Stream.ReadAsync Method

Definition

Asynchronously reads a sequence of bytes from the current stream and advances the position within the stream by the number of bytes read.

Overloads

ReadAsync(Memory<Byte>, CancellationToken)

Asynchronously reads a sequence of bytes from the current stream, advances the position within the stream by the number of bytes read, and monitors cancellation requests.

ReadAsync(Byte[], Int32, Int32)

Asynchronously reads a sequence of bytes from the current stream and advances the position within the stream by the number of bytes read.

ReadAsync(Byte[], Int32, Int32, CancellationToken)

Asynchronously reads a sequence of bytes from the current stream, advances the position within the stream by the number of bytes read, and monitors cancellation requests.

ReadAsync(Memory<Byte>, CancellationToken)

Asynchronously reads a sequence of bytes from the current stream, advances the position within the stream by the number of bytes read, and monitors cancellation requests.

public virtual System.Threading.Tasks.ValueTask<int> ReadAsync (Memory<byte> buffer, System.Threading.CancellationToken cancellationToken = default);
abstract member ReadAsync : Memory<byte> * System.Threading.CancellationToken -> System.Threading.Tasks.ValueTask<int>
override this.ReadAsync : Memory<byte> * System.Threading.CancellationToken -> System.Threading.Tasks.ValueTask<int>
Public Overridable Function ReadAsync (buffer As Memory(Of Byte), Optional cancellationToken As CancellationToken = Nothing) As ValueTask(Of Integer)

Parameters

buffer
Memory<Byte>

The region of memory to write the data into.

cancellationToken
CancellationToken

The token to monitor for cancellation requests. The default value is None.

Returns

A task that represents the asynchronous read operation. The value of its Result property contains the total number of bytes read into the buffer. The result value can be less than the length of the buffer if that many bytes are not currently available, or it can be 0 (zero) if the length of the buffer is 0 or if the end of the stream has been reached.

Exceptions

The cancellation token was canceled. This exception is stored into the returned task.

Remarks

The ReadAsync method enables you to perform resource-intensive I/O operations without blocking the main thread. This performance consideration is particularly important in a Windows 8.x Store app or desktop app where a time-consuming stream operation can block the UI thread and make your app appear as if it is not working. The async methods are used in conjunction with the async and await keywords in Visual Basic and C#.

Use the CanRead property to determine whether the current instance supports reading.

If the operation is canceled before it completes, the returned task contains the TaskStatus.Canceled value for the Status property.

For an example, see the ReadAsync(Byte[], Int32, Int32) overload.

Applies to

ReadAsync(Byte[], Int32, Int32)

Asynchronously reads a sequence of bytes from the current stream and advances the position within the stream by the number of bytes read.

public:
 System::Threading::Tasks::Task<int> ^ ReadAsync(cli::array <System::Byte> ^ buffer, int offset, int count);
public System.Threading.Tasks.Task<int> ReadAsync (byte[] buffer, int offset, int count);
[System.Runtime.InteropServices.ComVisible(false)]
public System.Threading.Tasks.Task<int> ReadAsync (byte[] buffer, int offset, int count);
member this.ReadAsync : byte[] * int * int -> System.Threading.Tasks.Task<int>
[<System.Runtime.InteropServices.ComVisible(false)>]
member this.ReadAsync : byte[] * int * int -> System.Threading.Tasks.Task<int>
Public Function ReadAsync (buffer As Byte(), offset As Integer, count As Integer) As Task(Of Integer)

Parameters

buffer
Byte[]

The buffer to write the data into.

offset
Int32

The byte offset in buffer at which to begin writing data from the stream.

count
Int32

The maximum number of bytes to read.

Returns

A task that represents the asynchronous read operation. The value of the TResult parameter contains the total number of bytes read into the buffer. The result value can be less than the number of bytes requested if the number of bytes currently available is less than the requested number, or it can be 0 (zero) if count is 0 or if the end of the stream has been reached.

Attributes

Exceptions

buffer is null.

offset or count is negative.

The sum of offset and count is larger than the buffer length.

The stream does not support reading.

The stream has been disposed.

The stream is currently in use by a previous read operation.

Examples

The following example shows how to read from a file asynchronously. The example uses the FileStream class, which derives from the Stream class.

using System;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using System.Windows;
using System.Windows.Controls;
using System.IO;

namespace WpfApplication1
{
    public partial class MainWindow : Window
    {
        public MainWindow()
        {
            InitializeComponent();
        }

        private async void Button_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
        {
            string filename = @"c:\Temp\userinputlog.txt";
            byte[] result;

            using (FileStream SourceStream = File.Open(filename, FileMode.Open))
            {
                result = new byte[SourceStream.Length];
                await SourceStream.ReadAsync(result, 0, (int)SourceStream.Length);
            }

            UserInput.Text = System.Text.Encoding.ASCII.GetString(result);
        }
    }
}
Imports System.IO
Imports System.Text

Class MainWindow
    Private Async Sub Button_Click(sender As Object, e As RoutedEventArgs)
        Dim filename As String = "c:\Temp\userinputlog.txt"

        Dim result As Byte()

        Using SourceStream As FileStream = File.Open(filename, FileMode.Open)
            result = New Byte(SourceStream.Length - 1) {}
            Await SourceStream.ReadAsync(result, 0, CType(SourceStream.Length, Integer))
        End Using

        UserInput.Text = System.Text.Encoding.ASCII.GetString(result)
    End Sub
End Class

Remarks

The ReadAsync method enables you to perform resource-intensive I/O operations without blocking the main thread. This performance consideration is particularly important in a Windows 8.x Store app or desktop app where a time-consuming stream operation can block the UI thread and make your app appear as if it is not working. The async methods are used in conjunction with the async and await keywords in Visual Basic and C#.

Use the CanRead property to determine whether the current instance supports reading.

This method stores in the task it returns all non-usage exceptions that the method's synchronous counterpart can throw. If an exception is stored into the returned task, that exception will be thrown when the task is awaited. Usage exceptions, such as ArgumentException, are still thrown synchronously. For the stored exceptions, see the exceptions thrown by Read(Byte[], Int32, Int32).

Applies to

ReadAsync(Byte[], Int32, Int32, CancellationToken)

Asynchronously reads a sequence of bytes from the current stream, advances the position within the stream by the number of bytes read, and monitors cancellation requests.

public:
 virtual System::Threading::Tasks::Task<int> ^ ReadAsync(cli::array <System::Byte> ^ buffer, int offset, int count, System::Threading::CancellationToken cancellationToken);
public virtual System.Threading.Tasks.Task<int> ReadAsync (byte[] buffer, int offset, int count, System.Threading.CancellationToken cancellationToken);
[System.Runtime.InteropServices.ComVisible(false)]
public virtual System.Threading.Tasks.Task<int> ReadAsync (byte[] buffer, int offset, int count, System.Threading.CancellationToken cancellationToken);
abstract member ReadAsync : byte[] * int * int * System.Threading.CancellationToken -> System.Threading.Tasks.Task<int>
override this.ReadAsync : byte[] * int * int * System.Threading.CancellationToken -> System.Threading.Tasks.Task<int>
[<System.Runtime.InteropServices.ComVisible(false)>]
abstract member ReadAsync : byte[] * int * int * System.Threading.CancellationToken -> System.Threading.Tasks.Task<int>
override this.ReadAsync : byte[] * int * int * System.Threading.CancellationToken -> System.Threading.Tasks.Task<int>
Public Overridable Function ReadAsync (buffer As Byte(), offset As Integer, count As Integer, cancellationToken As CancellationToken) As Task(Of Integer)

Parameters

buffer
Byte[]

The buffer to write the data into.

offset
Int32

The byte offset in buffer at which to begin writing data from the stream.

count
Int32

The maximum number of bytes to read.

cancellationToken
CancellationToken

The token to monitor for cancellation requests. The default value is None.

Returns

A task that represents the asynchronous read operation. The value of the TResult parameter contains the total number of bytes read into the buffer. The result value can be less than the number of bytes requested if the number of bytes currently available is less than the requested number, or it can be 0 (zero) if count is 0 or if the end of the stream has been reached.

Attributes

Exceptions

buffer is null.

offset or count is negative.

The sum of offset and count is larger than the buffer length.

The stream does not support reading.

The stream has been disposed.

The stream is currently in use by a previous read operation.

The cancellation token was canceled. This exception is stored into the returned task.

Remarks

The ReadAsync method enables you to perform resource-intensive I/O operations without blocking the main thread. This performance consideration is particularly important in a Windows 8.x Store app or desktop app where a time-consuming stream operation can block the UI thread and make your app appear as if it is not working. The async methods are used in conjunction with the async and await keywords in Visual Basic and C#.

Use the CanRead property to determine whether the current instance supports reading.

If the operation is canceled before it completes, the returned task contains the Canceled value for the Status property.

For an example, see the ReadAsync(Byte[], Int32, Int32) overload.

This method stores in the task it returns all non-usage exceptions that the method's synchronous counterpart can throw. If an exception is stored into the returned task, that exception will be thrown when the task is awaited. Usage exceptions, such as ArgumentException, are still thrown synchronously. For the stored exceptions, see the exceptions thrown by Read(Byte[], Int32, Int32).

See also

Applies to