A platform-specific type that is used to represent a pointer or a handle.
(in mscorlib.dll)
'Usage
Dim instance As IntPtr
'Declaration
<SerializableAttribute> _
<ComVisibleAttribute(True)> _
Public Structure IntPtr _
Implements ISerializable
The IntPtr type is designed to be an integer whose size is platform-specific. That is, an instance of this type is expected to be 32-bits on 32-bit hardware and operating systems, and 64-bits on 64-bit hardware and operating systems.
The IntPtr type can be used by languages that support pointers, and as a common means of referring to data between languages that do and do not support pointers.
IntPtr objects can also be used to hold handles. For example, instances of IntPtr are used extensively in the System.IO..::.FileStream class to hold file handles.
The IntPtr type is CLS-compliant, while the UIntPtr type is not. Only the IntPtr type is used in the common language runtime. The UIntPtr type is provided mostly to maintain architectural symmetry with the IntPtr type.
This type implements the ISerializable interface.
This type is thread safe.
Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP SP2, Windows XP Media Center Edition, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Windows XP Starter Edition, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2000 SP4, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows 98, Windows CE, Windows Mobile for Smartphone, Windows Mobile for Pocket PC, Xbox 360, Zune
The .NET Framework and .NET Compact Framework do not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see .NET Framework System Requirements.
.NET Framework
Supported in: 3.5, 3.0, 2.0, 1.1, 1.0
.NET Compact Framework
Supported in: 3.5, 2.0, 1.0
XNA Framework
Supported in: 3.0, 2.0, 1.0
Reference