Binaryworld - Create a unique GUID ... [ VB.net -> Language ]

The System.Guid type exposes several shared and instance methods that can help you work with GUIDs, that is, those 128-bit numbers that serve to uniquely identify elements and that are ubiquitous in Windows programming. The most important member is the NewGuid shared method is useful for generating a new unique identifier:

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' Create a new GUID.
Dim guid1 As Guid = Guid.NewGuid
' By definition, you'll surely get a different output here.
Console.WriteLine(guid1.ToString)
'=> 3f5f1d42-2d92-474d-a2a4-1e707c7e2a37

There are two things you can do with a Guid object: you can convert it to a Byte array with the ToByteArray method, and you can compare two Guid values for equality using the Equals method (inherited from System.Object):

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' Convert to an array of bytes.
Dim bytes() As Byte = guid1.ToByteArray
Dim b As Byte
For Each b In bytes
  Console.Write(b.ToString & " ")
    ' => 239 1 161 57 143 200 172 70 185 64 222 29 59 15 190 205
Next

' Compare two GUIDs.
If Not guid1.Equals(guid2) Then
  Console.WriteLine("GUIDs are different.")
End If