SortedList<TKey,TValue>.IDictionary.Keys Property

property System::Collections::ICollection ^ System::Collections::IDictionary::Keys { System::Collections::ICollection ^ get(); };

System.Collections.ICollection System.Collections.IDictionary.Keys { get; }

member this.System.Collections.IDictionary.Keys : System.Collections.ICollection

 ReadOnly Property Keys As ICollection Implements IDictionary.Keys

An ICollection containing the keys of the IDictionary.

The following code example shows how to use the Keys property of the System.Collections.IDictionary interface with a SortedDictionary<TKey,TValue>, to list the keys in the dictionary. The example also shows how to enumerate the key/value pairs in the sorted list; note that the enumerator for the System.Collections.IDictionary interface returns DictionaryEntry objects rather than KeyValuePair<TKey,TValue> objects.

The code example is part of a larger example, including output, provided for the IDictionary.Add method.

using System;
using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Generic;

public class Example
{
    public static void Main()
    {
        // Create a new sorted list of strings, with string keys,
        // and access it using the IDictionary interface.
        //
        IDictionary openWith = new SortedList<string, string>();

        // Add some elements to the sorted list. There are no
        // duplicate keys, but some of the values are duplicates.
        // IDictionary.Add throws an exception if incorrect types
        // are supplied for key or value.
        openWith.Add("txt", "notepad.exe");
        openWith.Add("bmp", "paint.exe");
        openWith.Add("dib", "paint.exe");
        openWith.Add("rtf", "wordpad.exe");

Imports System.Collections
Imports System.Collections.Generic

Public Class Example
    
    Public Shared Sub Main() 

        ' Create a new sorted list of strings, with string keys,
        ' and access it using the IDictionary interface.
        '
        Dim openWith As IDictionary = _
            New sortedList(Of String, String)
        
        ' Add some elements to the sorted list. There are no 
        ' duplicate keys, but some of the values are duplicates.
        ' IDictionary.Add throws an exception if incorrect types
        ' are supplied for key or value.
        openWith.Add("txt", "notepad.exe")
        openWith.Add("bmp", "paint.exe")
        openWith.Add("dib", "paint.exe")
        openWith.Add("rtf", "wordpad.exe")

// To get the keys alone, use the Keys property.
icoll = openWith.Keys;

// The elements of the collection are strongly typed
// with the type that was specified for keys,
// even though the ICollection interface is not strongly
// typed.
Console.WriteLine();
foreach( string s in icoll )
{
    Console.WriteLine("Key = {0}", s);
}

' To get the keys alone, use the Keys property.
icoll = openWith.Keys

' The elements of the collection are strongly typed
' with the type that was specified for sorted list keys,
' even though the ICollection interface is not strongly
' typed.
Console.WriteLine()
For Each s As String In  icoll
    Console.WriteLine("Key = {0}", s)
Next s

// When you use foreach to enumerate sorted list elements
// with the IDictionary interface, the elements are retrieved
// as DictionaryEntry objects instead of KeyValuePair objects.
Console.WriteLine();
foreach( DictionaryEntry de in openWith )
{
    Console.WriteLine("Key = {0}, Value = {1}",
        de.Key, de.Value);
}

' When you use foreach to enumerate sorted list elements
' with the IDictionary interface, the elements are retrieved
' as DictionaryEntry objects instead of KeyValuePair objects.
Console.WriteLine()
For Each de As DictionaryEntry In openWith
    Console.WriteLine("Key = {0}, Value = {1}", _
        de.Key, de.Value)
Next

    }
}

    End Sub

End Class

The order of the keys in the ICollection is the same as the order in the SortedList<TKey,TValue>.

Retrieving the value of this property is an O(1) operation.

• ICollection
• Keys
• Values