--- product: Chilkat product_version: 11.7.0 language: vbnet language_label: VB.NET class: StringTable license: free deprecated: false reference_html: https://www.chilkatsoft.com/refdoc/vbnetStringTableRef.html --- # Chilkat StringTable — VB.NET — v11.7.0 > Chilkat 11.7.0 · language=vbnet · class=StringTable > Other versions: replace `11.7.0` in this URL. Other languages: `https://www.chilkatsoft.com/ai-docs/v/11.7.0//classes/StringTable.md`. > Language-wide rules (install, unlock, error model, strings/bytes): `https://www.chilkatsoft.com/ai-docs/v/11.7.0/vbnet/guide.md`. ## Purpose **Store, load, search, sort, split, retrieve, and save ordered lists of strings.** `Chilkat.StringTable` is a simple ordered collection of strings. It can append strings directly, load one string per line from files or `StringBuilder`, search for substrings or wildcard matches, sort the collection, split strings into entries, retrieve strings by index, export the table as line-delimited text, and save the result to a file. **Ordered string collection** Store a list of strings in insertion order and retrieve individual entries by zero-based index. **Append and import** Add strings directly, append strings from a file, or load line-delimited text from a `StringBuilder`. **Search strings** Find entries containing a substring or matching a wildcard pattern when filtering or locating text values. **Sort entries** Sort the string collection when deterministic ordering or user-facing display order is needed. **Split into entries** Split delimited text into separate string-table entries for easier indexing, searching, sorting, or saving. **Export and save** Convert the table back to line-delimited text, copy it to a `StringBuilder`, or save the collection to a file. **Common pattern:** Use `StringTable` when application code needs a lightweight ordered list of text values. Append or load the strings, search or sort as needed, retrieve entries by index with `StringAt` or `StringAtSb`, then export the final list as line-delimited text or save it to a file. For an extended overview, see [StringTable Class Overview](https://www.chilkatsoft.com/stringtable_class_overview.asp). ## Object creation, unlocking and error handling **Object Creation** ```vbnet Dim obj As New Chilkat.StringTable() ``` Call `Global.UnlockBundle` once at the start of the program, before using this or any other Chilkat class. Any string unlocks a fully functional 30-day trial; a purchased unlock code is used in production. See `guide.md` for the exact code in VB.NET. How failure is reported depends on the method's return type and is stated in the note under each method below. In every case the diagnostic text is in the `LastErrorText` property of the object whose method was called. ## Members common to every Chilkat class Documented once per language in `common-members.md`; listed here so this page is self-contained. | Property | Signature | Access | Meaning | |---|---|---|---| | `DebugLogFilePath` | `DebugLogFilePath As String` | read/write | If set to a file path, this property logs the LastErrorText of each Chilkat method or property call to the specified file. | | `LastErrorHtml` | `LastErrorHtml As String (ReadOnly)` | read-only | Provides HTML-formatted information about the last called method or property. | | `LastErrorText` | `LastErrorText As String (ReadOnly)` | read-only | Provides plain text information about the last called method or property. | | `LastErrorXml` | `LastErrorXml As String (ReadOnly)` | read-only | Provides XML-formatted information about the last called method or property. | | `LastMethodSuccess` | `LastMethodSuccess As Boolean` | read/write | Indicates the success or failure of the most recent method call: `True` means success, `False` means failure. | | `VerboseLogging` | `VerboseLogging As Boolean` | read/write | If set to `True`, then the contents of LastErrorText (or LastErrorXml, or LastErrorHtml) may contain more verbose information. | | `Version` | `Version As String (ReadOnly)` | read-only | Version of the component/library, such as "10.1.0" | ## Member index | Member | Kind | Signature | |---|---|---| | `Count` | property, read-only | `Count As Integer (ReadOnly)` | | `Append` | method | `Function Append(ByVal value As String) As Boolean` | | `AppendFromFile` | method | `Function AppendFromFile(ByVal maxLineLen As Integer, ByVal charset As String, ByVal path As String) As Boolean` | | `AppendFromSb` | method | `Function AppendFromSb(ByVal sb As StringBuilder) As Boolean` | | `Clear` | method | `Sub Clear()` | | `FindMatch` | method | `Function FindMatch(ByVal sb As StringBuilder, ByVal caseSensitive As Boolean) As Integer` | | `FindSubstring` | method | `Function FindSubstring(ByVal startIndex As Integer, ByVal substr As String, ByVal caseSensitive As Boolean) As Integer` | | `GetStrings` | method | `Function GetStrings(ByVal startIdx As Integer, ByVal count As Integer, ByVal crlf As Boolean) As String` | | `IntAt` | method | `Function IntAt(ByVal index As Integer) As Integer` | | `SaveToFile` | method | `Function SaveToFile(ByVal charset As String, ByVal bCrlf As Boolean, ByVal path As String) As Boolean` | | `Sort` | method | `Function Sort(ByVal ascending As Boolean, ByVal caseSensitive As Boolean) As Boolean` | | `SplitAndAppend` | method | `Function SplitAndAppend(ByVal inStr As String, ByVal delimiterChar As String, ByVal exceptDoubleQuoted As Boolean, ByVal exceptEscaped As Boolean) As Boolean` | | `StringAt` | method | `Function StringAt(ByVal index As Integer) As String` | | `StringAtSb` | method | `Function StringAtSb(ByVal index As Integer, ByVal sb As StringBuilder) As Boolean` | | `ToSb` | method | `Function ToSb(ByVal sb As StringBuilder) As Boolean` | | `WordFollowing` | method | `Function WordFollowing(ByVal sb As StringBuilder, ByVal captureEmailAddr As Boolean, ByVal sbWord As StringBuilder) As Integer` | ## Properties ### StringTable.Count `Chilkat 11.7.0 · vbnet · StringTable · Count · property · read-only · since 9.5.0.62` ```vbnet Count As Integer (ReadOnly) ``` The number of strings in the table. ## Methods ### StringTable.Append `Chilkat 11.7.0 · vbnet · StringTable · Append · method · since 9.5.0.62` ```vbnet Function Append(ByVal value As String) As Boolean ``` Appends a string to the table. Returns True for success, False for failure. ### StringTable.AppendFromFile `Chilkat 11.7.0 · vbnet · StringTable · AppendFromFile · method · since 9.5.0.62` ```vbnet Function AppendFromFile(ByVal maxLineLen As Integer, ByVal charset As String, ByVal path As String) As Boolean ``` Appends strings, one per line, from a file. Each line in the `path` should be no longer than the length specified in `maxLineLen`. The `charset` indicates the character encoding of the contents of the file, such as `utf-8`, `iso-8859-1`, `Shift_JIS`, etc. Returns True for success, False for failure. ### StringTable.AppendFromSb `Chilkat 11.7.0 · vbnet · StringTable · AppendFromSb · method · since 9.5.0.62` ```vbnet Function AppendFromSb(ByVal sb As StringBuilder) As Boolean ``` Appends strings, one per line, from the contents of a StringBuilder object. Returns True for success, False for failure. ### StringTable.Clear `Chilkat 11.7.0 · vbnet · StringTable · Clear · method · since 9.5.0.62` ```vbnet Sub Clear() ``` Removes all the strings from the table. ### StringTable.FindMatch `Chilkat 11.7.0 · vbnet · StringTable · FindMatch · method · since 11.1.0` ```vbnet Function FindMatch(ByVal sb As StringBuilder, ByVal caseSensitive As Boolean) As Integer ``` This string table object holds strings with wildcards. The method returns the index of the wildcarded string that matches the text in `sb`, or -1 if no match is found. `caseSensitive` specifies whether the matching should be case-sensitive. ### StringTable.FindSubstring `Chilkat 11.7.0 · vbnet · StringTable · FindSubstring · method · since 9.5.0.77` ```vbnet Function FindSubstring(ByVal startIndex As Integer, ByVal substr As String, ByVal caseSensitive As Boolean) As Integer ``` Return the index of the first string in the table containing `substr`. Begins searching strings starting at `startIndex`. If `caseSensitive` is `True`, then the search is case sensitive. If `caseSensitive` is `False` then the search is case insensitive. Returns -1 if the `substr` is not found. ### StringTable.GetStrings `Chilkat 11.7.0 · vbnet · StringTable · GetStrings · method · since 9.5.0.87` ```vbnet Function GetStrings(ByVal startIdx As Integer, ByVal count As Integer, ByVal crlf As Boolean) As String ``` Return the number of strings specified by `count`, one per line, starting at `startIdx`. To return the entire table, pass 0 values for both `startIdx` and `count`. Set `crlf` equal to `True` to emit with CRLF line endings, or `False` to emit LF-only line endings. The last string is emitted includes the line ending. Returns `Nothing` on failure ### StringTable.IntAt `Chilkat 11.7.0 · vbnet · StringTable · IntAt · method · since 9.5.0.63` ```vbnet Function IntAt(ByVal index As Integer) As Integer ``` Returns the Nth string in the table, converted to an integer value. The `index` is 0-based. (The first string is at index 0.) Returns -1 if no string is found at the specified index. Returns 0 if the string at the specified index exist, but is not an integer. ### StringTable.SaveToFile `Chilkat 11.7.0 · vbnet · StringTable · SaveToFile · method · since 9.5.0.62` ```vbnet Function SaveToFile(ByVal charset As String, ByVal bCrlf As Boolean, ByVal path As String) As Boolean ``` Saves the string table to a file. The `charset` is the character encoding to use, such as `utf-8`, `iso-8859-1`, `windows-1252`, `Shift_JIS`, `gb2312`, etc. If `bCrlf` is `True`, then CRLF line endings are used, otherwise LF-only line endings are used. Returns True for success, False for failure. ### StringTable.Sort `Chilkat 11.7.0 · vbnet · StringTable · Sort · method · since 9.5.0.87` ```vbnet Function Sort(ByVal ascending As Boolean, ByVal caseSensitive As Boolean) As Boolean ``` Sorts the strings in the collection in ascending or descending order. To sort in ascending order, set `ascending` to `True`, otherwise set `ascending` equal to `False`. Returns True for success, False for failure. ### StringTable.SplitAndAppend `Chilkat 11.7.0 · vbnet · StringTable · SplitAndAppend · method · since 9.5.0.62` ```vbnet Function SplitAndAppend(ByVal inStr As String, ByVal delimiterChar As String, ByVal exceptDoubleQuoted As Boolean, ByVal exceptEscaped As Boolean) As Boolean ``` Splits a string into parts based on a single character `delimiterChar`. If `exceptDoubleQuoted` is `True`, then the delimiter char found between double quotes is not treated as a delimiter. If `exceptEscaped` is `True`, then an escaped (with a backslash) delimiter char is not treated as a delimiter. Returns True for success, False for failure. ### StringTable.StringAt `Chilkat 11.7.0 · vbnet · StringTable · StringAt · method · since 9.5.0.62` ```vbnet Function StringAt(ByVal index As Integer) As String ``` Returns the Nth string in the table. The `index` is 0-based. (The first string is at index 0.) Returns `Nothing` on failure ### StringTable.StringAtSb `Chilkat 11.7.0 · vbnet · StringTable · StringAtSb · method · since 11.2.0` ```vbnet Function StringAtSb(ByVal index As Integer, ByVal sb As StringBuilder) As Boolean ``` Appends the Nth string in the table to `sb`. The `index` is 0-based. (The first string is at index 0.) Returns True for success, False for failure. ### StringTable.ToSb `Chilkat 11.7.0 · vbnet · StringTable · ToSb · method · since 11.3.0` ```vbnet Function ToSb(ByVal sb As StringBuilder) As Boolean ``` Appends the entire string table to `sb` using CRLF line endings. Returns True for success, False for failure. ### StringTable.WordFollowing `Chilkat 11.7.0 · vbnet · StringTable · WordFollowing · method · since 11.1.0` ```vbnet Function WordFollowing(ByVal sb As StringBuilder, ByVal captureEmailAddr As Boolean, ByVal sbWord As StringBuilder) As Integer ``` The method performs a case-insensitive search to return the index of a table entry matching `sb`, or -1 if there is no match. Set `captureEmailAddr` to `True` if the target word is expected to be an email address, otherwise set `captureEmailAddr` to `False`. `sbWord` will receive the word (email address) following the matched text. This method helps replace the outdated Chilkat Bounce class, which was used for identifying and categorizing bounced email types. ## Related classes [`StringBuilder`](https://www.chilkatsoft.com/ai-docs/v/11.7.0/vbnet/classes/StringBuilder.md)