Windows apps
Collapse the table of content
Expand the table of content
Information
The topic you requested is included in another documentation set. For convenience, it's displayed below. Choose Switch to see the topic in its original location.

ListDictionary::IEnumerable::GetEnumerator Method ()

 

Returns an IEnumerator that iterates through the ListDictionary.

Namespace:   System.Collections.Specialized
Assembly:  System (in System.dll)

private:
virtual IEnumerator^ GetEnumerator() sealed = IEnumerable::GetEnumerator

The foreach statement of the C# language (for each in Visual Basic) hides the complexity of the enumerators. Therefore, using foreach is recommended, instead of directly manipulating the enumerator.

Enumerators can be used to read the data in the collection, but they cannot be used to modify the underlying collection.

Initially, the enumerator is positioned before the first element in the collection. Reset also brings the enumerator back to this position. At this position, calling Current throws an exception. Therefore, you must call MoveNext to advance the enumerator to the first element of the collection before reading the value of Current.

Current returns the same object until either MoveNext or Reset is called. MoveNext sets Current to the next element.

If MoveNext passes the end of the collection, the enumerator is positioned after the last element in the collection and MoveNext returns false. When the enumerator is at this position, subsequent calls to MoveNext also return false. If the last call to MoveNext returned false, calling Current throws an exception. To set Current to the first element of the collection again, you can call Reset followed by MoveNext.

An enumerator remains valid as long as the collection remains unchanged. If changes are made to the collection, such as adding, modifying, or deleting elements, the enumerator is irrecoverably invalidated and the next call to MoveNext or Reset throws an InvalidOperationException. If the collection is modified between MoveNext and Current, Current returns the element that it is set to, even if the enumerator is already invalidated.

The enumerator does not have exclusive access to the collection; therefore, enumerating through a collection is intrinsically not a thread-safe procedure. Even when a collection is synchronized, other threads can still modify the collection, which causes the enumerator to throw an exception. To guarantee thread safety during enumeration, you can either lock the collection during the entire enumeration or catch the exceptions resulting from changes made by other threads.

This method is an O(1) operation.

The following code example enumerates the elements of a ListDictionary.

#using <System.dll>

using namespace System;
using namespace System::Collections;
using namespace System::Collections::Specialized;

void PrintKeysAndValues1( IDictionary^ myCol );
void PrintKeysAndValues2( IDictionary^ myCol );
void PrintKeysAndValues3( ListDictionary^ myCol );

int main()
{
   // Creates and initializes a new ListDictionary.
   ListDictionary^ myCol = gcnew ListDictionary;
   myCol->Add( "Braeburn Apples", "1.49" );
   myCol->Add( "Fuji Apples", "1.29" );
   myCol->Add( "Gala Apples", "1.49" );
   myCol->Add( "Golden Delicious Apples", "1.29" );
   myCol->Add( "Granny Smith Apples", "0.89" );
   myCol->Add( "Red Delicious Apples", "0.99" );

   // Display the contents of the collection using for each. This is the preferred method.
   Console::WriteLine( "Displays the elements using for each:" );
   PrintKeysAndValues1( myCol );

   // Display the contents of the collection using the enumerator.
   Console::WriteLine( "Displays the elements using the IDictionaryEnumerator:" );
   PrintKeysAndValues2( myCol );

   // Display the contents of the collection using the Keys, Values, Count, and Item properties.
   Console::WriteLine( "Displays the elements using the Keys, Values, Count, and Item properties:" );
   PrintKeysAndValues3( myCol );
}

// Uses the for each statement which hides the complexity of the enumerator.
// NOTE: The for each statement is the preferred way of enumerating the contents of a collection.
void PrintKeysAndValues1( IDictionary^ myCol )  {
   Console::WriteLine( "   KEY                       VALUE" );
   for each ( DictionaryEntry^ de in myCol )
      Console::WriteLine( "   {0,-25} {1}", de->Key, de->Value );
   Console::WriteLine();
}

// Uses the enumerator. 
void PrintKeysAndValues2( IDictionary^ myCol )
{
   IDictionaryEnumerator^ myEnumerator = myCol->GetEnumerator();
   Console::WriteLine( "   KEY                       VALUE" );
   while ( myEnumerator->MoveNext() )
      Console::WriteLine( "   {0,-25} {1}", myEnumerator->Key, myEnumerator->Value );

   Console::WriteLine();
}

// Uses the Keys, Values, Count, and Item properties.
void PrintKeysAndValues3( ListDictionary^ myCol )
{
   array<String^>^myKeys = gcnew array<String^>(myCol->Count);
   myCol->Keys->CopyTo( myKeys, 0 );
   Console::WriteLine( "   INDEX KEY                       VALUE" );
   for ( int i = 0; i < myCol->Count; i++ )
      Console::WriteLine( "   {0,-5} {1,-25} {2}", i, myKeys[ i ], myCol[ myKeys[ i ] ] );
   Console::WriteLine();
}

/*
This code produces the following output.

Displays the elements using for each:
   KEY                       VALUE
   Braeburn Apples           1.49
   Fuji Apples               1.29
   Gala Apples               1.49
   Golden Delicious Apples   1.29
   Granny Smith Apples       0.89
   Red Delicious Apples      0.99

Displays the elements using the IDictionaryEnumerator:
   KEY                       VALUE
   Braeburn Apples           1.49
   Fuji Apples               1.29
   Gala Apples               1.49
   Golden Delicious Apples   1.29
   Granny Smith Apples       0.89
   Red Delicious Apples      0.99

Displays the elements using the Keys, Values, Count, and Item properties:
   INDEX KEY                       VALUE
   0     Braeburn Apples           1.49
   1     Fuji Apples               1.29
   2     Gala Apples               1.49
   3     Golden Delicious Apples   1.29
   4     Granny Smith Apples       0.89
   5     Red Delicious Apples      0.99

*/

Universal Windows Platform
Available since 10
.NET Framework
Available since 1.1
Return to top
Show:
© 2017 Microsoft