Make dictionary read only in C#

Question

I have a Dictionary> and would like to expose the member as read only. I see that I can return it as a IReadOnlyDictionar

Answer 1

I run into the same problem. I solved it on the following way.

List list = new List();

Dictionary> dic = new Dictionary>();

IReadOnlyDictionary> dicRo = new ReadOnlyDictionary>(dic);

 list.Add("Test1");

 dic["T"] = list.AsReadOnly();

 ist.Add("Test2");

This has the positiv effekt, that you

• can still add items to the list
• can still add items to the dictionary
• can't edit the ReadOnlyDictionary
• can't edit the ReadOnlyCollection
• can't cast it into a Dictionary
• can't cast it into a List
• have your ReadOnlyDictionary always up to date

Maybe this will help someone.