Buffer Class
Manipulates arrays of primitive types.
Assembly: mscorlib (in mscorlib.dll)
Buffer only affects arrays of primitive types; this class does not apply to objects. Each primitive type is treated as a series of bytes without regard to any behavior or limitation associated with the primitive type.
Buffer provides methods to copy bytes from one array of primitive types to another array of primitive types, get a byte from an array, set a byte in an array, and obtain the length of an array. This class provides better performance for manipulating primitive types than similar methods in the System.Array class.
Buffer is applicable to the following primitive types: Boolean, Char, SByte, Byte, Int16, UInt16, Int32, UInt32, Int64, UInt64, IntPtr, UIntPtr, Single, and Double.
The following code example illustrates the use of several Buffer class methods.
' Example of the Buffer class methods. Imports System Imports Microsoft.VisualBasic Module BufferClassDemo ' Display the array elements from right to left in hexadecimal. Sub DisplayArray( arr( ) As Short ) Console.Write( " arr:" ) Dim loopX As Integer For loopX = arr.Length - 1 To 0 Step -1 Console.Write( " {0:X4}", arr( loopX ) ) Next loopX Console.WriteLine( ) End Sub Sub Main( ) ' This array is to be modified and displayed. Dim arr( ) As Short = { 258, 259, 260, 261, 262, 263, 264, _ 265, 266, 267, 268, 269, 270, 271 } Console.WriteLine( _ "This example of the Buffer class methods generates " & _ "the following output." & vbCrLf & "Note: The " & _ "array is displayed from right to left." & vbCrLf ) Console.WriteLine( "Initial values of array:" & vbCrLf ) ' Display the initial array values and ByteLength. DisplayArray( arr ) Console.WriteLine( vbCrLf & _ "Buffer.ByteLength( arr ): {0}", _ Buffer.ByteLength( arr ) ) ' Copy a region of the array; set a byte within the array. Console.WriteLine( vbCrLf & _ "Call these methods: " & vbCrLf & _ " Buffer.BlockCopy( arr, 5, arr, 16, 9 )," & vbCrLf & _ " Buffer.SetByte( arr, 7, 170 )." & vbCrLf ) Buffer.BlockCopy( arr, 5, arr, 16, 9 ) Buffer.SetByte( arr, 7, 170 ) ' Display the array and a byte within the array. Console.WriteLine( "Final values of array:" & vbCrLf ) DisplayArray( arr ) Console.WriteLine( vbCrLf & _ "Buffer.GetByte( arr, 26 ): {0}", _ Buffer.GetByte( arr, 26 ) ) End Sub End Module ' This example of the Buffer class methods generates the following output. ' Note: The array is displayed from right to left. ' ' Initial values of array: ' ' arr: 010F 010E 010D 010C 010B 010A 0109 0108 0107 0106 0105 0104 0103 0102 ' ' Buffer.ByteLength( arr ): 28 ' ' Call these methods: ' Buffer.BlockCopy( arr, 5, arr, 16, 9 ), ' Buffer.SetByte( arr, 7, 170 ). ' ' Final values of array: ' ' arr: 010F 0101 0801 0701 0601 0501 0109 0108 0107 0106 AA05 0104 0103 0102 ' ' Buffer.GetByte( arr, 26 ): 15
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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.