IDataObject Interface

Definition

Namespace:

System.Windows.Forms

Assembly:

System.Windows.Forms.dll

Provides a format-independent mechanism for transferring data.

public interface class IDataObject

public interface IDataObject

type IDataObject = interface

Public Interface IDataObject

Derived

System.Windows.Forms.DataObject

Remarks

The IDataObject interface is used by the Clipboard class and in drag-and-drop operations.

When implemented in a class, the IDataObject methods allow the user to store data in multiple formats in an instance of the class. Storing data in more than one format increases the chance that a target application, whose format requirements you might not know, can retrieve the stored data. To store data in an instance of IDataObject, call the SetData method and specify the data format in the format parameter. Set the autoConvert parameter to false if you do not want stored data to be converted to another format when it is retrieved. Invoke SetData multiple times on one instance of IDataObject to store data in more than one format.

You retrieve stored data from an IDataObject by calling the GetData method and specifying the data format in the format parameter. Set the autoConvert parameter to false to retrieve only data that was stored in the specified format. To convert the stored data to the specified format, set autoConvert to true, or do not use autoConvert.

To determine the formats of the data stored in an IDataObject, use the following IDataObject methods.

• Call the GetFormats method to retrieve an array of all the formats in which the data is available. Set the autoConvert parameter to false to get only the formats in which the data is stored. To get all the formats in which the data is available, set autoConvert to true, or do not use this parameter.

• Call the GetDataPresent method to determine whether stored data is available in a certain format. If you do not want stored data to be converted to the specified format, set the autoConvert parameter to false.

See the DataObject class for an implementation of this interface. See the DataFormats class for the predefined Clipboard data formats.

Methods

GetData(String, Boolean)	Retrieves the data associated with the specified data format, using a Boolean to determine whether to convert the data to the format.
GetData(String)	Retrieves the data associated with the specified data format.
GetData(Type)	Retrieves the data associated with the specified class type format.
GetDataPresent(String, Boolean)	Determines whether data stored in this instance is associated with the specified format, using a Boolean value to determine whether to convert the data to the format.
GetDataPresent(String)	Determines whether data stored in this instance is associated with, or can be converted to, the specified format.
GetDataPresent(Type)	Determines whether data stored in this instance is associated with, or can be converted to, the specified format.
GetFormats()	Returns a list of all formats that data stored in this instance is associated with or can be converted to.
GetFormats(Boolean)	Gets a list of all formats that data stored in this instance is associated with or can be converted to, using a Boolean value to determine whether to retrieve all formats that the data can be converted to or only native data formats.
SetData(Object)	Stores the specified data in this instance, using the class of the data for the format.
SetData(String, Boolean, Object)	Stores the specified data and its associated format in this instance, using a Boolean value to specify whether the data can be converted to another format.
SetData(String, Object)	Stores the specified data and its associated format in this instance.
SetData(Type, Object)	Stores the specified data and its associated class type in this instance.

See also

• DataObject
• DataFormats