BinaryReader Class

11/23/2015
4 minutes to read

[ This article is for Windows Phone 8 developers. If you’re developing for Windows 10, see the latest documentation. ]

Reads primitive data types as binary values in a specific encoding.

Inheritance Hierarchy

System..::.Object
System.IO..::.BinaryReader

Namespace: System.IO
Assembly: mscorlib (in mscorlib.dll)

Syntax

Public Class BinaryReader _
    Implements IDisposable

public class BinaryReader : IDisposable

The BinaryReader type exposes the following members.

Constructors

	Name	Description
	BinaryReader(Stream)	Initializes a new instance of the BinaryReader class based on the supplied stream and using UTF8Encoding.
	BinaryReader(Stream, Encoding)	Initializes a new instance of the BinaryReader class based on the supplied stream and a specific character encoding.
	BinaryReader(Stream, Encoding, Boolean)	Initializes a new instance of the BinaryReader class based on the supplied stream, a specific character encoding, and a value that specifies whether to leave the stream open.

Top

Properties

	Name	Description
	BaseStream	Exposes access to the underlying stream of the BinaryReader.

Top

Methods

	Name	Description
	Close	Closes the current reader and the underlying stream.
	Dispose()()()	Releases the resources used by the current instance of the BinaryReader class.
	Dispose(Boolean)	Called by the Dispose method and finalizer to release the managed and unmanaged resources used by the current instance of the BinaryReader class.
	Equals(Object)	Determines whether the specified Object is equal to the current Object. (Inherited from Object.)
	FillBuffer	Fills the internal buffer with the specified number of bytes read from the stream.
	Finalize	Allows an object to try to free resources and perform other cleanup operations before the Object is reclaimed by garbage collection. (Inherited from Object.)
	GetHashCode	Serves as a hash function for a particular type. (Inherited from Object.)
	GetType	Gets the Type of the current instance. (Inherited from Object.)
	MemberwiseClone	Creates a shallow copy of the current Object. (Inherited from Object.)
	PeekChar	Returns the next available character and does not advance the byte or character position.
	Read()()()	Reads characters from the underlying stream and advances the current position of the stream in accordance with the Encoding used and the specific character being read from the stream.
	Read(array<Byte>[]()[], Int32, Int32)	Reads count bytes from the stream with index as the starting point in the byte array.
	Read(array<Char>[]()[], Int32, Int32)	Reads count characters from the stream with index as the starting point in the character array.
	Read7BitEncodedInt	Reads in a 32-bit integer in compressed format.
	ReadBoolean	Reads a Boolean value from the current stream and advances the current position of the stream by one byte.
	ReadByte	Reads the next byte from the current stream and advances the current position of the stream by one byte.
	ReadBytes	Reads the specified number of bytes from the current stream into a byte array and advances the current position by that number of bytes.
	ReadChar	Reads the next character from the current stream and advances the current position of the stream in accordance with the Encoding used and the specific character being read from the stream.
	ReadChars	Reads the specified number of characters from the current stream, returns the data in a character array, and advances the current position in accordance with the Encoding used and the specific character being read from the stream.
	ReadDecimal	Reads a decimal value from the current stream and advances the current position of the stream by sixteen bytes.
	ReadDouble	Reads an 8-byte floating point value from the current stream and advances the current position of the stream by eight bytes.
	ReadInt16	Reads a 2-byte signed integer from the current stream and advances the current position of the stream by two bytes.
	ReadInt32	Reads a 4-byte signed integer from the current stream and advances the current position of the stream by four bytes.
	ReadInt64	Reads an 8-byte signed integer from the current stream and advances the current position of the stream by eight bytes.
	ReadSByte	Reads a signed byte from this stream and advances the current position of the stream by one byte.
	ReadSingle	Reads a 4-byte floating point value from the current stream and advances the current position of the stream by four bytes.
	ReadString	Reads a string from the current stream. The string is prefixed with the length, encoded as an integer seven bits at a time.
	ReadUInt16	Reads a 2-byte unsigned integer from the current stream using little-endian encoding and advances the position of the stream by two bytes.
	ReadUInt32	Reads a 4-byte unsigned integer from the current stream and advances the position of the stream by four bytes.
	ReadUInt64	Reads an 8-byte unsigned integer from the current stream and advances the position of the stream by eight bytes.
	ToString	Returns a string that represents the current object. (Inherited from Object.)

Top

Remarks

The BinaryReader class provides methods that simplify reading primitive data types from a stream. For example, you can use the ReadBoolean method to read the next byte as a Boolean value and advance the current position in the stream by one byte. The class includes read methods that support different data types.

When you create a new instance of the BinaryReader class, you provide the stream to read from, and optionally specify the type of encoding and whether to leave the stream open after disposing the BinaryReader object. If you do not specify an encoding type, UTF-8 is used.

Version Information

Windows Phone OS

Supported in: 8.1, 8.0, 7.1, 7.0

Platforms

Windows Phone

Thread Safety

Any public static (Shared in Visual Basic) members of this type are thread safe. Any instance members are not guaranteed to be thread safe.