How do I perform custom conversions for structures in vb.net?

I have read that this is not supported. How do I convert, cast, or
event copy the data between 2 different structures.

I read one recommendation was to use a shared function, but I could
not get it to work.

Help!

Here's a couple of structures that use a shared function to copy data
around.  NOTE: Since you can't cast, the data copying is done manually
in code:

Option Strict

Imports System
Imports Microsoft.VisualBasic

Public Class App1

    Structure S1
        Public FirstName As String
        Public LastName As String
        Public Age As Integer

        Shared Function FromS2(data As S2) As S1
            Dim new_s1 As S1
            Dim i As integer

            i = Instr(data.Name, ",")
            new_s1.LastName = Left(data.Name, i-1)
            new_s1.FirstName = Mid(data.Name, i+1)
            new_s1.Age = data.CurrentAge
            Return new_s1
        End Function
    End Structure

    Structure S2
        Public Name As String
        Public CurrentAge As Integer
    End Structure

        Shared Sub Main()
        Dim p2 As S2

        p2.Name = "Gunnerson,Eric"
        p2.CurrentAge = 33

        Dim p1 As S1 = S1.FromS2(p2)
        Console.WriteLine("{0} {1}, Age: {2}", p1.FirstName, _
            p1.LastName, p1.Age)
        End Sub
End Class

--
Patrick Steele
Microsoft .NET MVP