How to: Call an Extension Method (Visual Basic)

Article
02/04/2013

Extension methods enable you to add methods to an existing class. After an extension method is declared and brought into scope, you can call it like an instance method of the type that it extends. For more information about how to write an extension method, see How to: Write an Extension Method (Visual Basic).

The following instructions refer to extension method PrintAndPunctuate, which will display the string instance that invokes it, followed by whatever value is sent in for the second parameter, punc.

Imports System.Runtime.CompilerServices

Module StringExtensions
    <Extension()> 
    Public Sub PrintAndPunctuate(ByVal aString As String, 
                                 ByVal punc As String)
        Console.WriteLine(aString & punc)
    End Sub

End Module

The method must be in scope when it is called.

To call an extension method

Declare a variable that has the data type of the first parameter of the extension method. For PrintAndPunctuate, you need a String variable:
```
Dim example = "Ready"
```
That variable will invoke the extension method, and its value is bound to the first parameter, aString. The following calling statement will display Ready?.
```
example.PrintAndPunctuate("?")
```
Notice that the call to this extension method looks just like a call to any one of the String instance methods that require one parameter:
```
example.EndsWith("dy")
example.IndexOf("R")
```
Declare another string variable and call the method again to see that it works with any string.
```
Dim example2 = " or not"
example2.PrintAndPunctuate("!!!")
```
The result this time is: or not!!!.

Example

The following code is a complete example of the creation and use of a simple extension method.

Imports System.Runtime.CompilerServices
Imports ConsoleApplication1.StringExtensions

Module Module1

    Sub Main()

        Dim example = "Hello"
        example.PrintAndPunctuate(".")
        example.PrintAndPunctuate("!!!!")

        Dim example2 = "Goodbye"
        example2.PrintAndPunctuate("?")
    End Sub

    <Extension()> 
    Public Sub PrintAndPunctuate(ByVal aString As String, 
                                 ByVal punc As String)
        Console.WriteLine(aString & punc)
    End Sub
End Module

' Output:
' Hello.
' Hello!!!!
' Goodbye?

How to: Call an Extension Method (Visual Basic)

To call an extension method

Example

See Also

Tasks

Concepts

Additional resources