Iterator (Visual Basic)
Specifies that a function or Get accessor is an iterator.
Remarks
An iterator performs a custom iteration over a collection. An iterator uses the Yield statement to return each element in the collection one at a time. When a Yield statement is reached, the current location in code is retained. Execution is restarted from that location the next time that the iterator function is called.
An iterator can be implemented as a function or as a Get accessor of a property definition. The Iterator modifier appears in the declaration of the iterator function or Get accessor.
You call an iterator from client code by using a For Each...Next Statement (Visual Basic).
The return type of an iterator function or Get accessor can be IEnumerable, IEnumerable<T>, IEnumerator, or IEnumerator<T>.
An iterator cannot have any ByRef parameters.
An iterator cannot occur in an event, instance constructor, static constructor, or static destructor.
An iterator can be an anonymous function. For more information, see Iterators (C# and Visual Basic).
For more information about iterators, see Iterators (C# and Visual Basic).
Usage
The Iterator modifier can be used in these contexts:
Example
The following example demonstrates an iterator function. The iterator function has a Yield statement that is inside a For…Next loop. Each iteration of the For Each statement body in Main creates a call to the Power iterator function. Each call to the iterator function proceeds to the next execution of the Yield statement, which occurs during the next iteration of the For…Next loop.
Sub Main()
For Each number In Power(2, 8)
Console.Write(number & " ")
Next
' Output: 2 4 8 16 32 64 128 256
Console.ReadKey()
End Sub
Private Iterator Function Power(
ByVal base As Integer, ByVal highExponent As Integer) _
As System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerable(Of Integer)
Dim result = 1
For counter = 1 To highExponent
result = result * base
Yield result
Next
End Function
The following example demonstrates a Get accessor that is an iterator. The Iterator modifier is in the property declaration.
Sub Main()
Dim theGalaxies As New Galaxies
For Each theGalaxy In theGalaxies.NextGalaxy
With theGalaxy
Console.WriteLine(.Name & " " & .MegaLightYears)
End With
Next
Console.ReadKey()
End Sub
Public Class Galaxies
Public ReadOnly Iterator Property NextGalaxy _
As System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerable(Of Galaxy)
Get
Yield New Galaxy With {.Name = "Tadpole", .MegaLightYears = 400}
Yield New Galaxy With {.Name = "Pinwheel", .MegaLightYears = 25}
Yield New Galaxy With {.Name = "Milky Way", .MegaLightYears = 0}
Yield New Galaxy With {.Name = "Andromeda", .MegaLightYears = 3}
End Get
End Property
End Class
Public Class Galaxy
Public Property Name As String
Public Property MegaLightYears As Integer
End Class
For additional examples, see Iterators (C# and Visual Basic).
See Also
Reference
Yield Statement (Visual Basic)