Encoding.UTF8 Property (System.Text)

UTF8 Property

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Microsoft Visual Studio 2005/.NET Framework 2.0

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.NET Framework Class Library

Encoding.UTF8 Property

Gets an encoding for the UTF-8 format.

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

Syntax

Visual Basic (Declaration)

Public Shared ReadOnly Property UTF8 As Encoding

Visual Basic (Usage)

Dim value As Encoding

value = Encoding.UTF8

public static Encoding UTF8 { get; }

C++

public:
static property Encoding^ UTF8 {
    Encoding^ get ();
}

/** @property */
public static Encoding get_UTF8 ()

JScript

public static function get UTF8 () : Encoding

Property Value

An Encoding for the UTF-8 format.

Remarks

The Unicode Standard assigns a code point (a number) to each character in every supported script. A Unicode Transformation Format (UTF) is a way to encode that code point. The Unicode Standard version 3.2 uses the following UTFs:

UTF-8, which represents each code point as a sequence of one to four bytes.
UTF-16, which represents each code point as a sequence of one to two 16-bit integers.
UTF-32, which represents each code point as a 32-bit integer.

For more information on UTFs, see The Unicode Standard at www.unicode.org.

Example

The following code example determines the number of bytes required to encode a character array, 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 myChars() As Char = {"z"c, "a"c, 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 array, and print out the counts and the resulting bytes.
      PrintCountsAndBytes(myChars, u7)
      PrintCountsAndBytes(myChars, u8)
      PrintCountsAndBytes(myChars, u16LE)
      PrintCountsAndBytes(myChars, u16BE)
      PrintCountsAndBytes(myChars, u32)

   End Sub 'Main


   Public Shared Sub PrintCountsAndBytes(chars() As Char, 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(chars)
      Console.Write(" {0,-3}", iBC)

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

      ' Encode the array of chars.
      Dim bytes As Byte() = enc.GetBytes(chars)

      ' 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.
'
'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

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)
      char[] myChars = new char[] { 'z', 'a', '\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 array, and print out the counts and the resulting bytes.
      PrintCountsAndBytes( myChars, u7 );
      PrintCountsAndBytes( myChars, u8 );
      PrintCountsAndBytes( myChars, u16LE );
      PrintCountsAndBytes( myChars, u16BE );
      PrintCountsAndBytes( myChars, u32 );

   }


   public static void PrintCountsAndBytes( char[] chars, Encoding enc )  {

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

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

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

      // Encode the array of chars.
      byte[] bytes = enc.GetBytes( chars );

      // 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.

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

*/

C++

using namespace System;
using namespace System::Text;
void PrintCountsAndBytes( array<Char>^chars, 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)
   array<Char>^myChars = gcnew array<Char>{
      L'z','a',L'\u0306',L'\u01FD',L'\u03B2',L'\xD8FF',L'\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 array, and print out the counts and the resulting bytes.
   PrintCountsAndBytes( myChars, u7 );
   PrintCountsAndBytes( myChars, u8 );
   PrintCountsAndBytes( myChars, u16LE );
   PrintCountsAndBytes( myChars, u16BE );
   PrintCountsAndBytes( myChars, u32 );
}

void PrintCountsAndBytes( array<Char>^chars, Encoding^ enc )
{
   
   // Display the name of the encoding used.
   Console::Write( "{0,-30} :", enc );
   
   // Display the exact byte count.
   int iBC = enc->GetByteCount( chars );
   Console::Write( " {0,-3}", iBC );
   
   // Display the maximum byte count.
   int iMBC = enc->GetMaxByteCount( chars->Length );
   Console::Write( " {0,-3} :", iMBC );
   
   // Encode the array of chars.
   array<Byte>^bytes = enc->GetBytes( chars );
   
   // 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.

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

*/

import System.*;
import System.Text.*;
import System.Byte;

public class SamplesEncoding
{
    public static void main(String[] args)
    {
        // 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)
        char myChars[] = new char[] {
            'z', 'a', '\u0306', '\u01FD', '\u03B2', '\uD8FF', '\uDCFF'
        };

        // Get different encodings.
        Encoding u7 = Encoding.get_UTF7();
        Encoding u8 = Encoding.get_UTF8();
        Encoding u16LE = Encoding.get_Unicode();
        Encoding u16BE = Encoding.get_BigEndianUnicode();
        Encoding u32 = Encoding.get_UTF32();

        // Encode the entire array, and print out the counts
        // and the resulting bytes.
        PrintCountsAndBytes(myChars, u7);
        PrintCountsAndBytes(myChars, u8);
        PrintCountsAndBytes(myChars, u16LE);
        PrintCountsAndBytes(myChars, u16BE);
        PrintCountsAndBytes(myChars, u32);
    } //main

    public static void PrintCountsAndBytes(char chars[], Encoding enc)
    {
        // Display the name of the encoding used.
        Console.Write("{0,-30} :", enc.toString());

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

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

        // Encode the array of chars.
        ubyte bytes[] = enc.GetBytes(chars);

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

    public static void PrintHexBytes(ubyte bytes[])
    {
        if(bytes == null || bytes.length == 0) {
            Console.WriteLine("<none>");
        }
        else {
            for(int i = 0; i < bytes.length; i++) {
                Console.Write("{0:X2} ",
                        ((System.Byte)bytes[i]).ToString("X2"));
            }
            Console.WriteLine();
        }
    } //PrintHexBytes
} //SamplesEncoding

/* 
This code produces the following output.

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

*/

Platforms

Windows 98, Windows 2000 SP4, Windows CE, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows Mobile for Pocket PC, Windows Mobile for Smartphone, Windows Server 2003, Windows XP Media Center Edition, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Windows XP SP2, Windows XP Starter Edition

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

Version Information

.NET Framework

Supported in: 2.0, 1.1, 1.0

.NET Compact Framework

Supported in: 2.0, 1.0

Reference

Encoding Class
Encoding Members
System.Text Namespace
UTF8Encoding
GetEncoding
Encoding.Default Property
Encoding.ASCII Property
Encoding.UTF7 Property
Encoding.Unicode Property
Encoding.BigEndianUnicode Property
Encoding.UTF32 Property