Is there a read-only generic dictionary available in .NET?

I'm returning a reference to a dictionary in my read only property. How do I prevent consumers from changing my data? If this were an IList I could simply return it AsReadOnly. Is there something similar I can do with a dictionary?

Private _mydictionary As Dictionary(Of String, String)
Public ReadOnly Property MyDictionary() As Dictionary(Of String, String)
    Get
        Return _mydictionary
    End Get
End Property

Solution 1:

.NET 4.5

The .NET Framework 4.5 BCL introduces ReadOnlyDictionary<TKey, TValue> (source).

As the .NET Framework 4.5 BCL doesn't include an AsReadOnly for dictionaries, you will need to write your own (if you want it). It would be something like the following, the simplicity of which perhaps highlights why it wasn't a priority for .NET 4.5.

public static ReadOnlyDictionary<TKey, TValue> AsReadOnly<TKey, TValue>(
    this IDictionary<TKey, TValue> dictionary)
{
    return new ReadOnlyDictionary<TKey, TValue>(dictionary);
}

.NET 4.0 and below

Prior to .NET 4.5, there is no .NET framework class that wraps a Dictionary<TKey, TValue> like the ReadOnlyCollection wraps a List. However, it is not difficult to create one.

Here is an example - there are many others if you Google for ReadOnlyDictionary.

Solution 2:

Here's a simple implementation that wraps a dictionary:

public class ReadOnlyDictionary<TKey, TValue> : IDictionary<TKey, TValue>
{
    private readonly IDictionary<TKey, TValue> _dictionary;

    public ReadOnlyDictionary()
    {
        _dictionary = new Dictionary<TKey, TValue>();
    }

    public ReadOnlyDictionary(IDictionary<TKey, TValue> dictionary)
    {
        _dictionary = dictionary;
    }

    #region IDictionary<TKey,TValue> Members

    void IDictionary<TKey, TValue>.Add(TKey key, TValue value)
    {
        throw ReadOnlyException();
    }

    public bool ContainsKey(TKey key)
    {
        return _dictionary.ContainsKey(key);
    }

    public ICollection<TKey> Keys
    {
        get { return _dictionary.Keys; }
    }

    bool IDictionary<TKey, TValue>.Remove(TKey key)
    {
        throw ReadOnlyException();
    }

    public bool TryGetValue(TKey key, out TValue value)
    {
        return _dictionary.TryGetValue(key, out value);
    }

    public ICollection<TValue> Values
    {
        get { return _dictionary.Values; }
    }

    public TValue this[TKey key]
    {
        get
        {
            return _dictionary[key];
        }
    }

    TValue IDictionary<TKey, TValue>.this[TKey key]
    {
        get
        {
            return this[key];
        }
        set
        {
            throw ReadOnlyException();
        }
    }

    #endregion

    #region ICollection<KeyValuePair<TKey,TValue>> Members

    void ICollection<KeyValuePair<TKey, TValue>>.Add(KeyValuePair<TKey, TValue> item)
    {
        throw ReadOnlyException();
    }

    void ICollection<KeyValuePair<TKey, TValue>>.Clear()
    {
        throw ReadOnlyException();
    }

    public bool Contains(KeyValuePair<TKey, TValue> item)
    {
        return _dictionary.Contains(item);
    }

    public void CopyTo(KeyValuePair<TKey, TValue>[] array, int arrayIndex)
    {
        _dictionary.CopyTo(array, arrayIndex);
    }

    public int Count
    {
        get { return _dictionary.Count; }
    }

    public bool IsReadOnly
    {
        get { return true; }
    }

    bool ICollection<KeyValuePair<TKey, TValue>>.Remove(KeyValuePair<TKey, TValue> item)
    {
        throw ReadOnlyException();
    }

    #endregion

    #region IEnumerable<KeyValuePair<TKey,TValue>> Members

    public IEnumerator<KeyValuePair<TKey, TValue>> GetEnumerator()
    {
        return _dictionary.GetEnumerator();
    }

    #endregion

    #region IEnumerable Members

    IEnumerator IEnumerable.GetEnumerator()
    {
        return GetEnumerator();
    }

    #endregion

    private static Exception ReadOnlyException()
    {
        return new NotSupportedException("This dictionary is read-only");
    }
}