C# Cookbook

2.13. Converting a String Returned as a Byte[ ] Back into a String

Problem

Many methods in the FCL return a byte[] consisting of characters instead of a string. Some of these methods include:

System.Net.Sockets.Socket.Receive
System.Net.Sockets.Socket.ReceiveFrom
System.Net.Sockets.Socket.BeginReceive
System.Net.Sockets.Socket.BeginReceiveFrom
System.Net.Sockets.NetworkStream.Read
System.Net.Sockets.NetworkStream.BeginRead
System.IO.BinaryReader.Read
System.IO.BinaryReader.ReadBytes
System.IO.FileStream.Read
System.IO.FileStream.BeginRead
System.IO.MemoryStream // Constructor
System.IO.MemoryStream.Read
System.IO.MemoryStream.BeginRead
System.Security.Cryptography.CryptoStream.Read
System.Security.Cryptography.CryptoStream.BeginRead
System.Diagnostics.EventLogEntry.Data

In many cases, this byte[] might contain ASCII or Unicode encoded characters. You need a way to recombine this byte[] to obtain the original string.

Solution

To convert a byte array of ASCII values to a complete string, use the following method:

using System;
using System.Text;

public static string FromASCIIByteArray(byte[] characters)
{
    ASCIIEncoding encoding = new ASCIIEncoding( );
    string constructedString = encoding.GetString(characters);

    return (constructedString);
}

To convert a byte array of Unicode values (UTF-16 encoded) to a complete string, use the following method:

public static string FromUnicodeByteArray(byte[] characters) { UnicodeEncoding encoding = new UnicodeEncoding( ); string constructedString = ...