00c5 = LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A WITH RING ABOVE
    string CapitalAWithRing = "\u00c5"; 

// Define a string to search. 
// The result of combining the characters LATIN SMALL LETTER A and COMBINING 
// RING ABOVE (U+0061, U+030a) is linguistically equivalent to the character 
// LATIN SMALL LETTER A WITH RING ABOVE (U+00e5).
    string cat = "A Cheshire c" + "\u0061\u030a" + "t";

    int loc = 0;
    StringComparison[] scValues = {
        StringComparison.CurrentCulture,
        StringComparison.CurrentCultureIgnoreCase,
        StringComparison.InvariantCulture,
        StringComparison.InvariantCultureIgnoreCase,
        StringComparison.Ordinal,
        StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase };

// Clear the screen and display an introduction.
    Console.Clear();
    Console.WriteLine(intro);

// Display the current culture because culture affects the result. For example, 
// try this code example with the "sv-SE" (Swedish-Sweden) culture.

    Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture = new CultureInfo("en-US");
    Console.WriteLine("The current culture is \"{0}\" - {1}.", 
                       Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture.Name,
                       Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture.DisplayName);

// Display the string to search for and the string to search.
    Console.WriteLine("Search for the string \"{0}\" in the string \"{1}\"", 
                       CapitalAWithRing, cat);
    Console.WriteLine();

// Note that in each of the following searches, we look for 
// LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A WITH RING ABOVE in a string that contains 
// LATIN SMALL LETTER A WITH RING ABOVE. A result value of -1 indicates 
// the string was not found.
// Search using different values of StringComparison. Specify the start 
// index and count. 

    Console.WriteLine("Part 1: Start index and count are specified.");
    foreach (StringComparison sc in scValues)
        {
        loc = cat.IndexOf(CapitalAWithRing, 0, cat.Length, sc);
        Console.WriteLine(resultFmt, sc, loc);
        }

// Search using different values of StringComparison. Specify the 
// start index. 
    Console.WriteLine("\nPart 2: Start index is specified.");
    foreach (StringComparison sc in scValues)
        {
        loc = cat.IndexOf(CapitalAWithRing, 0, sc);
        Console.WriteLine(resultFmt, sc, loc);
        }

// Search using different values of StringComparison. 
    Console.WriteLine("\nPart 3: Neither start index nor count is specified.");
    foreach (StringComparison sc in scValues)
        {
        loc = cat.IndexOf(CapitalAWithRing, sc);
        Console.WriteLine(resultFmt, sc, loc);
        }
    }
}

/*
Note: This code example was executed on a console whose user interface 
culture is "en-US" (English-United States).

This code example produces the following results:

Find the first occurrence of a character using different values of StringComparison.
The current culture is "en-US" - English (United States).
Search for the string "Å" in the string "A Cheshire ca°t"

Part 1: Start index and count are specified.
Comparison: CurrentCulture               Location:  -1
Comparison: CurrentCultureIgnoreCase     Location:  12
Comparison: InvariantCulture             Location:  -1
Comparison: InvariantCultureIgnoreCase   Location:  12
Comparison: Ordinal                      Location:  -1
Comparison: OrdinalIgnoreCase            Location:  -1

Part 2: Start index is specified.
Comparison: CurrentCulture               Location:  -1
Comparison: CurrentCultureIgnoreCase     Location:  12
Comparison: InvariantCulture             Location:  -1
Comparison: InvariantCultureIgnoreCase   Location:  12
Comparison: Ordinal                      Location:  -1
Comparison: OrdinalIgnoreCase            Location:  -1

Part 3: Neither start index nor count is specified.
Comparison: CurrentCulture               Location:  -1
Comparison: CurrentCultureIgnoreCase     Location:  12
Comparison: InvariantCulture             Location:  -1
Comparison: InvariantCultureIgnoreCase   Location:  12
Comparison: Ordinal                      Location:  -1
Comparison: OrdinalIgnoreCase            Location:  -1

*/
// This code example demonstrates the
// System.String.IndexOf(String, ..., StringComparison) methods.

open System
open System.Threading
open System.Globalization

let intro = "Find the first occurrence of a character using different values of StringComparison."

// Define a string to search for.
// U+00c5 = LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A WITH RING ABOVE
let CapitalAWithRing = "\u00c5"

// Define a string to search.
// The result of combining the characters LATIN SMALL LETTER A and COMBINING
// RING ABOVE (U+0061, U+030a) is linguistically equivalent to the character
// LATIN SMALL LETTER A WITH RING ABOVE (U+00e5).
let cat = "A Cheshire c" + "\u0061\u030a" + "t"

let scValues = 
    [| StringComparison.CurrentCulture
       StringComparison.CurrentCultureIgnoreCase
       StringComparison.InvariantCulture
       StringComparison.InvariantCultureIgnoreCase
       StringComparison.Ordinal
       StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase |]

// Clear the screen and display an introduction.
Console.Clear()
printfn $"{intro}"

// Display the current culture because culture affects the result. For example,
// try this code example with the "sv-SE" (Swedish-Sweden) culture.

Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture <- CultureInfo "en-US"
printfn $"The current culture is \"{Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture.Name}\" - {Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture.DisplayName}."

// Display the string to search for and the string to search.
printfn $"Search for the string \"{CapitalAWithRing}\" in the string \"{cat}\"\n"

// Note that in each of the following searches, we look for
// LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A WITH RING ABOVE in a string that contains
// LATIN SMALL LETTER A WITH RING ABOVE. A result value of -1 indicates
// the string was not found.
// Search using different values of StringComparison. Specify the start
// index and count.

printfn "Part 1: Start index and count are specified."
for sc in scValues do
    let loc = cat.IndexOf(CapitalAWithRing, 0, cat.Length, sc)
    printfn $"Comparison: {sc,-28} Location: {loc,3}"

// Search using different values of StringComparison. Specify the
// start index.
printfn "\nPart 2: Start index is specified."
for sc in scValues do
    let loc = cat.IndexOf(CapitalAWithRing, 0, sc)
    printfn $"Comparison: {sc,-28} Location: {loc,3}"

// Search using different values of StringComparison.
Console.WriteLine("\nPart 3: Neither start index nor count is specified.")
for sc in scValues do
    let loc = cat.IndexOf(CapitalAWithRing, sc)
    Console.WriteLine("Comparison: {0,-28} Location: {1,3}", sc, loc)

(*
Note: This code example was executed on a console whose user interface
culture is "en-US" (English-United States).

This code example produces the following results:

Find the first occurrence of a character using different values of StringComparison.
The current culture is "en-US" - English (United States).
Search for the string "Å" in the string "A Cheshire ca°t"

Part 1: Start index and count are specified.
Comparison: CurrentCulture               Location:  -1
Comparison: CurrentCultureIgnoreCase     Location:  12
Comparison: InvariantCulture             Location:  -1
Comparison: InvariantCultureIgnoreCase   Location:  12
Comparison: Ordinal                      Location:  -1
Comparison: OrdinalIgnoreCase            Location:  -1

Part 2: Start index is specified.
Comparison: CurrentCulture               Location:  -1
Comparison: CurrentCultureIgnoreCase     Location:  12
Comparison: InvariantCulture             Location:  -1
Comparison: InvariantCultureIgnoreCase   Location:  12
Comparison: Ordinal                      Location:  -1
Comparison: OrdinalIgnoreCase            Location:  -1

Part 3: Neither start index nor count is specified.
Comparison: CurrentCulture               Location:  -1
Comparison: CurrentCultureIgnoreCase     Location:  12
Comparison: InvariantCulture             Location:  -1
Comparison: InvariantCultureIgnoreCase   Location:  12
Comparison: Ordinal                      Location:  -1
Comparison: OrdinalIgnoreCase            Location:  -1

*)
' This code example demonstrates the 
' System.String.IndexOf(String, ..., StringComparison) methods.

Imports System.Threading
Imports System.Globalization

Class Sample
    Public Shared Sub Main() 
        Dim intro As String = "Find the first occurrence of a character using different " & _
                              "values of StringComparison."
        Dim resultFmt As String = "Comparison: {0,-28} Location: {1,3}"
        
        ' Define a string to search for.
        ' U+00c5 = LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A WITH RING ABOVE
        Dim CapitalAWithRing As String = "Å"
        
        ' Define a string to search. 
        ' The result of combining the characters LATIN SMALL LETTER A and COMBINING 
        ' RING ABOVE (U+0061, U+030a) is linguistically equivalent to the character 
        ' LATIN SMALL LETTER A WITH RING ABOVE (U+00e5).
        Dim cat As String = "A Cheshire c" & "å" & "t"
        
        Dim loc As Integer = 0
        Dim scValues As StringComparison() =  { _
                        StringComparison.CurrentCulture, _
                        StringComparison.CurrentCultureIgnoreCase, _
                        StringComparison.InvariantCulture, _
                        StringComparison.InvariantCultureIgnoreCase, _
                        StringComparison.Ordinal, _
                        StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase }
        Dim sc As StringComparison
        
        ' Clear the screen and display an introduction.
        Console.Clear()
        Console.WriteLine(intro)
        
        ' Display the current culture because culture affects the result. For example, 
        ' try this code example with the "sv-SE" (Swedish-Sweden) culture.
        Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture = New CultureInfo("en-US")
        Console.WriteLine("The current culture is ""{0}"" - {1}.", _
                           Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture.Name, _ 
                           Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture.DisplayName)
        
        ' Display the string to search for and the string to search.
        Console.WriteLine("Search for the string ""{0}"" in the string ""{1}""", _
                           CapitalAWithRing, cat)
        Console.WriteLine()
        
        ' Note that in each of the following searches, we look for 
        ' LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A WITH RING ABOVE in a string that contains 
        ' LATIN SMALL LETTER A WITH RING ABOVE. A result value of -1 indicates 
        ' the string was not found.
        ' Search using different values of StringComparison. Specify the start 
        ' index and count.

        Console.WriteLine("Part 1: Start index and count are specified.")
        For Each sc In  scValues
            loc = cat.IndexOf(CapitalAWithRing, 0, cat.Length, sc)
            Console.WriteLine(resultFmt, sc, loc)
        Next sc
        
        ' Search using different values of StringComparison. Specify the 
        ' start index. 

        Console.WriteLine(vbCrLf & "Part 2: Start index is specified.")
        For Each sc In  scValues
            loc = cat.IndexOf(CapitalAWithRing, 0, sc)
            Console.WriteLine(resultFmt, sc, loc)
        Next sc
        
        ' Search using different values of StringComparison. 

        Console.WriteLine(vbCrLf & "Part 3: Neither start index nor count is specified.")
        For Each sc In  scValues
            loc = cat.IndexOf(CapitalAWithRing, sc)
            Console.WriteLine(resultFmt, sc, loc)
        Next sc
    
    End Sub
End Class

'
'Note: This code example was executed on a console whose user interface 
'culture is "en-US" (English-United States).
'
'This code example produces the following results:
'
'Find the first occurrence of a character using different values of StringComparison.
'The current culture is "en-US" - English (United States).
'Search for the string "Å" in the string "A Cheshire ca°t"
'
'Part 1: Start index and count are specified.
'Comparison: CurrentCulture               Location:  -1
'Comparison: CurrentCultureIgnoreCase     Location:  12
'Comparison: InvariantCulture             Location:  -1
'Comparison: InvariantCultureIgnoreCase   Location:  12
'Comparison: Ordinal                      Location:  -1
'Comparison: OrdinalIgnoreCase            Location:  -1
'
'Part 2: Start index is specified.
'Comparison: CurrentCulture               Location:  -1
'Comparison: CurrentCultureIgnoreCase     Location:  12
'Comparison: InvariantCulture             Location:  -1
'Comparison: InvariantCultureIgnoreCase   Location:  12
'Comparison: Ordinal                      Location:  -1
'Comparison: OrdinalIgnoreCase            Location:  -1
'
'Part 3: Neither start index nor count is specified.
'Comparison: CurrentCulture               Location:  -1
'Comparison: CurrentCultureIgnoreCase     Location:  12
'Comparison: InvariantCulture             Location:  -1
'Comparison: InvariantCultureIgnoreCase   Location:  12
'Comparison: Ordinal                      Location:  -1
'Comparison: OrdinalIgnoreCase            Location:  -1
'

Remarks

Index numbering starts from zero.

The comparisonType parameter specifies to search for the value parameter using the current or invariant culture, using a case-sensitive or case-insensitive search, and using word or ordinal comparison rules.

Notes to Callers

Character sets include ignorable characters, which are characters that are not considered when performing a linguistic or culture-sensitive comparison. In a culture-sensitive search (that is, if comparisonType is not Ordinal or OrdinalIgnoreCase), if value contains an ignorable character, the result is equivalent to searching with that character removed. If value consists only of one or more ignorable characters, the IndexOf(String, StringComparison) method always returns 0 (zero) to indicate that the match is found at the beginning of the current instance.

In the following example, the IndexOf(String, StringComparison) method is used to find three substrings (a soft hyphen (U+00AD), a soft hyphen followed by "n", and a soft hyphen followed by "m") in two strings. Only one of the strings contains a soft hyphen. If the example is run on the .NET Framework 4 or later, because the soft hyphen is an ignorable character, a culture-sensitive search returns the same value that it would return if the soft hyphen were not included in the search string. An ordinal search, however, successfully finds the soft hyphen in one string and reports that it is absent from the second string.

using System;

public class Example
{
    public static void Main()
    {
        string s1 = "ani\u00ADmal";
        string s2 = "animal";
      
        Console.WriteLine("Culture-sensitive comparison:");
        // Use culture-sensitive comparison to find the soft hyphen.
        Console.WriteLine(s1.IndexOf("\u00AD", StringComparison.CurrentCulture));
        Console.WriteLine(s2.IndexOf("\u00AD", StringComparison.CurrentCulture));
      
        // Use culture-sensitive comparison to find the soft hyphen followed by "n".
        Console.WriteLine(s1.IndexOf("\u00ADn", StringComparison.CurrentCulture));
        Console.WriteLine(s2.IndexOf("\u00ADn", StringComparison.CurrentCulture));
      
        // Use culture-sensitive comparison to find the soft hyphen followed by "m".
        Console.WriteLine(s1.IndexOf("\u00ADm", StringComparison.CurrentCulture));
        Console.WriteLine(s2.IndexOf("\u00ADm", StringComparison.CurrentCulture));
      
        Console.WriteLine("Ordinal comparison:");
        // Use ordinal comparison to find the soft hyphen.
        Console.WriteLine(s1.IndexOf("\u00AD", StringComparison.Ordinal));
        Console.WriteLine(s2.IndexOf("\u00AD", StringComparison.Ordinal));
      
        // Use ordinal comparison to find the soft hyphen followed by "n".
        Console.WriteLine(s1.IndexOf("\u00ADn", StringComparison.Ordinal));
        Console.WriteLine(s2.IndexOf("\u00ADn", StringComparison.Ordinal));
      
        // Use ordinal comparison to find the soft hyphen followed by "m".
        Console.WriteLine(s1.IndexOf("\u00ADm", StringComparison.Ordinal));
        Console.WriteLine(s2.IndexOf("\u00ADm", StringComparison.Ordinal));

        // The example displays the following output:
        //       Culture-sensitive comparison:
        //       0
        //       0
        //       1
        //       1
        //       4
        //       3
        //       Ordinal comparison:
        //       3
        //       -1
        //       -1
        //       -1
        //       3
        //       -1
    }
}
open System

let s1 = "ani\u00ADmal"
let s2 = "animal"

printfn "Culture-sensitive comparison:"
// Use culture-sensitive comparison to find the soft hyphen.
printfn $"""{s1.IndexOf("\u00AD", StringComparison.CurrentCulture)}"""
printfn $"""{s2.IndexOf("\u00AD", StringComparison.CurrentCulture)}"""

// Use culture-sensitive comparison to find the soft hyphen followed by "n".
printfn $"""{s1.IndexOf("\u00ADn", StringComparison.CurrentCulture)}"""
printfn $"""{s2.IndexOf("\u00ADn", StringComparison.CurrentCulture)}"""

// Use culture-sensitive comparison to find the soft hyphen followed by "m".
printfn $"""{s1.IndexOf("\u00ADm", StringComparison.CurrentCulture)}"""
printfn $"""{s2.IndexOf("\u00ADm", StringComparison.CurrentCulture)}"""

printfn "Ordinal comparison:"
// Use ordinal comparison to find the soft hyphen.
printfn $"""{s1.IndexOf("\u00AD", StringComparison.Ordinal)}"""
printfn $"""{s2.IndexOf("\u00AD", StringComparison.Ordinal)}"""

// Use ordinal comparison to find the soft hyphen followed by "n".
printfn $"""{s1.IndexOf("\u00ADn", StringComparison.Ordinal)}"""
printfn $"""{s2.IndexOf("\u00ADn", StringComparison.Ordinal)}"""

// Use ordinal comparison to find the soft hyphen followed by "m".
printfn $"""{s1.IndexOf("\u00ADm", StringComparison.Ordinal)}"""
printfn $"""{s2.IndexOf("\u00ADm", StringComparison.Ordinal)}"""

// The example displays the following output:
//       Culture-sensitive comparison:
//       0
//       0
//       1
//       1
//       4
//       3
//       Ordinal comparison:
//       3
//       -1
//       -1
//       -1
//       3
//       -1
Module Example
   Public Sub Main()
      Dim softHyphen As String = ChrW(&h00AD)
      Dim s1 As String = "ani" + softHyphen + "mal"
      Dim s2 As String = "animal"
      
      Console.WriteLine("Culture-sensitive comparison:")
      ' Use culture-sensitive comparison to find the soft hyphen.
      Console.WriteLine(s1.IndexOf(softHyphen, StringComparison.CurrentCulture))
      Console.WriteLine(s2.IndexOf(softHyphen, StringComparison.CurrentCulture))
      
      ' Use culture-sensitive comparison to find the soft hyphen followed by "n".
      Console.WriteLine(s1.IndexOf(softHyphen + "n", StringComparison.CurrentCulture))
      Console.WriteLine(s2.IndexOf(softHyphen + "n", StringComparison.CurrentCulture))
      
      ' Use culture-sensitive comparison to find the soft hyphen followed by "m".
      Console.WriteLine(s1.IndexOf(softHyphen + "m", StringComparison.CurrentCulture))
      Console.WriteLine(s2.IndexOf(softHyphen + "m", StringComparison.CurrentCulture))
      
      Console.WriteLine("Ordinal comparison:")
      ' Use ordinal comparison to find the soft hyphen.
      Console.WriteLine(s1.IndexOf(softHyphen, StringComparison.Ordinal))
      Console.WriteLine(s2.IndexOf(softHyphen, StringComparison.Ordinal))
      
      ' Use ordinal comparison to find the soft hyphen followed by "n".
      Console.WriteLine(s1.IndexOf(softHyphen + "n", StringComparison.Ordinal))
      Console.WriteLine(s2.IndexOf(softHyphen + "n", StringComparison.Ordinal))
      
      ' Use ordinal comparison to find the soft hyphen followed by "m".
      Console.WriteLine(s1.IndexOf(softHyphen + "m", StringComparison.Ordinal))
      Console.WriteLine(s2.IndexOf(softHyphen + "m", StringComparison.Ordinal))
   End Sub
End Module
' The example displays the following output:
'       Culture-sensitive comparison:
'       0
'       0
'       1
'       1
'       4
'       3
'       Ordinal comparison:
'       3
'       -1
'       -1
'       -1
'       3
'       -1

Applies to

IndexOf(Char, Int32, Int32)

Reports the zero-based index of the first occurrence of the specified character in this instance. The search starts at a specified character position and examines a specified number of character positions.

public:
 int IndexOf(char value, int startIndex, int count);
public int IndexOf (char value, int startIndex, int count);
member this.IndexOf : char * int * int -> int
Public Function IndexOf (value As Char, startIndex As Integer, count As Integer) As Integer

Parameters

value
Char

A Unicode character to seek.

startIndex
Int32

The search starting position.

count
Int32

The number of character positions to examine.

Returns

The zero-based index position of value from the start of the string if that character is found, or -1 if it is not.

Exceptions

count or startIndex is negative.

-or-

startIndex is greater than the length of this string.

-or-

count is greater than the length of this string minus startIndex.

Examples

The following example demonstrates the IndexOf method.

// Example for the String::IndexOf( Char, int, int ) method.
using namespace System;
void FindAllChar( Char target, String^ searched )
{
   Console::Write( "The character '{0}' occurs at position(s): ", target );
   int startIndex = -1;
   int hitCount = 0;
   
   // Search for all occurrences of the target.
   while ( true )
   {
      startIndex = searched->IndexOf( target, startIndex + 1, searched->Length - startIndex - 1 );
      
      // Exit the loop if the target is not found.
      if ( startIndex < 0 )
            break;

      Console::Write( "{0}, ", startIndex );
      hitCount++;
   }

   Console::WriteLine( "occurrences: {0}", hitCount );
}

int main()
{
   String^ br1 = "0----+----1----+----2----+----3----+----"
   "4----+----5----+----6----+----7";
   String^ br2 = "0123456789012345678901234567890123456789"
   "0123456789012345678901234567890";
   String^ str = "ABCDEFGHI abcdefghi ABCDEFGHI abcdefghi "
   "ABCDEFGHI abcdefghi ABCDEFGHI";
   Console::WriteLine( "This example of String::IndexOf( Char, int, int )\n"
   "generates the following output." );
   Console::WriteLine( "{0}{1}{0}{2}{0}{3}{0}", Environment::NewLine, br1, br2, str );
   FindAllChar( 'A', str );
   FindAllChar( 'a', str );
   FindAllChar( 'I', str );
   FindAllChar( 'i', str );
   FindAllChar( '@', str );
   FindAllChar( ' ', str );
}

/*
This example of String::IndexOf( Char, int, int )
generates the following output.

0----+----1----+----2----+----3----+----4----+----5----+----6----+----7
01234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890
ABCDEFGHI abcdefghi ABCDEFGHI abcdefghi ABCDEFGHI abcdefghi ABCDEFGHI

The character 'A' occurs at position(s): 0, 20, 40, 60, occurrences: 4
The character 'a' occurs at position(s): 10, 30, 50, occurrences: 3
The character 'I' occurs at position(s): 8, 28, 48, 68, occurrences: 4
The character 'i' occurs at position(s): 18, 38, 58, occurrences: 3
The character '@' occurs at position(s): occurrences: 0
The character ' ' occurs at position(s): 9, 19, 29, 39, 49, 59, occurrences: 6
*/
// Example for the String.IndexOf( char, int, int ) method.
using System;

class IndexOfCII 
{
    public static void Main() 
    {
        string br1 = 
            "0----+----1----+----2----+----3----+----" +
            "4----+----5----+----6----+----7";
        string br2 = 
            "0123456789012345678901234567890123456789" +
            "0123456789012345678901234567890";
        string str = 
            "ABCDEFGHI abcdefghi ABCDEFGHI abcdefghi " +
            "ABCDEFGHI abcdefghi ABCDEFGHI";

        Console.WriteLine( 
            "This example of String.IndexOf( char, int, int )\n" +
            "generates the following output." );
        Console.WriteLine( 
            "{0}{1}{0}{2}{0}{3}{0}", 
            Environment.NewLine, br1, br2, str );

        FindAllChar( 'A', str );
        FindAllChar( 'a', str );
        FindAllChar( 'I', str );
        FindAllChar( 'i', str );
        FindAllChar( '@', str );
        FindAllChar( ' ', str );
    }

    static void FindAllChar( Char target, String searched )
    {
        Console.Write( 
            "The character '{0}' occurs at position(s): ", 
            target );

        int     startIndex = -1;
        int     hitCount = 0;

        // Search for all occurrences of the target.
        while( true )
        {
            startIndex = searched.IndexOf( 
                target, startIndex + 1, 
                searched.Length - startIndex - 1 );

            // Exit the loop if the target is not found.
            if( startIndex < 0 )
                break;

            Console.Write( "{0}, ", startIndex );
            hitCount++;
        }

        Console.WriteLine( "occurrences: {0}", hitCount );
    }
}

/*
This example of String.IndexOf( char, int, int )
generates the following output.

0----+----1----+----2----+----3----+----4----+----5----+----6----+----7
01234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890
ABCDEFGHI abcdefghi ABCDEFGHI abcdefghi ABCDEFGHI abcdefghi ABCDEFGHI

The character 'A' occurs at position(s): 0, 20, 40, 60, occurrences: 4
The character 'a' occurs at position(s): 10, 30, 50, occurrences: 3
The character 'I' occurs at position(s): 8, 28, 48, 68, occurrences: 4
The character 'i' occurs at position(s): 18, 38, 58, occurrences: 3
The character '@' occurs at position(s): occurrences: 0
The character ' ' occurs at position(s): 9, 19, 29, 39, 49, 59, occurrences: 6
*/
// Example for the String.IndexOf( char, int, int ) method.
open System

let br1 =
    "0----+----1----+----2----+----3----+----" +
    "4----+----5----+----6----+----7"
let br2 =
    "0123456789012345678901234567890123456789" +
    "0123456789012345678901234567890"
let str =
    "ABCDEFGHI abcdefghi ABCDEFGHI abcdefghi " +
    "ABCDEFGHI abcdefghi ABCDEFGHI"

printfn "This example of String.IndexOf( char, int, int )\ngenerates the following output."
printfn $"{Environment.NewLine}{br1}{Environment.NewLine}{br2}{Environment.NewLine}{str}{Environment.NewLine}"

let findAllChar (target: char) (searched: string) =
    printf $"The character '{target}' occurs at position(s): "

    let mutable hitCount = 0
    let mutable startIndex = -1
    let mutable broken = false
    // Search for all occurrences of the target.
    while not broken do
        startIndex <- searched.IndexOf(target, startIndex + 1, searched.Length - startIndex - 1)

        // Exit the loop if the target is not found.
        if startIndex < 0 then
            broken <- true
        else

        printf $"{startIndex}, "
        hitCount <- hitCount + 1

    printfn $"occurrences: {hitCount}"

findAllChar 'A' str
findAllChar 'a' str
findAllChar 'I' str
findAllChar 'i' str
findAllChar '@' str
findAllChar ' ' str


(*
This example of String.IndexOf( char, int, int )
generates the following output.

0----+----1----+----2----+----3----+----4----+----5----+----6----+----7
01234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890
ABCDEFGHI abcdefghi ABCDEFGHI abcdefghi ABCDEFGHI abcdefghi ABCDEFGHI

The character 'A' occurs at position(s): 0, 20, 40, 60, occurrences: 4
The character 'a' occurs at position(s): 10, 30, 50, occurrences: 3
The character 'I' occurs at position(s): 8, 28, 48, 68, occurrences: 4
The character 'i' occurs at position(s): 18, 38, 58, occurrences: 3
The character '@' occurs at position(s): occurrences: 0
The character ' ' occurs at position(s): 9, 19, 29, 39, 49, 59, occurrences: 6
*)
' Example for the String.IndexOf( Char, Integer, Integer ) method.
Module IndexOfCII
   
    Sub Main()
        Dim br1 As String = _
            "0----+----1----+----2----+----3----+----" & _
            "4----+----5----+----6----+----7"
        Dim br2 As String = _
            "0123456789012345678901234567890123456789" & _
            "0123456789012345678901234567890"
        Dim str As String = _
            "ABCDEFGHI abcdefghi ABCDEFGHI abcdefghi " & _
            "ABCDEFGHI abcdefghi ABCDEFGHI"
          
        Console.WriteLine( _
            "This example of String.IndexOf( Char, Integer, Integer )" & _
            vbCrLf & "generates the following output." )
        Console.WriteLine( _
            "{0}{1}{0}{2}{0}{3}{0}", _
            Environment.NewLine, br1, br2, str)

        FindAllChar("A"c, str)
        FindAllChar("a"c, str)
        FindAllChar("I"c, str)
        FindAllChar("i"c, str)
        FindAllChar("@"c, str)
        FindAllChar(" "c, str)
    End Sub
       
    Sub FindAllChar(target As Char, searched As String)

        Console.Write( _
            "The character ""{0}"" occurs at position(s): ", target)
          
        Dim startIndex As Integer = - 1
        Dim hitCount As Integer = 0
          
        ' Search for all occurrences of the target.
        While True
            startIndex = searched.IndexOf( _
                target, startIndex + 1, _
                searched.Length - startIndex - 1)

            ' Exit the loop if the target is not found.
            If startIndex < 0 Then
                Exit While
            End If 

            Console.Write("{0}, ", startIndex)
            hitCount += 1
        End While
          
        Console.WriteLine("occurrences: {0}", hitCount)

    End Sub
End Module 'IndexOfCII

' This example of String.IndexOf( Char, Integer, Integer )
' generates the following output.
' 
' 0----+----1----+----2----+----3----+----4----+----5----+----6----+----7
' 01234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890
' ABCDEFGHI abcdefghi ABCDEFGHI abcdefghi ABCDEFGHI abcdefghi ABCDEFGHI
' 
' The character "A" occurs at position(s): 0, 20, 40, 60, occurrences: 4
' The character "a" occurs at position(s): 10, 30, 50, occurrences: 3
' The character "I" occurs at position(s): 8, 28, 48, 68, occurrences: 4
' The character "i" occurs at position(s): 18, 38, 58, occurrences: 3
' The character "@" occurs at position(s): occurrences: 0
' The character " " occurs at position(s): 9, 19, 29, 39, 49, 59, occurrences: 6

Remarks

The search begins at startIndex and continues to startIndex + count -1. The character at startIndex + count is not included in the search.

Index numbering starts from 0 (zero). The startIndex parameter can range from 0 to the length of the string instance.

This method performs an ordinal (culture-insensitive) search, where a character is considered equivalent to another character only if their Unicode scalar values are the same. To perform a culture-sensitive search, use the CompareInfo.IndexOf method, where a Unicode scalar value representing a precomposed character, such as the ligature "Æ" (U+00C6), might be considered equivalent to any occurrence of the character's components in the correct sequence, such as "AE" (U+0041, U+0045), depending on the culture.

See also

Applies to

IndexOf(Char, StringComparison)

Reports the zero-based index of the first occurrence of the specified Unicode character in this string. A parameter specifies the type of search to use for the specified character.

public:
 int IndexOf(char value, StringComparison comparisonType);
public int IndexOf (char value, StringComparison comparisonType);
member this.IndexOf : char * StringComparison -> int
Public Function IndexOf (value As Char, comparisonType As StringComparison) As Integer

Parameters

value
Char

The character to seek.

comparisonType
StringComparison

An enumeration value that specifies the rules for the search.

Returns

The zero-based index of value if that character is found, or -1 if it is not.

Exceptions

comparisonType is not a valid StringComparison value.

Remarks

Index numbering starts from zero.

The comparisonType parameter is a StringComparison enumeration member that specifies whether the search for the value argument uses the current or invariant culture, is case-sensitive or case-insensitive, or uses word or ordinal comparison rules.

Applies to

IndexOf(Char, Int32)

Reports the zero-based index of the first occurrence of the specified Unicode character in this string. The search starts at a specified character position.

public:
 int IndexOf(char value, int startIndex);
public int IndexOf (char value, int startIndex);
member this.IndexOf : char * int -> int
Public Function IndexOf (value As Char, startIndex As Integer) As Integer

Parameters

value
Char

A Unicode character to seek.

startIndex
Int32

The search starting position.

Returns

The zero-based index position of value from the start of the string if that character is found, or -1 if it is not.

Exceptions

startIndex is less than 0 (zero) or greater than the length of the string.

Examples

The following example demonstrates the IndexOf method.

// Sample for String::IndexOf(Char, Int32)
using namespace System;
int main()
{
   String^ br1 = "0----+----1----+----2----+----3----+----4----+----5----+----6----+-";
   String^ br2 = "0123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456";
   String^ str = "Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their party.";
   int start;
   int at;
   Console::WriteLine();
   Console::WriteLine( "All occurrences of 't' from position 0 to {0}.", str->Length - 1 );
   Console::WriteLine( "{1}{0}{2}{0}{3}{0}", Environment::NewLine, br1, br2, str );
   Console::Write( "The letter 't' occurs at position(s): " );
   at = 0;
   start = 0;
   while ( (start < str->Length) && (at > -1) )
   {
      at = str->IndexOf( 't', start );
      if ( at == -1 )
            break;

      Console::Write( "{0} ", at );
      start = at + 1;
   }

   Console::WriteLine();
}

/*
This example produces the following results:

All occurrences of 't' from position 0 to 66.
0----+----1----+----2----+----3----+----4----+----5----+----6----+-
0123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456
Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their party.

The letter 't' occurs at position(s): 7 11 33 41 44 55 64

*/
string br1 = "0----+----1----+----2----+----3----+----4----+----5----+----6----+---";
string br2 = "012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678";
string str = "Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country.";
int start;
int at;

Console.WriteLine();
Console.WriteLine("All occurrences of 't' from position 0 to {0}.", str.Length-1);
Console.WriteLine("{1}{0}{2}{0}{3}{0}", Environment.NewLine, br1, br2, str);
Console.Write("The letter 't' occurs at position(s): ");

at = 0;
start = 0;
while((start < str.Length) && (at > -1))
{
    at = str.IndexOf('t', start);
    if (at == -1) break;
    Console.Write("{0} ", at);
    start = at+1;
}
Console.WriteLine();

/*
This example produces the following results:

All occurrences of 't' from position 0 to 68.
0----+----1----+----2----+----3----+----4----+----5----+----6----+---
012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678
Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country.

The letter 't' occurs at position(s): 7 11 33 41 44 55 65

*/
let br1 = "0----+----1----+----2----+----3----+----4----+----5----+----6----+---"
let br2 = "012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678"
let str = "Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country."

printfn ""
printfn $"All occurrences of 't' from position 0 to {str.Length - 1}."
printfn $"{br1}{Environment.NewLine}{br2}{Environment.NewLine}{str}{Environment.NewLine}"
printf "The letter 't' occurs at position(s): "

let mutable at = 0
let mutable start = 0
let mutable broken = false
while not broken && (start < str.Length) && (at > -1) do
    at <- str.IndexOf('t', start)
    if at = -1 then broken <- true
    else
        printf $"{at} "
        start <- at + 1
    printfn ""

(*
This example produces the following results:

All occurrences of 't' from position 0 to 68.
0----+----1----+----2----+----3----+----4----+----5----+----6----+---
012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678
Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country.

The letter 't' occurs at position(s): 7 11 33 41 44 55 65

*)
' Sample for String.IndexOf(Char, Int32)

Module Sample
    Sub Main()

        Dim br1 As String = "0----+----1----+----2----+----3----+----4----+----5----+----6----+-"
        Dim br2 As String = "0123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456"
        Dim str As String = "Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their party."
        Dim start As Integer
        Dim at As Integer

        Console.WriteLine()
        Console.WriteLine("All occurrences of 't' from position 0 to {0}.", str.Length - 1)
        Console.WriteLine("{1}{0}{2}{0}{3}{0}", Environment.NewLine, br1, br2, str)
        Console.Write("The letter 't' occurs at position(s): ")

        at = 0
        start = 0
        While start < str.Length AndAlso at > -1
            at = str.IndexOf("t"c, start)
            If at = -1 Then
                Exit While
            End If
            Console.Write("{0} ", at)
            start = at + 1
        End While
        Console.WriteLine()
    End Sub
End Module
'
'This example produces the following results:
'
'All occurrences of 't' from position 0 to 66.
'0----+----1----+----2----+----3----+----4----+----5----+----6----+-
'0123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456
'Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their party.
'
'The letter 't' occurs at position(s): 7 11 33 41 44 55 64
'
'

Remarks

Index numbering starts from 0. The startIndex parameter can range from 0 to the length of the string instance. If startIndex equals the length of the string instance, the method returns -1.

The search ranges from startIndex to the end of the string.

This method performs an ordinal (culture-insensitive) search, where a character is considered equivalent to another character only if their Unicode scalar values are the same. To perform a culture-sensitive search, use the CompareInfo.IndexOf method, where a Unicode scalar value representing a precomposed character, such as the ligature "Æ" (U+00C6), might be considered equivalent to any occurrence of the character's components in the correct sequence, such as "AE" (U+0041, U+0045), depending on the culture.

See also

Applies to

IndexOf(String)

Reports the zero-based index of the first occurrence of the specified string in this instance.

public:
 int IndexOf(System::String ^ value);
public int IndexOf (string value);
member this.IndexOf : string -> int
Public Function IndexOf (value As String) As Integer

Parameters

value
String

The string to seek.

Returns

The zero-based index position of value if that string is found, or -1 if it is not. If value is Empty, the return value is 0.

Exceptions

value is null.

Examples

The following example searches for the "n" in "animal". Because string indexes begin at zero rather than one, the IndexOf(String) method indicates that the "n" is at position 1.

using namespace System;

void main()
{
   String^ str = "animal";
   String^ toFind = "n";
   int index = str->IndexOf("n");
   Console::WriteLine("Found '{0}' in '{1}' at position {2}",
                        toFind, str, index);

}
// The example displays the following output:
//        Found 'n' in 'animal' at position 1
String str = "animal";
String toFind = "n";
int index = str.IndexOf("n");
Console.WriteLine("Found '{0}' in '{1}' at position {2}",
                toFind, str, index);

// The example displays the following output:
//        Found 'n' in 'animal' at position 1
open System

let str = "animal"
let toFind = "n"
let index = str.IndexOf "n"
printfn $"Found '{toFind}' in '{str}' at position {index}"

// The example displays the following output:
//        Found 'n' in 'animal' at position 1
Public Module Example
   Public Sub Main()
      Dim str As String = "animal"
      Dim toFind As String = "n"
      Dim index As Integer = str.IndexOf("n")
      Console.WriteLine("Found '{0}' in '{1}' at position {2}",
                        toFind, str, index)
   End Sub
End Module
' The example displays the following output:
'       Found 'n' in 'animal' at position 1

The following example uses the IndexOf method to determine the starting position of an animal name in a sentence. It then uses this position to insert an adjective that describes the animal into the sentence.

using namespace System;

int main()
{
   String^ animal1 = "fox";
   String^ animal2 = "dog";
   String^ strTarget = String::Format( "The {0} jumps over the {1}.", animal1, animal2 );
   Console::WriteLine( "The original string is:{0}{1}{0}", Environment::NewLine, strTarget );
   Console::Write( "Enter an adjective (or group of adjectives) to describe the {0}: ==> ", animal1 );
   String^ adj1 = Console::ReadLine();
   Console::Write( "Enter an adjective (or group of adjectives) to describe the {0}: ==> ", animal2 );
   String^ adj2 = Console::ReadLine();
   adj1 = String::Concat( adj1->Trim(), " " );
   adj2 = String::Concat( adj2->Trim(), " " );
   strTarget = strTarget->Insert( strTarget->IndexOf( animal1 ), adj1 );
   strTarget = strTarget->Insert( strTarget->IndexOf( animal2 ), adj2 );
   Console::WriteLine( " {0}The final string is: {0} {1}", Environment::NewLine, strTarget );
}
// Output from the example might appear as follows:
//       The original string is:
//       The fox jumps over the dog.
//       
//       Enter an adjective (or group of adjectives) to describe the fox: ==> bold
//       Enter an adjective (or group of adjectives) to describe the dog: ==> lazy
//       
//       The final string is:
//       The bold fox jumps over the lazy dog.
using System;

public class Example {
    public static void Main()
    {
        string animal1 = "fox";
        string animal2 = "dog";

        string strTarget = String.Format("The {0} jumps over the {1}.",
                                         animal1, animal2);

        Console.WriteLine("The original string is:{0}{1}{0}",
                          Environment.NewLine, strTarget);

        Console.Write("Enter an adjective (or group of adjectives) " +
                      "to describe the {0}: ==> ", animal1);
        string adj1 = Console.ReadLine();

        Console.Write("Enter an adjective (or group of adjectives) " +
                      "to describe the {0}: ==> ", animal2);
        string adj2 = Console.ReadLine();

        adj1 = adj1.Trim() + " ";
        adj2 = adj2.Trim() + " ";

        strTarget = strTarget.Insert(strTarget.IndexOf(animal1), adj1);
        strTarget = strTarget.Insert(strTarget.IndexOf(animal2), adj2);

        Console.WriteLine("{0}The final string is:{0}{1}",
                          Environment.NewLine, strTarget);
    }
}
// Output from the example might appear as follows:
//       The original string is:
//       The fox jumps over the dog.
//
//       Enter an adjective (or group of adjectives) to describe the fox: ==> bold
//       Enter an adjective (or group of adjectives) to describe the dog: ==> lazy
//
//       The final string is:
//       The bold fox jumps over the lazy dog.
open System

let animal1 = "fox"
let animal2 = "dog"

let strTarget = String.Format("The {0} jumps over the {1}.", animal1, animal2)

do
    printfn $"The original string is:{Environment.NewLine}{strTarget}{Environment.NewLine}"

    printf $"Enter an adjective (or group of adjectives) to describe the {animal1}: => "
    let adj1 = stdin.ReadLine()

    printf $"Enter an adjective (or group of adjectives) to describe the {animal2}: => "
    let adj2 = stdin.ReadLine()

    let adj1 = adj1.Trim() + " "
    let adj2 = adj2.Trim() + " "

    let strTarget = strTarget.Insert(strTarget.IndexOf animal1, adj1)
    let strTarget = strTarget.Insert(strTarget.IndexOf animal2, adj2)

    printfn $"{Environment.NewLine}The final string is:{strTarget}{Environment.NewLine}"
// Output from the example might appear as follows:
//       The original string is:
//       The fox jumps over the dog.
//
//       Enter an adjective (or group of adjectives) to describe the fox: => bold
//       Enter an adjective (or group of adjectives) to describe the dog: => lazy
//
//       The final string is:
//       The bold fox jumps over the lazy dog.
Public Class Example
    Public Shared Sub Main()
        Dim animal1 As String = "fox"
        Dim animal2 As String = "dog"
        Dim strTarget As String = String.Format("The {0} jumps over the {1}.", 
                                                animal1, animal2)
        
        Console.WriteLine("The original string is: {0}{1}{0}", 
                          Environment.NewLine, strTarget)
        
        Console.Write("Enter an adjective (or group of adjectives) " +
                      "to describe the {0}: ==> ", animal1)
        Dim adj1 As String = Console.ReadLine()
        
        Console.Write("Enter an adjective (or group of adjectives) " + 
                      "to describe the {0}: ==> ", animal2)
        Dim adj2 As String = Console.ReadLine()
        
        adj1 = adj1.Trim() + " "
        adj2 = adj2.Trim() + " "
        
        strTarget = strTarget.Insert(strTarget.IndexOf(animal1), adj1)
        strTarget = strTarget.Insert(strTarget.IndexOf(animal2), adj2)
        
        Console.WriteLine("{0}The final string is:{0}{1}", 
                          Environment.NewLine, strTarget)
    End Sub 
End Class 
' Output from the example might appear as follows:
'       The original string is:
'       The fox jumps over the dog.
'       
'       Enter an adjective (or group of adjectives) to describe the fox: ==> bold
'       Enter an adjective (or group of adjectives) to describe the dog: ==> lazy
'       
'       The final string is:
'       The bold fox jumps over the lazy dog.

Remarks

Index numbering starts from zero.

This method performs a word (case-sensitive and culture-sensitive) search using the current culture. The search begins at the first character position of this instance and continues until the last character position.

Character sets include ignorable characters, which are characters that are not considered when performing a linguistic or culture-sensitive comparison. In a culture-sensitive search, if value contains an ignorable character, the result is equivalent to searching with that character removed. If value consists only of one or more ignorable characters, the IndexOf(String) method always returns 0 (zero) to indicate that the match is found at the beginning of the current instance. In the following example, the IndexOf(String) method is used to find three substrings (a soft hyphen (U+00AD), a soft hyphen followed by "n", and a soft hyphen followed by "m") in two strings. Only one of the strings contains a soft hyphen. If the example is run on the .NET Framework 4 or later, in each case, because the soft hyphen is an ignorable character, the result is the same as if the soft hyphen had not been included in value. When searching for a soft hyphen only, the method returns 0 (zero) to indicate that it has found a match at the beginning of the string.

using System;

public class Example
{
    public static void Main()
    {
        string s1 = "ani\u00ADmal";
        string s2 = "animal";
      
        // Find the index of the soft hyphen.
        Console.WriteLine(s1.IndexOf("\u00AD"));
        Console.WriteLine(s2.IndexOf("\u00AD"));
      
        // Find the index of the soft hyphen followed by "n".
        Console.WriteLine(s1.IndexOf("\u00ADn"));
        Console.WriteLine(s2.IndexOf("\u00ADn"));
      
        // Find the index of the soft hyphen followed by "m".
        Console.WriteLine(s1.IndexOf("\u00ADm"));
        Console.WriteLine(s2.IndexOf("\u00ADm"));

        // The example displays the following output
        // if run under the .NET Framework 4 or later:
        //       0
        //       0
        //       1
        //       1
        //       4
        //       3
    }
}
let s1 = "ani\u00ADmal"
let s2 = "animal"

// Find the index of the soft hyphen.
printfn $"""{s1.IndexOf "\u00AD"}"""
printfn $"""{s2.IndexOf "\u00AD"}"""

// Find the index of the soft hyphen followed by "n".
printfn $"""{s1.IndexOf "\u00ADn"}"""
printfn $"""{s2.IndexOf "\u00ADn"}"""

// Find the index of the soft hyphen followed by "m".
printfn $"""{s1.IndexOf "\u00ADm"}"""
printfn $"""{s2.IndexOf "\u00ADm"}"""

// The example displays the following output
// if run under the .NET Framework 4 or later:
//       0
//       0
//       1
//       1
//       4
//       3
Module Example
   Public Sub Main()
      Dim softHyphen As String = ChrW(&h00AD)
      Dim s1 As String = "ani" + softHyphen + "mal"
      Dim s2 As String = "animal"
      
      ' Find the index of the soft hyphen.
      Console.WriteLine(s1.IndexOf(softHyphen))
      Console.WriteLine(s2.IndexOf(softHyphen))
      
      ' Find the index of the soft hyphen followed by "n".
      Console.WriteLine(s1.IndexOf(softHyphen + "n"))
      Console.WriteLine(s2.IndexOf(softHyphen + "n"))
      
      ' Find the index of the soft hyphen followed by "m".
      Console.WriteLine(s1.IndexOf(softHyphen + "m"))
      Console.WriteLine(s2.IndexOf(softHyphen + "m"))
   End Sub
End Module
' The example displays the following output 
' if run under the .NET Framework 4 or later:
'       0
'       0
'       1
'       1
'       4
'       3

Notes to Callers

As explained in Best Practices for Using Strings, we recommend that you avoid calling string comparison methods that substitute default values and instead call methods that require parameters to be explicitly specified. To find the first index of a substring within a string instance by using the comparison rules of the current culture, signal your intention explicitly by calling the IndexOf(String, StringComparison) method overload with a value of CurrentCulture for its comparisonType parameter. If you don't need linguistic-aware comparison, consider using Ordinal.

See also

Applies to

IndexOf(Char)

Reports the zero-based index of the first occurrence of the specified Unicode character in this string.

public:
 int IndexOf(char value);
public int IndexOf (char value);
member this.IndexOf : char -> int
Public Function IndexOf (value As Char) As Integer

Parameters

value
Char

A Unicode character to seek.

Returns

The zero-based index position of value if that character is found, or -1 if it is not.

Examples

The following example demonstrates how you can search a String for a character using the IndexOf method.

using namespace System;

void main()
{
   // Create a Unicode String with 5 Greek Alpha characters.
   String^ szGreekAlpha = gcnew String(L'\x0391',5);

   // Create a Unicode String with a 3 Greek Omega characters.
   String^ szGreekOmega = L"\x03A9\x03A9\x03A9";

   String^ szGreekLetters = String::Concat(szGreekOmega, szGreekAlpha, 
                                           szGreekOmega->Clone());

   // Display the entire string.
   Console::WriteLine(szGreekLetters);

   // The first index of Alpha.
   int ialpha = szGreekLetters->IndexOf( L'\x0391');
   // The first index of Omega.
   int iomega = szGreekLetters->IndexOf(L'\x03A9');

   Console::WriteLine("First occurrence of the Greek letter Alpha: Index {0}", 
                      ialpha);
   Console::WriteLine("First occurrence of the Greek letter Omega: Index {0}", 
                      iomega);
}
// The example displays the following output:
//       The string: OOO?????OOO
//       First occurrence of the Greek letter Alpha: Index 3
//       First occurrence of the Greek letter Omega: Index 0
// Create a Unicode string with 5 Greek Alpha characters.
String szGreekAlpha = new String('\u0391',5);

// Create a Unicode string with 3 Greek Omega characters.
String szGreekOmega = "\u03A9\u03A9\u03A9";

String szGreekLetters = String.Concat(szGreekOmega, szGreekAlpha, 
                                    szGreekOmega.Clone());

// Display the entire string.
Console.WriteLine("The string: {0}", szGreekLetters);

// The first index of Alpha.
int ialpha = szGreekLetters.IndexOf('\u0391');
// The first index of Omega.
int iomega = szGreekLetters.IndexOf('\u03A9');

Console.WriteLine("First occurrence of the Greek letter Alpha: Index {0}", 
                ialpha);
Console.WriteLine("First occurrence of the Greek letter Omega: Index {0}", 
                iomega);

// The example displays the following output:
//    The string: ΩΩΩΑΑΑΑΑΩΩΩ
//    First occurrence of the Greek letter Alpha: Index 3
//    First occurrence of the Greek letter Omega: Index 0
open System

// Create a Unicode string with 5 Greek Alpha characters.
let szGreekAlpha = String('\u0391',5)

// Create a Unicode string with 3 Greek Omega characters.
let szGreekOmega = "\u03A9\u03A9\u03A9"

let szGreekLetters = String.Concat(szGreekOmega, szGreekAlpha, szGreekOmega.Clone())

// Display the entire string.
printfn $"The string: {szGreekLetters}"

// The first index of Alpha.
let ialpha = szGreekLetters.IndexOf '\u0391'
// The first index of Omega.
let iomega = szGreekLetters.IndexOf '\u03A9'

printfn "First occurrence of the Greek letter Alpha: Index {ialpha}"
printfn "First occurrence of the Greek letter Omega: Index {iomega}"

// The example displays the following output:
//    The string: ΩΩΩΑΑΑΑΑΩΩΩ
//    First occurrence of the Greek letter Alpha: Index 3
//    First occurrence of the Greek letter Omega: Index 0
Public Module Example
   Public Sub Main()
      ' Create a Unicode string with 5 Greek Alpha characters.
      Dim szGreekAlpha As New String(ChrW(&H0391), 5)

      ' Create a Unicode string with 3 Greek Omega characters.
      Dim szGreekOmega As String = ChrW(&H03A9) + ChrW(&H03A9)+
                                   ChrW(&H03A9)

      Dim szGreekLetters As String = String.Concat(szGreekOmega, szGreekAlpha, _
                                                   szGreekOmega.Clone())

      ' Display the entire string.
      Console.WriteLine(szGreekLetters)

      ' The first index of Alpha.
      Dim iAlpha As Integer = szGreekLetters.IndexOf(ChrW(&H0391))
      ' The first index of Omega.
      Dim iomega As Integer = szGreekLetters.IndexOf(ChrW(&H03A9))

      Console.WriteLine("First occurrence of the Greek letter Alpha: Index {0}", 
                        ialpha)
      Console.WriteLine("First occurrence of the Greek letter Omega: Index {0}", 
                        iomega)
   End Sub
End Module
' The example displays the following output:
'       The string: OOO?????OOO
'       First occurrence of the Greek letter Alpha: Index 3
'       First occurrence of the Greek letter Omega: Index 0

Remarks

Index numbering starts from zero.

This method performs an ordinal (culture-insensitive) search, where a character is considered equivalent to another character only if their Unicode scalar values are the same. To perform a culture-sensitive search, use the CompareInfo.IndexOf method, where a Unicode scalar value representing a precomposed character, such as the ligature "Æ" (U+00C6), might be considered equivalent to any occurrence of the character's components in the correct sequence, such as "AE" (U+0041, U+0045), depending on the culture.

See also

Applies to

IndexOf(String, Int32)

Reports the zero-based index of the first occurrence of the specified string in this instance. The search starts at a specified character position.

public:
 int IndexOf(System::String ^ value, int startIndex);
public int IndexOf (string value, int startIndex);
member this.IndexOf : string * int -> int
Public Function IndexOf (value As String, startIndex As Integer) As Integer

Parameters

value
String

The string to seek.

startIndex
Int32

The search starting position.

Returns

The zero-based index position of value from the start of the current instance if that string is found, or -1 if it is not. If value is Empty, the return value is startIndex.

Exceptions

value is null.

startIndex is less than 0 (zero) or greater than the length of this string.

Examples

The following example searches for all occurrences of a specified string within a target string.

using namespace System;
int main()
{
   String^ strSource = "This is the string which we will perform the search on";
   Console::WriteLine( "The search string is: {0}\"{1}\" {0}", Environment::NewLine, strSource );
   String^ strTarget = "";
   int found = 0;
   int totFinds = 0;
   do
   {
      Console::Write( "Please enter a search value to look for in the above string (hit Enter to exit) ==> " );
      strTarget = Console::ReadLine();
      if (  !strTarget->Equals( "" ) )
      {
         for ( int i = 0; i < strSource->Length; i++ )
         {
            found = strSource->IndexOf( strTarget, i );
            if (found >= 0)
            {
               totFinds++;
               i = found;
            }
            else
               break;

         }
      }
      else
            return 0;
      Console::WriteLine( "{0}The search parameter '{1}' was found {2} times. {0}", Environment::NewLine, strTarget, totFinds );
      totFinds = 0;
   }
   while ( true );
}
using System;

public class IndexOfTest {
    public static void Main() {

        string strSource = "This is the string which we will perform the search on";

        Console.WriteLine("The search string is:{0}\"{1}\"{0}", Environment.NewLine, strSource);

        string strTarget = "";
        int found = 0;
        int totFinds = 0;

        do {
            Console.Write("Please enter a search value to look for in the above string (hit Enter to exit) ==> ");

            strTarget = Console.ReadLine();

            if (strTarget != "") {

                for (int i = 0; i < strSource.Length; i++) {

                    found = strSource.IndexOf(strTarget, i);

                    if (found >= 0) {
                        totFinds++;
                        i = found;
                    }
                    else
                    {
                        break;
                    }
                }
            }
            else
            {
                return;
            }

            Console.WriteLine("{0}The search parameter '{1}' was found {2} times.{0}",
                    Environment.NewLine, strTarget, totFinds);

            totFinds = 0;
        } while ( true );
    }
}
open System

let strSource = "This is the string which we will perform the search on"

printfn $"The search string is:{Environment.NewLine}\"{strSource}\"{Environment.NewLine}"

let mutable broken = false
while not broken do
    let mutable totFinds = 0
    printf "Please enter a search value to look for in the above string (hit Enter to exit) => "

    let strTarget = stdin.ReadLine()

    if strTarget <> "" then
        let mutable i = 0
        let mutable broken = false
        while not broken && i <= strSource.Length - 1 do
            let found = strSource.IndexOf(strTarget, i)

            if found >= 0 then
                totFinds <- totFinds + 1
                i <- found
            else
                broken <- true
            i <- i + 1
    else
        broken <- true

    printfn $"{Environment.NewLine}The search parameter '{strTarget}' was found {totFinds} times.{Environment.NewLine}"
Public Class IndexOfTest
    
    Public Shared Sub Main()
        Dim strSource As String = "This is the string which we will perform the search on"
        
        Console.WriteLine("The search string is:{0}{1}{0}", Environment.NewLine, strSource)
        Dim strTarget As String = ""
        Dim found As Integer = 0
        Dim totFinds As Integer = 0
        
        Do
            Console.Write("Please enter a search value to look for in the above string (hit Enter to exit) ==> ")
            
            strTarget = Console.ReadLine()
            If strTarget <> "" Then
                Dim i As Integer
                
                
                For i = 0 To strSource.Length - 1
                    
                    found = strSource.IndexOf(strTarget, i)
                    If found >= 0 Then
                        
                        totFinds += 1
                        i = found
                    Else
                        Exit For
                    End If
                Next i
            Else
                Return
            
            End If
            Console.WriteLine("{0}The search parameter '{1}' was found {2} times.{0}", Environment.NewLine, strTarget, totFinds)
            
            totFinds = 0
        
        Loop While True
    End Sub
End Class

Remarks

Index numbering starts from 0. The startIndex parameter can range from 0 to the length of the string instance. If startIndex equals the length of the string instance, the method returns -1.

This method performs a word (case-sensitive and culture-sensitive) search using the current culture. The search begins at the startIndex character position of this instance and continues until the last character position.

Character sets include ignorable characters, which are characters that are not considered when performing a linguistic or culture-sensitive comparison. In a culture-sensitive search, if value contains an ignorable character, the result is equivalent to searching with that character removed. If value consists only of one or more ignorable characters, the IndexOf(String, Int32) method always returns startIndex, which is the character position at which the search begins. In the following example, the IndexOf(String, Int32) method is used to find the position of a soft hyphen (U+00AD) followed by an "m" in two strings. Only one of the strings contains the required substring. If the example is run on the .NET Framework 4 or later, in both cases, because the soft hyphen is an ignorable character, the method returns the index of "m" in the string. Note that in the case of the first string, which includes the soft hyphen followed by an "m", the method fails to return the index of the soft hyphen but instead returns the index of the "m".

using System;

public class Example
{
    public static void Main()
    {
        string searchString = "\u00ADm";
        string s1 = "ani\u00ADmal" ;
        string s2 = "animal";

        Console.WriteLine(s1.IndexOf(searchString, 2));
        Console.WriteLine(s2.IndexOf(searchString, 2));

        // The example displays the following output:
        //       4
        //       3
    }
}
let searchString = "\u00ADm"
let s1 = "ani\u00ADmal"
let s2 = "animal"

printfn $"{s1.IndexOf(searchString, 2)}"
printfn $"{s2.IndexOf(searchString, 2)}"

// The example displays the following output:
//       4
//       3
Module Example
   Public Sub Main()
      Dim searchString As String = Chrw(&h00AD) + "m"
      Dim s1 As String = "ani" + ChrW(&h00AD) + "mal"
      Dim s2 As String = "animal"

      Console.WriteLine(s1.IndexOf(searchString, 2))
      Console.WriteLine(s2.IndexOf(searchString, 2))
   End Sub
End Module
' The example displays the following output:
'       4
'       3

Notes to Callers

As explained in Best Practices for Using Strings, we recommend that you avoid calling string comparison methods that substitute default values and instead call methods that require parameters to be explicitly specified. To find the first index of a substring that occurs after a particular character position by using the comparison rules of the current culture, signal your intention explicitly by calling the IndexOf(String, Int32, StringComparison) method overload with a value of CurrentCulture for its comparisonType parameter. If you don't need linguistic-aware comparison, consider using Ordinal.

See also

Applies to