Clipboard Class

Definition

public ref class Clipboard sealed

public ref class Clipboard abstract sealed

public sealed class Clipboard

public static class Clipboard

type Clipboard = class

Public NotInheritable Class Clipboard

Public Class Clipboard

Inheritance

Object

Clipboard

Examples

The following code example uses Clipboard methods to place data on and retrieve it from the system Clipboard. This code assumes button1, button2, textBox1, and textBox2 have been created and placed on the form.

The button1_Click method calls SetDataObject to take selected text from the text box and place it on the system Clipboard.

The button2_Click method calls GetDataObject to retrieve data from the system Clipboard. The code uses IDataObject and DataFormats to extract the data returned and displays the data in textBox2.

private:
   void button1_Click( Object^ /*sender*/, System::EventArgs^ /*e*/ )
   {
      // Takes the selected text from a text box and puts it on the clipboard.
      if ( !textBox1->SelectedText->Equals( "" ) )
      {
         Clipboard::SetDataObject( textBox1->SelectedText );
      }
      else
      {
         textBox2->Text = "No text selected in textBox1";
      }
   }

   void button2_Click( Object^ /*sender*/, System::EventArgs^ /*e*/ )
   {
      // Declares an IDataObject to hold the data returned from the clipboard.
      // Retrieves the data from the clipboard.
      IDataObject^ iData = Clipboard::GetDataObject();
      
      // Determines whether the data is in a format you can use.
      if ( iData->GetDataPresent( DataFormats::Text ) )
      {
         // Yes it is, so display it in a text box.
         textBox2->Text = (String^)(iData->GetData( DataFormats::Text ));
      }
      else
      {
         // No it is not.
         textBox2->Text = "Could not retrieve data off the clipboard.";
      }
   }

private void button1_Click(object sender, System.EventArgs e) {
    // Takes the selected text from a text box and puts it on the clipboard.
    if(textBox1.SelectedText != "")
       Clipboard.SetDataObject(textBox1.SelectedText);
    else
       textBox2.Text = "No text selected in textBox1";
 }
 
 private void button2_Click(object sender, System.EventArgs e) {
    // Declares an IDataObject to hold the data returned from the clipboard.
    // Retrieves the data from the clipboard.
    IDataObject iData = Clipboard.GetDataObject();
 
    // Determines whether the data is in a format you can use.
    if(iData.GetDataPresent(DataFormats.Text)) {
       // Yes it is, so display it in a text box.
       textBox2.Text = (String)iData.GetData(DataFormats.Text); 
    }
    else {
       // No it is not.
       textBox2.Text = "Could not retrieve data off the clipboard.";
    }
 }

Private Sub button1_Click(sender As Object, e As System.EventArgs)
    ' Takes the selected text from a text box and puts it on the clipboard.
    If textBox1.SelectedText <> "" Then
        Clipboard.SetDataObject(textBox1.SelectedText)
    Else
        textBox2.Text = "No text selected in textBox1"
    End If
End Sub
 
Private Sub button2_Click(sender As Object, e As System.EventArgs)
    ' Declares an IDataObject to hold the data returned from the clipboard.
    ' Retrieves the data from the clipboard.
    Dim iData As IDataObject = Clipboard.GetDataObject()
    
    ' Determines whether the data is in a format you can use.
    If iData.GetDataPresent(DataFormats.Text) Then
        ' Yes it is, so display it in a text box.
        textBox2.Text = CType(iData.GetData(DataFormats.Text), String)
    Else
        ' No it is not.
        textBox2.Text = "Could not retrieve data off the clipboard."
    End If
End Sub

Remarks

For a list of predefined formats to use with the Clipboard class, see the DataFormats class.

Call SetDataObject to put data on the Clipboard, replacing its current contents. To place a persistent copy of the data on the Clipboard, set the copy parameter to true.

Call GetDataObject to retrieve data from the Clipboard. The data is returned as an object that implements the IDataObject interface. Use the methods specified by IDataObject and fields in DataFormats to extract the data from the object. If you do not know the format of the data you retrieved, call the GetFormats method of the IDataObject interface to get a list of all formats that data is stored in. Then call the GetData method of the IDataObject interface, and specify a format that your application can use.

In .NET Framework 2.0, the Clipboard class provides additional methods that make it easier to work with the system Clipboard. Call the Clear method to remove all data from the Clipboard. To add data of a particular format to the Clipboard, replacing the existing data, call the appropriate SetFormat method, such as SetText, or call the SetData method to specify the format. To retrieve data of a particular format from the Clipboard, first call the appropriate ContainsFormat method (such as ContainsText) method to determine whether the Clipboard contains data in that format, and then call the appropriate GetFormat method (such as GetText) to retrieve the data if the Clipboard contains it. To specify the format in these operations, call the ContainsData and GetData methods instead.

Methods

Applies to

See also

• DataObject
• DataFormats
• IDataObject
• Additional Security Considerations in Windows Forms