c-sharp
  1. c-sharp-binarywriter
PreviousNext

C# BinaryWriter

In C#, the BinaryWriter class is used to write primitive types in binary format to a stream. This allows you to write binary data to a file or network stream. In this tutorial, we'll discuss how to use the BinaryWriter class in C#.

Syntax

The syntax for using the BinaryWriter class in C# is as follows:

using (BinaryWriter writer = new BinaryWriter(File.Open("file.bin", FileMode.Create))) {
   writer.Write(myValue);
}

The using statement is used to ensure that the BinaryWriter is disposed of correctly, and the Write method is used to write the specified value to the stream.

Example

Let's say we want to write a couple of integer values to a binary file using the BinaryWriter class. Here's how we can implement it:

int value1 = 42;
int value2 = 84;

using (BinaryWriter writer = new BinaryWriter(File.Open("data.bin", FileMode.Create))) {
   writer.Write(value1);
   writer.Write(value2);
}

Now, we can read the values from the file using the BinaryReader class:

using (BinaryReader reader = new BinaryReader(File.Open("data.bin", FileMode.Open))) {
   int value1 = reader.ReadInt32();
   int value2 = reader.ReadInt32();
   Console.WriteLine(value1); // Output: 42
   Console.WriteLine(value2); // Output: 84
}

Output

When we run the example code above, the output will be:

42
84

This is because we wrote two integer values to a binary file using the BinaryWriter class and then read those values from the file using the BinaryReader class.

Explanation

In the example above, we created two integer values and wrote them to a binary file using the BinaryWriter class. We then read those values from the file using the BinaryReader class and printed them to the console.

Use

The BinaryWriter class can be used to write binary data to a file or network stream. It is useful when you need to write data in a format that is not plain text, such as when you need to write data in a format that can be read by other programs.

Important Points

  • The BinaryWriter class writes data in little-endian format by default.
  • When using the BinaryWriter class, make sure to dispose of the instance using the using statement.
  • The BinaryWriter class provides methods to write all the primitive types in C#, as well as strings and arrays.
  • When you write data to a binary file or stream, you need to read the data back in the same order it was written.

Summary

In this tutorial, we discussed how to use the BinaryWriter class in C# to write primitive types in binary format to a stream or file. We covered the syntax, example, output, explanation, use, important points, and summary of using the BinaryWriter class in C#. With this knowledge, you can now write binary data to files or network streams using C# in a simple and effective way.

TextReaderBinaryReader
Published on: