StreamReader.Read Method

Reads the next character or next set of characters from the input stream.

Overload List

Reads the next character from the input stream and advances the character position by one character.

Supported by the .NET Compact Framework.

[Visual Basic] Overloads Overrides Public Function Read() As Integer

[C#] public override int Read();

[C++] public: int Read();

[JScript] public override function Read() : int;

Reads a maximum of count characters from the current stream into buffer, beginning at index.

Supported by the .NET Compact Framework.

[Visual Basic] Overloads Overrides Public Function Read(Char(), Integer, Integer) As Integer

[C#] public override int Read(char[], int, int);

[C++] public: int Read(__wchar_t __gc[], int, int);

[JScript] public override function Read(Char[], int, int) : int;

Example

[Visual Basic, C#, C++] The following example reads five characters at a time until the end of the file is reached.

[Visual Basic, C#, C++] Note   This example shows how to use one of the overloaded versions of Read. For other examples that might be available, see the individual overload topics.

[Visual Basic] 
Imports System
Imports System.IO
Imports System.Text

Public Class Test

    Public Shared Sub Main()
        Dim path As String = "c:\temp\MyTest.txt"

        Try
            If File.Exists(path) Then
                File.Delete(path)
            End If

            Dim sw As StreamWriter = New StreamWriter(path)
            sw.WriteLine("This")
            sw.WriteLine("is some text")
            sw.WriteLine("to test")
            sw.WriteLine("Reading")
            sw.Close()

            Dim sr As StreamReader = New StreamReader(path)

            Do While sr.Peek() >= 0
                'This is an arbitrary size for this example.
                Dim c(5) As Char
                sr.Read(c, 0, c.Length)
                'The output will look odd, because
                'only five characters are read at a time.
                Console.WriteLine(c)
            Loop
            sr.Close()
        Catch e As Exception
            Console.WriteLine("The process failed: {0}", e.ToString())
        End Try
    End Sub
End Class

[C#] 
using System;
using System.IO;

class Test 
{
    
    public static void Main() 
    {
        string path = @"c:\temp\MyTest.txt";

        try 
        {
            if (File.Exists(path)) 
            {
                File.Delete(path);
            }

            using (StreamWriter sw = new StreamWriter(path)) 
            {
                sw.WriteLine("This");
                sw.WriteLine("is some text");
                sw.WriteLine("to test");
                sw.WriteLine("Reading");
            }

            using (StreamReader sr = new StreamReader(path)) 
            {
                //This is an arbitrary size for this example.
                char[] c = null;

                while (sr.Peek() >= 0) 
                {
                    c = new char[5];
                    sr.Read(c, 0, c.Length);
                    //The output will look odd, because
                    //only five characters are read at a time.
                    Console.WriteLine(c);
                }
            }
        } 
        catch (Exception e) 
        {
            Console.WriteLine("The process failed: {0}", e.ToString());
        }
    }
}

[C++] 
#using <mscorlib.dll>

using namespace System;
using namespace System::IO;

int main() {
    String* path = S"c:\\temp\\MyTest.txt";

    try {
        if (File::Exists(path)) {
            File::Delete(path);
        }

        StreamWriter* sw = new StreamWriter(path);
        try {
            sw->WriteLine(S"This");
            sw->WriteLine(S"is some text");
            sw->WriteLine(S"to test");
            sw->WriteLine(S"Reading");
        } __finally {
            if (sw) __try_cast<IDisposable*>(sw)->Dispose();
        }

        StreamReader* sr = new StreamReader(path);
        try {
            //This is an arbitrary size for this example.
            Char c[] = 0;

            while (sr->Peek() >= 0) {
                c = new Char[5];
                sr->Read(c, 0, c->Length);
                //The output will look odd, because
                //only five characters are read at a time.
                Console::WriteLine(c);
            }
        } __finally {
            if (sr) __try_cast<IDisposable*>(sr)->Dispose();
        }
    } catch (Exception* e) {
        Console::WriteLine(S"The process failed: {0}", e);
    }
}

[JScript] No example is available for JScript. To view a Visual Basic, C#, or C++ example, click the Language Filter button in the upper-left corner of the page.

See Also

StreamReader Class | StreamReader Members | System.IO Namespace