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ReadOnlyCollectionBase Class

Definition

Provides the abstract base class for a strongly typed non-generic read-only collection.

C#
public abstract class ReadOnlyCollectionBase : System.Collections.ICollection
C#
[System.Serializable]
public abstract class ReadOnlyCollectionBase : System.Collections.ICollection
C#
[System.Serializable]
[System.Runtime.InteropServices.ComVisible(true)]
public abstract class ReadOnlyCollectionBase : System.Collections.ICollection
Inheritance
ReadOnlyCollectionBase
Derived
Attributes
Implements

Examples

The following code example implements the ReadOnlyCollectionBase class.

C#
using System;
using System.Collections;

public class ROCollection : ReadOnlyCollectionBase  {

   public ROCollection( IList sourceList )  {
      InnerList.AddRange( sourceList );
   }

   public Object this[ int index ]  {
      get  {
         return( InnerList[index] );
      }
   }

   public int IndexOf( Object value )  {
      return( InnerList.IndexOf( value ) );
   }

   public bool Contains( Object value )  {
      return( InnerList.Contains( value ) );
   }
}

public class SamplesCollectionBase  {

   public static void Main()  {

      // Create an ArrayList.
      ArrayList myAL = new ArrayList();
      myAL.Add( "red" );
      myAL.Add( "blue" );
      myAL.Add( "yellow" );
      myAL.Add( "green" );
      myAL.Add( "orange" );
      myAL.Add( "purple" );

      // Create a new ROCollection that contains the elements in myAL.
      ROCollection myCol = new ROCollection( myAL );

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

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

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

      // Search the collection with Contains and IndexOf.
      Console.WriteLine( "Contains yellow: {0}", myCol.Contains( "yellow" ) );
      Console.WriteLine( "orange is at index {0}.", myCol.IndexOf( "orange" ) );
      Console.WriteLine();
   }

   // Uses the Count property and the Item property.
   public static void PrintIndexAndValues( ROCollection 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( ROCollection myCol )  {
      foreach ( Object obj in myCol )
         Console.WriteLine( "   {0}", obj );
      Console.WriteLine();
   }

   // Uses the enumerator.
   // NOTE: The foreach statement is the preferred way of enumerating the contents of a collection.
   public static void PrintValues2( ROCollection 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):
   red
   blue
   yellow
   green
   orange
   purple

Contents of the collection (using enumerator):
   red
   blue
   yellow
   green
   orange
   purple

Contents of the collection (using Count and Item):
   [0]:   red
   [1]:   blue
   [2]:   yellow
   [3]:   green
   [4]:   orange
   [5]:   purple

Contains yellow: True
orange is at index 4.

*/

Remarks

A ReadOnlyCollectionBase instance is always read-only. See CollectionBase for a modifiable version of this class.

Important

We don't recommend that you use the ReadOnlyCollectionBase class for new development. Instead, we recommend that you use the generic ReadOnlyCollection<T> class. For more information, see Non-generic collections shouldn't be used on GitHub.

Notes to Implementers

This base class is provided to make it easier for implementers to create a strongly typed read-only custom collection. Implementers are encouraged to extend this base class instead of creating their own. Members of this base class are protected and are intended to be used through a derived class only.

This class makes the underlying collection available through the InnerList property, which is intended for use only by classes that are derived directly from ReadOnlyCollectionBase. The derived class must ensure that its own users cannot modify the underlying collection.

Constructors

ReadOnlyCollectionBase()

Initializes a new instance of the ReadOnlyCollectionBase class.

Properties

Count

Gets the number of elements contained in the ReadOnlyCollectionBase instance.

InnerList

Gets the list of elements contained in the ReadOnlyCollectionBase instance.

Methods

Equals(Object)

Determines whether the specified object is equal to the current object.

(Inherited from Object)
GetEnumerator()

Returns an enumerator that iterates through the ReadOnlyCollectionBase instance.

GetHashCode()

Serves as the default hash function.

(Inherited from Object)
GetType()

Gets the Type of the current instance.

(Inherited from Object)
MemberwiseClone()

Creates a shallow copy of the current Object.

(Inherited from Object)
ToString()

Returns a string that represents the current object.

(Inherited from Object)

Explicit Interface Implementations

ICollection.CopyTo(Array, Int32)

Copies the entire ReadOnlyCollectionBase to a compatible one-dimensional Array, starting at the specified index of the target array.

ICollection.IsSynchronized

Gets a value indicating whether access to a ReadOnlyCollectionBase object is synchronized (thread safe).

ICollection.SyncRoot

Gets an object that can be used to synchronize access to a ReadOnlyCollectionBase object.

Extension Methods

Cast<TResult>(IEnumerable)

Casts the elements of an IEnumerable to the specified type.

OfType<TResult>(IEnumerable)

Filters the elements of an IEnumerable based on a specified type.

AsParallel(IEnumerable)

Enables parallelization of a query.

AsQueryable(IEnumerable)

Converts an IEnumerable to an IQueryable.

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

Thread Safety

Public static (Shared in Visual Basic) members of this type are thread safe. Any instance members are not guaranteed to be thread safe.

This implementation does not provide a synchronized (thread safe) wrapper for a ReadOnlyCollectionBase, but derived classes can create their own synchronized versions of the ReadOnlyCollectionBase using the SyncRoot property.

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.

See also