• Article

Guid.Parse Method

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

Converts the string representation of a GUID to the equivalent Guid value.

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

Syntax

'Declaration
Public Shared Function Parse ( _
    input As String _
) As Guid

public static Guid Parse(
    string input
)

Parameters

Return Value

Type: System.Guid
A structure that contains the value that was parsed.

Exceptions

Exception Condition
ArgumentNullException

input is nulla null reference (Nothing in Visual Basic).
FormatException

input is not in a recognized format.

Remarks

Use the TryParse method to catch any unsuccessful parse operations without having to explicitly handle exceptions.

Examples

The following example creates a new GUID, converts it to three separate string representations by calling the ToString method with the "B", "D", and "X" format specifiers, and then calls the Parse method to convert the strings back to Guid values.

Module Example
   Public Sub Demo(outputBlock As System.Windows.Controls.TextBlock)
      Dim originalGuid As Guid = Guid.NewGuid()
      ' Create an array of string representations of the GUID.
      Dim stringGuids() As String = { originalGuid.ToString("B"),
                                      originalGuid.ToString("D"),
                                      originalGuid.ToString("X") }

      ' Parse each string representation.
      For Each stringGuid In stringGuids
         Try 
            Dim newGuid As Guid = Guid.Parse(stringGuid) 
            outputBlock.Text += String.Format("Converted {0} to a Guid", stringGuid) + vbCrLf
         Catch e As ArgumentNullException
            outputBlock.Text += "The string to be parsed is null." + vbCrLf   
         Catch e As FormatException
            outputBlock.Text += String.Format("Bad format: {0}", stringGuid) + vbCrLf
         End Try     
      Next                                      
   End Sub
End Module
' The example displays the following output:
'    Converted {81a130d2-502f-4cf1-a376-63edeb000e9f} to a Guid
'    Converted 81a130d2-502f-4cf1-a376-63edeb000e9f to a Guid
'    Converted {0x81a130d2,0x502f,0x4cf1,{0xa3,0x76,0x63,0xed,0xeb,0x00,0x0e,0x9f}} to a Guid

using System;

public class Example
{
   public static void Demo(System.Windows.Controls.TextBlock outputBlock)
   {
      Guid originalGuid = Guid.NewGuid();
      // Create an array of string representations of the GUID.
      string[] stringGuids = { originalGuid.ToString("B"),
                               originalGuid.ToString("D"),
                               originalGuid.ToString("X") };

      // Parse each string representation.
      foreach (var stringGuid in stringGuids) {
         try {     
            Guid newGuid = Guid.Parse(stringGuid);
            outputBlock.Text += String.Format("Converted {0} to a Guid\n", stringGuid);
         }   
         catch (ArgumentNullException) {
            outputBlock.Text += "The string to be parsed is null.\n";   
         }                                   
         catch (FormatException) {
            outputBlock.Text += String.Format("Bad format: {0}", stringGuid);
         }
      }                                      
   }
}
// The example displays the following output:
//    Converted {81a130d2-502f-4cf1-a376-63edeb000e9f} to a Guid
//    Converted 81a130d2-502f-4cf1-a376-63edeb000e9f to a Guid
//    Converted {0x81a130d2,0x502f,0x4cf1,{0xa3,0x76,0x63,0xed,0xeb,0x00,0x0e,0x9f}} to a Guid

Version Information

Silverlight

Supported in: 5, 4

Silverlight for Windows Phone

Supported in: Windows Phone OS 7.1

Platforms

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