StringEnumerator Class

Definition

Supports a simple iteration over a StringCollection.

public ref class StringEnumerator
public class StringEnumerator
type StringEnumerator = class
Public Class StringEnumerator
Inheritance
StringEnumerator

Examples

The following code example demonstrates several of the properties and methods of StringEnumerator.

#using <System.dll>

using namespace System;
using namespace System::Collections::Specialized;
int main()
{
   
   // Creates and initializes a StringCollection.
   StringCollection^ myCol = gcnew StringCollection;
   array<String^>^myArr = {"red","orange","yellow","green","blue","indigo","violet"};
   myCol->AddRange( myArr );
   
   // Enumerates the elements in the StringCollection.
   StringEnumerator^ myEnumerator = myCol->GetEnumerator();
   while ( myEnumerator->MoveNext() )
      Console::WriteLine( "{0}", myEnumerator->Current );

   Console::WriteLine();
   
   // Resets the enumerator and displays the first element again.
   myEnumerator->Reset();
   if ( myEnumerator->MoveNext() )
      Console::WriteLine( "The first element is {0}.", myEnumerator->Current );
}

/*
This code produces the following output.

red
orange
yellow
green
blue
indigo
violet

The first element is red.

*/
using System;
using System.Collections.Specialized;

public class SamplesStringEnumerator  {

   public static void Main()  {

      // Creates and initializes a StringCollection.
      StringCollection myCol = new StringCollection();
      String[] myArr = new String[] { "red", "orange", "yellow", "green", "blue", "indigo", "violet" };
      myCol.AddRange( myArr );

      // Enumerates the elements in the StringCollection.
      StringEnumerator myEnumerator = myCol.GetEnumerator();
      while ( myEnumerator.MoveNext() )
         Console.WriteLine( "{0}", myEnumerator.Current );
      Console.WriteLine();

      // Resets the enumerator and displays the first element again.
      myEnumerator.Reset();
      if ( myEnumerator.MoveNext() )
         Console.WriteLine( "The first element is {0}.", myEnumerator.Current );
   }
}

/*
This code produces the following output.

red
orange
yellow
green
blue
indigo
violet

The first element is red.

*/
Imports System.Collections.Specialized

Public Class SamplesStringEnumerator

   Public Shared Sub Main()

      ' Creates and initializes a StringCollection.
      Dim myCol As New StringCollection()
      Dim myArr() As [String] = {"red", "orange", "yellow", "green", "blue", "indigo", "violet"}
      myCol.AddRange(myArr)

      ' Enumerates the elements in the StringCollection.
      Dim myEnumerator As StringEnumerator = myCol.GetEnumerator()
      While myEnumerator.MoveNext()
         Console.WriteLine("{0}", myEnumerator.Current)
      End While
      Console.WriteLine()

      ' Resets the enumerator and displays the first element again.
      myEnumerator.Reset()
      If myEnumerator.MoveNext() Then
         Console.WriteLine("The first element is {0}.", myEnumerator.Current)
      End If 

   End Sub

End Class


'This code produces the following output.
'
'red
'orange
'yellow
'green
'blue
'indigo
'violet
'
'The first element is red.

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.

Properties

Current

Gets the current element in the collection.

Methods

Equals(Object)

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

(Inherited from Object)
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)
MoveNext()

Advances the enumerator to the next element of the collection.

Reset()

Sets the enumerator to its initial position, which is before the first element in the collection.

ToString()

Returns a string that represents the current object.

(Inherited from Object)

Applies to

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.

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