Article
11/18/2011

WeakReference Class

Microsoft Silverlight will reach end of support after October 2021. Learn more.

Represents a weak reference, which references an object while still allowing that object to be reclaimed by garbage collection.

Inheritance Hierarchy

System.Object
System.WeakReference

Namespace: System
Assembly: mscorlib (in mscorlib.dll)

Syntax

'Declaration
<ComVisibleAttribute(True)> _
Public Class WeakReference

[ComVisibleAttribute(true)]
public class WeakReference

The WeakReference type exposes the following members.

Constructors

	Name	Description
	WeakReference()	Initializes a new instance of the WeakReference class. This constructor overload cannot be implemented in Silverlight-based applications.
	WeakReference(Object)	Initializes a new instance of the WeakReference class, referencing the specified object.
	WeakReference(Object, Boolean)	Initializes a new instance of the WeakReference class, referencing the specified object and using the specified resurrection tracking.

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Properties

	Name	Description
	IsAlive	Gets an indication whether the object referenced by the current WeakReference object has been garbage collected.
	Target	Gets or sets the object (the target) referenced by the current WeakReference object.
	TrackResurrection	Gets an indication whether the object referenced by the current WeakReference object is tracked after it is finalized.

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Methods

	Name	Description
	Equals(Object)	Determines whether the specified Object is equal to the current Object. (Inherited from Object.)
	Finalize	Discards the reference to the target represented by the current WeakReference object. (Overrides Object.Finalize().)
	GetHashCode	Serves as a hash function for a particular type. (Inherited from Object.)
	GetType	Gets the Type of the current instance. (Inherited from Object.)
	MemberwiseClone	Creates a shallow copy of the current Object. (Inherited from Object.)
	ToString	Returns a string that represents the current object. (Inherited from Object.)

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Remarks

A weak reference allows the garbage collector to collect an object while still allowing an application to access the object. If you need the object, you can still obtain a strong reference to it and prevent it from being collected.

Version Information

Silverlight

Supported in: 5, 4, 3

Silverlight for Windows Phone

Supported in: Windows Phone OS 7.1, Windows Phone OS 7.0

XNA Framework

Supported in: Xbox 360, Windows Phone OS 7.0

Platforms

For a list of the operating systems and browsers that are supported by Silverlight, see Supported Operating Systems and Browsers.

Thread Safety

Any public static (Shared in Visual Basic) members of this type are thread safe. Any instance members are not guaranteed to be thread safe.