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Quickstart: Analyze a local image using the Computer Vision REST API and C#

In this quickstart, you will analyze a locally stored image to extract visual features using the Computer Vision REST API. With the Analyze Image method, you can extract visual feature information from image content.

Prerequisites

  • An Azure subscription - Create one for free
  • You must have Visual Studio 2015 or later
  • Once you have your Azure subscription, create a Computer Vision resource in the Azure portal to get your key and endpoint. After it deploys, click Go to resource.
    • You will need the key and endpoint from the resource you create to connect your application to the Computer Vision service. You'll paste your key and endpoint into the code below later in the quickstart.
    • You can use the free pricing tier (F0) to try the service, and upgrade later to a paid tier for production.

Create and run the sample application

To create the sample in Visual Studio, do the following steps:

  1. Create a new Visual Studio solution/project in Visual Studio, using the Visual C# Console App (.NET Core Framework) template.
  2. Install the Newtonsoft.Json NuGet package.
    1. On the menu, click Tools, select NuGet Package Manager, then Manage NuGet Packages for Solution.
    2. Click the Browse tab, and in the Search box type "Newtonsoft.Json" (if it is not already displayed).
    3. Select Newtonsoft.Json, then click the checkbox next to your project name, and Install.
  3. Copy/paste the sample code snippet below, into your Program.cs file. Adjust the namespace name if it's different from the one you created.
  4. Replace the values of key and endpoint with your Computer Vision key and endpoint.
  5. Add an image of your choosing to your bin/debug/netcoreappX.X folder, then add the image name (with extension) to the 'imageFilePath' variable.
  6. Run the program.
using Newtonsoft.Json.Linq;
using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Net.Http;
using System.Net.Http.Headers;
using System.Threading.Tasks;

namespace CSHttpClientSample
{
    static class Program
    {
        // Add your Computer Vision key and base endpoint.
        static string key = "PASTE_YOUR_COMPUTER_VISION_KEY_HERE";
        static string endpoint = "PASTE_YOUR_COMPUTER_VISION_ENDPOINT_HERE";
        
        // the Analyze method endpoint
        static string uriBase = endpoint + "vision/v3.1/analyze";

        // Image you want analyzed (add to your bin/debug/netcoreappX.X folder)
        // For sample images, download one from here (png or jpg):
        // https://github.com/Azure-Samples/cognitive-services-sample-data-files/tree/master/ComputerVision/Images
        static string imageFilePath = @"my-sample-image";

        public static void Main()
        {
            // Call the API
            MakeAnalysisRequest(imageFilePath).Wait();

            Console.WriteLine("\nPress Enter to exit...");
            Console.ReadLine();
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Gets the analysis of the specified image file by using
        /// the Computer Vision REST API.
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="imageFilePath">The image file to analyze.</param>
        static async Task MakeAnalysisRequest(string imageFilePath)
        {
            try
            {
                HttpClient client = new HttpClient();

                // Request headers.
                client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Add(
                    "Ocp-Apim-Subscription-Key", key);

                // Request parameters. A third optional parameter is "details".
                // The Analyze Image method returns information about the following
                // visual features:
                // Categories:  categorizes image content according to a
                //              taxonomy defined in documentation.
                // Description: describes the image content with a complete
                //              sentence in supported languages.
                // Color:       determines the accent color, dominant color, 
                //              and whether an image is black & white.
                string requestParameters =
                    "visualFeatures=Categories,Description,Color";

                // Assemble the URI for the REST API method.
                string uri = uriBase + "?" + requestParameters;

                HttpResponseMessage response;

                // Read the contents of the specified local image
                // into a byte array.
                byte[] byteData = GetImageAsByteArray(imageFilePath);

                // Add the byte array as an octet stream to the request body.
                using (ByteArrayContent content = new ByteArrayContent(byteData))
                {
                    // This example uses the "application/octet-stream" content type.
                    // The other content types you can use are "application/json"
                    // and "multipart/form-data".
                    content.Headers.ContentType =
                        new MediaTypeHeaderValue("application/octet-stream");

                    // Asynchronously call the REST API method.
                    response = await client.PostAsync(uri, content);
                }

                // Asynchronously get the JSON response.
                string contentString = await response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync();

                // Display the JSON response.
                Console.WriteLine("\nResponse:\n\n{0}\n",
                    JToken.Parse(contentString).ToString());
            }
            catch (Exception e)
            {
                Console.WriteLine("\n" + e.Message);
            }
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Returns the contents of the specified file as a byte array.
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="imageFilePath">The image file to read.</param>
        /// <returns>The byte array of the image data.</returns>
        static byte[] GetImageAsByteArray(string imageFilePath)
        {
            // Open a read-only file stream for the specified file.
            using (FileStream fileStream =
                new FileStream(imageFilePath, FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read))
            {
                // Read the file's contents into a byte array.
                BinaryReader binaryReader = new BinaryReader(fileStream);
                return binaryReader.ReadBytes((int)fileStream.Length);
            }
        }
    }
}

Examine the response

A successful response is returned in JSON (based on your own image used) in the console window, similar to the following example:

{
    "categories": [
        {
            "name": "abstract_",
            "score": 0.00390625
        },
        {
            "name": "others_",
            "score": 0.0234375
        },
        {
            "name": "outdoor_",
            "score": 0.00390625
        }
    ],
    "description": {
        "tags": [
            "road",
            "building",
            "outdoor",
            "street",
            "night",
            "black",
            "city",
            "white",
            "light",
            "sitting",
            "riding",
            "man",
            "side",
            "empty",
            "rain",
            "corner",
            "traffic",
            "lit",
            "hydrant",
            "stop",
            "board",
            "parked",
            "bus",
            "tall"
        ],
        "captions": [
            {
                "text": "a close up of an empty city street at night",
                "confidence": 0.7965622853462756
            }
        ]
    },
    "requestId": "dddf1ac9-7e66-4c47-bdef-222f3fe5aa23",
    "metadata": {
        "width": 3733,
        "height": 1986,
        "format": "Jpeg"
    },
    "color": {
        "dominantColorForeground": "Black",
        "dominantColorBackground": "Black",
        "dominantColors": [
            "Black",
            "Grey"
        ],
        "accentColor": "666666",
        "isBWImg": true
    }
}

Next steps

Explore a basic Windows application that uses Computer Vision to perform optical character recognition (OCR); create smart-cropped thumbnails; plus detect, categorize, tag, and describe visual features, including faces, in an image.