ASP Dictionary Object

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The Dictionary object stores information in name/value pairs.

The Dictionary Object

The Dictionary object is used to store information in name/value pairs (referred to as key and item). The Dictionary object might seem similar to Arrays, however, the Dictionary object is a more desirable solution to manipulate related data.

Comparing Dictionaries and Arrays:

  • Keys are used to identify the items in a Dictionary object
  • You do not have to call ReDim to change the size of the Dictionary object
  • When deleting an item from a Dictionary, the remaining items will automatically shift up
  • Dictionaries cannot be multidimensional, Arrays can
  • Dictionaries have more built-in functions than Arrays
  • Dictionaries work better than arrays on accessing random elements frequently
  • Dictionaries work better than arrays on locating items by their content

The Below example creates a Dictionary object, adds some key/item pairs to it, and retrieves the item value for the key gr:

<%
Dim d
Set d=Server.CreateObject("Scripting.Dictionary")
d.Add "re","Red"
d.Add "gr","Green"
d.Add "bl","Blue"
d.Add "pi","Pink"
Response.Write("The value of key gr is: " & d.Item("gr"))
%>

Output:

The value of key gr is: Green

The Dictionary object's properties and methods are described below:

Properties

Property Description
CompareMode Sets or returns the comparison mode for comparing keys in a Dictionary object
Count Returns the number of key/item pairs in a Dictionary object
Item Sets or returns the value of an item in a Dictionary object
Key Sets a new key value for an existing key value in a Dictionary object

Methods

Method Description
Add Adds a new key/item pair to a Dictionary object
Exists Returns a Boolean value that indicates whether a specified key exists in the Dictionary object
Items Returns an array of all the items in a Dictionary object
Keys Returns an array of all the keys in a Dictionary object
Remove Removes one specified key/item pair from the Dictionary object
RemoveAll Removes all the key/item pairs in the Dictionary object

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