How to validate GUID is a GUID

Question

How to determine if a string contains a GUID vs just a string of numbers.

will a GUID always contain at least 1 alpha character?

Answer 1

When I'm just testing a string to see if it is a GUID, I don't really want to create a Guid object that I don't need. So...

public static class GuidEx
{
    public static bool IsGuid(string value)
    {
        Guid x;
        return Guid.TryParse(value, out x);
    }
}

And here's how you use it:

string testMe = "not a guid";
if (GuidEx.IsGuid(testMe))
{
...
}

Answer 2

Will return the Guid if it is valid Guid, else it will return Guid.Empty

if (!Guid.TryParse(yourGuidString, out yourGuid)){
          yourGuid= Guid.Empty;
}

Answer 3

Use GUID constructor standard functionality

Public Function IsValid(pString As String) As Boolean

    Try
        Dim mGuid As New Guid(pString)
    Catch ex As Exception
        Return False
    End Try
    Return True

End Function