每个元素都是一个存储在 DictionaryEntry 对象中的键/值对。键不能为 空引用(在 Visual Basic 中为 Nothing),但值可以。
要重写 Object.GetHashCode 方法(或 IHashCodeProvider 接口)和 Object.Equals 方法(或 IComparer 接口),需要有被 Hashtable 用作键的对象。方法和接口的实现必须以相同的方式处理大小写;否则,Hashtable 的行为可能不正确。例如,创建 Hashtable 时,您必须配合使用 CaseInsensitiveHashCodeProvider 类(或任何不区分大小写的 IHashCodeProvider 实现)和 CaseInsensitiveComparer 类(或任何不区分大小写的 IComparer 实现)。
此外,如果该键存在于 Hashtable 中,那么当使用相同参数调用这些方法时,这些方法必须生成相同的结果。还有一种方式是使用具有 IEqualityComparer 参数的 Hashtable构造函数。如果键相等性只是引用相等性,则 Object.GetHashCode 和 Object.Equals 的继承实现将满足需要。
只要键对象用作 Hashtable 中的键,它们就必须是永远不变的。
当把某个元素添加到 Hashtable 时,将根据键的哈希代码将该元素放入存储桶中。该键的后续查找将使用键的哈希代码只在一个特定存储桶中搜索,这将大大减少为查找一个元素所需的键比较的次数。
Hashtable 的加载因子确定元素与存储桶的最大比率。加载因子越小,平均查找速度越快,但消耗的内存也增加。默认的加载因子 1.0 通常提供速度和大小之间的最佳平衡。当创建 Hashtable 时,也可以指定其他加载因子。
当向 Hashtable 添加元素时,Hashtable 的实际加载因子将增加。当实际加载因子达到指定的加载因子时,Hashtable 中存储桶的数目自动增加到大于当前 Hashtable 存储桶数两倍的最小质数。
Hashtable 中的每个键对象必须提供其自己的哈希函数,可通过调用 GetHash 访问该函数。但是,可将任何实现 IHashCodeProvider 的对象传递到 Hashtable 构造函数,而且该哈希函数用于该表中的所有对象。
Hashtable 的容量是 Hashtable 可拥有的元素数。Hashtable 的默认初始容量为零。随着向 Hashtable 中添加元素,容量通过重新分配按需自动增加。
C# 语言中的 foreach 语句(在 Visual Basic 中为 for each)需要集合中每个元素的类型。由于 Hashtable 的每个元素都是一个键/值对,因此元素类型既不是键的类型,也不是值的类型。而是 DictionaryEntry 类型。例如:
foreach 语句是对枚举数的包装,它只允许从集合中读取,不允许写入集合。
因为序列化和反序列化 Hashtable 的枚举数会使元素重新排序,所以不调用 Reset 方法就不能继续枚举。
using System; using System.Collections; class Example { public static void Main() { // Create a new hash table. // Hashtable openWith = new Hashtable(); // Add some elements to the hash table. There are no // duplicate keys, but some of the values are duplicates. openWith.Add("txt", "notepad.exe"); openWith.Add("bmp", "paint.exe"); openWith.Add("dib", "paint.exe"); openWith.Add("rtf", "wordpad.exe"); // The Add method throws an exception if the new key is // already in the hash table. try { openWith.Add("txt", "winword.exe"); } catch { Console.WriteLine("An element with Key = \"txt\" already exists."); } // The Item property is the default property, so you // can omit its name when accessing elements. Console.WriteLine("For key = \"rtf\", value = {0}.", openWith["rtf"]); // The default Item property can be used to change the value // associated with a key. openWith["rtf"] = "winword.exe"; Console.WriteLine("For key = \"rtf\", value = {0}.", openWith["rtf"]); // If a key does not exist, setting the default Item property // for that key adds a new key/value pair. openWith["doc"] = "winword.exe"; // The default Item property throws an exception if the requested // key is not in the hash table. try { Console.WriteLine("For key = \"tif\", value = {0}.", openWith["tif"]); } catch { Console.WriteLine("Key = \"tif\" is not found."); } // ContainsKey can be used to test keys before inserting // them. if (!openWith.ContainsKey("ht")) { openWith.Add("ht", "hypertrm.exe"); Console.WriteLine("Value added for key = \"ht\": {0}", openWith["ht"]); } // When you use foreach to enumerate hash table elements, // the elements are retrieved as KeyValuePair objects. Console.WriteLine(); foreach( DictionaryEntry de in openWith ) { Console.WriteLine("Key = {0}, Value = {1}", de.Key, de.Value); } // To get the values alone, use the Values property. ICollection valueColl = openWith.Values; // The elements of the ValueCollection are strongly typed // with the type that was specified for hash table values. Console.WriteLine(); foreach( string s in valueColl ) { Console.WriteLine("Value = {0}", s); } // To get the keys alone, use the Keys property. ICollection keyColl = openWith.Keys; // The elements of the KeyCollection are strongly typed // with the type that was specified for hash table keys. Console.WriteLine(); foreach( string s in keyColl ) { Console.WriteLine("Key = {0}", s); } // Use the Remove method to remove a key/value pair. Console.WriteLine("\nRemove(\"doc\")"); openWith.Remove("doc"); if (!openWith.ContainsKey("doc")) { Console.WriteLine("Key \"doc\" is not found."); } } } /* This code example produces the following output: An element with Key = "txt" already exists. For key = "rtf", value = wordpad.exe. For key = "rtf", value = winword.exe. For key = "tif", value = . Value added for key = "ht": hypertrm.exe Key = dib, Value = paint.exe Key = txt, Value = notepad.exe Key = ht, Value = hypertrm.exe Key = bmp, Value = paint.exe Key = rtf, Value = winword.exe Key = doc, Value = winword.exe Value = paint.exe Value = notepad.exe Value = hypertrm.exe Value = paint.exe Value = winword.exe Value = winword.exe Key = dib Key = txt Key = ht Key = bmp Key = rtf Key = doc Remove("doc") Key "doc" is not found. */