out (C# Reference) 

The out keyword causes arguments to be passed by reference. This is similar to the ref keyword, except that ref requires that the variable be initialized before being passed. To use an out parameter, both the method definition and the calling method must explicitly use the out keyword. For example:

class OutExample
{
    static void Method(out int i)
    {
        i = 44;
    }
    static void Main()
    {
        int value;
        Method(out value);
        // value is now 44
    }
}

Although variables passed as an out arguments need not be initialized prior to being passed, the calling method is required to assign a value before the method returns.

The ref and out keywords are treated differently at run-time, but they are treated the same at compile time. Therefore methods cannot be overloaded if one method takes a ref argument and the other takes an out argument. These two methods, for example, are identical in terms of compilation, so this code will not compile:

class CS0663_Example 
{
    // compiler error CS0663: "cannot define overloaded 
    // methods that differ only on ref and out"
    public void SampleMethod(out int i) {  }
    public void SampleMethod(ref int i) {  }
}

Overloading can be done, however, if one method takes a ref or out argument and the other uses neither, like this:

class RefOutOverloadExample
{
    public void SampleMethod(int i) {  }
    public void SampleMethod(out int i) {  }
}

Remarks

Properties are not variables and therefore cannot be passed as out parameters.

For information on passing arrays, see Passing Arrays Using ref and out.

Example

Declaring an out method is useful when you want a method to return multiple values. A method that uses an out parameter can still a variables as a return type (see return) but it can also return one or more objects to a calling method as out parameters. This example uses out to return three variables with a single method call. Note that the third argument is assigned to null. This allows methods to return values optionally.

class OutReturnExample
{
    static void Method(out int i, out string s1, out string s2)
    {
        i = 44;
        s1 = "I've been returned";
        s2 = null;
    }
    static void Main()
    {
        int value;
        string str1, str2;
        Method(out value, out str1, out str2);
        // value is now 44
        // str1 is now "I've been returned"
        // str2 is (still) null;
    }
}

C# Language Specification

For more information, see the following sections in the C# Language Specification:

• 5.1.6 Output parameters

• 10.5.1.3 Output parameters

See Also

Reference

C# Keywords
Method Parameters (C# Reference)

Concepts

C# Programming Guide

Other Resources

C# Reference