Provides a format-independent mechanism for transferring data.
Namespace: System.Windows.Forms
Assembly: System.Windows.Forms (in system.windows.forms.dll)
Syntax
Visual Basic (Declaration)
<ComVisibleAttribute(True)> _
Public Interface IDataObject
Dim instance As IDataObject
[ComVisibleAttribute(true)]
public interface IDataObject
[ComVisibleAttribute(true)]
public interface class IDataObject
/** @attribute ComVisibleAttribute(true) */
public interface IDataObject
ComVisibleAttribute(true)
public interface IDataObject
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.
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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.
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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.
Platforms
Windows 98, Windows 2000 SP4, Windows CE, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows Mobile for Pocket PC, Windows Mobile for Smartphone, Windows Server 2003, Windows XP Media Center Edition, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Windows XP SP2, Windows XP Starter Edition
The .NET Framework does not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see System Requirements.
Version Information
.NET Framework
Supported in: 2.0, 1.1, 1.0
.NET Compact Framework
Supported in: 2.0
See Also