UTF32Encoding.GetString(Byte[], Int32, Int32) Method

Definition

Decodes a range of bytes from a byte array into a string.

public:
 override System::String ^ GetString(cli::array <System::Byte> ^ bytes, int index, int count);
public override string GetString (byte[] bytes, int index, int count);
override this.GetString : byte[] * int * int -> string
Public Overrides Function GetString (bytes As Byte(), index As Integer, count As Integer) As String

Parameters

bytes
Byte[]

The byte array containing the sequence of bytes to decode.

index
Int32

The index of the first byte to decode.

count
Int32

The number of bytes to decode.

Returns

A string that contains the results of decoding the specified sequence of bytes.

Exceptions

bytes is null.

index or count is less than zero.

-or-

index and count do not denote a valid range in bytes.

Error detection is enabled, and bytes contains an invalid sequence of bytes.

A fallback occurred (for more information, see Character Encoding in .NET for a complete explanation).

-and-

DecoderFallback is set to DecoderExceptionFallback.

Examples

The following example encodes a string into two arrays of bytes, one in little-endian order and the other in big-endian order. It then decodes the bytes back into a string.

using System;
using System.Text;

public class Example  
{
   public static void Main()  
   {
      // Create two instances of UTF32Encoding: one with little-endian byte order and one with big-endian byte order.
      UTF32Encoding u32LE = new UTF32Encoding(false, true, true);
      UTF32Encoding u32BE = new UTF32Encoding(true, true, true);

      // Create byte arrays from the same string containing the following characters:
      //    Latin Small Letter Z (U+007A)
      //    Latin Small Letter A (U+0061)
      //    Combining Breve (U+0306)
      //    Latin Small Letter AE With Acute (U+01FD)
      //    Greek Small Letter Beta (U+03B2)
      String str = "za\u0306\u01FD\u03B2";

      // barrBE uses the big-endian byte order.
      byte[] barrBE = new byte[u32BE.GetByteCount(str)];
      u32BE.GetBytes(str, 0, str.Length, barrBE, 0);

      // barrLE uses the little-endian byte order.
      byte[] barrLE = new byte[u32LE.GetByteCount(str)];
      u32LE.GetBytes(str, 0, str.Length, barrLE, 0);

      // Decode the byte arrays.
      Console.WriteLine("BE array with BE encoding:");
      DisplayString(barrBE, u32BE);
      Console.WriteLine();

      Console.WriteLine("LE array with LE encoding:");
      DisplayString(barrLE, u32LE);
      Console.WriteLine();
   
      // Decode the byte arrays using an encoding with a different byte order.
      Console.WriteLine("BE array with LE encoding:");
      try  {
         DisplayString(barrBE, u32LE);
      }
      catch (System.ArgumentException e)  {
         Console.WriteLine(e.Message);
      }
      Console.WriteLine();

      Console.WriteLine("LE array with BE encoding:");
      try  {
         DisplayString(barrLE, u32BE);
      }
      catch (ArgumentException e)  {
         Console.WriteLine(e.Message);
      }
      Console.WriteLine();
   }

   public static void DisplayString(byte[] bytes, Encoding enc)  
   {
      // Display the name of the encoding used.
      Console.Write("{0,-25}: ", enc.ToString());

      // Decode the bytes and display the characters.
      Console.WriteLine(enc.GetString(bytes, 0, bytes.Length));
   }
}
// This example displays the following output:
//   BE array with BE encoding:
//   System.Text.UTF32Encoding: zăǽβ
//
//   LE array with LE encoding:
//   System.Text.UTF32Encoding: zăǽβ
//
//   BE array with LE encoding:
//   System.Text.UTF32Encoding: Unable to translate bytes [00][00][00][7A] at index 0 from specified code page to Unicode.
//
//   LE array with BE encoding:
//   System.Text.UTF32Encoding: Unable to translate bytes [7A][00][00][00] at index 0 from specified code page to Unicode.
Imports System.Text

Public Module Example  
   Public Sub Main()  
      ' Create two instances of UTF32Encoding: one with little-endian byte order and one with big-endian byte order.
      Dim u32LE As New UTF32Encoding(False, True, True)
      Dim u32BE As New UTF32Encoding(True, True, True)

      ' Create byte arrays from the same string containing the following characters:
      '    Latin Small Letter Z (U+007A)
      '    Latin Small Letter A (U+0061)
      '    Combining Breve (U+0306)
      '    Latin Small Letter AE With Acute (U+01FD)
      '    Greek Small Letter Beta (U+03B2)
      Dim str As String = "za" + ChrW(&h0306) + ChrW(&h01FD) + ChrW(&h03B2)

      ' barrBE uses the big-endian byte order.
      Dim barrBE(u32BE.GetByteCount(str) - 1) As Byte
      u32BE.GetBytes(str, 0, str.Length, barrBE, 0)

      ' barrLE uses the little-endian byte order.
      Dim barrLE(u32LE.GetByteCount(str) - 1) As Byte
      u32LE.GetBytes(str, 0, str.Length, barrLE, 0)

      ' Decode the byte arrays.
      Console.WriteLine("BE array with BE encoding:")
      DisplayString(barrBE, u32BE)
      Console.WriteLine()

      Console.WriteLine("LE array with LE encoding:")
      DisplayString(barrLE, u32LE)
      Console.WriteLine()
   
      ' Decode the byte arrays using an encoding with a different byte order.
      Console.WriteLine("BE array with LE encoding:")
      Try  
         DisplayString(barrBE, u32LE)
      Catch e As ArgumentException
         Console.WriteLine(e.Message)
      End Try
      Console.WriteLine()

      Console.WriteLine("LE array with BE encoding:")
      Try  
         DisplayString(barrLE, u32BE)
      Catch e As ArgumentException
         Console.WriteLine(e.Message)
      End Try
      Console.WriteLine()
   End Sub

   Public Sub DisplayString(bytes As Byte(), enc As Encoding )  
      ' Display the name of the encoding used.
      Console.Write("{0,-25}: ", enc.ToString())

      ' Decode the bytes and display the characters.
      Console.WriteLine(enc.GetString(bytes, 0, bytes.Length))
   End Sub
End Module
' This example displays the following output:
'   BE array with BE encoding:
'   System.Text.UTF32Encoding: zăǽβ
'
'   LE array with LE encoding:
'   System.Text.UTF32Encoding: zăǽβ
'
'   BE array with LE encoding:
'   System.Text.UTF32Encoding: Unable to translate bytes [00][00][00][7A] at index 0 from specified code page to Unicode.
'
'   LE array with BE encoding:
'   System.Text.UTF32Encoding: Unable to translate bytes [7A][00][00][00] at index 0 from specified code page to Unicode.

The following example initializes an array by calling the GetByteCount method to determine exactly how many bytes are required for an encoded string and then adding the size of the byte order mark (BOM). The example then calls the GetPreamble method to store the BOM to the array before calling the GetBytes method to store the encoded bytes to the array. The example then calls the GetString method to decode the string.

using System;
using System.Text;

public class Example
{
   public static void Main()
   {
      var utf32 = new UTF32Encoding(! BitConverter.IsLittleEndian, true);

      String s = "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...";

      // We need to dimension the array, since we'll populate it with 2 method calls.
      Byte[] bytes = new Byte[utf32.GetByteCount(s) + utf32.GetPreamble().Length];
      // Encode the string.
      Array.Copy(utf32.GetPreamble(), bytes, utf32.GetPreamble().Length);
      utf32.GetBytes(s, 0, s.Length, bytes, utf32.GetPreamble().Length);

      // Decode the byte array.
      String s2 = utf32.GetString(bytes, 0, bytes.Length);
      Console.WriteLine(s2);
   }
}
// The example displays the following output:
//        ?It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...
Imports System.Text

Module Example
   Public Sub Main()
      Dim utf32 As New UTF32Encoding(Not BitConverter.IsLittleEndian, True)

      Dim s As String = "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..."

      ' We need to dimension the array, since we'll populate it with 2 method calls.
      Dim bytes(utf32.GetByteCount(s) + utf32.GetPreamble().Length - 1) As Byte
      ' Encode the string.
      Array.Copy(utf32.GetPreamble(), bytes, utf32.GetPreamble().Length)
      utf32.GetBytes(s, 0, s.Length, bytes, utf32.GetPreamble().Length)

      ' Decode the byte array.
      Dim s2 As String = utf32.GetString(bytes, 0, bytes.Length)
      Console.WriteLine(s2)
   End Sub
End Module
' The example displays the following output:
'       ?It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...

Note that in this case the decoded string differs from the original string, since it begins with a 32-bit byte order mark U+FFFE U+0000. This means that the two strings will compare as unequal, and that if the string is output, the BOM will be displayed as the replacement character "?".

Remarks

With error detection, an invalid sequence causes this method to throw a ArgumentException. Without error detection, invalid sequences are ignored, and no exception is thrown.

If the range of bytes to be decoded includes the byte order mark (BOM), and the byte array was returned by a method of a non-BOM aware type, the character U+FFFE is included in the character array returned by this method. You can remove it by calling the String.TrimStart method.

Data to be converted, such as data read from a stream, might be available only in sequential blocks. In this case, or if the amount of data is so large that it needs to be divided into smaller blocks, the application should use the Decoder or the Encoder provided by the GetDecoder method or the GetEncoder method, respectively.

Applies to

See also