VB.NET Language in a Nutshell

Named Arguments

No

Syntax

DirectCast( expression, typename )

expression (required; any)

The data item to be converted

typename (required; Keyword)

The data type, object type, structure, or interface to which expression is to be converted

Return Value

expression cast as a typename interface or object

Description

Converts an expression to its runtime data type, if possible; otherwise , returns an error.

Rules at a Glance

• expression must be a reference type, typically a variable of type Object..

• typename can be any data type (such as Boolean, Byte, Decimal, Long, Short, String, etc.), structure type, object type, or interface.

• If the function fails, an InvalidCastException exception occurs.

Programming Tips and Gotchas

• In contrast to the CType function, DirectCast converts a reference type (i.e., an object) to its runtime type. For instance,

  Option Strict On Imports System Public Module modMain Public Sub Main Dim oVal As Object = "a"c Dim chVal As Char = DirectCast(oVal, Char) Console.WriteLine(chVal) End Sub End Module

• DirectCast can also be used to convert an object of a derived type to its base type. For example:

  Option Strict On Imports System Public Class Person ' Implementation of Person End Class Public Class Worker Inherits Person ' Implementation of Worker End Class Public Module modMain Public Sub Main ' Conversion of a derived to a base type Dim oWorker As New Worker() Dim oPerson As Person = oWorker Dim oPerson As Person = DirectCast(oWorker, Person) End Sub End Module

• Like most of the conversion functions, DirectCast is not actually a function in the Microsoft.VisualBasic namespace. Instead, it is similar to a Visual C++ macro; the compiler translates the function call into inline code.

VB .NET/VB 6 Differences

The DirectCast function is new to VB .NET.

See Also

CType Function