C# (.NET) Class Library Quick Reference

This quick reference lists useful classes and other types that we will often use in Programming 2. See the official API documentation for a complete reference.

== Index of namespaces ==

System

Action | Array | Boolean | Char | Comparison | Console | ConsoleColor | DateTime | Double | EventHandler | Exception | Func | IComparable | IDisposable | Int32 | Int64 | Math | Object | Predicate | Random | String (formatting) | TimeSpan

System.Collections.Generic

ICollection | IDictionary | IEnumerable | IEnumerator | IList | ISet | KeyValuePair | List | PriorityQueue | Queue | Stack

System.IO

Path | StreamReader | StreamWriter

System.Linq

Enumerable

System.Runtime.InteropServices

Marshal

System.Text

StringBuilder

System.Text.Json

System.Text.RegularExpressions

Microsoft.VisualBasic.FileIO

== Implicit namespaces ==

The namespaces System, System.Collections.Generic, System.IO and System.Linq are automatically available in console programs: you don't need to import them via a 'using' statement.

However, these namespaces are not automatically available on ReCodEx, so you must import them a 'using' statement if you want your program to run successfully on ReCodEx.

If you want to disable these implicit namespaces in your project even when building on your own machine, make this change to your .csproj file:

    <ImplicitUsings>disable</ImplicitUsings>

== System namespace ==

Action

delegate void Action<in T>(T obj);

A delegate type for a function that takes a single parameter and does not return a value.

Array

object Clone ();

Create a shallow copy of an array. Typically you will use a type cast to convert the returned value to a specific array type, i.e. the type of the array that was copied.

int GetLength(int dimension);

Return the length of an array in the given dimension. Dimensions are numbered starting from 0.

static int IndexOf<T> (T[] array, T value);

Return the zero-based index at which a value first appears in an array, or -1 if it is absent.

int Length { get; }

Return the total number of elements in an array. This is the product of the lengths of all dimensions.

Note that array elements are numbered starting with 0, so the length is not itself a valid index.

int Rank { get; }

Return the number of dimensions in an array.

static void Reverse<T> (T[] array);

Reverse the order of the elements in an array.

static void Sort<T> (T[] array);
static void Sort<T> (T[] array, Comparison<T> comparison);

Sort an array. The first form orders elements using each element's implementation of IComparable<T>. The second form uses the specified Comparison<T> to order the elements.

bool = Boolean : IComparable<Boolean>

static bool Parse(string s);

Parse a boolean from a string.

char = Char : IComparable<Char>

A char represents a 16-bit Unicode character.

static bool IsDigit(char c);

Return true if the given character is a digit.

static bool IsLetter(char c);

Return true if the given character is an uppercase or lowercase letter.

static bool IsWhiteSpace(char c);

Return true if c is a whitespace character such as a space or newline.

static char ToLower(char c);

Convert a character to lowercase.

string ToString();

Convert a character to a string containing only that single character.

static char ToUpper (char c);

Convert a character to uppercase.

Comparison<T>

delegate int Comparison<in T>(T x, T y);

A delegate type for a method that compares two objects of the same type. The method should return

• a negative value if x is less than y
• 0 if x equals y
• a positive value if x is greater than y

Console

static ConsoleColor BackgroundColor { get; set; }

Set the background color for console output.

static ConsoleColor ForegroundColor { get; set; }

Set the foreground color for console output.

static int Read();

Read a character from standard input. Returns -1 if no more input is available. If the return value is not -1, typically you will use a type cast to convert it to a char:

         int i = Read();
         if (i != -1) {
           char c = (char) i;
           …

When standard input is coming from the terminal (i.e. is not redirected from a file), this method's behavior is platform-dependent:

• On Linux or macOS, this method will return as soon as a key is pressed – it does not wait for the user to press Enter. In this situation it will never return -1.

• On Windows, this method will not return until the user has entered an entire line of input. It may return -1 if the user presses Ctrl+Z.

static ConsoleKeyInfo ReadKey();

static ConsoleKeyInfo ReadKey(bool noEcho);

Read a key from the keyboard. This method returns as soon as the user has pressed any key.

Normally the key the user types will be echoed to the console. To suppress this echo, pass true as the value of the noEcho parameter.

Do not read input using ReadKey() when solving any ReCodEx exercise. This method always reads from the keyboard, but when your program runs on ReCodEx there is no keyboard, so the method will fail. Instead, use Read() or ReadLine() to read from standard input.

static string? ReadLine();

Read a line from standard input. Returns null if no more input is available.

static void ResetColor ();

Reset the foreground and background colors to their default values.

static void Write(char value);

static void Write(double value);

static void Write(int value);

static void Write(string value);

Write a string or other value to standard output.

static void WriteLine(char value);

static void WriteLine(double value);

static void WriteLine(int value);

static void WriteLine(string value);

Write a string or other value to standard output, followed by a newline.

ConsoleColor

An enumeration of possible colors for console output. Some common values include Black, Blue, Green, Red, White, Yellow.

DateTime

A DateTime represents an instance in time.

DateTime (int year, int month, int day);

Construct a DateTime from a year, month, and day.

int Day { get; }

Return the day; this is a number between 1 and 31.

int Hour { get; }

Return the hour; this is a number between 0 and 23.

int Minute { get; }

Return the minute; this is a number between 0 and 59.

int Month { get; }

Return the month; this is a number between 1 and 12.

static DateTime Now { get; }

Return the current date/time.

long Ticks { get; }

Convert this DateTime to a number, specifically the number of 100-nanosecond intervals that have elapsed since midnight, January 1, year 1.

int Year { get; }

Return the year.

static TimeSpan operator - (DateTime d1, DateTime d2);

Return the span of time between two DateTime objects.

double = Double : IComparable<Double>

A double is a 64-bit floating-point value.

const double NaN;

A special value that is not a number.

const double NegativeInfinity;

A special value that is less than any other double.

static double Parse(string s);

Parse a double from a string.

Warning: Depending on your computer's locale settings, this method might expect a string such as "3.5", or it might instead expect a string such as "3,5". To parse a string that includes a decimal point "." in any locale, call

using System.Globalization;
… 
double d = double.Parse("3.5", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);

const double PositiveInfinity;

A special value that is greater than any other double.

string ToString();

Convert a double to a string.

Warning: Depending on your computer's locale setting, this method might produce a string such as "3.5", or it might produce "3,5". To produce a string that includes a decimal point "." in any locale, call

using System.Globalization;
… 
string s = d.ToString(CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);

If you want to limit the number of digits after the decimal point, use a format specifier:

string s = d.ToString("F2", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);

static bool TryParse (string s, out double result);

Attempt to parse a double from a string. Returns true if successful.

EventHandler

delegate void EventHandler (object? sender, EventArgs e);

A delegate type used for various kinds of event handlers, e.g. in GTK.

Exception

Exception ();

Construct an Exception.

Exception (string message);

Construct an Exception with an error message.

Func

delegate U Func<T, U>(T arg);

A delegate type for a function from a type T to a type U.

IComparable<in T>

Any object implementing the IComparable<T> interface can be compared with objects of type T.

int CompareTo (T other);

Returns

• a negative value if this object is less than other

• 0 if this object equals other

• a positive value if this object is greater than other

IDisposable

An object implementing IDisposable has resources that the caller should free when they are finished using the object.

void Dispose ();

Release resources associated with this object.

int = Int32 : IComparable<Int32>

An int is a signed 32-bit integer.

const int MaxValue = 2_147_483_647;

The largest value that can be stored in an int.

const int MinValue = -2_147_483_648;

The smallest value that can be stored in an int.

static int Parse(string s);

Parse an integer from a string. Throws a FormatException if the string does not contain a valid integer.

string ToString();

Convert an integer to a string.

static bool TryParse (string s, out int result);

Attempt to parse an integer from a string. Returns true if successful.

long = Int64 : IComparable<Int64>

A long is a signed 64-bit integer.

const int MaxValue = 9_223_372_036_854_775_807;

The largest value that can be stored in an long.

const int MinValue = -9_223_372_036_854_775_808;

The smallest value that can be stored in an long.

static long Parse(string s);

Parse a long from a string. Throws a FormatException if the string does not contain a valid integer.

string ToString();

Convert a long to a string.

static bool TryParse (string s, out long result);

Attempt to parse a long from a string. Returns true if successful.

Math

static int Abs(int value);

static double Abs(double value);

Return the absolute number of an integer or floating-point number.

static double Acos(double d);

Return the arccosine in radians of the given number.

static double Asin(double d);

Return the arcsine in radians of the given number.

static double Atan2(double y, double x);

Return the arctangent in radians of the value (y / x). The returned angle θ will be in the range -π ≤ θ ≤ π.

static double Cos(double d);

Return the cosine of the given angle in radians.

static double Exp(double d);

Return the number e raised to the given power.

static double Log(double d);

Return the natural (base e) logarithm of a number.

static int Max(int val1, int val2);

static double Max(double val1, double val2);

Return the greater of two values.

static int Min(int val1, int val2);

static double Min(double val1, double val2);

Return the lesser of two values.

const double PI = 3.14159265358979;

The constant π.

static double Pow(double x, double y);

Return a number raised to a power.

static double Round(double a);

Round a floating-point number to the nearest integer. (Values of the form i + 0.5 (for any integer i) are always rounded towards an even number.)

static int Sign(int a);

static int Sign(double a);

Return the sign of a, which is +1, 0, or -1 in the cases where a > 0, a = 0 or a < 0, respectively.

static double Sin(double a);

Return the sine of the given angle in radians.

static double Sqrt(double d);

Return the square root of a floating-point number.

static double Truncate(double d);

Return the integer part of d, which is always smaller than (or equal to) d in absolute value.

object = Object

The Object class is the top of the class hierarchy. All types inherit directly or indirectly from Object.

virtual bool Equals (object? obj);

Return true if this object is equal to obj. By default, for reference types this method tests reference equality: it returns true if this object and obj are actually the same object.

virtual int GetHashCode ();

Return a hash code for this object. If you override Equals, you must also override this method and ensure that equal values will always have the same hash code.

protected object MemberwiseClone ();

Return a shallow copy of this object.

virtual string ToString ();

Convert this object to a string.

Predicate

delegate bool Predicate<in T>(T obj);

A delegate type for a predicate (i.e. a boolean condition) on objects of type T.

Random

A pseudo-random number generator.

Random();

Create a new random number generator using a seed value derived from the current time.

Random(int seed);

Create a random number generator with the given seed value.

int Next(int maxValue);

Return a random integer from 0 to (maxValue – 1).

double NextDouble();

Return a random double in the range [0.0, 1.0).

string = String : IComparable<String>

String(char[] value);

Construct a string from an array of characters.

String(char c, int count);

Construct a string that contains the character c repeated count times.

bool Contains(char c);

Return true if this string contains the character c.

int IndexOf(char c);

Return the index of the first occurrence of character c in this string, or -1 if none.

int IndexOfAny(char[] anyOf);

Return the index of the first occurrence of any of the given characters, or -1 if none.

static string Join(string separator, params string[] a);
static string Join(string separator, IEnumerable<String> a);

Concatenate all the strings in a, placing the given separator string between each pair.

int Length { get; }

Return the length of a string.

string Remove(int startIndex, int count);

Return a copy of the string in which count characters starting at position startIndex have been deleted.

string Replace(string oldValue, string newValue);

Return a copy of the string in which all occurrences of oldValue have been replaced with newValue.

string[] Split(params char[] separators);

Split a string into substrings delimited by any of the given characters. If no separators are specified, all whitespace characters are delimiters.

Be warned that Split will return empty strings if there are repeated delimiters, or if delimiters appear at the beginning or end of the string, or if the string is empty. For example,

"a b".Split() => { "a", "b" }

"a  b".Split() => { "a", "", "b" }

" a b ".Split() => { "", "a", "b", "" }

" ".Split() => { "", "" }

"".Split() => { "" }

bool StartsWith(string prefix);

Return true if this string starts with prefix.

string Substring(int startIndex);

Return a substring containing all characters from startIndex through the end of the string.

string Substring(int startIndex, int length);

Return a substring of length characters starting at position startIndex.

char[] ToCharArray();

Convert a string to an array of characters.

string ToLower();

Convert a string to lowercase.

string ToUpper();

Convert a string to uppercase.

string Trim();

Remove all leading and trailing whitespace from a string.

string formatting

A formatted string such as $"the sum is {x + y}" can contain interpolated values surrounded in braces. Each interpolated value may be followed by a colon and a format code. Common format codes include

• d – an integer in decimal (base 10). This format code may be followed by an integer, which indicates the total number of digits to print. If it is specified, the result will be padded with 0 digits on the left as necessary.

• f – a floating-point number in fixed-point (i.e. not exponential) notation. This format code may be followed by an integer, which indicates how many digits should appear after the decimal point.

• n – a number with separator characters, producing a string such as "223,566,221.225". This format code may be followed by an integer, which indicates how many digits should appear after the decimal point.

• x – an integer in hexadecimal (base 16)

TimeSpan

A TimeSpan represents a time interval.

TimeSpan (int days, int hours, int minutes, int seconds);

Construct a TimeSpan representing the given number of days, hours, minutes, and seconds.

double TotalMilliseconds { get; }

Return the total number of milliseconds in this TimeSpan.

== System.Collections.Generic namespace ==

overview

ICollection<T> : IEnumerable<T>

ICollection<T> contains methods implemented by many collection classes.

void Add (T item);

Add an item to a collection.

void Clear ();

Remove all items from a collection.

bool Contains (T item);

Return true if the collection contains the given item.

int Count { get; }

Return the number of items in a collection.

bool Remove (T item);

Remove the first occurrence of the given element, if any. Returns false if the item was not present in the collection.

IDictionary<K, V> : ICollection<KeyValuePair<K, V>>

An IDictionary<K, V> is a dictionary (also known as a map or associative array).

V this[K key] { get; set; }

Get or set the item with the given key. When retrieving, throws a KeyNotFoundException if no item with the key is present.

bool ContainsKey (K key);

Return true if an item with the given key is present.

ICollection<K> Keys { get; }

Get a collection of all keys in the dictionary.

bool Remove (K key);

Remove the item with the specified key, if any. Returns true if an item was removed, false if the key was not found.

bool TryGetValue (TKey key, out TValue value);

If the given key is in the dictionary, place its value in value and return true; otherwise return false.

ICollection<V> Values { get; }

Get a collection of all values in the dictionary.

IEnumerable<out T>

The foreach statement can iterate over any object that implements IEnumerable<T>.

An iterator (a method that returns values using 'yield return') may have return type IEnumerable<T>.

The System.Linq namespace includes many extension methods for this interface.

IEnumerator<out T> GetEnumerator ();

Return an enumerator over the object's values.

IEnumerator<out T> : IDisposable

An IEnumerator<T> produces a series of values.

An iterator (a method that returns values using 'yield return') may have return type IEnumerator<T>.

public T Current { get; }

Return the current value in the enumeration.

public bool MoveNext();

Move to the next value in the enumeration.

IList<T> : ICollection<T>

An IList<T> is a dynamic array. See the concrete implementation List<T> below.

T this[int index] { get; set; }

Get or set the element at the given index. Will throw an exception if the index is out of bounds.

int IndexOf (T item);

Return the index of the given item, or -1 if not present.

void Insert (int index, T item);

Insert an item at a given index.

void RemoveAt (int index);

Remove the item at a given index.

ISet<T> : ICollection<T>

An ISet<T> is a dynamic set.

void IntersectWith (IEnumerable<T> other);

Modify this set to contain only elements that are also in other.

bool SetEquals (IEnumerable<T> other);

Return true if this set contains the same elements as the given collection.

void UnionWith (IEnumerable<T> other);

Modify this set to contain elements that are in the current set, in other, or in both.

KeyValuePair<K, V>

An IDictionary is a collection of KeyValuePair objects.

KeyValuePair (K key, V value);

Construct a KeyValuePair.

K Key { get; }

Get the key in a key/value pair.

V Value { get; }

Get the value in a key/value pair.

List<T> : IList<T>

A List<T> is a dynamic array. It has the methods below, and also inherits methods from IList<T> (see above).

List ();

Construct an empty List.

List (IEnumerable<T> e);

Construct a List containing elements copied from the given IEnumerable.

void AddRange(IEnumerable<T> collection);

Add all elements in the given collection to the end of this list.

bool Exists (Predicate<T> p);

Return true if p is true for any element in the list.

List<T> FindAll (Predicate<T> p);

Return a list of all elements for which p is true.

void Reverse ();

Reverse the order of the elements in a list.

void Sort ();
void Sort (Comparison<T> comparison);

Sort a list's elements. The first form above uses the default comparer, which will use the elements' IComparable<T> interface if available. The second form uses a Comparison<T> (a delegate type).

T[] ToArray ();

Convert a list to an array.

PriorityQueue<TElem, TPrio>

A priority queue of items that have a value (of type TElem) and a priority (of type TPrio). The Dequeue operation removes the item with the smallest priority. This class is implemented using a min-heap.

PriorityQueue ();

Create an empty priority queue.

int Count { get; }

Return the number of elements in the queue.

TElement Dequeue ();

Remove and return the element with lowest priority. This method does not return the element's priority. If the queue is empty, the method throws an InvalidOperationException.

void Enqueue (TElem element, TPrio priority);

Enqueue an element with its priority.

bool TryDequeue (out TElem element, out TPrio priority);

If the queue is non-empty, remove the element with lowest priority and return true. The out parameters will receive the element and its priority. If the queue is empty, return false.

Queue<T> : IEnumerable<T>

A Queue<T> is an array-based queue.

int Count { get; }

Return the number of items in a queue.

T Dequeue ();

Remove an element from the beginning of a queue. If the queue is empty, an InvalidOperationException will be thrown.

void Enqueue (T item);

Add an element to the end of a queue.

bool TryDequeue (out T result);

If the queue is non-empty, dequeue a value into result and return true; otherwise return false.

SortedSet<T> : ISet<T>

A SortedSet<T> is a set implemented using a balanced binary tree.

T Max { get; }

Return the maximum value in the set. If the set is empty, return the default value of type T.

T Min { get; }

Return the minumum value in the set. If the set is empty, return the default value of type T.

Stack<T> : IEnumerable<T>

A Stack<T> is an array-based stack.

int Count { get; }

Return the number of items on a stack.

T Pop ();

Pop an item from the top of a stack. If the stack is empty, an InvalidOperationException will be thrown.

void Push (T item);

Push an item onto a stack.

bool TryPop (out T result);

If the stack is non-empty, pop a value into result and return true; otherwise return false.

== System.IO namespace ==

Path

static string Combine (string path1, string path2);

Combine two strings into a path, inserting a directory separator character. For example, Path.Combine("/home/joe", "image.png") will return "/home/joe/image.png" on a Linux or macOS system, where the separator character is '/'.

static string GetExtension (string path);

Return a path's extension. For example, Path.GetExtension("/home/joe/image.png") returns ".png".

static string GetFileName (string path);

Return a path's filename. For example, Path.GetFileName("/home/joe/image.png") returns "image.png".

static string GetFileNameWithoutExtension (string path);

Return a path's filename without the extension. For example, Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension("/home/joe/image.png") returns "image".

StreamReader : IDisposable

StreamReader(string path);

Open a file for reading. The file is assumed to use the UTF-8 encoding.

void Close();

Close a reader and release any associated resources.

bool EndOfStream { get; }

Return true if we have reached the end of the input data.

int Read();

Read a single character and return its character code. Returns -1 at end of data.

If the return value is not -1, typically you will use a type cast to convert it to a char:

         StreamReader reader = new StreamReader("input_file");

         int i = reader.Read();
         if (i != -1) {
           char c = (char) i;
           …

string? ReadLine();

Read a line. Returns null at end of data.

string ReadToEnd ();

Read the rest of the input and return it as a single string.

StreamWriter : IDisposable

StreamWriter(string path);

Open a file for writing. The file will be written in UTF-8 encoding.

Important: You must call the Close() method to close the file when you are done writing. If you don't do this, some or all output may not actually be written to the file!

void Close();

Close a writer and release any associated resources.

void WriteLine(string value);

Write a string, followed by a newline.

== System.Linq namespace ==

Enumerable

static IEnumerable<T> Empty<T> ();

Return an empty enumeration.

static IEnumerable<int> Range (int start, int count);

Generate an enumeration of count integers beginning at start.

IEnumerable<T> extension methods

bool All<T>(Func<T,bool> cond);

Return true if the given condition is true for all elements in this sequence.

bool Any<T>(Func<T,bool> cond);

Return true if the given condition is true for any elements in this sequence.

IEnumerable<T> Concat(IEnumerable<T> second)

Concatenate two sequences.

int Count<T>();

Return the number of elements in a sequence.

int Count<T>(Func<T, bool> cond);

Return the number of elements in a sequence where a given condition is true.

T First<T>();

Return the first element of a sequence.

T Max<T>();

Return the maximum value in a sequence. If the sequence is empty, returns a default value of type T.

T? MaxBy<T,U> (Func<T,U> f);

Given an sequence of values of type T, return the value x for which f(x) is the greatest, or null if the sequence is empty.

T Min<T>();

Return the minumum value in a sequence. If the sequence is empty, returns a default value of type T.

T? MinBy<T,U> (Func<T,U> f);

Given an sequence of values of type T, return the value x for which f(x) is the smallest, or null if the sequence is empty.

IEnumerable<T> OrderBy<T,K>(Func<T,K> f);

Given an sequence of values of type T and a key selector function f, sort the values by their keys.

IEnumerable<T> OrderByDescending<T,K>(Func<T,K> f);

Given an sequence of values of type T and a key selector function f, sort the values by their keys in descending order.

IEnumerable<T> Reverse<T>();

Reverse a sequence.

IEnumerable<U> Select<T, U>(Func<T, U> f);

Map the given function over this sequence. (Traditionally this higher-order function is called map.)

bool SequenceEqual<T>(IEnumerable<T> e);

Return true if this sequence is identical to the sequence e, i.e. it contains the same elements in the same order.

int Sum ();

Compute the sum of a sequence of integers.

IEnumerable<T> Take<T>(int count);

Take elements from this sequence until either the sequence ends or count elements have been reached.

IEnumerable<T> TakeWhile<T>(Predicate<T> cond);

Take elements from this sequence only for as long as the given condition is true.

T[] ToArray<T>();

Convert an enumeration to an array.

List<T> ToList<T>();

Convert an enumeration to a list.

IEnumerable<T> Where<T>(Predicate<T> cond);

Filter this sequence, keeping only elements where cond is true. (Traditionally this higher-order function is called 'filter'.)

== System.Runtime.InteropServices namespace ==

Marshal

static void Copy (IntPtr source, byte[] destination, int startIndex, int length);

Copy data from unmanaged memory (i.e. memory not managed by the C#/CLR runtime) to a C# array.

static void Copy (byte[] source, int startIndex, IntPtr destination, int length);

Copy data from a C# array to unmanaged memory.

== System.Text namespace ==

StringBuilder

A StringBuilder is used for building a string incrementally. You can append a series of strings to a StringBuilder, then convert the result to a string by calling its ToString method. For large strings, this will be much faster than using string concatenation to build a string.

StringBuilder ();

Create an empty StringBuilder.

StringBuilder Append(char c);

Append a char to this StringBuilder. (The same StringBuilder is returned from the method.)

StringBuilder Append(string s);

Append a string to this StringBuilder. (The same StringBuilder is returned from the method.)

StringBuilder Clear();

Reset this StringBuilder to the empty string. (The same StringBuilder is returned from the method.)

== System.Text.Json namespace ==

JsonDocument

A document in JSON format.

static JsonDocument Parse (string json);

Parse JSON from a string into a JsonDocument.

JsonElement RootElement { get; }

The root element of the document.

virtual string ToString();

Convert a JsonDocument to a string in JSON format.

JsonElement

A JSON element.

JsonElement this[int index] { get; }

Retrieve an indexed value from an element whose kind is Array.

int GetInt32 ();

Retrieve the integer value of an element whose kind is Number.

JsonElement GetProperty (string propertyName);

Retrieve an indexed value from an element whose kind is Object.

string? GetString ();

Retrieve the string value of an element whose kind is String.

JsonValueKind ValueKind { get; }

The kind of this element.

JsonSerializer

static T? Deserialize<T> (string json, JsonSerializerOptions? options = default);

Deserialize a JSON string to an object.

static string Serialize<T> (T value, JsonSerializerOptions? options = default);

Serialize an object to a string in JSON format.

JsonSerializerOptions

Options that can be used with JsonSerializer.

bool IncludeFields { get; set; }

Indicates whether fields are serialized. The default is false (i.e. only public properties are serialized).

JsonValueKind

An enumeration representing a kind of JSON element. Values include Number, False, True, String, Array, Object, Null.

== System.Text.RegularExpressions namespace ==

This namespace contains classes that can match regular expressions in strings. See the regular expression syntax summary.

Group

A group that was matched.

int Index { get; }

The position in the input string where the match occurred.

string Value { get; }

The string that was matched.

GroupCollection : IEnumerable<Group>

A collection of groups in a single match.

Group this[int groupnum] { get; }

An indexer that returns a single group by its integer index. Groups appearing in the regular expression are indexed from 1. (this[0] returns a Group representing the entire match.)

Match

A Match represents a single match of a regular expression.

GroupCollection Groups { get; }

Return all groups in the match.

int Index { get; }

The position in the input string where the match occurred.

Match NextMatch();

Return a new Match object with results for the next match in the input string.

bool Success { get; }

True if this was a successful match.

string Value { get; }

The string that was matched.

MatchCollection : IEnumerable<Match>

A collection of matches of a regular expression pattern.

Match this[int i] { get; }

An indexer that returns a single match by its integer index.

Regex

static bool IsMatch (string input, string pattern);

Return true if the input string contains a match for the given pattern.

static Match Match (string input, string pattern);

Return a Match object representing the first match of the given pattern in the input string. If no matches are found, return a Match object whose Success property is false.

static MatchCollection Matches (string input, string pattern);

Return a MatchCollection object representing all matches of the given pattern in the input string.

static string Replace (string input, string pattern, string replacement);

Return a copy of the input string in which all matches of the given pattern have been replaced by the given replacement string.

== Microsoft.VisualBasic.FileIO namespace ==

TextFieldParser

A parser that can read CSV (comma-separated value) files.

TextFieldParser (string path);

Create a TextFieldParser that will read the given file.

string[]? ReadFields ();

Read a line from the file and parse it into fields, which are returned in a string array. Returns null at end of file.

void SetDelimiters (params string[]? delimiters);

Specify the delimiters that occur between fields.