String is too long to fit on one line - VB.NET

Question

I have a string that is 109000 characters in length, and it wont fit on one line, I get a "line is too long." error.
I know that with normal CODE you can do the "_" at the end of your code like

    this code is too long so I will use the _
    this code acts like it is on the same line

but in a string it takes the "_" to be part of a string (as it should). There is no information that I could find on this, so here it is for you guys, stackoverflow.

score 3 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 11:50

The documentation on the "Line is too long" error states that the maxiumum line length is 65535, so this is why you are getting the error.

There are a few solutions:

You can concatenate the string using the &

Dim s As String = "this code is too long so I will use the" &
                  "this code acts like it is on the same line"

Note you can also use + to concatenate string but make sure you have Option Strict On if you do (& is safer as the result is always a String). See comparison between the two here: Ampersand vs plus for concatenating strings in VB.NET

You can use a string builder. This may be more efficient if you are continually adding strings to the original string (especially if you do this in a loop):

Dim sb As new StringBuilder
sb.Append("this code is too long so I will use the")
sb.Append("this code acts like it is on the same line")

Debug.Writeline(sb.ToString)

See MSDN for More information about Concatenation here

For the top code shouldn't you use a "_" after the "&" to show you are moving to the next line? @Matt Wilko — user3659330, May 22 '14 at 02:08
@user3659330 - No. See the [VB coding conventions](http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/h63fsef3(v=vs.120).aspx) that state "Avoid using the explicit line continuation character "_" in favor of implicit line continuation wherever the language allows it." — Matt Wilko, May 22 '14 at 07:56

HengChin · Answer 2 · 2014-05-21T05:54:56.893

-1

Dim longString As String = "loooooooooooooooooooooooooo" + _
"ooooooooooooooggggggg"

edited May 21 '14 at 05:54

answered May 21 '14 at 05:39

HengChin

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why did I not think of that – user3659330 May 21 '14 at 05:43
@Fabio vbNewLine I mean here is during runtime, not on coding level. – HengChin May 21 '14 at 05:46
Ok, but as I understand question was about writing string in code, thats why I ask. – Fabio May 21 '14 at 05:52
Sorry if i din't specify it – HengChin May 21 '14 at 05:54

String is too long to fit on one line - VB.NET

2 Answers2