Enumerable.Except(Of TSource) Method (IEnumerable(Of TSource), IEnumerable(Of TSource))
Updated: October 2008
Produces the set difference of two sequences by using the default equality comparer to compare values.
Assembly: System.Core (in System.Core.dll)
'Declaration <ExtensionAttribute> _ Public Shared Function Except(Of TSource) ( _ first As IEnumerable(Of TSource), _ second As IEnumerable(Of TSource) _ ) As IEnumerable(Of TSource) 'Usage Dim first As IEnumerable(Of TSource) Dim second As IEnumerable(Of TSource) Dim returnValue As IEnumerable(Of TSource) returnValue = first.Except(second)
Type Parameters
- TSource
The type of the elements of the input sequences.
Parameters
- first
- Type: System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerable(Of TSource)
An IEnumerable(Of T) whose elements that are not also in second will be returned.
- second
- Type: System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerable(Of TSource)
An IEnumerable(Of T) whose elements that also occur in the first sequence will cause those elements to be removed from the returned sequence.
Return Value
Type: System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerable(Of TSource)A sequence that contains the set difference of the elements of two sequences.
Usage Note
In Visual Basic and C#, you can call this method as an instance method on any object of type IEnumerable(Of TSource). When you use instance method syntax to call this method, omit the first parameter. For more information, see Extension Methods (Visual Basic) or Extension Methods (C# Programming Guide).| Exception | Condition |
|---|---|
| ArgumentNullException | first or second is Nothing. |
This method is implemented by using deferred execution. The immediate return value is an object that stores all the information that is required to perform the action. The query represented by this method is not executed until the object is enumerated either by calling its GetEnumerator method directly or by using foreach in Visual C# or For Each in Visual Basic.
The set difference of two sets is defined as the members of the first set that do not appear in the second set.
Note: |
|---|
This method returns those elements in first that do not appear in second. It does not also return those elements in second that do not appear in first. |
The default equality comparer, Default, is used to compare values of the types that implement the IEqualityComparer(Of T) generic interface. To compare a custom data type, you need to implement this interface and provide your own GetHashCode and Equals methods for the type.
The following code example demonstrates how to use the Except(Of TSource)(IEnumerable(Of TSource), IEnumerable(Of TSource)) method to compare two sequences of integers and return elements that appear only in the first sequence.
' Create two arrays of doubles. Dim numbers1() As Double = {2.0, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5} Dim numbers2() As Double = {2.2} ' Select the elements from the first array that are not ' in the second array. Dim onlyInFirstSet As IEnumerable(Of Double) = numbers1.Except(numbers2) Dim output As New System.Text.StringBuilder For Each number As Double In onlyInFirstSet output.AppendLine(number) Next ' Display the output. MsgBox(output.ToString()) ' This code produces the following output: ' ' 2 ' 2.1 ' 2.3 ' 2.4 ' 2.5
If you want to compare sequences of objects of some custom data type, you have to implement the IEqualityComparer(Of T) generic interface in your class. The following code example shows how to implement this interface in a custom data type and provide GetHashCode and Equals methods.
Public Class Product Implements IEquatable(Of Product) Public Name As String Public Code As Integer Public Function Equals1(ByVal other As Product) As Boolean _ Implements IEquatable(Of Product).Equals ' Check whether the compared object is null. If other Is Nothing Then Return False ' Check whether the compared object references the same data. If Me Is Other Then Return True ' Check whether the products' properties are equal. Return Code.Equals(other.Code) AndAlso Name.Equals(other.Name) End Function Public Overrides Function GetHashCode() As Integer ' Get the hash code for the Name field if it is not null. Dim hashProductName = If(Name Is Nothing, 0, Name.GetHashCode()) ' Get the hash code for the Code field. Dim hashProductCode = Code.GetHashCode() ' Calculate the hash code for the product. Return hashProductName Xor hashProductCode End Function End Class
After you implement this interface, you can use sequences of Product objects in the Except(Of TSource)(IEnumerable(Of TSource), IEnumerable(Of TSource)) method, as shown in the following example.
Dim fruits1() As Product = _ {New Product With {.Name = "apple", .Code = 9}, _ New Product With {.Name = "orange", .Code = 4}, _ New Product With {.Name = "lemon", .Code = 12}} Dim fruits2() As Product = _ {New Product With {.Name = "apple", .Code = 9}} ' Get all the elements from the first array ' except for the elements that appear in the second array. Dim except = fruits1.Except(fruits2) For Each product In except Console.WriteLine(product.Name & " " & product.Code) Next ' This code produces the following output: ' ' orange 4 ' lemon 12
Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP SP2, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003, Windows CE, Windows Mobile for Smartphone, Windows Mobile for Pocket PC, Xbox 360, Zune
The .NET Framework and .NET Compact Framework do not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see .NET Framework System Requirements.
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