VB.NET - Count Number of Characters in a String

Public Function CharCount(ByVal OrigString As String, ByVal Chars As String, Optional ByVal CaseSensitive As Boolean = False) As Integer

        '**********************************************

        'PURPOSE: Returns Number of occurrences of a character or

        'or a character sequencence within a string

        'PARAMETERS:

        'OrigString: String to Search in

        'Chars: Character(s) to search for

        'CaseSensitive (Optional): Do a case sensitive search

        'Defaults to false

        'RETURNS:

        'Number of Occurrences of Chars in OrigString

        'EXAMPLES:

        'Debug.Print CharCount("FreeVBCode.com", "E") -- returns 3

        'Debug.Print CharCount("FreeVBCode.com", "E", True) -- returns 0

        'Debug.Print CharCount("FreeVBCode.com", "co") -- returns 2

        ''**********************************************

        Dim intLen As Integer

        Dim intCharLen As Integer

        Dim intAns As Integer

        Dim strInput As String

        Dim strChar As String

        Dim intCtr As Integer

        Dim intEndOfLoop As Integer

        Dim bytCompareType As Byte

        strInput = OrigString

        If strInput = "" Then Exit Function

        intLen = Len(strInput)

        intCharLen = Len(Chars)

        intEndOfLoop = (intLen - intCharLen) + 1

        bytCompareType = CByte(IIf(CaseSensitive, vbBinaryCompare, vbTextCompare))

        For lCtr = 1 To intEndOfLoop

            strChar = Mid(strInput, lCtr, intCharLen)

            If StrComp(strChar, Chars, CType(bytCompareType, CompareMethod)) = 0 Then _

                intAns = intAns + 1

        Next

        CharCount = intAns

    End Function

** Originally Retrieved From: http://www.freevbcode.com/ShowCode.asp?ID=1025 (I modified to be an int)