How do you get a string from a MemoryStream?

Question

If I am given a MemoryStream that I know has been populated with a String, how do I get a String back out?

Answer 1

This sample shows how to read and write a string to a MemoryStream.

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Imports System.IO  Module Module1   Sub Main()     ' We don't need to dispose any of the MemoryStream      ' because it is a managed object. However, just for      ' good practice, we'll close the MemoryStream.     Using ms As New MemoryStream       Dim sw As New StreamWriter(ms)       sw.WriteLine("Hello World")       ' The string is currently stored in the        ' StreamWriters buffer. Flushing the stream will        ' force the string into the MemoryStream.       sw.Flush()       ' If we dispose the StreamWriter now, it will close        ' the BaseStream (which is our MemoryStream) which        ' will prevent us from reading from our MemoryStream       'sw.Dispose()        ' The StreamReader will read from the current        ' position of the MemoryStream which is currently        ' set at the end of the string we just wrote to it.        ' We need to set the position to 0 in order to read        ' from the beginning.       ms.Position = 0       Dim sr As New StreamReader(ms)       Dim myStr = sr.ReadToEnd()       Console.WriteLine(myStr)        ' We can dispose our StreamWriter and StreamReader        ' now, though this isn't necessary (they don't hold        ' any resources open on their own).       sw.Dispose()       sr.Dispose()     End Using      Console.WriteLine("Press any key to continue.")     Console.ReadKey()   End Sub End Module