IFormatProvider.GetFormat(Type) Method

public:
 System::Object ^ GetFormat(Type ^ formatType);

public object GetFormat (Type formatType);

public object? GetFormat (Type? formatType);

abstract member GetFormat : Type -> obj

Public Function GetFormat (formatType As Type) As Object

Parameters

Returns

An instance of the object specified by formatType, if the IFormatProvider implementation can supply that type of object; otherwise, null.

Examples

The following example illustrates the use of a class that implements the IFormatProvider interface and the GetFormat method. The AcctNumberFormat class converts an Int64 value that represents an account number to a formatted 12-digit account number. Its GetFormat method returns a reference to itself if the formatType parameter refers to a class that implements ICustomFormatter; otherwise, GetFormat returns null.

public class AcctNumberFormat : IFormatProvider, ICustomFormatter
{
   private const int ACCT_LENGTH = 12;

   public object GetFormat(Type formatType)
   {
      if (formatType == typeof(ICustomFormatter))
         return this;
      else
         return null;
   }

   public string Format(string fmt, object arg, IFormatProvider formatProvider)
   {
      // Provide default formatting if arg is not an Int64.
      if (arg.GetType() != typeof(Int64))
         try {
            return HandleOtherFormats(fmt, arg);
         }
         catch (FormatException e) {
            throw new FormatException(String.Format("The format of '{0}' is invalid.", fmt), e);
         }

      // Provide default formatting for unsupported format strings.
      string ufmt = fmt.ToUpper(CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);
      if (!(ufmt == "H" || ufmt == "I"))
         try {
            return HandleOtherFormats(fmt, arg);
         }
         catch (FormatException e) {
            throw new FormatException(String.Format("The format of '{0}' is invalid.", fmt), e);
         }

      // Convert argument to a string.
      string result = arg.ToString();

      // If account number is less than 12 characters, pad with leading zeroes.
      if (result.Length < ACCT_LENGTH)
         result = result.PadLeft(ACCT_LENGTH, '0');
      // If account number is more than 12 characters, truncate to 12 characters.
      if (result.Length > ACCT_LENGTH)
         result = result.Substring(0, ACCT_LENGTH);

      if (ufmt == "I")                    // Integer-only format.
         return result;
      // Add hyphens for H format specifier.
      else                                         // Hyphenated format.
         return result.Substring(0, 5) + "-" + result.Substring(5, 3) + "-" + result.Substring(8);
   }

   private string HandleOtherFormats(string format, object arg)
   {
      if (arg is IFormattable)
         return ((IFormattable)arg).ToString(format, CultureInfo.CurrentCulture);
      else if (arg != null)
         return arg.ToString();
      else
         return String.Empty;
   }
}

open System
open System.Globalization

type AcctNumberFormat() =
    let [<Literal>] ACCT_LENGTH = 12

    interface IFormatProvider with
        member this.GetFormat(formatType: Type) =
            if formatType = typeof<ICustomFormatter> then
                this
            else
                null

    interface ICustomFormatter with
        member this.Format(fmt: string, arg: obj, formatProvider: IFormatProvider) =
            // Provide default formatting if arg is not an Int64.
            // Provide default formatting for unsupported format strings.
            let ufmt = fmt.ToUpper CultureInfo.InvariantCulture
            if arg.GetType() = typeof<Int64> && (ufmt = "H" || ufmt = "I") then
                // Convert argument to a string.
                let result = string arg

                let result =
                    // If account number is less than 12 characters, pad with leading zeroes.
                    if result.Length < ACCT_LENGTH then
                        result.PadLeft(ACCT_LENGTH, '0')
                    else result
                
                let result =
                    // If account number is more than 12 characters, truncate to 12 characters.
                    if result.Length > ACCT_LENGTH then
                        result.Substring(0, ACCT_LENGTH)
                    else result

                // Integer-only format.
                if ufmt = "I" then 
                    result
                // Add hyphens for H format specifier.
                else // Hyphenated format.
                    result.Substring(0, 5) + "-" + result.Substring(5, 3) + "-" + result.Substring(8)
            else
                try
                    this.HandleOtherFormats(fmt, arg)
                with :? FormatException as e ->
                    raise (FormatException($"The format of '{fmt}' is invalid.", e))
            
    member _.HandleOtherFormats(format: string, arg: obj) =
        match arg with
        | :? IFormattable as arg ->
            arg.ToString(format, CultureInfo.CurrentCulture)
        | null -> 
            string arg
        | _ -> 
            String.Empty

Public Class AcctNumberFormat : Implements IFormatProvider, ICustomFormatter

   Private Const ACCT_LENGTH As Integer = 12
   
   Public Function GetFormat(formatType As Type) As Object _
                   Implements IFormatProvider.GetFormat
      If formatType Is GetType(ICustomFormatter) Then
         Return Me
      Else
         Return Nothing
      End If
   End Function
   
   Public Function Format(fmt As String, arg As Object, formatProvider As IFormatProvider) As String _
                          Implements ICustomFormatter.Format

      ' Provide default formatting if arg is not an Int64.
       If Not TypeOf arg Is Int64 Then
         Try 
            Return HandleOtherFormats(fmt, arg) 
         Catch e As FormatException 
            Throw New FormatException(String.Format("The format of '{0}' is invalid.", fmt), e)
         End Try
       End If   
                     
      ' Provider default formatting for unsupported format strings.
      Dim ufmt As String = fmt.ToUpper(CultureInfo.InvariantCulture)
      If Not (ufmt = "H" Or ufmt = "I") Then
         Try
            Return HandleOtherFormats(fmt, arg)
         Catch e As FormatException 
            Throw New FormatException(String.Format("The format of '{0}' is invalid.", fmt), e)
         End Try
      End If   

      ' Convert argument to a string.
      Dim result As String = arg.ToString()
      
      ' If account number is less than 12 characters, pad with leading zeroes.
      If result.Length < ACCT_LENGTH Then result = result.PadLeft(ACCT_LENGTH, "0"c)
      ' If account number is more than 12 characters, truncate to 12 characters.
      If result.Length > ACCT_LENGTH Then result = Left(result, ACCT_LENGTH)   
      
      If ufmt = "I"                              ' Integer-only format.
         Return result
      ' Add hyphens for H format specifier.
      Else                                       ' Hypenated format.
         Return Left(result, 5) & "-" & Mid(result, 6, 3) & "-" & Right(result, 4)
      End If   
   End Function   

   Private Function HandleOtherFormats(fmt As String, arg As Object) As String
      If TypeOf arg Is IFormattable Then
         Return DirectCast(arg, IFormattable).ToString(fmt, CultureInfo.CurrentCulture)
      ElseIf arg IsNot Nothing Then
         Return arg.ToString()
      Else
         Return String.Empty
      End If
   End Function
End Class

An instance of the AcctNumberFormat class can then be passed as an argument to a method that provides formatting or parsing services. For example, the following code passes an AcctNumberFormat class to the String.Format(IFormatProvider, String, Object[]) method to generate a formatted 12-digit account number.

using System;
using System.Globalization;

public enum DaysOfWeek { Monday=1, Tuesday=2 };

public class TestFormatting
{
   public static void Main()
   {
      long acctNumber;
      double balance;
      DaysOfWeek wday;
      string output;

      acctNumber = 104254567890;
      balance = 16.34;
      wday = DaysOfWeek.Monday;

      output = String.Format(new AcctNumberFormat(),
                             "On {2}, the balance of account {0:H} was {1:C2}.",
                             acctNumber, balance, wday);
      Console.WriteLine(output);

      wday = DaysOfWeek.Tuesday;
      output = String.Format(new AcctNumberFormat(),
                             "On {2}, the balance of account {0:I} was {1:C2}.",
                             acctNumber, balance, wday);
      Console.WriteLine(output);
   }
}
// The example displays the following output:
//       On Monday, the balance of account 10425-456-7890 was $16.34.
//       On Tuesday, the balance of account 104254567890 was $16.34.

open System
open System.Globalization

type DaysOfWeek = Monday = 1 | Tuesday = 2

[<EntryPoint>]
let main _ =
    let acctNumber = 104254567890L
    let balance = 16.34
    let wday = DaysOfWeek.Monday

    let output = 
        String.Format(AcctNumberFormat(), 
                      "On {2}, the balance of account {0:H} was {1:C2}.", 
                      acctNumber, balance, wday)
    printfn $"{output}"

    let wday = DaysOfWeek.Tuesday
    let output = 
        String.Format(AcctNumberFormat(),
                      "On {2}, the balance of account {0:I} was {1:C2}.",
                      acctNumber, balance, wday)
    printfn $"{output}"
    0

// The example displays the following output:
//       On Monday, the balance of account 10425-456-7890 was $16.34.
//       On Tuesday, the balance of account 104254567890 was $16.34.

Imports System.Globalization

Public Enum DaysOfWeek As Long
   Monday = 1
   Tuesday = 2
End Enum

Module TestFormatting
   Public Sub Main()
      Dim acctNumber As Long, balance As Double 
      Dim wday As DaysOfWeek 
      Dim output As String

      acctNumber = 104254567890
      balance = 16.34
      wday = DaysOfWeek.Monday

      output = String.Format(New AcctNumberFormat(), "On {2}, the balance of account {0:H} was {1:C2}.", acctNumber, balance, wday)
      Console.WriteLine(output)

      wday = DaysOfWeek.Tuesday
      output = String.Format(New AcctNumberFormat(), "On {2}, the balance of account {0:I} was {1:C2}.", acctNumber, balance, wday)
      Console.WriteLine(output)
   End Sub
End Module
' The example displays the following output:
'    On Monday, the balance of account 10425-456-7890 was $16.34.
'    On Tuesday, the balance of account 104254567890 was $16.34.

Remarks

GetFormat is a callback method that formatting and parsing methods invoke to retrieve information about the format of the input string in parsing operations or the format of the output string in formatting operations. In the formatType parameter, the formatting or parsing method passes the type of object it requires to perform its operation. If the IFormatProvider implementation can supply this formatting or parsing object, it returns that object. If not, it returns null.

For example, in the call to the Int32.ToString(IFormatProvider) method, the method argument is an IFormatProvider object that provides information about how the string representation of the current integer instance might be formatted. When the runtime executes the method, it calls the IFormatProvider object's GetFormat method and passes it a Type object that represents the NumberFormatInfo type. If the IFormatProvider object can supply a NumberFormatInfo object, it returns that object. If it cannot supply an object of that type, it returns null.

You can implement the IFormatProvider interface and the GetFormat method in classes that provide custom formatting or parsing services. The IFormatProvider implementation is then passed as an argument to any overload of a parsing or formatting method that has a parameter of type IFormatProvider, such as String.Format(IFormatProvider, String, Object[]), Int32.ToString(String, IFormatProvider), or DateTime.Parse(String, IFormatProvider).

Applies to