Useful VB.net class definitions

FormatFromDictionary.vb

Imports Microsoft.VisualBasic
Public Class FormatFromDictionary
  Private format As String
  Private safe As Boolean
  Private rex As System.Text.RegularExpressions.Regex
  Sub New(format As String, Optional safe As Boolean = False)
    Me.format = format
    Me.safe = safe
    Me.rex = New System.Text.RegularExpressions.Regex("\{([^,:}]+)([,:][^}]*)?\}")
  End Sub
  Function Replace(ByVal dict As Dictionary(Of String, Object)) As String
    Return rex.Replace(format,
      Function(ByVal match As System.Text.RegularExpressions.Match) As String
        Dim key As String = match.Groups(1).Value
        Dim extra = match.Groups(2)
        Try
          If extra.Success Then
            Return String.Format("{0" & extra.Value & "}", dict(key))
          End If
          Return dict(key)
        Catch ex As Exception
          If safe Then
            If extra.Success Then
              Return String.Format("{0" & extra.Value & "}", match.ToString)
            End If
            Return match.ToString
          End If
          Throw
        End Try
      End Function)
  End FunctionEnd Class