StreamReader Class
Implements a TextReader that reads characters from a byte stream in a particular encoding.
Assembly: mscorlib (in mscorlib.dll)
The StreamReader type exposes the following members.
| Name | Description | |
|---|---|---|
![]() ![]() ![]() | StreamReader(Stream) | Initializes a new instance of the StreamReader class for the specified stream. |
![]() ![]() | StreamReader(String) | Initializes a new instance of the StreamReader class for the specified file name. |
![]() ![]() ![]() | StreamReader(Stream, Boolean) | Initializes a new instance of the StreamReader class for the specified stream, with the specified byte order mark detection option. |
![]() ![]() ![]() | StreamReader(Stream, Encoding) | Initializes a new instance of the StreamReader class for the specified stream, with the specified character encoding. |
![]() ![]() | StreamReader(String, Boolean) | Initializes a new instance of the StreamReader class for the specified file name, with the specified byte order mark detection option. |
![]() ![]() | StreamReader(String, Encoding) | Initializes a new instance of the StreamReader class for the specified file name, with the specified character encoding. |
![]() ![]() ![]() | StreamReader(Stream, Encoding, Boolean) | Initializes a new instance of the StreamReader class for the specified stream, with the specified character encoding and byte order mark detection option. |
![]() ![]() | StreamReader(String, Encoding, Boolean) | Initializes a new instance of the StreamReader class for the specified file name, with the specified character encoding and byte order mark detection option. |
![]() ![]() ![]() | StreamReader(Stream, Encoding, Boolean, Int32) | Initializes a new instance of the StreamReader class for the specified stream, with the specified character encoding, byte order mark detection option, and buffer size. |
![]() ![]() | StreamReader(String, Encoding, Boolean, Int32) | Initializes a new instance of the StreamReader class for the specified file name, with the specified character encoding, byte order mark detection option, and buffer size. |
| Name | Description | |
|---|---|---|
![]() ![]() ![]() | BaseStream | Returns the underlying stream. |
![]() ![]() ![]() | CurrentEncoding | Gets the current character encoding that the current StreamReader object is using. |
![]() ![]() ![]() | EndOfStream | Gets a value that indicates whether the current stream position is at the end of the stream. |
| Name | Description | |
|---|---|---|
![]() ![]() | Close | Closes the StreamReader object and the underlying stream, and releases any system resources associated with the reader. (Overrides TextReader.Close().) |
![]() | CreateObjRef | Creates an object that contains all the relevant information required to generate a proxy used to communicate with a remote object. (Inherited from MarshalByRefObject.) |
![]() ![]() ![]() | DiscardBufferedData | Clears the internal buffer. |
![]() ![]() ![]() | Dispose() | Releases all resources used by the TextReader object. (Inherited from TextReader.) |
![]() ![]() ![]() | Dispose(Boolean) | Closes the underlying stream, releases the unmanaged resources used by the StreamReader, and optionally releases the managed resources. (Overrides TextReader.Dispose(Boolean).) |
![]() ![]() ![]() | Equals(Object) | Determines whether the specified Object is equal to the current Object. (Inherited from Object.) |
![]() ![]() ![]() | Finalize | Allows an object to try to free resources and perform other cleanup operations before it is reclaimed by garbage collection. (Inherited from Object.) |
![]() ![]() ![]() | GetHashCode | Serves as a hash function for a particular type. (Inherited from Object.) |
![]() | GetLifetimeService | Retrieves the current lifetime service object that controls the lifetime policy for this instance. (Inherited from MarshalByRefObject.) |
![]() ![]() ![]() | GetType | Gets the Type of the current instance. (Inherited from Object.) |
![]() | InitializeLifetimeService | Obtains a lifetime service object to control the lifetime policy for this instance. (Inherited from MarshalByRefObject.) |
![]() ![]() ![]() | MemberwiseClone() | Creates a shallow copy of the current Object. (Inherited from Object.) |
![]() | MemberwiseClone(Boolean) | Creates a shallow copy of the current MarshalByRefObject object. (Inherited from MarshalByRefObject.) |
![]() ![]() ![]() | Peek | Returns the next available character but does not consume it. (Overrides TextReader.Peek().) |
![]() ![]() ![]() | Read() | Reads the next character from the input stream and advances the character position by one character. (Overrides TextReader.Read().) |
![]() ![]() ![]() | Read(Char[], Int32, Int32) | Reads a specified maximum of characters from the current stream into a buffer, beginning at the specified index. (Overrides TextReader.Read(Char[], Int32, Int32).) |
![]() ![]() ![]() | ReadBlock | Reads a maximum of count characters from the current stream, and writes the data to buffer, beginning at index. (Inherited from TextReader.) |
![]() ![]() ![]() | ReadLine | Reads a line of characters from the current stream and returns the data as a string. (Overrides TextReader.ReadLine().) |
![]() ![]() ![]() | ReadToEnd | Reads the stream from the current position to the end of the stream. (Overrides TextReader.ReadToEnd().) |
![]() ![]() ![]() | ToString | Returns a string that represents the current object. (Inherited from Object.) |
StreamReader is designed for character input in a particular encoding, whereas the Stream class is designed for byte input and output. Use StreamReader for reading lines of information from a standard text file.
StreamReader defaults to UTF-8 encoding unless specified otherwise, instead of defaulting to the ANSI code page for the current system. UTF-8 handles Unicode characters correctly and provides consistent results on localized versions of the operating system.
By default, a StreamReader is not thread safe. See TextReader.Synchronized for a thread-safe wrapper.
The Read(Char[], Int32, Int32) and Write(Char[], Int32, Int32) method overloads read and write the number of characters specified by the count parameter. These are to be distinguished from BufferedStream.Read and BufferedStream.Write, which read and write the number of bytes specified by the count parameter. Use the BufferedStream methods only for reading and writing an integral number of byte array elements.
Note |
|---|
When reading from a Stream, it is more efficient to use a buffer that is the same size as the internal buffer of the stream. |
For a list of common I/O tasks, see Common I/O Tasks.
The following example uses an instance of StreamReader to read text from a file.
using System; using System.IO; class Test { public static void Main() { try { // Create an instance of StreamReader to read from a file. // The using statement also closes the StreamReader. using (StreamReader sr = new StreamReader("TestFile.txt")) { string line; // Read and display lines from the file until the end of // the file is reached. while ((line = sr.ReadLine()) != null) { Console.WriteLine(line); } } } catch (Exception e) { // Let the user know what went wrong. Console.WriteLine("The file could not be read:"); Console.WriteLine(e.Message); } } }
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.

