SortKey Class

Definition

public ref class SortKey sealed

public ref class SortKey

public sealed class SortKey

public class SortKey

[System.Serializable]
public class SortKey

[System.Serializable]
[System.Runtime.InteropServices.ComVisible(true)]
public class SortKey

type SortKey = class

[<System.Serializable>]
type SortKey = class

[<System.Serializable>]
[<System.Runtime.InteropServices.ComVisible(true)>]
type SortKey = class

Public NotInheritable Class SortKey

Public Class SortKey

Inheritance

Object

SortKey

Attributes

SerializableAttribute ComVisibleAttribute

Examples

The following example compares the string "llama" using the "en-US" and "es-ES" cultures, and the "en-US" and "es-ES" traditional cultures.

using System;
using System.Globalization;

public class SamplesSortKey  {

   public static void Main()  {

      // Creates a SortKey using the en-US culture.
      CompareInfo myComp_enUS = new CultureInfo("en-US",false).CompareInfo;
      SortKey mySK1 = myComp_enUS.GetSortKey( "llama" );

      // Creates a SortKey using the es-ES culture with international sort.
      CompareInfo myComp_esES = new CultureInfo("es-ES",false).CompareInfo;
      SortKey mySK2 = myComp_esES.GetSortKey( "llama" );

      // Creates a SortKey using the es-ES culture with traditional sort.
      CompareInfo myComp_es   = new CultureInfo(0x040A,false).CompareInfo;
      SortKey mySK3 = myComp_es.GetSortKey( "llama" );

      // Compares the en-US SortKey with each of the es-ES SortKey objects.
      Console.WriteLine( "Comparing \"llama\" in en-US and in es-ES with international sort : {0}", SortKey.Compare( mySK1, mySK2 ) );
      Console.WriteLine( "Comparing \"llama\" in en-US and in es-ES with traditional sort   : {0}", SortKey.Compare( mySK1, mySK3 ) );
   }
}

/*
This code produces the following output.

Comparing "llama" in en-US and in es-ES with international sort : 0
Comparing "llama" in en-US and in es-ES with traditional sort   : -1
*/

Imports System.Globalization

Public Class SamplesSortKey

   Public Shared Sub Main()

      ' Creates a SortKey using the en-US culture.
      Dim myComp_enUS As CompareInfo = New CultureInfo("en-US", False).CompareInfo
      Dim mySK1 As SortKey = myComp_enUS.GetSortKey("llama")

      ' Creates a SortKey using the es-ES culture with international sort.
      Dim myComp_esES As CompareInfo = New CultureInfo("es-ES", False).CompareInfo
      Dim mySK2 As SortKey = myComp_esES.GetSortKey("llama")

      ' Creates a SortKey using the es-ES culture with traditional sort.
      Dim myComp_es As CompareInfo = New CultureInfo(&H40A, False).CompareInfo
      Dim mySK3 As SortKey = myComp_es.GetSortKey("llama")

      ' Compares the en-US SortKey with each of the es-ES SortKey objects.
      Console.WriteLine("Comparing ""llama"" in en-US and in es-ES with international sort : {0}", SortKey.Compare(mySK1, mySK2))
      Console.WriteLine("Comparing ""llama"" in en-US and in es-ES with traditional sort   : {0}", SortKey.Compare(mySK1, mySK3))

   End Sub

End Class


'This code produces the following output.
'
'Comparing "llama" in en-US and in es-ES with international sort : 0
'Comparing "llama" in en-US and in es-ES with traditional sort   : -1

The following example shows how you can use the SortKey class to improve performance in an application that relies extensively on sorting and searching a large array. The example creates an unordered array of names, which in this case has 13 elements. It then stores the sort key of each name in a parallel array, which it passes to the Sort(Array, Array) method. The result is a sorted array. The example then searches the array for three strings. For each search string, it calls the GetSortKey(String, CompareOptions) method to retrieve the string's sort key, and then calls the Array.FindIndex method to retrieve the index of that sort key in the array of sort keys. Because the name and sort key arrays are parallel, the returned index is also the index of the name in the names array.

using System;
using System.Globalization;

public class Example
{
   public static void Main()
   {
      // Define names.
      String[] names= { "Adam", "Ignatius", "Batholomew", "Gregory",
                        "Clement", "Frances", "Harold", "Dalmatius",
                        "Edgar", "John", "Benedict", "Paul", "George" };
      SortKey[] sortKeys = new SortKey[names.Length];
      CompareInfo ci = CultureInfo.CurrentCulture.CompareInfo;

      for (int ctr = 0; ctr < names.Length; ctr++)
         sortKeys[ctr] = ci.GetSortKey(names[ctr], CompareOptions.IgnoreCase);

      // Sort array based on value of sort keys.
      Array.Sort(names, sortKeys);

      Console.WriteLine("Sorted array: ");
      foreach (var name in names)
         Console.WriteLine(name);

      Console.WriteLine();

      String[] namesToFind = { "Paul", "PAUL", "Wilberforce" };

      Console.WriteLine("Searching an array:");
      foreach (var nameToFind in namesToFind) {
         SortKey searchKey = ci.GetSortKey(nameToFind, CompareOptions.IgnoreCase);
         int index = Array.FindIndex(sortKeys, (x) => x.Equals(searchKey));
         if (index >= 0)
            Console.WriteLine("{0} found at index {1}: {2}", nameToFind,
                              index, names[index]);
         else
            Console.WriteLine("{0} not found", nameToFind);
      }
   }
}
// The example displays the following output:
//       Sorted array:
//       Adam
//       Batholomew
//       Benedict
//       Clement
//       Dalmatius
//       Edgar
//       Frances
//       George
//       Gregory
//       Harold
//       Ignatius
//       John
//       Paul
//
//       Searching an array:
//       Paul found at index 12: Paul
//       PAUL found at index 12: Paul
//       Wilberforce not found

Imports System.Globalization

Module Example
   Public Sub Main()
      ' Define names.
      Dim names() As String = { "Adam", "Ignatius", "Batholomew", 
                                "Gregory", "Clement", "Frances",  
                                "Harold", "Dalmatius", "Edgar",    
                                "John", "Benedict", "Paul", "George" } 
      Dim sortKeys(names.Length - 1) As SortKey
      Dim ci As CompareInfo = CultureInfo.CurrentCulture.CompareInfo

      For ctr As Integer = 0 To names.Length - 1
         sortKeys(ctr) = ci.GetSortKey(names(ctr), CompareOptions.IgnoreCase)         
      Next   
      
      ' Sort array based on value of sort keys.
      Array.Sort(names, sortKeys)
      
      Console.WriteLine("Sorted array: ")
      For Each name In names
         Console.WriteLine(name)
      Next          
      Console.WriteLine()
      
      Dim namesToFind() As String = { "Paul", "PAUL", "Wilberforce" }
      
      Console.WriteLine("Searching an array:")
      For Each nameToFind In namesToFind
         Dim searchKey As SortKey = ci.GetSortKey(nameToFind, CompareOptions.IgnoreCase)
         Dim index As Integer = Array.FindIndex(sortKeys, 
                                                Function(x) x.Equals(searchKey)) 
         If index >= 0 Then
            Console.WriteLine("{0} found at index {1}: {2}", nameToFind,
                              index, names(index))
         Else
            Console.WriteLine("{0} not found", nameToFind)
         End If                     
      Next                     
   End Sub
End Module
' The example displays the following output:
'       Sorted array:
'       Adam
'       Batholomew
'       Benedict
'       Clement
'       Dalmatius
'       Edgar
'       Frances
'       George
'       Gregory
'       Harold
'       Ignatius
'       John
'       Paul
'       
'       Searching an array:
'       Paul found at index 12: Paul
'       PAUL found at index 12: Paul
'       Wilberforce not found

Remarks

For more information about this API, see Supplemental API remarks for SortKey.

See also

• GetSortKey(String, CompareOptions)
• KeyData