MemoryStream Class

Article
01/16/2013

[This documentation is for preview only, and is subject to change in later releases. Blank topics are included as placeholders.]

Creates a stream whose backing store is memory.

Inheritance Hierarchy

System. . :: . .Object
  System. . :: . .MarshalByRefObject
    System.IO. . :: . .Stream
      System.IO..::..MemoryStream

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

Syntax

'Declaration
Public Class MemoryStream _
    Inherits Stream

public class MemoryStream : Stream

public ref class MemoryStream : public Stream

type MemoryStream =  
    class
        inherit Stream
    end

public class MemoryStream extends Stream

The MemoryStream type exposes the following members.

Constructors

	Name	Description
	MemoryStream() () () ()	Initializes a new instance of the MemoryStream class with an expandable capacity initialized to zero.
	MemoryStream(array<Byte> [] () [] [])	Initializes a new non-resizable instance of the MemoryStream class based on the specified byte array.

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Properties

	Name	Description
	CanRead	Gets a value indicating whether the current stream supports reading. (Overrides Stream. . :: . .CanRead.)
	CanSeek	Gets a value indicating whether the current stream supports seeking. (Overrides Stream. . :: . .CanSeek.)
	CanTimeout	Gets a value that determines whether the current stream can time out. (Inherited from Stream.)
	CanWrite	Gets a value indicating whether the current stream supports writing. (Overrides Stream. . :: . .CanWrite.)
	Length	Gets the length of the stream in bytes. (Overrides Stream. . :: . .Length.)
	Position	Gets or sets the current position within the stream. (Overrides Stream. . :: . .Position.)
	ReadTimeout	Gets or sets a value, in milliseconds, that determines how long the stream will attempt to read before timing out. (Inherited from Stream.)
	WriteTimeout	Gets or sets a value, in miliseconds, that determines how long the stream will attempt to write before timing out. (Inherited from Stream.)

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Methods

	Name	Description
	Close	Closes the current stream and releases any resources (such as sockets and file handles) associated with the current stream. Instead of calling this method, ensure that the stream is properly disposed. (Inherited from Stream.)
	Dispose() () () ()	Releases all resources used by the Stream. (Inherited from Stream.)
	Dispose(Boolean)	Releases the unmanaged resources used by the MemoryStream class and optionally releases the managed resources. (Overrides Stream. . :: . .Dispose(Boolean).)
	Equals(Object)	Determines whether the specified Object is equal to the current Object. (Inherited from Object.)
	Finalize	Cleans up resources. (Inherited from Stream.)
	Flush	Overrides the Stream..::..Flush method so that no action is performed. (Overrides Stream. . :: . .Flush() () () ().)
	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.)
	Read	Reads a block of bytes from the current stream and writes the data to a buffer. (Overrides Stream. . :: . .Read(array<Byte> [] () [] [], Int32, Int32).)
	ReadByte	Reads a byte from the current stream. (Overrides Stream. . :: . .ReadByte() () () ().)
	Seek	Sets the position within the current stream to the specified value. (Overrides Stream. . :: . .Seek(Int64, SeekOrigin).)
	SetLength	Sets the length of the current stream to the specified value. (Overrides Stream. . :: . .SetLength(Int64).)
	ToArray	Writes the stream contents to a byte array, regardless of the Position property.
	ToString	Returns a string that represents the current object. (Inherited from Object.)
	Write	Writes a block of bytes to the current stream using data read from a buffer. (Overrides Stream. . :: . .Write(array<Byte> [] () [] [], Int32, Int32).)
	WriteByte	Writes a byte to the current stream at the current position. (Overrides Stream. . :: . .WriteByte(Byte).)
	WriteTo	Writes the entire contents of this memory stream to another stream.

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Remarks

The current position of a stream is the position at which the next read or write operation could take place. The current position can be retrieved or set through the Seek method. When a new instance of MemoryStream is created, the current position is set to zero.

Memory streams created with an unsigned byte array provide a non-resizable stream of the data. When using a byte array, you can neither append to nor shrink the stream, although you might be able to modify the existing contents depending on the parameters passed into the constructor. Empty memory streams are resizable, and can be written to and read from.

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.

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