Guid.ToByteArray Guid.ToByteArray Guid.ToByteArray Guid.ToByteArray Method

public:
 cli::array <System::Byte> ^ ToByteArray();

public byte[] ToByteArray ();

member this.ToByteArray : unit -> byte[]

Public Function ToByteArray () As Byte()

Returns

Examples

The following example calls the NewGuid method to create a Guid value, and then calls the ToByteArray method to represent the Guid value as a byte array. It then displays both values to the console. Finally, it instantiates a new Guid value from the byte array and calls its Equals(Guid) method to show that the two Guid values are identical.

using System;

public class Example
{
   public static void Main()
   {
      Guid guid = Guid.NewGuid();
      Console.WriteLine("Guid: {0}", guid);
      Byte[] bytes = guid.ToByteArray();
      foreach (var byt in bytes)
         Console.Write("{0:X2} ", byt);

      Console.WriteLine();
      Guid guid2 = new Guid(bytes);
      Console.WriteLine("Guid: {0} (Same as First Guid: {1})", guid2, guid2.Equals(guid));
   }
}
// The example displays the following output:
//    Guid: 35918bc9-196d-40ea-9779-889d79b753f0
//    C9 8B 91 35 6D 19 EA 40 97 79 88 9D 79 B7 53 F0
//    Guid: 35918bc9-196d-40ea-9779-889d79b753f0 (Same as First Guid: True)

Module Example
   Public Sub Main()
      Dim guid As Guid = Guid.NewGuid
      Console.WriteLine("Guid: {0}", guid)
      Dim bytes() As Byte = guid.ToByteArray
      For Each byt In bytes
         Console.Write("{0:X2} ", byt)
      Next
      Console.WriteLine()
      Dim guid2 As New Guid(bytes)
      Console.WriteLine("Guid: {0} (Same as First Guid: {1})", guid2, guid2.Equals(guid))
   End Sub
End Module
' The example displays the following output:
'    Guid: 35918bc9-196d-40ea-9779-889d79b753f0
'    C9 8B 91 35 6D 19 EA 40 97 79 88 9D 79 B7 53 F0
'    Guid: 35918bc9-196d-40ea-9779-889d79b753f0 (Same as First Guid: True)

Remarks

You can use the byte array returned by this method to round-trip a Guid value by calling the Guid(Byte[]) constructor.

Note that the order of bytes in the returned byte array is different from the string representation of a Guid value. The order of the beginning four-byte group and the next two two-byte groups is reversed, whereas the order of the last two-byte group and the closing six-byte group is the same. The example provides an illustration.

Applies to