BinaryWriter.Seek Method (System.IO)

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.NET Framework Class Library
BinaryWriter.Seek Method

Sets the position within the current stream.

Namespace:  System.IO
Assembly:  mscorlib (in mscorlib.dll)
Syntax
Visual Basic
Public Overridable Function Seek ( _
	offset As Integer, _
	origin As SeekOrigin _
) As Long
C#
public virtual long Seek(
	int offset,
	SeekOrigin origin
)
Visual C++
public:
virtual long long Seek(
	int offset, 
	SeekOrigin origin
)
F#
abstract Seek : 
        offset:int * 
        origin:SeekOrigin -> int64 
override Seek : 
        offset:int * 
        origin:SeekOrigin -> int64

Parameters

offset
Type: System.Int32
A byte offset relative to origin.
origin
Type: System.IO.SeekOrigin
A field of SeekOrigin indicating the reference point from which the new position is to be obtained.

Return Value

Type: System.Int64
The position with the current stream.
Exceptions
Exception Condition
IOException

The file pointer was moved to an invalid location.

ArgumentException

The SeekOrigin value is invalid.

Remarks

For a list of common I/O tasks, see Common I/O Tasks.

Examples

The following example writes a series of byte values to a file. The example uses Seek to move to various locations in the file, and then writes marker bytes by using the Write method.

Visual Basic

Imports System
Imports System.IO
Imports System.Text

Public Class BinReadWrite
    Public Shared Sub Main()
        Dim testfile As String = "C:\testfile.bin"

        ' create a test file using BinaryWriter
        Dim fs As FileStream = File.Create(testfile)
        Dim utf8 As New UTF8Encoding()

        Dim bw As New BinaryWriter(fs, utf8)
        ' write a series of bytes to the file, each time incrementing
        ' the value from 0 - 127
        Dim pos As Integer

        For pos = 0 to 127
            bw.Write(CType(pos, Byte))
        Next pos

        ' reset the stream position for the next write pass
        bw.Seek(0, SeekOrigin.Begin)
        ' write marks in file with the value of 255 going forward
        For pos = 0 To 119 Step 8
            bw.Seek(7, SeekOrigin.Current)
            bw.Write(CType(255, Byte))
        Next pos

        ' reset the stream position for the next write pass
        bw.Seek(0, SeekOrigin.End)
        ' write marks in file with the value of 254 going backward
        For pos = 128 To 7 Step -6
            bw.Seek(-6, SeekOrigin.Current)
            bw.Write(CType(254, Byte))
            bw.Seek(-1, SeekOrigin.Current)
        Next pos

        ' now dump the contents of the file using the original file stream
        fs.Seek(0, SeekOrigin.Begin)
        Console.WriteLine("Length: {0:d}", fs.Length)
        Dim rawbytes(fs.Length) As Byte
        fs.Read(rawbytes, 0, fs.Length)
        Console.WriteLine("Length: {0:d}", rawbytes.Length)

        Dim i As Integer = 0
        For Each b As Byte In rawbytes
             Select b
                 Case 254
                     Console.Write("-%- ")

                 Case 255
                     Console.Write("-*- ")

                 Case Else
                     Console.Write("{0:d3} ", b)
             End Select
             i = i + 1
             If i = 16 Then
                 Console.WriteLine()
                 i = 0
             End If
        Next b
        fs.Close()
    End Sub
End Class

' The output from the program is this:
'
' 000 001 -%- 003 004 005 006 -*- -%- 009 010 011 012 013 -%- -*-
' 016 017 018 019 -%- 021 022 -*- 024 025 -%- 027 028 029 030 -*-
' -%- 033 034 035 036 037 -%- -*- 040 041 042 043 -%- 045 046 -*-
' 048 049 -%- 051 052 053 054 -*- -%- 057 058 059 060 061 -%- -*-
' 064 065 066 067 -%- 069 070 -*- 072 073 -%- 075 076 077 078 -*-
' -%- 081 082 083 084 085 -%- -*- 088 089 090 091 -%- 093 094 -*-
' 096 097 -%- 099 100 101 102 -*- -%- 105 106 107 108 109 -%- -*-
' 112 113 114 115 -%- 117 118 -*- 120 121 -%- 123 124 125 126 127
C#

using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Text;

public class BinReadWrite
{
    public static void Main()
    {
        string testfile = @"C:\testfile.bin";

        // create a test file using BinaryWriter
        FileStream fs = File.Create(testfile);
        UTF8Encoding utf8 = new UTF8Encoding();

        BinaryWriter bw = new BinaryWriter(fs, utf8);
        // write a series of bytes to the file, each time incrementing
        // the value from 0 - 127
        int pos;

        for (pos = 0; pos < 128; pos++)
        {
            bw.Write((byte)pos);
        }

        // reset the stream position for the next write pass
        bw.Seek(0, SeekOrigin.Begin);
        // write marks in file with the value of 255 going forward
        for (pos = 0; pos < 120; pos += 8)
        {
            bw.Seek(7, SeekOrigin.Current);
            bw.Write((byte)255);
        }

        // reset the stream position for the next write pass
        bw.Seek(0, SeekOrigin.End);
        // write marks in file with the value of 254 going backward
        for (pos = 128; pos > 6; pos -= 6)
        {
            bw.Seek(-6, SeekOrigin.Current);
            bw.Write((byte)254);
            bw.Seek(-1, SeekOrigin.Current);
        }

        // now dump the contents of the file using the original file stream
        fs.Seek(0, SeekOrigin.Begin);
        byte[] rawbytes = new byte[fs.Length];
        fs.Read(rawbytes, 0, (int)fs.Length);

        int i = 0;
        foreach (byte b in rawbytes)
        {
             switch (b)
             {
                 case 254:
                 {
                     Console.Write("-%- ");
                 }
                 break;

                 case 255:
                 {
                     Console.Write("-*- ");
                 }
                 break;

                 default:
                 {
                     Console.Write("{0:d3} ", b);
                 }
                 break;
             }
             i++;
             if (i == 16)
             {
                 Console.WriteLine();
                 i = 0;
             }
        }
        fs.Close();
    }
}

//The output from the program is this:
//
// 000 001 -%- 003 004 005 006 -*- -%- 009 010 011 012 013 -%- -*-
// 016 017 018 019 -%- 021 022 -*- 024 025 -%- 027 028 029 030 -*-
// -%- 033 034 035 036 037 -%- -*- 040 041 042 043 -%- 045 046 -*-
// 048 049 -%- 051 052 053 054 -*- -%- 057 058 059 060 061 -%- -*-
// 064 065 066 067 -%- 069 070 -*- 072 073 -%- 075 076 077 078 -*-
// -%- 081 082 083 084 085 -%- -*- 088 089 090 091 -%- 093 094 -*-
// 096 097 -%- 099 100 101 102 -*- -%- 105 106 107 108 109 -%- -*-
// 112 113 114 115 -%- 117 118 -*- 120 121 -%- 123 124 125 126 127
Visual C++

using namespace System;
using namespace System::IO;
using namespace System::Text;

public ref class BinReadWrite
{
public:
    static void Main()
    {
        String^ testfile = "C:\\testfile.bin";

        // create a test file using BinaryWriter
        FileStream^ fs = File::Create(testfile);
        UTF8Encoding^ utf8 = gcnew UTF8Encoding();

        BinaryWriter^ bw = gcnew BinaryWriter(fs, utf8);
        // write a series of bytes to the file, each time incrementing
        // the value from 0 - 127
        int pos;

        for (pos = 0; pos < 128; pos++)
        {
            bw->Write((Byte)pos);
        }

        // reset the stream position for the next write pass
        bw->Seek(0, SeekOrigin::Begin);
        // write marks in file with the value of 255 going forward
        for (pos = 0; pos < 120; pos += 8)
        {
            bw->Seek(7, SeekOrigin::Current);
            bw->Write((Byte)255);
        }

        // reset the stream position for the next write pass
        bw->Seek(0, SeekOrigin::End);
        // write marks in file with the value of 254 going backward
        for (pos = 128; pos > 6; pos -= 6)
        {
            bw->Seek(-6, SeekOrigin::Current);
            bw->Write((Byte)254);
            bw->Seek(-1, SeekOrigin::Current);
        }

        // now dump the contents of the file using the original file stream
        fs->Seek(0, SeekOrigin::Begin);
        array<Byte>^ rawbytes = gcnew array<Byte>(fs->Length);
        fs->Read(rawbytes, 0, (int)fs->Length);

        int i = 0;
        for each (Byte b in rawbytes)
        {
             switch (b)
             {
                 case 254:
                 {
                     Console::Write("-%- ");
                 }
                 break;

                 case 255:
                 {
                     Console::Write("-*- ");
                 }
                 break;

                 default:
                 {
                     Console::Write("{0:d3} ", b);
                 }
                 break;
             }
             i++;
             if (i == 16)
             {
                 Console::WriteLine();
                 i = 0;
             }
        }
        fs->Close();
    }
};

int main()
{
    BinReadWrite::Main();
}

//The output from the program is this:
//
// 000 001 -%- 003 004 005 006 -*- -%- 009 010 011 012 013 -%- -*-
// 016 017 018 019 -%- 021 022 -*- 024 025 -%- 027 028 029 030 -*-
// -%- 033 034 035 036 037 -%- -*- 040 041 042 043 -%- 045 046 -*-
// 048 049 -%- 051 052 053 054 -*- -%- 057 058 059 060 061 -%- -*-
// 064 065 066 067 -%- 069 070 -*- 072 073 -%- 075 076 077 078 -*-
// -%- 081 082 083 084 085 -%- -*- 088 089 090 091 -%- 093 094 -*-
// 096 097 -%- 099 100 101 102 -*- -%- 105 106 107 108 109 -%- -*-
// 112 113 114 115 -%- 117 118 -*- 120 121 -%- 123 124 125 126 127
Version Information

.NET Framework

Supported in: 4, 3.5, 3.0, 2.0, 1.1, 1.0

.NET Framework Client Profile

Supported in: 4, 3.5 SP1

Portable Class Library

Supported in: Portable Class Library
Platforms

Windows 7, Windows Vista SP1 or later, Windows XP SP3, Windows XP SP2 x64 Edition, Windows Server 2008 (Server Core not supported), Windows Server 2008 R2 (Server Core supported with SP1 or later), Windows Server 2003 SP2

The .NET Framework does not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see .NET Framework System Requirements.
See Also

Reference

BinaryWriter Class
System.IO Namespace

Other Resources

File and Stream I/O
How to: Read Text from a File
How to: Write Text to a File