Collection Class
Assembly: Microsoft.VisualBasic (in microsoft.visualbasic.dll)
'Declaration <SerializableAttribute> _ Public NotInheritable Class Collection Implements ICollection, IList, ISerializable, IDeserializationCallback 'Usage Dim instance As Collection
/** @attribute SerializableAttribute() */ public final class Collection implements ICollection, IList, ISerializable, IDeserializationCallback
SerializableAttribute public final class Collection implements ICollection, IList, ISerializable, IDeserializationCallback
For more detailed information, see the Visual Basic topic Collection Object (Visual Basic).
The Visual Basic Collection object provides a convenient way to refer to a related group of items as a single object. The items, or elements, in a collection need only be related by the fact that they exist in the collection. Elements of a collection do not have to share the same data type.
You can create a collection the same way you create other objects, as the following example illustrates.
Dim coll As New Microsoft.VisualBasic.Collection()
Once you have created a collection, you can do any of the following:
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Add an element with the Add Method.
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Remove an element with the Remove Method.
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Remove all elements with the Clear Method.
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Find out how many elements the collection contains with the Count Property.
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Check whether a specific element is present with the Contains Method.
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Return a specific element from the collection with the Item Property.
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Iterate through the entire collection with the For Each...Next Statement (Visual Basic).
Note Although the Visual Basic Collection object has functionality identical to the Collection object in Visual Basic 6.0, the two cannot interoperate in a COM environment.
Caution Iterating through a Visual Basic Collection is not a thread-safe procedure. Even if the collection is synchronized, other threads can still modify the collection, causing the enumerator to throw an exception. To guarantee thread safety during enumeration, either lock the collection or catch the exceptions resulting from changes made by other threads. For more information on locking a programming element, see SyncLock Statement.
The following example creates the Collection object names and a dialog box with which a user can add objects (names) to the collection. It then displays the names in the collection, and finally empties the collection without disposing of the Collection object itself.
To see how this works, choose the Add Class command from the Project menu and declare a public variable called instanceName at the module level of nameClass (type Public instanceName) to hold the names of each instance. Leave the default name as nameClass. Copy and paste the following code into the General section of another module, and then start it with the statement classNamer in another procedure. (This example works only with host applications that support classes.)
Public Class nameClass Public instanceName As String End Class Sub classNamer() ' Create a Visual Basic Collection object. Dim names As New Microsoft.VisualBasic.Collection() Dim key As Integer Dim msg As String Dim name As String Dim nameList As String = "" ' 1. Get names from the user to add to the collection. Do Dim inst As New nameClass() key += 1 msg = "Please enter a name for this object." & vbCrLf _ & "Press Cancel to see names in collection." name = InputBox(msg, "Name the Collection items") inst.instanceName = name ' If user entered a name, add it to the collection. If inst.instanceName <> "" Then names.Add(inst, CStr(key)) End If Loop Until name = "" ' 2. Create and display a list of names from the collection. For Each oneInst As nameClass In names nameList &= oneInst.instanceName & vbCrLf Next oneInst MsgBox(nameList, , "Instance Names in names Collection") ' 3. Remove elements from the collection without disposing of the collection. For count As Integer = 1 To names.Count names.Remove(1) ' Since Visual Basic collections are reindexed automatically, ' remove the first member on each iteration. Next count End Sub
Windows 98, Windows 2000 SP4, Windows CE, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows Mobile for Pocket PC, Windows Mobile for Smartphone, Windows Server 2003, Windows XP Media Center Edition, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Windows XP SP2, Windows XP Starter Edition
The .NET Framework does not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see System Requirements.