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Clipboard.GetData(String) Method

  • Reference

Definition

Namespace:
System.Windows.Forms
Assembly:
System.Windows.Forms.dll

Retrieves data from the Clipboard in the specified format.

public:
 static System::Object ^ GetData(System::String ^ format);
public static object GetData (string format);
public static object? GetData (string format);
static member GetData : string -> obj
Public Shared Function GetData (format As String) As Object

Parameters

format
String

The format of the data to retrieve. See DataFormats for predefined formats.

Returns

Object

An Object representing the Clipboard data or null if the Clipboard does not contain any data that is in the specified format or can be converted to that format.

Exceptions

ExternalException

The Clipboard could not be cleared. This typically occurs when the Clipboard is being used by another process.

ThreadStateException

The current thread is not in single-threaded apartment (STA) mode. Add the STAThreadAttribute to your application's Main method.

Examples

The following example demonstrates this member.

// Demonstrates SetData, ContainsData, and GetData.
public Object SwapClipboardFormattedData(String format, Object data)
{
    Object returnObject = null;
    if (Clipboard.ContainsData(format))
    {
        returnObject = Clipboard.GetData(format);
        Clipboard.SetData(format, data);
    }
    return returnObject;
}

' Demonstrates SetData, ContainsData, and GetData.
Public Function SwapClipboardFormattedData( _
    ByVal format As String, ByVal data As Object) As Object

    Dim returnObject As Object = Nothing

    If (Clipboard.ContainsData(format)) Then
        returnObject = Clipboard.GetData(format)
        Clipboard.SetData(format, data)
    End If

    Return returnObject

End Function

Remarks

Use the ContainsData method to determine whether the Clipboard contains data in the specified format or a compatible format before retrieving it with this method.

If this method cannot find data in the specified format, it attempts to convert the data to the format. If the data cannot be converted to the specified format, or if the data was stored with automatic conversion set to false, this method returns null.

Note

Data can be converted to another format if it was stored specifying that conversion is allowed, and if the requested format is compatible with the stored format. For example, data stored as Unicode can be converted to text.

The Clipboard class can only be used in threads set to single thread apartment (STA) mode. To use this class, ensure that your Main method is marked with the STAThreadAttribute attribute.

Use the SetData method to add data to the Clipboard in a particular format.

Applies to

See also