Encoding.GetBytes Method (String) (System.Text)

GetBytes Method (String)

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This page is specific to

Microsoft Visual Studio 2008/.NET Framework 3.5

Other versions are also available for the following:

.NET Framework Class Library

Encoding..::.GetBytes Method (String)

When overridden in a derived class, encodes all the characters in the specified String into a sequence of bytes.

Namespace: System.Text
Assembly: mscorlib (in mscorlib.dll)

Syntax

Visual Basic (Declaration)

Public Overridable Function GetBytes ( _
    s As String _
) As Byte()

Visual Basic (Usage)

Dim instance As Encoding
Dim s As String
Dim returnValue As Byte()

returnValue = instance.GetBytes(s)

public virtual byte[] GetBytes(
    string s
)

Visual C++

public:
virtual array<unsigned char>^ GetBytes(
    String^ s
)

JScript

public function GetBytes(
    s : String
) : byte[]

Parameters

s: Type: System..::.String

Return Value

Type: array<System..::.Byte>[]()[]
A byte array containing the results of encoding the specified set of characters.

Exceptions

Exception	Condition
ArgumentNullException	s is nullNothingnullptra null reference (Nothing in Visual Basic).
EncoderFallbackException	A fallback occurred (see Understanding Encodings for complete explanation) -and- EncoderFallback is set to EncoderExceptionFallback.

Exception

Condition

ArgumentNullException

s is nullNothingnullptra null reference (Nothing in Visual Basic).

EncoderFallbackException

A fallback occurred (see Understanding Encodings for complete explanation)

-and-

EncoderFallback is set to EncoderExceptionFallback.

Remarks

If the data to be converted is available only in sequential blocks (such as data read from a stream) or if the amount of data is so large that it needs to be divided into smaller blocks, the application should use the Decoder or the Encoder provided by the GetDecoder method or the GetEncoder method, respectively, of a derived class.

The GetByteCount()()() method determines how many bytes result in encoding a set of Unicode characters, and the GetBytes()()() method performs the actual encoding. The GetBytes()()() method expects discrete conversions, in contrast to the GetBytes()()() method, which handles multiple conversions on a single input stream.

Several versions of GetByteCount()()() and GetBytes()()() are supported. The following are some programming considerations for use of these methods:

The application might need to encode many input characters to a code page and process the characters using multiple calls. In this case, your application probably needs to maintain state between calls, taking into account the state that is persisted by the Encoder object being used.
If the application handles string inputs, it is recommended to use the string version of GetBytes()()().
The Unicode character buffer version of GetBytes()()() allows some fast techniques, particularly with multiple calls using the Encoder object or inserting into existing buffers. Bear in mind, however, that this method version is sometimes unsafe, since pointers are required.
If your application must convert a large amount of data, it should reuse the output buffer. In this case, the GetBytes()()() version that supports byte arrays is the best choice.
Consider using the Encoder..::.Convert method instead of GetByteCount()()(). The conversion method converts as much data as possible, and does throw an exception if the output buffer is too small. For continuous encoding of a stream, this method is often the best choice.

Examples

The following code example determines the number of bytes required to encode a string or a range in the string, encodes the characters, and displays the resulting bytes.

Visual Basic

Imports System
Imports System.Text
Imports Microsoft.VisualBasic

Public Class SamplesEncoding   

   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)

      ' Get different encodings.
      Dim u7 As Encoding = Encoding.UTF7
      Dim u8 As Encoding = Encoding.UTF8
      Dim u16LE As Encoding = Encoding.Unicode
      Dim u16BE As Encoding = Encoding.BigEndianUnicode
      Dim u32 As Encoding = Encoding.UTF32

      ' Encode the entire string, and print out the counts and the resulting bytes.
      Console.WriteLine("Encoding the entire string:")
      PrintCountsAndBytes(myStr, u7)
      PrintCountsAndBytes(myStr, u8)
      PrintCountsAndBytes(myStr, u16LE)
      PrintCountsAndBytes(myStr, u16BE)
      PrintCountsAndBytes(myStr, u32)

      Console.WriteLine()

      ' Encode three characters starting at index 4, and print out the counts and the resulting bytes.
      Console.WriteLine("Encoding the characters from index 4 through 6:")
      PrintCountsAndBytes(myStr, 4, 3, u7)
      PrintCountsAndBytes(myStr, 4, 3, u8)
      PrintCountsAndBytes(myStr, 4, 3, u16LE)
      PrintCountsAndBytes(myStr, 4, 3, u16BE)
      PrintCountsAndBytes(myStr, 4, 3, u32)

   End Sub 'Main


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

      ' Display the name of the encoding used.
      Console.Write("{0,-30} :", 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)

      ' Encode the entire string.
      Dim bytes As Byte() = enc.GetBytes(s)

      ' Display all the encoded bytes.
      PrintHexBytes(bytes)

   End Sub 'PrintCountsAndBytes


   Overloads Public Shared Sub PrintCountsAndBytes(s As String, index As Integer, count As Integer, enc As Encoding)

      ' Display the name of the encoding used.
      Console.Write("{0,-30} :", enc.ToString())

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

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

      ' Encode a range of characters in the string.
      ' NOTE: In VB.NET, arrays contain one extra element by default.
      '       The following line creates the array with the exact number of elements required.
      Dim bytes(iBC - 1) As Byte
      enc.GetBytes(s, index, count, bytes, bytes.GetLowerBound(0))

      ' Display all the encoded bytes.
      PrintHexBytes(bytes)

   End Sub 'PrintCountsAndBytes


   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 'PrintHexBytes 

End Class 'SamplesEncoding


'This code produces the following output.
'
'Encoding the entire string:
'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.UnicodeEncoding    : 14  16  :7A 00 61 00 06 03 FD 01 B2 03 FF D8 FF DC
'System.Text.UnicodeEncoding    : 14  16  :00 7A 00 61 03 06 01 FD 03 B2 D8 FF DC FF
'System.Text.UTF32Encoding      : 24  32  :7A 00 00 00 61 00 00 00 06 03 00 00 FD 01 00 00 B2 03 00 00 FF FC 04 00
'
'Encoding the characters from index 4 through 6:
'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.UnicodeEncoding    : 6   8   :B2 03 FF D8 FF DC
'System.Text.UnicodeEncoding    : 6   8   :03 B2 D8 FF DC FF
'System.Text.UTF32Encoding      : 8   16  :B2 03 00 00 FF FC 04 00

using System;
using System.Text;

public class SamplesEncoding  {

   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";

      // Get different encodings.
      Encoding  u7    = Encoding.UTF7;
      Encoding  u8    = Encoding.UTF8;
      Encoding  u16LE = Encoding.Unicode;
      Encoding  u16BE = Encoding.BigEndianUnicode;
      Encoding  u32   = Encoding.UTF32;

      // Encode the entire string, and print out the counts and the resulting bytes.
      Console.WriteLine( "Encoding the entire string:" );
      PrintCountsAndBytes( myStr, u7 );
      PrintCountsAndBytes( myStr, u8 );
      PrintCountsAndBytes( myStr, u16LE );
      PrintCountsAndBytes( myStr, u16BE );
      PrintCountsAndBytes( myStr, u32 );

      Console.WriteLine();

      // Encode three characters starting at index 4, and print out the counts and the resulting bytes.
      Console.WriteLine( "Encoding the characters from index 4 through 6:" );
      PrintCountsAndBytes( myStr, 4, 3, u7 );
      PrintCountsAndBytes( myStr, 4, 3, u8 );
      PrintCountsAndBytes( myStr, 4, 3, u16LE );
      PrintCountsAndBytes( myStr, 4, 3, u16BE );
      PrintCountsAndBytes( myStr, 4, 3, u32 );

   }


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

      // Display the name of the encoding used.
      Console.Write( "{0,-30} :", 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 );

      // Encode the entire string.
      byte[] bytes = enc.GetBytes( s );

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

   }


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

      // Display the name of the encoding used.
      Console.Write( "{0,-30} :", enc.ToString() );

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

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

      // Encode a range of characters in the string.
      byte[] bytes = new byte[iBC];
      enc.GetBytes( s, index, count, bytes, bytes.GetLowerBound(0) );

      // 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.

Encoding the entire string:
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.UnicodeEncoding    : 14  16  :7A 00 61 00 06 03 FD 01 B2 03 FF D8 FF DC
System.Text.UnicodeEncoding    : 14  16  :00 7A 00 61 03 06 01 FD 03 B2 D8 FF DC FF
System.Text.UTF32Encoding      : 24  32  :7A 00 00 00 61 00 00 00 06 03 00 00 FD 01 00 00 B2 03 00 00 FF FC 04 00

Encoding the characters from index 4 through 6:
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.UnicodeEncoding    : 6   8   :B2 03 FF D8 FF DC
System.Text.UnicodeEncoding    : 6   8   :03 B2 D8 FF DC FF
System.Text.UTF32Encoding      : 8   16  :B2 03 00 00 FF FC 04 00

*/

Visual C++

using namespace System;
using namespace System::Text;
void PrintCountsAndBytes( String^ s, Encoding^ enc );
void PrintCountsAndBytes( String^ s, 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)
   String^ myStr = L"za\u0306\u01FD\u03B2\xD8FF\xDCFF";

   // Get different encodings.
   Encoding^ u7 = Encoding::UTF7;
   Encoding^ u8 = Encoding::UTF8;
   Encoding^ u16LE = Encoding::Unicode;
   Encoding^ u16BE = Encoding::BigEndianUnicode;
   Encoding^ u32 = Encoding::UTF32;

   // Encode the entire string, and print out the counts and the resulting bytes.
   Console::WriteLine( "Encoding the entire string:" );
   PrintCountsAndBytes( myStr, u7 );
   PrintCountsAndBytes( myStr, u8 );
   PrintCountsAndBytes( myStr, u16LE );
   PrintCountsAndBytes( myStr, u16BE );
   PrintCountsAndBytes( myStr, u32 );
   Console::WriteLine();

   // Encode three characters starting at index 4, and print out the counts and the resulting bytes.
   Console::WriteLine( "Encoding the characters from index 4 through 6:" );
   PrintCountsAndBytes( myStr, 4, 3, u7 );
   PrintCountsAndBytes( myStr, 4, 3, u8 );
   PrintCountsAndBytes( myStr, 4, 3, u16LE );
   PrintCountsAndBytes( myStr, 4, 3, u16BE );
   PrintCountsAndBytes( myStr, 4, 3, u32 );
}

void PrintCountsAndBytes( String^ s, Encoding^ enc )
{

   // Display the name of the encoding used.
   Console::Write( "{0,-30} :", 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 );

   // Encode the entire string.
   array<Byte>^bytes = enc->GetBytes( s );

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

void PrintCountsAndBytes( String^ s, int index, int count, Encoding^ enc )
{

   // Display the name of the encoding used.
   Console::Write( "{0,-30} :", enc );

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

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

   // Encode a range of characters in the string.
   array<Byte>^bytes = gcnew array<Byte>(iBC);
   enc->GetBytes( s, index, count, bytes, bytes->GetLowerBound( 0 ) );

   // 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.

Encoding the entire string:
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.UnicodeEncoding    : 14  16  :7A 00 61 00 06 03 FD 01 B2 03 FF D8 FF DC
System.Text.UnicodeEncoding    : 14  16  :00 7A 00 61 03 06 01 FD 03 B2 D8 FF DC FF
System.Text.UTF32Encoding      : 24  32  :7A 00 00 00 61 00 00 00 06 03 00 00 FD 01 00 00 B2 03 00 00 FF FC 04 00

Encoding the characters from index 4 through 6:
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.UnicodeEncoding    : 6   8   :B2 03 FF D8 FF DC
System.Text.UnicodeEncoding    : 6   8   :03 B2 D8 FF DC FF
System.Text.UTF32Encoding      : 8   16  :B2 03 00 00 FF FC 04 00

*/

Platforms

Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP SP2, Windows XP Media Center Edition, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Windows XP Starter Edition, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2000 SP4, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows 98, Windows CE, Windows Mobile for Smartphone, Windows Mobile for Pocket PC, Xbox 360, Zune

The .NET Framework and .NET Compact Framework do not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see .NET Framework System Requirements.

Version Information

.NET Framework

Supported in: 3.5, 3.0, 2.0, 1.1, 1.0

.NET Compact Framework

Supported in: 3.5, 2.0, 1.0

XNA Framework

Supported in: 3.0, 2.0, 1.0

Reference

Encoding Class

Encoding Members

GetBytes Overload

System.Text Namespace

GetEncoder

GetByteCount

GetMaxByteCount