UnicodeCategory Enumeration

Defines the Unicode category of a character.

Syntax

[System.Runtime.InteropServices.ComVisible(true)]
public enum UnicodeCategory

Remarks

A member of the System.Globalization.UnicodeCategory enumeration is returned by the char.GetUnicodeCategory(char) and CharUnicodeInfo.GetUnicodeCategory(char) methods. The System.Globalization.UnicodeCategory enumeration is also used to support char methods, such as char.IsUpper(char). Such methods determine whether a specified character is a member of a particular Unicode general category. A Unicode general category defines the broad classification of a character, that is, designation as a type of letter, decimal digit, separator, mathematical symbol, punctuation, and so on.

This enumeration is based on The Unicode Standard, version 5.0. For more information, see the "UCD File Format" and "General Category Values" subtopics at the tp://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=57650.

The Unicode Standard defines the following:

A surrogate pair is a coded character representation for a single abstract character that consists of a sequence of two code units, where the first unit of the pair is a high surrogate and the second is a low surrogate. A high surrogate is a Unicode code point in the range U+D800 through U+DBFF and a low surrogate is a Unicode code point in the range U+DC00 through U+DFFF.

A combining character sequence is a combination of a base character and one or more combining characters. A surrogate pair represents a base character or a combining character. A combining character is either spacing or nonspacing. A spacing combining character takes up a spacing position by itself when rendered, while a nonspacing combining character does not. Diacritics are an example of nonspacing combining characters.

A modifier letter is a free-standing spacing character that, like a combining character, indicates modifications of a preceding letter.

An enclosing mark is a nonspacing combining character that surrounds all previous characters up to and including a base character.

A format character is a character that is not normally rendered but that affects the layout of text or the operation of text processes.

The Unicode Standard defines several variations to some punctuation marks. For example, a hyphen can be one of several code values that represent a hyphen, such as U+002D (hyphen-minus) or U+00AD (soft hyphen) or U+2010 (hyphen) or U+2011 (nonbreaking hyphen). The same is true for dashes, space characters, and quotation marks.

The Unicode Standard also assigns codes to representations of decimal digits that are specific to a given script or language, for example, U+0030 (digit zero) and U+0660 (Arabic-Indic digit zero).

Members

Member Name	Description
ClosePunctuation	Closing character of one of the paired punctuation marks, such as parentheses, square brackets, and braces. Signified by the Unicode designation "Pe" (punctuation, close). The value is 21.
ConnectorPunctuation	Connector punctuation character that connects two characters. Signified by the Unicode designation "Pc" (punctuation, connector). The value is 18.
Control	Control code character, with a Unicode value of U+007F or in the range U+0000 through U+001F or U+0080 through U+009F. Signified by the Unicode designation "Cc" (other, control). The value is 14.
CurrencySymbol	Currency symbol character. Signified by the Unicode designation "Sc" (symbol, currency). The value is 26.
DashPunctuation	Dash or hyphen character. Signified by the Unicode designation "Pd" (punctuation, dash). The value is 19.
DecimalDigitNumber	Decimal digit character, that is, a character in the range 0 through 9. Signified by the Unicode designation "Nd" (number, decimal digit). The value is 8.
EnclosingMark	Enclosing mark character, which is a nonspacing combining character that surrounds all previous characters up to and including a base character. Signified by the Unicode designation "Me" (mark, enclosing). The value is 7.
FinalQuotePunctuation	Closing or final quotation mark character. Signified by the Unicode designation "Pf" (punctuation, final quote). The value is 23.
Format	Format character that affects the layout of text or the operation of text processes, but is not normally rendered. Signified by the Unicode designation "Cf" (other, format). The value is 15.
InitialQuotePunctuation	Opening or initial quotation mark character. Signified by the Unicode designation "Pi" (punctuation, initial quote). The value is 22.
LetterNumber	Number represented by a letter, instead of a decimal digit, for example, the Roman numeral for five, which is "V". The indicator is signified by the Unicode designation "Nl" (number, letter). The value is 9.
LineSeparator	Character that is used to separate lines of text. Signified by the Unicode designation "Zl" (separator, line). The value is 12.
LowercaseLetter	Lowercase letter. Signified by the Unicode designation "Ll" (letter, lowercase). The value is 1.
MathSymbol	Mathematical symbol character, such as "+" or "= ". Signified by the Unicode designation "Sm" (symbol, math). The value is 25.
ModifierLetter	Modifier letter character, which is free-standing spacing character that indicates modifications of a preceding letter. Signified by the Unicode designation "Lm" (letter, modifier). The value is 3.
ModifierSymbol	Modifier symbol character, which indicates modifications of surrounding characters. For example, the fraction slash indicates that the number to the left is the numerator and the number to the right is the denominator. The indicator is signified by the Unicode designation "Sk" (symbol, modifier). The value is 27.
NonSpacingMark	Nonspacing character that indicates modifications of a base character. Signified by the Unicode designation "Mn" (mark, nonspacing). The value is 5.
OpenPunctuation	Opening character of one of the paired punctuation marks, such as parentheses, square brackets, and braces. Signified by the Unicode designation "Ps" (punctuation, open). The value is 20.
OtherLetter	Letter that is not an uppercase letter, a lowercase letter, a titlecase letter, or a modifier letter. Signified by the Unicode designation "Lo" (letter, other). The value is 4.
OtherNotAssigned	Character that is not assigned to any Unicode category. Signified by the Unicode designation "Cn" (other, not assigned). The value is 29.
OtherNumber	Number that is neither a decimal digit nor a letter number, for example, the fraction 1/2. The indicator is signified by the Unicode designation "No" (number, other). The value is 10.
OtherPunctuation	Punctuation character that is not a connector, a dash, open punctuation, close punctuation, an initial quote, or a final quote. Signified by the Unicode designation "Po" (punctuation, other). The value is 24.
OtherSymbol	Symbol character that is not a mathematical symbol, a currency symbol or a modifier symbol. Signified by the Unicode designation "So" (symbol, other). The value is 28.
ParagraphSeparator	Character used to separate paragraphs. Signified by the Unicode designation "Zp" (separator, paragraph). The value is 13.
PrivateUse	Private-use character, with a Unicode value in the range U+E000 through U+F8FF. Signified by the Unicode designation "Co" (other, private use). The value is 17.
SpaceSeparator	Space character, which has no glyph but is not a control or format character. Signified by the Unicode designation "Zs" (separator, space). The value is 11.
SpacingCombiningMark	Spacing character that indicates modifications of a base character and affects the width of the glyph for that base character. Signified by the Unicode designation "Mc" (mark, spacing combining). The value is 6.
Surrogate	High surrogate or a low surrogate character. Surrogate code values are in the range U+D800 through U+DFFF. Signified by the Unicode designation "Cs" (other, surrogate). The value is 16.
TitlecaseLetter	Titlecase letter. Signified by the Unicode designation "Lt" (letter, titlecase). The value is 2.
UppercaseLetter	Uppercase letter. Signified by the Unicode designation "Lu" (letter, uppercase). The value is 0.

Requirements

Namespace: System.Globalization
Assembly: mscorlib (in mscorlib.dll)
Assembly Versions: 1.0.5000.0, 2.0.0.0, 4.0.0.0