C# String.Length from Microsoft Documentation

Question

Microsoft documentation states that this code will return 7 characters

The Length property returns the number of Char objects in this instance, not the number of Unicode characters.

string characters = "abc\u0000def";
Console.WriteLine(characters.Length);    // Displays 7

I will need a function to return as result 12 because there are 12 different characters. Which function I may use?

"there are 12 different characters" - no, there's 7 - `\u0000` is _one character_. What are you doing with it that you need to treat it as through it has 12 characters? — D Stanley, Feb 08 '16 at 18:31
Funny. Why do you think those are 12 characters? You are aware that 6 of them form one unicode character and are interpreted by the compiler? — TomTom, Feb 08 '16 at 18:32
Are you looking for a way to have a string literal with its characters not interpreted as escape sequences? Because once you have a seven-character string, it's a seven character string; there's no unambiguous way to turn it into a 12-character string again. — Sergey Kalinichenko, Feb 08 '16 at 18:42

Cee McSharpface · Accepted Answer · 2016-02-08T18:34:56.023

10

You would have to prevent the interpretation of the literal by the compiler. This can be done with the @ prefix, like this:

var characters = @"abc\u0000def";

The Length property of this string will then return 12, but there will no longer be an actual unicode character in the string.

edited Feb 08 '16 at 18:34

answered Feb 08 '16 at 18:31

Cee McSharpface

1

Beat me to it. The catch here is that `there will no longer be an actual unicode character in the string` if you use it escaped. – Brandon Feb 08 '16 at 18:32

score 4 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 08 '16 at 18:32

The C# compiler will replace \u0000 by a null byte. That means, at execution time you will simply have only 7 characters in your memory.

If you don't want the compiler to replace the special char, you have to escape the backslash in the first place:

string characters = "abc\\u0000def";
Console.WriteLine(characters.Length);    // Displays 12

2 Answers2