Derived classes can provide their own synchronized version of the StringDictionary using the SyncRoot property. The synchronizing code must perform operations on the SyncRoot of the StringDictionary, not directly on the StringDictionary. This ensures proper operation of collections that are derived from other objects. Specifically, it maintains proper synchronization with other threads that might be simultaneously modifying the StringDictionary object.

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

The following code example shows how to lock the collection using the SyncRoot during the entire enumeration.

Dim myCollection As New StringDictionary()
SyncLock myCollection.SyncRoot
    For Each item As Object In myCollection
        ' Insert your code here.
    Next item
End SyncLock

StringDictionary myCollection = new StringDictionary();
lock(myCollection.SyncRoot)
{
    foreach (Object item in myCollection)
    {
        // Insert your code here.
    }
}

StringDictionary^ myCollection = gcnew StringDictionary();
bool lockTaken = false;
try
{
    Monitor::Enter(myCollection->SyncRoot, lockTaken);
    for each (Object^ item in myCollection)
    {
        // Insert your code here.
    }
}
finally
{
    if (lockTaken)
    {
        Monitor::Exit(myCollection->SyncRoot);
    }
}

Retrieving the value of this property is an O(1) operation.

.NET Framework

.NET Framework Client Profile

Windows 7, Windows Vista SP1 or later, Windows XP SP3, Windows XP SP2 x64 Edition, Windows Server 2008 (Server Core not supported), Windows Server 2008 R2 (Server Core supported with SP1 or later), Windows Server 2003 SP2

Reference