Share via


String.Join Method (String, IEnumerable<String>)

Microsoft Silverlight will reach end of support after October 2021. Learn more.

Updated: January 2011

Concatenates the members of a constructed IEnumerable<T> collection of type String, using the specified separator between each member.

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

Syntax

'Declaration
<ComVisibleAttribute(False)> _
Public Shared Function Join ( _
    separator As String, _
    values As IEnumerable(Of String) _
) As String
[ComVisibleAttribute(false)]
public static string Join(
    string separator,
    IEnumerable<string> values
)

Parameters

  • separator
    Type: System.String
    The string to use as a separator.

Return Value

Type: System.String
A string that consists of the members of values delimited by the separator string. If values has no members, the method returns String.Empty.

Exceptions

Exception Condition
ArgumentNullException

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

Remarks

If separator is nulla null reference (Nothing in Visual Basic), an empty string (String.Empty) is used instead. If any member of values is nulla null reference (Nothing in Visual Basic), an empty string is used instead.

Join(String, IEnumerable<String>) is a convenience method that lets you concatenate each element in an IEnumerable(Of String) collection without first converting the elements to a string array. It is particularly useful with Language-Integrated Query (LINQ) query expressions. The following example passes a List(Of String) object that contains either the uppercase or lowercase letters of the alphabet to a lambda expression that selects letters that are equal to or greater than a particular letter (which, in the example, is "M"). The IEnumerable(Of String) collection returned by the Enumerable.Where method is passed to the Join(String, IEnumerable<String>) method to display the result as a single string.

Imports System.Collections.Generic
Imports System.Linq

Module Example
   Public Sub Demo(ByVal outputBlock As System.Windows.Controls.TextBlock)
      Dim output As String = String.Join(" ", GetAlphabet(True).Where(Function(letter) _
                                                         letter >= "M"))

      outputBlock.Text &= output & vbCrLf
   End Sub

   Private Function GetAlphabet(ByVal upper As Boolean) As List(Of String)
      Dim alphabet As New List(Of String)
      Dim charValue As Integer = CInt(IIf(upper, 65, 97))
      For ctr As Integer = 0 To 25
         alphabet.Add(ChrW(charValue + ctr).ToString())
      Next
      Return alphabet
   End Function
End Module
' The example displays the following output:
'      M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;

public class Example
{
   public static void Demo(System.Windows.Controls.TextBlock outputBlock)
   {
      string output = String.Join(" ", GetAlphabet(true).Where(letter =>
                      letter.CompareTo("M") >= 0));
      outputBlock.Text += output + "\n";
   }

   private static List<string> GetAlphabet(bool upper)
   {
      List<string> alphabet = new List<string>();
      int charValue = upper ? 65 : 97;
      for (int ctr = 0; ctr <= 25; ctr++)
         alphabet.Add(Convert.ToChar(charValue + ctr).ToString());
      return alphabet;
   }
}
// The example displays the following output:
//      M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Examples

The following example uses the Sieve of Eratosthenes algorithm to calculate the prime numbers that are less than or equal to 100. It assigns the result to a List<T> object of type String, which it then passes to the Join(String, IEnumerable<String>) method.

Imports System.Collections.Generic

Module Example
   Public Sub Demo(ByVal outputBlock As System.Windows.Controls.TextBlock)
      Dim maxPrime As Integer = 101
      Dim primes As List(Of String) = GetPrimes(maxPrime)
      outputBlock.Text += String.Format("Primes less than {0}:", maxPrime) & vbCrLf
      outputBlock.Text += String.Format("   {0}", String.Join(" ", primes)) & vbCrLf
   End Sub

   Private Function GetPrimes(ByVal maxPrime As Integer) As List(Of String)
      Dim values(maxPrime) As Integer
      ' Use Sieve of Erathsthenes to determine prime numbers.
      For ctr As Integer = 2 To _
                           CInt(Math.Ceiling(Math.Sqrt(values.GetUpperBound(0))))
         If CInt(values.GetValue(ctr)) = 1 Then Continue For

         For multiplier As Integer = ctr To maxPrime \ 2
            If ctr * multiplier <= maxPrime Then values.SetValue(1, ctr * multiplier)
         Next
      Next

      Dim primes As New List(Of String)
      For ctr As Integer = 2 To values.GetUpperBound(0)
         If CInt(values.GetValue(ctr)) = 0 Then primes.Add(ctr.ToString())
      Next
      Return primes
   End Function
End Module
' The example displays the following output:
'    Primes less than 100:
'       2 3 5 7 11 13 17 19 23 29 31 37 41 43 47 53 59 61 67 71 73 79 83 89 97
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;

public class Example
{
   public static void Demo(System.Windows.Controls.TextBlock outputBlock)
   {
      int maxPrime = 101;
      List<int> primes = GetPrimes(maxPrime);
      outputBlock.Text += String.Format("Primes less than {0}:", maxPrime) + "\n";
      outputBlock.Text += String.Format("   {0}", String.Join(" ", primes)) + "\n";
   }

   private static List<int> GetPrimes(int maxPrime)
   {
      int[] values = new int[maxPrime + 1];
      // Use Sieve of Erathsthenes to determine prime numbers.
      for (int ctr = 2; ctr <= (int)Math.Ceiling(Math.Sqrt(values.GetUpperBound(0))); ctr++)
      {

         if ((int)values.GetValue(ctr) == 1) continue;

         for (int multiplier = ctr; multiplier <= maxPrime / 2; multiplier++)
            if (ctr * multiplier <= maxPrime)
               values.SetValue(1, ctr * multiplier);
      }

      List<int> primes = new List<int>();
      for (int ctr = 2; ctr <= values.GetUpperBound(0); ctr++)
         if ((int)values.GetValue(ctr) == 0)
            primes.Add(ctr);
      return primes;
   }
}
// The example displays the following output:
//    Primes less than 100:
//       2 3 5 7 11 13 17 19 23 29 31 37 41 43 47 53 59 61 67 71 73 79 83 89 97

Version Information

Silverlight

Supported in: 5, 4

Silverlight for Windows Phone

Supported in: Windows Phone OS 7.1

Platforms

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

Change History

Date

History

Reason

January 2011

Noted that an empty string is substituted for any null member of the collection.

Customer feedback.