Enumerable.GroupBy<TSource, TKey> Method (IEnumerable<TSource>, Func<TSource, TKey>)
Groups the elements of a sequence according to a specified key selector function.
Namespace: System.Linq
Assembly: System.Core (in System.Core.dll)
public static IEnumerable<IGrouping<TKey, TSource>> GroupBy<TSource, TKey>( this IEnumerable<TSource> source, Func<TSource, TKey> keySelector )
Type Parameters
- TSource
The type of the elements of source.
- TKey
The type of the key returned by keySelector.
Parameters
- source
- Type: System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerable<TSource>
An IEnumerable<T> whose elements to group.
- keySelector
- Type: System.Func<TSource, TKey>
A function to extract the key for each element.
Return Value
Type: System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerable<IGrouping<TKey, TSource>>An IEnumerable<IGrouping<TKey, TSource>> in C# or IEnumerable(Of IGrouping(Of TKey, TSource)) in Visual Basic where each IGrouping<TKey, TElement> object contains a sequence of objects and a key.
Usage Note
In Visual Basic and C#, you can call this method as an instance method on any object of type IEnumerable<TSource>. When you use instance method syntax to call this method, omit the first parameter.| Exception | Condition |
|---|---|
| ArgumentNullException | source or keySelector is null. |
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 GroupBy<TSource, TKey>(IEnumerable<TSource>, Func<TSource, TKey>) method returns a collection of IGrouping<TKey, TElement> objects, one for each distinct key that was encountered. An IGrouping<TKey, TElement> is an IEnumerable<T> that also has a key associated with its elements.
The IGrouping<TKey, TElement> objects are yielded in an order based on the order of the elements in source that produced the first key of each IGrouping<TKey, TElement>. Elements in a grouping are yielded in the order they appear in source.
The default equality comparer Default is used to compare keys.
In query expression syntax, a group by (Visual C#) or Group By Into (Visual Basic) clause translates to an invocation of GroupBy.
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