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IFormattable Interface

Definition

Provides functionality to format the value of an object into a string representation.

public interface IFormattable
[System.Runtime.InteropServices.ComVisible(true)]
public interface IFormattable
Derived
Attributes

Examples

The following example defines a Temperature class that implements the IFormattable interface. The class supports four format specifiers: "G" and "C", which indicate that the temperature is to be displayed in Celsius; "F", which indicates that the temperature is to be displayed in Fahrenheit; and "K", which indicates that the temperature is to be displayed in Kelvin. In addition, the IFormattable.ToString implementation also can handle a format string that is null or empty. The other two ToString methods defined by the Temperature class simply wrap a call to the IFormattable.ToString implementation.

using System;
using System.Globalization;

public class Temperature : IFormattable
{
   private decimal temp;

   public Temperature(decimal temperature)
   {
      if (temperature < -273.15m)
        throw new ArgumentOutOfRangeException(String.Format("{0} is less than absolute zero.",
                                              temperature));
      this.temp = temperature;
   }

   public decimal Celsius
   {
      get { return temp; }
   }

   public decimal Fahrenheit
   {
      get { return temp * 9 / 5 + 32; }
   }

   public decimal Kelvin
   {
      get { return temp + 273.15m; }
   }

   public override string ToString()
   {
      return this.ToString("G", CultureInfo.CurrentCulture);
   }

   public string ToString(string format)
   {
      return this.ToString(format, CultureInfo.CurrentCulture);
   }

   public string ToString(string format, IFormatProvider provider)
   {
      if (String.IsNullOrEmpty(format)) format = "G";
      if (provider == null) provider = CultureInfo.CurrentCulture;

      switch (format.ToUpperInvariant())
      {
         case "G":
         case "C":
            return temp.ToString("F2", provider) + " °C";
         case "F":
            return Fahrenheit.ToString("F2", provider) + " °F";
         case "K":
            return Kelvin.ToString("F2", provider) + " K";
         default:
            throw new FormatException(String.Format("The {0} format string is not supported.", format));
      }
   }
}

The following example then calls the IFormattable.ToString implementation either directly or by using a composite format string.

public class Example
{
   public static void Main()
   {
      // Use composite formatting with format string in the format item.
      Temperature temp1 = new Temperature(0);
      Console.WriteLine("{0:C} (Celsius) = {0:K} (Kelvin) = {0:F} (Fahrenheit)\n", temp1);

      // Use composite formatting with a format provider.
      temp1 = new Temperature(-40);
      Console.WriteLine(String.Format(CultureInfo.CurrentCulture, "{0:C} (Celsius) = {0:K} (Kelvin) = {0:F} (Fahrenheit)", temp1));
      Console.WriteLine(String.Format(new CultureInfo("fr-FR"), "{0:C} (Celsius) = {0:K} (Kelvin) = {0:F} (Fahrenheit)\n", temp1));

      // Call ToString method with format string.
      temp1 = new Temperature(32);
      Console.WriteLine("{0} (Celsius) = {1} (Kelvin) = {2} (Fahrenheit)\n",
                        temp1.ToString("C"), temp1.ToString("K"), temp1.ToString("F"));

      // Call ToString with format string and format provider
      temp1 = new Temperature(100)      ;
      NumberFormatInfo current = NumberFormatInfo.CurrentInfo;
      CultureInfo nl = new CultureInfo("nl-NL");
      Console.WriteLine("{0} (Celsius) = {1} (Kelvin) = {2} (Fahrenheit)",
                        temp1.ToString("C", current), temp1.ToString("K", current), temp1.ToString("F", current));
      Console.WriteLine("{0} (Celsius) = {1} (Kelvin) = {2} (Fahrenheit)",
                        temp1.ToString("C", nl), temp1.ToString("K", nl), temp1.ToString("F", nl));
   }
}
// The example displays the following output:
//    0.00 °C (Celsius) = 273.15 K (Kelvin) = 32.00 °F (Fahrenheit)
//
//    -40.00 °C (Celsius) = 233.15 K (Kelvin) = -40.00 °F (Fahrenheit)
//    -40,00 °C (Celsius) = 233,15 K (Kelvin) = -40,00 °F (Fahrenheit)
//
//    32.00 °C (Celsius) = 305.15 K (Kelvin) = 89.60 °F (Fahrenheit)
//
//    100.00 °C (Celsius) = 373.15 K (Kelvin) = 212.00 °F (Fahrenheit)
//    100,00 °C (Celsius) = 373,15 K (Kelvin) = 212,00 °F (Fahrenheit)

Remarks

The IFormattable interface converts an object to its string representation based on a format string and a format provider.

A format string typically defines the general appearance of an object. For example, the .NET Framework supports the following:

You can also define your own format strings to support formatting of your application-defined types.

A format provider returns a formatting object that typically defines the symbols used in converting an object to its string representation. For example, when you convert a number to a currency value, a format provider defines the currency symbol that appears in the result string. The .NET Framework defines three format providers:

In addition, you can define your own custom format providers to supply culture-specific, profession-specific, or industry-specific information used in formatting. For more information about implementing custom formatting by using a custom format provider, see ICustomFormatter.

The IFormattable interface defines a single method, ToString, that supplies formatting services for the implementing type. The ToString method can be called directly. In addition, it is called automatically by the Convert.ToString(Object) and Convert.ToString(Object, IFormatProvider) methods, and by methods that use the composite formatting feature in the .NET Framework. Such methods include Console.WriteLine(String, Object), String.Format, and StringBuilder.AppendFormat(String, Object), among others. The ToString method is called for each format item in the method's format string.

The IFormattable interface is implemented by the base data types.

Notes to Implementers

Classes that require more control over the formatting of strings than ToString() provides should implement IFormattable.

A class that implements IFormattable must support the "G" (general) format specifier. Besides the "G" specifier, the class can define the list of format specifiers that it supports. In addition, the class must be prepared to handle a format specifier that is null. For more information about formatting and formatting codes, see Formatting Types

Methods

ToString(String, IFormatProvider)

Formats the value of the current instance using the specified format.

Applies to

Product Versions
.NET Core 1.0, Core 1.1, Core 2.0, Core 2.1, Core 2.2, Core 3.0, Core 3.1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
.NET Framework 1.1, 2.0, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5, 4.5.1, 4.5.2, 4.6, 4.6.1, 4.6.2, 4.7, 4.7.1, 4.7.2, 4.8, 4.8.1
.NET Standard 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 2.0, 2.1
UWP 10.0

See also