ReadOnlyCollection(Of T) Class
Provides the base class for a generic read-only collection.
Assembly: mscorlib (in mscorlib.dll)
'Declaration <SerializableAttribute> _ <ComVisibleAttribute(False)> _ Public Class ReadOnlyCollection(Of T) _ Implements IList(Of T), ICollection(Of T), _ IEnumerable(Of T), IList, ICollection, IEnumerable 'Usage Dim instance As ReadOnlyCollection(Of T)
Type Parameters
- T
The type of elements in the collection.
An instance of the ReadOnlyCollection(Of T) generic class is always read-only. A collection that is read-only is simply a collection with a wrapper that prevents modifying the collection; therefore, if changes are made to the underlying collection, the read-only collection reflects those changes. See Collection(Of T) for a modifiable version of this class.
Notes to Implementers:This base class is provided to make it easier for implementers to create a generic read-only custom collection. Implementers are encouraged to extend this base class instead of creating their own.
The following code example demonstrates several members of the ReadOnlyCollection(Of T) class. The code example creates a List(Of T) of strings and adds four dinosaur names to it. The code example then wraps the list in a ReadOnlyCollection(Of T).
After demonstrating the Count, Contains, Item, and IList.IndexOf members, the code example shows that the ReadOnlyCollection(Of T) is just a wrapper for the original List(Of T) by adding a new item to the List(Of T) and displaying the contents of the ReadOnlyCollection(Of T).
Finally, the code example creates an array larger than the collection and uses the CopyTo method to insert the elements of the collection into the middle of the array.
Imports System Imports System.Collections.Generic Imports System.Collections.ObjectModel Public Class Example Public Shared Sub Main() Dim dinosaurs As New List(Of String) dinosaurs.Add("Tyrannosaurus") dinosaurs.Add("Amargasaurus") dinosaurs.Add("Deinonychus") dinosaurs.Add("Compsognathus") Dim readOnlyDinosaurs As _ New ReadOnlyCollection(Of String)(dinosaurs) Console.WriteLine() For Each dinosaur As String In readOnlyDinosaurs Console.WriteLine(dinosaur) Next Console.WriteLine(vbLf & "Count: {0}", _ readOnlyDinosaurs.Count) Console.WriteLine(vbLf & "Contains(""Deinonychus""): {0}", _ readOnlyDinosaurs.Contains("Deinonychus")) Console.WriteLine(vbLf & _ "readOnlyDinosaurs(3): {0}", readOnlyDinosaurs(3)) Console.WriteLine(vbLf & "IndexOf(""Compsognathus""): {0}", _ readOnlyDinosaurs.IndexOf("Compsognathus")) Console.WriteLine(vbLf & "Insert into the wrapped List:") Console.WriteLine("Insert(2, ""Oviraptor"")") dinosaurs.Insert(2, "Oviraptor") Console.WriteLine() For Each dinosaur As String In readOnlyDinosaurs Console.WriteLine(dinosaur) Next Dim dinoArray(readOnlyDinosaurs.Count + 1) As String readOnlyDinosaurs.CopyTo(dinoArray, 1) Console.WriteLine(vbLf & "Copied array has {0} elements:", _ dinoArray.Length) For Each dinosaur As String In dinoArray Console.WriteLine("""{0}""", dinosaur) Next End Sub End Class ' This code example produces the following output: ' 'Tyrannosaurus 'Amargasaurus 'Deinonychus 'Compsognathus ' 'Count: 4 ' 'Contains("Deinonychus"): True ' 'readOnlyDinosaurs(3): Compsognathus ' 'IndexOf("Compsognathus"): 3 ' 'Insert into the wrapped List: 'Insert(2, "Oviraptor") ' 'Tyrannosaurus 'Amargasaurus 'Oviraptor 'Deinonychus 'Compsognathus ' 'Copied array has 7 elements: '"" '"Tyrannosaurus" '"Amargasaurus" '"Oviraptor" '"Deinonychus" '"Compsognathus" '""
System.Collections.ObjectModel.ReadOnlyCollection(Of T)
System.Collections.ObjectModel.ReadOnlyObservableCollection(Of T)
System.Security.Cryptography.ManifestSignatureInformationCollection
System.ServiceModel.Channels.AddressHeaderCollection
System.Windows.Input.StylusButtonCollection
System.Windows.Input.StylusDeviceCollection
Public static (Shared in Visual Basic) members of this type are thread safe. Any instance members are not guaranteed to be thread safe.
A ReadOnlyCollection(Of T) can support multiple readers concurrently, as long as the collection is not modified. Even so, enumerating through a collection is intrinsically not a thread-safe procedure. To guarantee thread safety during enumeration, you can lock the collection during the entire enumeration. To allow the collection to be accessed by multiple threads for reading and writing, you must implement your own synchronization.
Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP SP2, Windows XP Media Center Edition, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Windows XP Starter Edition, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2000 SP4, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows 98, 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.