CollectionBase.GetEnumerator Method

Definition

Returns an enumerator that iterates through the CollectionBase instance.

public System.Collections.IEnumerator GetEnumerator ();

Returns

An IEnumerator for the CollectionBase instance.

Implements

Examples

The following code example implements the CollectionBase class and uses that implementation to create a collection of Int16 objects.

using System;
using System.Collections;

public class Int16Collection : CollectionBase  {

   public Int16 this[ int index ]  {
      get  {
         return( (Int16) List[index] );
      }
      set  {
         List[index] = value;
      }
   }

   public int Add( Int16 value )  {
      return( List.Add( value ) );
   }

   public int IndexOf( Int16 value )  {
      return( List.IndexOf( value ) );
   }

   public void Insert( int index, Int16 value )  {
      List.Insert( index, value );
   }

   public void Remove( Int16 value )  {
      List.Remove( value );
   }

   public bool Contains( Int16 value )  {
      // If value is not of type Int16, this will return false.
      return( List.Contains( value ) );
   }

   protected override void OnInsert( int index, Object value )  {
      // Insert additional code to be run only when inserting values.
   }

   protected override void OnRemove( int index, Object value )  {
      // Insert additional code to be run only when removing values.
   }

   protected override void OnSet( int index, Object oldValue, Object newValue )  {
      // Insert additional code to be run only when setting values.
   }

   protected override void OnValidate( Object value )  {
      if ( value.GetType() != typeof(System.Int16) )
         throw new ArgumentException( "value must be of type Int16.", "value" );
   }
}

public class SamplesCollectionBase  {

   public static void Main()  {

      // Create and initialize a new CollectionBase.
      Int16Collection myI16 = new Int16Collection();

      // Add elements to the collection.
      myI16.Add( (Int16) 1 );
      myI16.Add( (Int16) 2 );
      myI16.Add( (Int16) 3 );
      myI16.Add( (Int16) 5 );
      myI16.Add( (Int16) 7 );

      // Display the contents of the collection using foreach. This is the preferred method.
      Console.WriteLine( "Contents of the collection (using foreach):" );
      PrintValues1( myI16 );

      // Display the contents of the collection using the enumerator.
      Console.WriteLine( "Contents of the collection (using enumerator):" );
      PrintValues2( myI16 );

      // Display the contents of the collection using the Count property and the Item property.
      Console.WriteLine( "Initial contents of the collection (using Count and Item):" );
      PrintIndexAndValues( myI16 );

      // Search the collection with Contains and IndexOf.
      Console.WriteLine( "Contains 3: {0}", myI16.Contains( 3 ) );
      Console.WriteLine( "2 is at index {0}.", myI16.IndexOf( 2 ) );
      Console.WriteLine();

      // Insert an element into the collection at index 3.
      myI16.Insert( 3, (Int16) 13 );
      Console.WriteLine( "Contents of the collection after inserting at index 3:" );
      PrintIndexAndValues( myI16 );

      // Get and set an element using the index.
      myI16[4] = 123;
      Console.WriteLine( "Contents of the collection after setting the element at index 4 to 123:" );
      PrintIndexAndValues( myI16 );

      // Remove an element from the collection.
      myI16.Remove( (Int16) 2 );

      // Display the contents of the collection using the Count property and the Item property.
      Console.WriteLine( "Contents of the collection after removing the element 2:" );
      PrintIndexAndValues( myI16 );
   }

   // Uses the Count property and the Item property.
   public static void PrintIndexAndValues( Int16Collection myCol )  {
      for ( int i = 0; i < myCol.Count; i++ )
         Console.WriteLine( "   [{0}]:   {1}", i, myCol[i] );
      Console.WriteLine();
   }

   // Uses the foreach statement which hides the complexity of the enumerator.
   // NOTE: The foreach statement is the preferred way of enumerating the contents of a collection.
   public static void PrintValues1( Int16Collection myCol )  {
      foreach ( Int16 i16 in myCol )
         Console.WriteLine( "   {0}", i16 );
      Console.WriteLine();
   }

   // Uses the enumerator.
   // NOTE: The foreach statement is the preferred way of enumerating the contents of a collection.
   public static void PrintValues2( Int16Collection myCol )  {
      System.Collections.IEnumerator myEnumerator = myCol.GetEnumerator();
      while ( myEnumerator.MoveNext() )
         Console.WriteLine( "   {0}", myEnumerator.Current );
      Console.WriteLine();
   }
}


/*
This code produces the following output.

Contents of the collection (using foreach):
   1
   2
   3
   5
   7

Contents of the collection (using enumerator):
   1
   2
   3
   5
   7

Initial contents of the collection (using Count and Item):
   [0]:   1
   [1]:   2
   [2]:   3
   [3]:   5
   [4]:   7

Contains 3: True
2 is at index 1.

Contents of the collection after inserting at index 3:
   [0]:   1
   [1]:   2
   [2]:   3
   [3]:   13
   [4]:   5
   [5]:   7

Contents of the collection after setting the element at index 4 to 123:
   [0]:   1
   [1]:   2
   [2]:   3
   [3]:   13
   [4]:   123
   [5]:   7

Contents of the collection after removing the element 2:
   [0]:   1
   [1]:   3
   [2]:   13
   [3]:   123
   [4]:   7

*/

Remarks

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.

While the GetEnumerator method is not visible to COM clients by default, inheriting the CollectionBase class can expose it and can cause undesirable behavior in COM clients.

This method is an O(1) operation.

Applies to

Product Versions
.NET Core 1.0, Core 1.1, Core 2.0, Core 2.1, Core 2.2, Core 3.0, Core 3.1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
.NET Framework 1.1, 2.0, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5, 4.5.1, 4.5.2, 4.6, 4.6.1, 4.6.2, 4.7, 4.7.1, 4.7.2, 4.8, 4.8.1
.NET Standard 2.0, 2.1
UWP 10.0

See also