IConvertible Interface
[ This article is for Windows Phone 8 developers. If you’re developing for Windows 10, see the latest documentation. ]
Defines methods that convert the value of the implementing reference or value type to a common language runtime type that has an equivalent value.
Assembly: mscorlib (in mscorlib.dll)
The IConvertible type exposes the following members.
| Name | Description | |
|---|---|---|
 | GetTypeCode | Returns the TypeCode for this instance. |
| ToBoolean | Converts the value of this instance to an equivalent Boolean value using the specified culture-specific formatting information. |
| ToByte | Converts the value of this instance to an equivalent 8-bit unsigned integer using the specified culture-specific formatting information. |
| ToChar | Converts the value of this instance to an equivalent Unicode character using the specified culture-specific formatting information. |
| ToDateTime | Converts the value of this instance to an equivalent DateTime using the specified culture-specific formatting information. |
| ToDecimal | Converts the value of this instance to an equivalent Decimal number using the specified culture-specific formatting information. |
| ToDouble | Converts the value of this instance to an equivalent double-precision floating-point number using the specified culture-specific formatting information. |
| ToInt16 | Converts the value of this instance to an equivalent 16-bit signed integer using the specified culture-specific formatting information. |
| ToInt32 | Converts the value of this instance to an equivalent 32-bit signed integer using the specified culture-specific formatting information. |
| ToInt64 | Converts the value of this instance to an equivalent 64-bit signed integer using the specified culture-specific formatting information. |
| ToSByte | Converts the value of this instance to an equivalent 8-bit signed integer using the specified culture-specific formatting information. |
| ToSingle | Converts the value of this instance to an equivalent single-precision floating-point number using the specified culture-specific formatting information. |
| ToString | Converts the value of this instance to an equivalent String using the specified culture-specific formatting information. |
| ToType | Converts the value of this instance to an Object of the specified Type that has an equivalent value, using the specified culture-specific formatting information. |
| ToUInt16 | Converts the value of this instance to an equivalent 16-bit unsigned integer using the specified culture-specific formatting information. |
| ToUInt32 | Converts the value of this instance to an equivalent 32-bit unsigned integer using the specified culture-specific formatting information. |
| ToUInt64 | Converts the value of this instance to an equivalent 64-bit unsigned integer using the specified culture-specific formatting information. |
This interface provides methods to convert the value of an instance of an implementing type to a common language runtime type that has an equivalent value. The common language runtime types are Boolean, SByte, Byte, Int16, UInt16, Int32, UInt32, Int64, UInt64, Single, Double, Decimal, DateTime, Char, and String.
If there is no meaningful conversion to a common language runtime type, then a particular interface method implementation throws InvalidCastException. For example, if this interface is implemented on a Boolean type, the implementation of the ToDateTime method throws an exception because there is no meaningful DateTime equivalent to a Boolean type.
The common language runtime typically exposes the IConvertible interface through the Convert class. The common language runtime also uses the IConvertible interface internally, in explicit interface implementations, to simplify the code used to support conversions in the Convert class and basic common language runtime types.
In addition to the IConvertible interface, the .NET Framework allows you to define a custom type converter to convert user-defined data types to other data types. A type converter is a class derived from System.ComponentModel::TypeConverter. It is associated with the class for which it serves as a type converter by applying the System.ComponentModel::TypeConverterAttribute attribute to that class.
Notes to ImplementersIf you implement the IConvertible interface, your implementation will be called automatically by the ChangeType method if the Object parameter is an instance of your implementing type and the Type parameter is a common language runtime type.
Most IConvertible methods have a parameter of type IFormatProvider. This parameter commonly represents either the current culture (CultureInfo::CurrentCulture) or a specific culture. For the most part, the IConvertible implementations of the base types ignore this parameter. However, you can choose whether to use it in your code.