Clipboard.GetText Method

  • Reference

Definition

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

Retrieves text data from the Clipboard.

Overloads

GetText()

Retrieves text data from the Clipboard in the Text or UnicodeText format, depending on the operating system.
GetText(TextDataFormat)

Retrieves text data from the Clipboard in the format indicated by the specified TextDataFormat value.

GetText()

Retrieves text data from the Clipboard in the Text or UnicodeText format, depending on the operating system.

public:
 static System::String ^ GetText();
public static string GetText ();
static member GetText : unit -> string
Public Shared Function GetText () As String

Returns

String

The Clipboard text data or Empty if the Clipboard does not contain data in the Text or UnicodeText format, depending on the operating system.

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 an overload of the GetText method that is similar to this overload.

// Demonstrates SetText, ContainsText, and GetText.
public String SwapClipboardHtmlText(String replacementHtmlText)
{
    String returnHtmlText = null;
    if (Clipboard.ContainsText(TextDataFormat.Html))
    {
        returnHtmlText = Clipboard.GetText(TextDataFormat.Html);
        Clipboard.SetText(replacementHtmlText, TextDataFormat.Html);
    }
    return returnHtmlText;
}

' Demonstrates SetText, ContainsText, and GetText.
Public Function SwapClipboardHtmlText( _
    ByVal replacementHtmlText As String) As String

    Dim returnHtmlText As String = Nothing

    If (Clipboard.ContainsText(TextDataFormat.Html)) Then
        returnHtmlText = Clipboard.GetText(TextDataFormat.Html)
        Clipboard.SetText(replacementHtmlText, TextDataFormat.Html)
    End If

    Return returnHtmlText

End Function

Remarks

This method returns text data in the UnicodeText format on Windows XP Home Edition, Windows XP Professional, Windows Server 2003 and Windows 2000. Otherwise, this method returns text data in the Text format.

Use the ContainsText method to determine whether the Clipboard contains text data before retrieving it with this method.

Use the SetText method to add text data to the Clipboard.

Note

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.

See also

Applies to

GetText(TextDataFormat)

Retrieves text data from the Clipboard in the format indicated by the specified TextDataFormat value.

public:
 static System::String ^ GetText(System::Windows::Forms::TextDataFormat format);
public static string GetText (System.Windows.Forms.TextDataFormat format);
static member GetText : System.Windows.Forms.TextDataFormat -> string
Public Shared Function GetText (format As TextDataFormat) As String

Parameters

format
TextDataFormat

One of the TextDataFormat values.

Returns

String

The Clipboard text data or Empty if the Clipboard does not contain data in the specified 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.

InvalidEnumArgumentException

format is not a valid TextDataFormat value.

Examples

The following example demonstrates this member.

// Demonstrates SetText, ContainsText, and GetText.
public String SwapClipboardHtmlText(String replacementHtmlText)
{
    String returnHtmlText = null;
    if (Clipboard.ContainsText(TextDataFormat.Html))
    {
        returnHtmlText = Clipboard.GetText(TextDataFormat.Html);
        Clipboard.SetText(replacementHtmlText, TextDataFormat.Html);
    }
    return returnHtmlText;
}

' Demonstrates SetText, ContainsText, and GetText.
Public Function SwapClipboardHtmlText( _
    ByVal replacementHtmlText As String) As String

    Dim returnHtmlText As String = Nothing

    If (Clipboard.ContainsText(TextDataFormat.Html)) Then
        returnHtmlText = Clipboard.GetText(TextDataFormat.Html)
        Clipboard.SetText(replacementHtmlText, TextDataFormat.Html)
    End If

    Return returnHtmlText

End Function

Remarks

Use the ContainsText method to determine whether the Clipboard contains text data before retrieving it with this method.

Use the SetText method to add text data to the Clipboard.

Note

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.

See also

Applies to