Question

InStr Function in VB.NET

Asked by: CMCONE

What happened to the InStr Function in VB.NET?  There is no starting position for the function.  My question is how would I find the 2nd, 3rd etc. ocurrence in a string.  Thanks for the help.

In VB6 I would simply do something like:

Dim tag_open As Integer
Dim tag_close As Integer
Dim str As String

str = "[This is a Test],[This is a test 2]"
tag_close = 1

Do
    tag_open = InStr(tag_close, str, "[")
    If tag_open = 0 Then Exit Do
    tag_open = tag_open + 1
    tag_close = InStr(tag_open, str, "]")
   
    Debug.Print Mid(str, tag_open, tag_close - tag_open)
    'tag_close = tag_open + 1
Loop

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Asked On
2007-05-07 at 12:20:16ID22557527
Tags

instr

,

function

Topics

Microsoft Visual Basic.Net

,

.NET

,

Visual Basic Programming

Participating Experts
3
Points
250
Comments
4

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Answers

 

by: Idle_MindPosted on 2007-05-07 at 12:23:40ID: 19045245

 

by: GrahamSkanPosted on 2007-05-07 at 12:31:06ID: 19045313

The VB6 syntax works in my VB.net

 

by: VBRocksPosted on 2007-05-07 at 12:42:54ID: 19045402

The Instr and InStrRev functions are still supported in .NET, but they are not the official way to handle strings.

The IndexOf and LastIndexOf functions are available for every string in .NET.  So, for example:
Dim i as Integer

'Use the "IndexOf" method with a regular string.
i = "My String".IndexOf("String")

'Use the "IndexOf" method with a string variable.
Dim str as String = "This is another string"
i = str.IndexOf("string")

'Use the "IndexOf" method with a TextBox, because the "Text" property is a String.
Dim tb As New TextBox
tb.Text = "my string"
i = tb.Text.IndexOf("string")

'Here is a LastIndexOf example for you:
Dim strFilePath As String = "C:\Temp\MyFile.txt"
Dim i As Integer
i = strFilePath.LastIndexOf("\")
     ' i now equals the integer 7:  the exact position of the last "\" (see notes below).

** Only 2 points to be aware of as you start using IndexOf and LastIndexOf:
1.  If no match is found, then a -1 is returned, not a 0 as with the Instr and InstrRev functions.
          'Here, a -1 will be returned, because the question mark is not found.
          i = "My String".IndexOf("?")

2.  Strings are zero (0) based in .NET.
          'So for example, the integer "3" will be returned,
          '      because the first character in the string "M" is position 0.
          i = "My String".IndexOf("String")

One final note:
'If you want to search for an exact match, then use the default,
i = "My String".IndexOf("String")

'However, if you want to search for a string, but you want to ignore the case
'such as UPPER CASE, Mixed Case, and lower case, then make sure you use the following:
i = "My String".IndexOf("string", StringComparison.CurrentCultureIgnoreCase)

So, in summary:
-  If you used the Instr method in VB6, use the IndexOf method in .NET.
-  If you used the InstrRev method in VB6, use the LastIndexOf method in .NET.

 

by: GrahamSkanPosted on 2007-05-07 at 12:44:27ID: 19045418

But it isn't offered by 'Intellisense'. Only the older (VB3?)  - without the start position pops up.

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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