UTF32Encoding.GetBytes Method

Definition

Encodes a set of characters into a sequence of bytes.

Overloads

GetBytes(Char*, Int32, Byte*, Int32)

Encodes a set of characters starting at the specified character pointer into a sequence of bytes that are stored starting at the specified byte pointer.

GetBytes(Char[], Int32, Int32, Byte[], Int32)

Encodes a set of characters from the specified character array into the specified byte array.

GetBytes(String, Int32, Int32, Byte[], Int32)

Encodes a set of characters from the specified String into the specified byte array.

GetBytes(Char*, Int32, Byte*, Int32)

Important

This API is not CLS-compliant.

Encodes a set of characters starting at the specified character pointer into a sequence of bytes that are stored starting at the specified byte pointer.

public:
 override int GetBytes(char* chars, int charCount, System::Byte* bytes, int byteCount);
[System.CLSCompliant(false)]
[System.Security.SecurityCritical]
public override int GetBytes (char* chars, int charCount, byte* bytes, int byteCount);
[System.CLSCompliant(false)]
public override int GetBytes (char* chars, int charCount, byte* bytes, int byteCount);
[<System.CLSCompliant(false)>]
[<System.Security.SecurityCritical>]
override this.GetBytes : nativeptr<char> * int * nativeptr<byte> * int -> int
[<System.CLSCompliant(false)>]
override this.GetBytes : nativeptr<char> * int * nativeptr<byte> * int -> int

Parameters

chars
Char*

A pointer to the first character to encode.

charCount
Int32

The number of characters to encode.

bytes
Byte*

A pointer to the location at which to start writing the resulting sequence of bytes.

byteCount
Int32

The maximum number of bytes to write.

Returns

The actual number of bytes written at the location indicated by the bytes parameter.

Attributes

Exceptions

chars is null.

-or-

bytes is null.

charCount or byteCount is less than zero.

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

-or-

byteCount is less than the resulting number of bytes.

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

-and-

EncoderFallback is set to EncoderExceptionFallback.

Remarks

To calculate the exact array size required by GetBytes to store the resulting bytes, you call the GetByteCount method. To calculate the maximum array size, you call the GetMaxByteCount method. The GetByteCount method generally allocates less memory, while the GetMaxByteCount method generally executes faster.

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.

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 uses the Decoder or the Encoder provided by the GetDecoder method or the GetEncoder method, respectively.

Important

To ensure that the encoded bytes are decoded properly when they are saved as a file or as a stream, you can prefix a stream of encoded bytes with a preamble. Inserting a preamble at the beginning of a byte stream (such as at the beginning of a series of bytes to be written to a file) is the developer's responsibility. The GetBytes method does not prepend a preamble to the beginning of a sequence of encoded bytes.

See also

Applies to

GetBytes(Char[], Int32, Int32, Byte[], Int32)

Encodes a set of characters from the specified character array into the specified byte array.

public:
 override int GetBytes(cli::array <char> ^ chars, int charIndex, int charCount, cli::array <System::Byte> ^ bytes, int byteIndex);
public override int GetBytes (char[] chars, int charIndex, int charCount, byte[] bytes, int byteIndex);
override this.GetBytes : char[] * int * int * byte[] * int -> int
Public Overrides Function GetBytes (chars As Char(), charIndex As Integer, charCount As Integer, bytes As Byte(), byteIndex As Integer) As Integer

Parameters

chars
Char[]

The character array containing the set of characters to encode.

charIndex
Int32

The index of the first character to encode.

charCount
Int32

The number of characters to encode.

bytes
Byte[]

The byte array to contain the resulting sequence of bytes.

byteIndex
Int32

The index at which to start writing the resulting sequence of bytes.

Returns

The actual number of bytes written into bytes.

Exceptions

chars is null.

-or-

bytes is null.

charIndex or charCount or byteIndex is less than zero.

-or-

charIndex and charCount do not denote a valid range in chars.

-or-

byteIndex is not a valid index in bytes.

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

-or-

bytes does not have enough capacity from byteIndex to the end of the array to accommodate the resulting bytes.

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

-and-

EncoderFallback is set to EncoderExceptionFallback.

Examples

The following example determines the number of bytes required to encode three characters from a character array, then encodes the characters and displays the resulting bytes.

using namespace System;
using namespace System::Text;
void PrintCountsAndBytes( array<Char>^chars, int index, int count, Encoding^ enc );
void PrintHexBytes( array<Byte>^bytes );
int main()
{
   
   // The characters to encode:
   //    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)
   //    a high-surrogate value (U+D8FF)
   //    a low-surrogate value (U+DCFF)
   array<Char>^myChars = gcnew array<Char>(7){
      L'z',L'a',L'\u0306',L'\u01FD',L'\u03B2',L'\xD8FF',L'\xDCFF'
   };
   
   // Create instances of different encodings.
   UTF7Encoding^ u7 = gcnew UTF7Encoding;
   UTF8Encoding^ u8Nobom = gcnew UTF8Encoding( false,true );
   UTF8Encoding^ u8Bom = gcnew UTF8Encoding( true,true );
   UTF32Encoding ^ u32Nobom = gcnew UTF32Encoding( false,false,true );
   UTF32Encoding ^ u32Bom = gcnew UTF32Encoding( false,true,true );
   
   // Encode three characters starting at index 4 and print out the counts and the resulting bytes.
   PrintCountsAndBytes( myChars, 4, 3, u7 );
   PrintCountsAndBytes( myChars, 4, 3, u8Nobom );
   PrintCountsAndBytes( myChars, 4, 3, u8Bom );
   PrintCountsAndBytes( myChars, 4, 3, u32Nobom );
   PrintCountsAndBytes( myChars, 4, 3, u32Bom );
}

void PrintCountsAndBytes( array<Char>^chars, int index, int count, Encoding^ enc )
{
   
   // Display the name of the encoding used.
   Console::Write( "{0,-25} :", enc );
   
   // Display the exact byte count.
   int iBC = enc->GetByteCount( chars, index, count );
   Console::Write( " {0,-3}", iBC );
   
   // Display the maximum byte count.
   int iMBC = enc->GetMaxByteCount( count );
   Console::Write( " {0,-3} :", iMBC );
   
   // Get the byte order mark, if any.
   array<Byte>^preamble = enc->GetPreamble();
   
   // Combine the preamble and the encoded bytes.
   array<Byte>^bytes = gcnew array<Byte>(preamble->Length + iBC);
   Array::Copy( preamble, bytes, preamble->Length );
   enc->GetBytes( chars, index, count, bytes, preamble->Length );
   
   // Display all the encoded bytes.
   PrintHexBytes( bytes );
}

void PrintHexBytes( array<Byte>^bytes )
{
   if ( (bytes == nullptr) || (bytes->Length == 0) )
      Console::WriteLine( "<none>" );
   else
   {
      for ( int i = 0; i < bytes->Length; i++ )
         Console::Write( "{0:X2} ", bytes[ i ] );
      Console::WriteLine();
   }
}

/* 
This code produces the following output.

System.Text.UTF7Encoding  : 10  11  :2B 41 37 4C 59 2F 39 7A 2F 2D
System.Text.UTF8Encoding  : 6   12  :CE B2 F1 8F B3 BF
System.Text.UTF8Encoding  : 6   12  :EF BB BF CE B2 F1 8F B3 BF
System.Text.UTF32Encoding : 8   12  :B2 03 00 00 FF FC 04 00
System.Text.UTF32Encoding : 8   12  :FF FE 00 00 B2 03 00 00 FF FC 04 00

*/
using System;
using System.Text;

public class SamplesUTF32Encoding  {

   public static void Main()  {

      // The characters to encode:
      //    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)
      //    a high-surrogate value (U+D8FF)
      //    a low-surrogate value (U+DCFF)
      char[] myChars = new char[7] { 'z', 'a', '\u0306', '\u01FD', '\u03B2', '\uD8FF', '\uDCFF' };

      // Create instances of different encodings.
      UTF7Encoding  u7       = new UTF7Encoding();
      UTF8Encoding  u8Nobom  = new UTF8Encoding( false, true );
      UTF8Encoding  u8Bom    = new UTF8Encoding( true,  true );
      UTF32Encoding u32Nobom = new UTF32Encoding( false, false, true );
      UTF32Encoding u32Bom   = new UTF32Encoding( false, true,  true );

      // Encode three characters starting at index 4 and print out the counts and the resulting bytes.
      PrintCountsAndBytes( myChars, 4, 3, u7 );
      PrintCountsAndBytes( myChars, 4, 3, u8Nobom );
      PrintCountsAndBytes( myChars, 4, 3, u8Bom );
      PrintCountsAndBytes( myChars, 4, 3, u32Nobom );
      PrintCountsAndBytes( myChars, 4, 3, u32Bom );
   }

   public static void PrintCountsAndBytes( char[] chars, int index, int count, Encoding enc )  {

      // Display the name of the encoding used.
      Console.Write( "{0,-25} :", enc.ToString() );

      // Display the exact byte count.
      int iBC  = enc.GetByteCount( chars, index, count );
      Console.Write( " {0,-3}", iBC );

      // Display the maximum byte count.
      int iMBC = enc.GetMaxByteCount( count );
      Console.Write( " {0,-3} :", iMBC );

      // Get the byte order mark, if any.
      byte[] preamble = enc.GetPreamble();

      // Combine the preamble and the encoded bytes.
      byte[] bytes = new byte[preamble.Length + iBC];
      Array.Copy( preamble, bytes, preamble.Length );
      enc.GetBytes( chars, index, count, bytes, preamble.Length );

      // Display all the encoded bytes.
      PrintHexBytes( bytes );
   }

   public static void PrintHexBytes( byte[] bytes )  {

      if (( bytes == null ) || ( bytes.Length == 0 ))
        {
            Console.WriteLine( "<none>" );
        }
        else  {
         for ( int i = 0; i < bytes.Length; i++ )
            Console.Write( "{0:X2} ", bytes[i] );
         Console.WriteLine();
      }
   }
}


/* 
This code produces the following output.

System.Text.UTF7Encoding  : 10  11  :2B 41 37 4C 59 2F 39 7A 2F 2D
System.Text.UTF8Encoding  : 6   12  :CE B2 F1 8F B3 BF
System.Text.UTF8Encoding  : 6   12  :EF BB BF CE B2 F1 8F B3 BF
System.Text.UTF32Encoding : 8   12  :B2 03 00 00 FF FC 04 00
System.Text.UTF32Encoding : 8   12  :FF FE 00 00 B2 03 00 00 FF FC 04 00

*/
Imports System.Text

Public Class SamplesUTF32Encoding   

   Public Shared Sub Main()

      ' The characters to encode:
      '    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)
      '    a high-surrogate value (U+D8FF)
      '    a low-surrogate value (U+DCFF)
      Dim myChars() As Char = {"z"c, "a"c, ChrW(&H0306), ChrW(&H01FD), ChrW(&H03B2), ChrW(&HD8FF), ChrW(&HDCFF)}

      ' Create instances of different encodings.
      Dim u7 As New UTF7Encoding()
      Dim u8Nobom As New UTF8Encoding(False, True)
      Dim u8Bom As New UTF8Encoding(True, True)
      Dim u32Nobom As New UTF32Encoding(False, False, True)
      Dim u32Bom As New UTF32Encoding(False, True, True)

      ' Encode three characters starting at index 4 and print out the counts and the resulting bytes.
      PrintCountsAndBytes(myChars, 4, 3, u7)
      PrintCountsAndBytes(myChars, 4, 3, u8Nobom)
      PrintCountsAndBytes(myChars, 4, 3, u8Bom)
      PrintCountsAndBytes(myChars, 4, 3, u32Nobom)
      PrintCountsAndBytes(myChars, 4, 3, u32Bom)

   End Sub


   Public Shared Sub PrintCountsAndBytes(chars() As Char, index As Integer, count As Integer, enc As Encoding)

      ' Display the name of the encoding used.
      Console.Write("{0,-25} :", enc.ToString())

      ' Display the exact byte count.
      Dim iBC As Integer = enc.GetByteCount(chars, index, count)
      Console.Write(" {0,-3}", iBC)

      ' Display the maximum byte count.
      Dim iMBC As Integer = enc.GetMaxByteCount(count)
      Console.Write(" {0,-3} :", iMBC)

      ' Get the byte order mark, if any.
      Dim preamble As Byte() = enc.GetPreamble()

      ' Combine the preamble and the encoded bytes.
      ' NOTE: In Visual Basic, arrays contain one extra element by default.
      '       The following line creates an array with the exact number of elements required.
      Dim bytes(preamble.Length + iBC - 1) As Byte
      Array.Copy(preamble, bytes, preamble.Length)
      enc.GetBytes(chars, index, count, bytes, preamble.Length)

      ' Display all the encoded bytes.
      PrintHexBytes(bytes)

   End Sub


   Public Shared Sub PrintHexBytes(bytes() As Byte)

      If bytes Is Nothing OrElse bytes.Length = 0 Then
         Console.WriteLine("<none>")
      Else
         Dim i As Integer
         For i = 0 To bytes.Length - 1
            Console.Write("{0:X2} ", bytes(i))
         Next i
         Console.WriteLine()
      End If

   End Sub

End Class


'This code produces the following output.
'
'System.Text.UTF7Encoding  : 10  11  :2B 41 37 4C 59 2F 39 7A 2F 2D
'System.Text.UTF8Encoding  : 6   12  :CE B2 F1 8F B3 BF
'System.Text.UTF8Encoding  : 6   12  :EF BB BF CE B2 F1 8F B3 BF
'System.Text.UTF32Encoding : 8   12  :B2 03 00 00 FF FC 04 00
'System.Text.UTF32Encoding : 8   12  :FF FE 00 00 B2 03 00 00 FF FC 04 00

Remarks

To calculate the exact array size required by GetBytes to store the resulting bytes, you call the GetByteCount method. To calculate the maximum array size, you call the GetMaxByteCount method. The GetByteCount method generally allocates less memory, while the GetMaxByteCount method generally executes faster.

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.

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 uses the Decoder or the Encoder provided by the GetDecoder method or the GetEncoder method, respectively.

Important

To ensure that the encoded bytes are decoded properly when they are saved as a file or as a stream, you can prefix a stream of encoded bytes with a preamble. Inserting a preamble at the beginning of a byte stream (such as at the beginning of a series of bytes to be written to a file) is the developer's responsibility. The GetBytes method does not prepend a preamble to the beginning of a sequence of encoded bytes.

See also

Applies to

GetBytes(String, Int32, Int32, Byte[], Int32)

Encodes a set of characters from the specified String into the specified byte array.

public:
 override int GetBytes(System::String ^ s, int charIndex, int charCount, cli::array <System::Byte> ^ bytes, int byteIndex);
public override int GetBytes (string s, int charIndex, int charCount, byte[] bytes, int byteIndex);
override this.GetBytes : string * int * int * byte[] * int -> int
Public Overrides Function GetBytes (s As String, charIndex As Integer, charCount As Integer, bytes As Byte(), byteIndex As Integer) As Integer

Parameters

s
String

The String containing the set of characters to encode.

charIndex
Int32

The index of the first character to encode.

charCount
Int32

The number of characters to encode.

bytes
Byte[]

The byte array to contain the resulting sequence of bytes.

byteIndex
Int32

The index at which to start writing the resulting sequence of bytes.

Returns

The actual number of bytes written into bytes.

Exceptions

s is null.

-or-

bytes is null.

charIndex or charCount or byteIndex is less than zero.

-or-

charIndex and charCount do not denote a valid range in chars.

-or-

byteIndex is not a valid index in bytes.

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

-or-

bytes does not have enough capacity from byteIndex to the end of the array to accommodate the resulting bytes.

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

-and-

EncoderFallback is set to EncoderExceptionFallback.

Examples

The following example determines the number of bytes required to encode a string, then encodes the string and displays the resulting bytes.

using namespace System;
using namespace System::Text;
void PrintCountsAndBytes( String^ s, Encoding^ enc );
void PrintHexBytes( array<Byte>^bytes );
int main()
{
   
   // The characters to encode:
   //    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)
   //    a high-surrogate value (U+D8FF)
   //    a low-surrogate value (U+DCFF)
   String^ myStr = L"za\u0306\u01FD\u03B2\xD8FF\xDCFF";
   
   // Create instances of different encodings.
   UTF7Encoding^ u7 = gcnew UTF7Encoding;
   UTF8Encoding^ u8Nobom = gcnew UTF8Encoding( false,true );
   UTF8Encoding^ u8Bom = gcnew UTF8Encoding( true,true );
   UTF32Encoding ^ u32Nobom = gcnew UTF32Encoding( false,false,true );
   UTF32Encoding ^ u32Bom = gcnew UTF32Encoding( false,true,true );
   
   // Get the byte counts and the bytes.
   PrintCountsAndBytes( myStr, u7 );
   PrintCountsAndBytes( myStr, u8Nobom );
   PrintCountsAndBytes( myStr, u8Bom );
   PrintCountsAndBytes( myStr, u32Nobom );
   PrintCountsAndBytes( myStr, u32Bom );
}

void PrintCountsAndBytes( String^ s, Encoding^ enc )
{
   
   // Display the name of the encoding used.
   Console::Write( "{0,-25} :", enc );
   
   // Display the exact byte count.
   int iBC = enc->GetByteCount( s );
   Console::Write( " {0,-3}", iBC );
   
   // Display the maximum byte count.
   int iMBC = enc->GetMaxByteCount( s->Length );
   Console::Write( " {0,-3} :", iMBC );
   
   // Get the byte order mark, if any.
   array<Byte>^preamble = enc->GetPreamble();
   
   // Combine the preamble and the encoded bytes.
   array<Byte>^bytes = gcnew array<Byte>(preamble->Length + iBC);
   Array::Copy( preamble, bytes, preamble->Length );
   enc->GetBytes( s, 0, s->Length, bytes, preamble->Length );
   
   // Display all the encoded bytes.
   PrintHexBytes( bytes );
}

void PrintHexBytes( array<Byte>^bytes )
{
   if ( (bytes == nullptr) || (bytes->Length == 0) )
      Console::WriteLine( "<none>" );
   else
   {
      for ( int i = 0; i < bytes->Length; i++ )
         Console::Write( "{0:X2} ", bytes[ i ] );
      Console::WriteLine();
   }
}

/* 
This code produces the following output.

System.Text.UTF7Encoding  : 18  23  :7A 61 2B 41 77 59 42 2F 51 4F 79 32 50 2F 63 2F 77 2D
System.Text.UTF8Encoding  : 12  24  :7A 61 CC 86 C7 BD CE B2 F1 8F B3 BF
System.Text.UTF8Encoding  : 12  24  :EF BB BF 7A 61 CC 86 C7 BD CE B2 F1 8F B3 BF
System.Text.UTF32Encoding : 24  28  :7A 00 00 00 61 00 00 00 06 03 00 00 FD 01 00 00 B2 03 00 00 FF FC 04 00
System.Text.UTF32Encoding : 24  28  :FF FE 00 00 7A 00 00 00 61 00 00 00 06 03 00 00 FD 01 00 00 B2 03 00 00 FF FC 04 00

*/
using System;
using System.Text;

public class SamplesUTF32Encoding  {

   public static void Main()  {

      // The characters to encode:
      //    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)
      //    a high-surrogate value (U+D8FF)
      //    a low-surrogate value (U+DCFF)
      String myStr = "za\u0306\u01FD\u03B2\uD8FF\uDCFF";

      // Create instances of different encodings.
      UTF7Encoding  u7       = new UTF7Encoding();
      UTF8Encoding  u8Nobom  = new UTF8Encoding( false, true );
      UTF8Encoding  u8Bom    = new UTF8Encoding( true,  true );
      UTF32Encoding u32Nobom = new UTF32Encoding( false, false, true );
      UTF32Encoding u32Bom   = new UTF32Encoding( false, true,  true );

      // Get the byte counts and the bytes.
      PrintCountsAndBytes( myStr, u7 );
      PrintCountsAndBytes( myStr, u8Nobom );
      PrintCountsAndBytes( myStr, u8Bom );
      PrintCountsAndBytes( myStr, u32Nobom );
      PrintCountsAndBytes( myStr, u32Bom );
   }

   public static void PrintCountsAndBytes( String s, Encoding enc )  {

      // Display the name of the encoding used.
      Console.Write( "{0,-25} :", enc.ToString() );

      // Display the exact byte count.
      int iBC  = enc.GetByteCount( s );
      Console.Write( " {0,-3}", iBC );

      // Display the maximum byte count.
      int iMBC = enc.GetMaxByteCount( s.Length );
      Console.Write( " {0,-3} :", iMBC );

      // Get the byte order mark, if any.
      byte[] preamble = enc.GetPreamble();

      // Combine the preamble and the encoded bytes.
      byte[] bytes = new byte[preamble.Length + iBC];
      Array.Copy( preamble, bytes, preamble.Length );
      enc.GetBytes( s, 0, s.Length, bytes, preamble.Length );

      // Display all the encoded bytes.
      PrintHexBytes( bytes );
   }

   public static void PrintHexBytes( byte[] bytes )  {

      if (( bytes == null ) || ( bytes.Length == 0 ))
        {
            Console.WriteLine( "<none>" );
        }
        else  {
         for ( int i = 0; i < bytes.Length; i++ )
            Console.Write( "{0:X2} ", bytes[i] );
         Console.WriteLine();
      }
   }
}


/* 
This code produces the following output.

System.Text.UTF7Encoding  : 18  23  :7A 61 2B 41 77 59 42 2F 51 4F 79 32 50 2F 63 2F 77 2D
System.Text.UTF8Encoding  : 12  24  :7A 61 CC 86 C7 BD CE B2 F1 8F B3 BF
System.Text.UTF8Encoding  : 12  24  :EF BB BF 7A 61 CC 86 C7 BD CE B2 F1 8F B3 BF
System.Text.UTF32Encoding : 24  28  :7A 00 00 00 61 00 00 00 06 03 00 00 FD 01 00 00 B2 03 00 00 FF FC 04 00
System.Text.UTF32Encoding : 24  28  :FF FE 00 00 7A 00 00 00 61 00 00 00 06 03 00 00 FD 01 00 00 B2 03 00 00 FF FC 04 00

*/
Imports System.Text

Public Class SamplesUTF32Encoding   

   Public Shared Sub Main()

      ' The characters to encode:
      '    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)
      '    a high-surrogate value (U+D8FF)
      '    a low-surrogate value (U+DCFF)
      Dim myStr As String = "za" & ChrW(&H0306) & ChrW(&H01FD) & ChrW(&H03B2) & ChrW(&HD8FF) & ChrW(&HDCFF)

      ' Create instances of different encodings.
      Dim u7 As New UTF7Encoding()
      Dim u8Nobom As New UTF8Encoding(False, True)
      Dim u8Bom As New UTF8Encoding(True, True)
      Dim u32Nobom As New UTF32Encoding(False, False, True)
      Dim u32Bom As New UTF32Encoding(False, True, True)

      ' Get the byte counts and the bytes.
      PrintCountsAndBytes(myStr, u7)
      PrintCountsAndBytes(myStr, u8Nobom)
      PrintCountsAndBytes(myStr, u8Bom)
      PrintCountsAndBytes(myStr, u32Nobom)
      PrintCountsAndBytes(myStr, u32Bom)

   End Sub


   Public Shared Sub PrintCountsAndBytes(s As String, enc As Encoding)

      ' Display the name of the encoding used.
      Console.Write("{0,-25} :", enc.ToString())

      ' Display the exact byte count.
      Dim iBC As Integer = enc.GetByteCount(s)
      Console.Write(" {0,-3}", iBC)

      ' Display the maximum byte count.
      Dim iMBC As Integer = enc.GetMaxByteCount(s.Length)
      Console.Write(" {0,-3} :", iMBC)

      ' Get the byte order mark, if any.
      Dim preamble As Byte() = enc.GetPreamble()

      ' Combine the preamble and the encoded bytes.
      ' NOTE: In Visual Basic, arrays contain one extra element by default.
      '       The following line creates an array with the exact number of elements required.
      Dim bytes(preamble.Length + iBC - 1) As Byte
      Array.Copy(preamble, bytes, preamble.Length)
      enc.GetBytes(s, 0, s.Length, bytes, preamble.Length)

      ' Display all the encoded bytes.
      PrintHexBytes(bytes)

   End Sub


   Public Shared Sub PrintHexBytes(bytes() As Byte)

      If bytes Is Nothing OrElse bytes.Length = 0 Then
         Console.WriteLine("<none>")
      Else
         Dim i As Integer
         For i = 0 To bytes.Length - 1
            Console.Write("{0:X2} ", bytes(i))
         Next i
         Console.WriteLine()
      End If

   End Sub

End Class


'This code produces the following output.
'
'System.Text.UTF7Encoding  : 18  23  :7A 61 2B 41 77 59 42 2F 51 4F 79 32 50 2F 63 2F 77 2D
'System.Text.UTF8Encoding  : 12  24  :7A 61 CC 86 C7 BD CE B2 F1 8F B3 BF
'System.Text.UTF8Encoding  : 12  24  :EF BB BF 7A 61 CC 86 C7 BD CE B2 F1 8F B3 BF
'System.Text.UTF32Encoding : 24  28  :7A 00 00 00 61 00 00 00 06 03 00 00 FD 01 00 00 B2 03 00 00 FF FC 04 00
'System.Text.UTF32Encoding : 24  28  :FF FE 00 00 7A 00 00 00 61 00 00 00 06 03 00 00 FD 01 00 00 B2 03 00 00 FF FC 04 00

Remarks

To calculate the exact array size required by GetBytes to store the resulting bytes, you call the GetByteCount method. To calculate the maximum array size, you call the GetMaxByteCount method. The GetByteCount method generally allocates less memory, while the GetMaxByteCount method generally executes faster.

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.

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 uses the Decoder or the Encoder provided by the GetDecoder method or the GetEncoder method, respectively.

Important

To ensure that the encoded bytes are decoded properly when they are saved as a file or as a stream, you can prefix a stream of encoded bytes with a preamble. Inserting a preamble at the beginning of a byte stream (such as at the beginning of a series of bytes to be written to a file) is the developer's responsibility. The GetBytes method does not prepend a preamble to the beginning of a sequence of encoded bytes.

See also

Applies to