' Create a new dictionary of strings, with string keys.
'
Dim openWith As New Dictionary(Of String, String)

' Add some elements to the dictionary. There are no 
' duplicate keys, but some of the values are duplicates.
openWith.Add("txt", "notepad.exe")
openWith.Add("bmp", "paint.exe")
openWith.Add("dib", "paint.exe")
openWith.Add("rtf", "wordpad.exe")

' The Add method throws an exception if the new key is 
' already in the dictionary.
Try
    openWith.Add("txt", "winword.exe")
Catch 
    Console.WriteLine("An element with Key = ""txt"" already exists.")
End Try

' The Item property is the default property, so you 
' can omit its name when accessing elements. 
Console.WriteLine("For key = ""rtf"", value = {0}.", _
    openWith("rtf"))

' The default Item property can be used to change the value
' associated with a key.
openWith("rtf") = "winword.exe"
Console.WriteLine("For key = ""rtf"", value = {0}.", _
    openWith("rtf"))

' If a key does not exist, setting the default Item property
' for that key adds a new key/value pair.
openWith("doc") = "winword.exe"

' The default Item property throws an exception if the requested
' key is not in the dictionary.
Try
    Console.WriteLine("For key = ""tif"", value = {0}.", _
        openWith("tif"))
Catch 
    Console.WriteLine("Key = ""tif"" is not found.")
End Try

' When a program often has to try keys that turn out not to
' be in the dictionary, TryGetValue can be a more efficient 
' way to retrieve values.
Dim value As String = ""
If openWith.TryGetValue("tif", value) Then
    Console.WriteLine("For key = ""tif"", value = {0}.", value)
Else
    Console.WriteLine("Key = ""tif"" is not found.")
End If