How to: Read From Binary Files in Visual Basic
The My.Computer.FileSystem object provides the ReadAllBytes method for reading from binary files.
To read from a binary file
Use the ReadAllBytes method, which returns the contents of a file as a byte array. This example reads from the file C:/Documents and Settings/selfportrait.jpg.
The following conditions may cause an exception to be thrown:
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The path is not valid for one of the following reasons: it is a zero-length string, it contains only white space, it contains invalid characters, or it is a device path (ArgumentException).
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The path is not valid because it is Nothing (ArgumentNullException).
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The file does not exist (FileNotFoundException).
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The file is in use by another process, or an I/O error occurs (IOException).
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The path exceeds the system-defined maximum length (PathTooLongException).
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A file or directory name in the path contains a colon (:) or is in an invalid format (NotSupportedException).
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There is not enough memory to write the string to buffer (OutOfMemoryException).
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The user lacks necessary permissions to view the path (SecurityException).
Do not make decisions about the contents of the file based on the name of the file. For example, the file Form1.vb may not be a Visual Basic source file.
Verify all inputs before using the data in your application. The contents of the file may not be what is expected, and methods to read from the file may fail.
