[.net] How do you get a string from a MemoryStream?

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

I need to integrate with a class that need a Stream to Write on it:

XmlSchema schema;
// ... Use "schema" ...

var ret = "";

using (var ms = new MemoryStream())
{
    schema.Write(ms);
    ret = Encoding.ASCII.GetString(ms.ToArray());
}
//here you can use "ret"
// 6 Lines of code

I create a simple class that can help to reduce lines of code for multiples use:

public static class MemoryStreamStringWrapper
{
    public static string Write(Action<MemoryStream> action)
    {
        var ret = "";
        using (var ms = new MemoryStream())
        {
            action(ms);
            ret = Encoding.ASCII.GetString(ms.ToArray());
        }

        return ret;
    }
}

then you can replace the sample with a single line of code

var ret = MemoryStreamStringWrapper.Write(schema.Write);

Only use method Convert.ToBase64String

Convert.ToBase64String(inputStream.ToArray());

use a StreamReader, then you can use the ReadToEnd method that returns a string.

You can also use

Encoding.ASCII.GetString(ms.ToArray());

I don't think this is less efficient, but I couldn't swear to it. It also lets you choose a different encoding, whereas using a StreamReader you'd have to specify that as a parameter.

use a StreamReader, then you can use the ReadToEnd method that returns a string.

Why not make a nice extension method on the MemoryStream type?

public static class MemoryStreamExtensions
{

    static object streamLock = new object();

    public static void WriteLine(this MemoryStream stream, string text, bool flush)
    {
        byte[] bytes = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(text + Environment.NewLine);
        lock (streamLock)
        {
            stream.Write(bytes, 0, bytes.Length);
            if (flush)
            {
                stream.Flush();
            }
        }
    }

    public static void WriteLine(this MemoryStream stream, string formatString, bool flush, params string[] strings)
    {
        byte[] bytes = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(String.Format(formatString, strings) + Environment.NewLine);
        lock (streamLock)
        {
            stream.Write(bytes, 0, bytes.Length);
            if (flush)
            {
                stream.Flush();
            }
        }
    }

    public static void WriteToConsole(this MemoryStream stream)
    {
        lock (streamLock)
        {
            long temporary = stream.Position;
            stream.Position = 0;
            using (StreamReader reader = new StreamReader(stream, Encoding.UTF8, false, 0x1000, true))
            {
                string text = reader.ReadToEnd();
                if (!String.IsNullOrEmpty(text))
                {
                    Console.WriteLine(text);
                }
            }
            stream.Position = temporary;
        }
    }
}

Of course, be careful when using these methods in conjunction with the standard ones. :) ...you'll need to use that handy streamLock if you do, for concurrency.

Using a StreamReader to convert the MemoryStream to a String.

<Extension()> _
Public Function ReadAll(ByVal memStream As MemoryStream) As String
    ' Reset the stream otherwise you will just get an empty string.
    ' Remember the position so we can restore it later.
    Dim pos = memStream.Position
    memStream.Position = 0

    Dim reader As New StreamReader(memStream)
    Dim str = reader.ReadToEnd()

    ' Reset the position so that subsequent writes are correct.
    memStream.Position = pos

    Return str
End Function

I need to integrate with a class that need a Stream to Write on it:

XmlSchema schema;
// ... Use "schema" ...

var ret = "";

using (var ms = new MemoryStream())
{
    schema.Write(ms);
    ret = Encoding.ASCII.GetString(ms.ToArray());
}
//here you can use "ret"
// 6 Lines of code

I create a simple class that can help to reduce lines of code for multiples use:

public static class MemoryStreamStringWrapper
{
    public static string Write(Action<MemoryStream> action)
    {
        var ret = "";
        using (var ms = new MemoryStream())
        {
            action(ms);
            ret = Encoding.ASCII.GetString(ms.ToArray());
        }

        return ret;
    }
}

then you can replace the sample with a single line of code

var ret = MemoryStreamStringWrapper.Write(schema.Write);

Previous solutions wouldn't work in cases where encoding is involved. Here is - kind of a "real life" - example how to do this properly...

using(var stream = new System.IO.MemoryStream())
{
  var serializer = new DataContractJsonSerializer(typeof(IEnumerable<ExportData>),  new[]{typeof(ExportData)}, Int32.MaxValue, true, null, false);               
  serializer.WriteObject(stream, model);  


  var jsonString = Encoding.Default.GetString((stream.ToArray()));
}

A slightly modified version of Brian's answer allows optional management of read start, This seems to be the easiest method. probably not the most efficient, but easy to understand and use.

Public Function ReadAll(ByVal memStream As MemoryStream, Optional ByVal startPos As Integer = 0) As String
    ' reset the stream or we'll get an empty string returned
    ' remember the position so we can restore it later
    Dim Pos = memStream.Position
    memStream.Position = startPos

    Dim reader As New StreamReader(memStream)
    Dim str = reader.ReadToEnd()

    ' reset the position so that subsequent writes are correct
    memStream.Position = Pos

    Return str
End Function

This sample shows how to read a string from a MemoryStream, in which I've used a serialization (using DataContractJsonSerializer), pass the string from some server to client, and then, how to recover the MemoryStream from the string passed as parameter, then, deserialize the MemoryStream.

I've used parts of different posts to perform this sample.

Hope that this helps.

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.IO;
using System.Runtime.Serialization;
using System.Runtime.Serialization.Json;
using System.Threading;

namespace JsonSample
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            var phones = new List<Phone>
            {
                new Phone { Type = PhoneTypes.Home, Number = "28736127" },
                new Phone { Type = PhoneTypes.Movil, Number = "842736487" }
            };
            var p = new Person { Id = 1, Name = "Person 1", BirthDate = DateTime.Now, Phones = phones };

            Console.WriteLine("New object 'Person' in the server side:");
            Console.WriteLine(string.Format("Id: {0}, Name: {1}, Birthday: {2}.", p.Id, p.Name, p.BirthDate.ToShortDateString()));
            Console.WriteLine(string.Format("Phone: {0} {1}", p.Phones[0].Type.ToString(), p.Phones[0].Number));
            Console.WriteLine(string.Format("Phone: {0} {1}", p.Phones[1].Type.ToString(), p.Phones[1].Number));

            Console.Write(Environment.NewLine);
            Thread.Sleep(2000);

            var stream1 = new MemoryStream();
            var ser = new DataContractJsonSerializer(typeof(Person));

            ser.WriteObject(stream1, p);

            stream1.Position = 0;
            StreamReader sr = new StreamReader(stream1);
            Console.Write("JSON form of Person object: ");
            Console.WriteLine(sr.ReadToEnd());

            Console.Write(Environment.NewLine);
            Thread.Sleep(2000);

            var f = GetStringFromMemoryStream(stream1);

            Console.Write(Environment.NewLine);
            Thread.Sleep(2000);

            Console.WriteLine("Passing string parameter from server to client...");

            Console.Write(Environment.NewLine);
            Thread.Sleep(2000);

            var g = GetMemoryStreamFromString(f);
            g.Position = 0;
            var ser2 = new DataContractJsonSerializer(typeof(Person));
            var p2 = (Person)ser2.ReadObject(g);

            Console.Write(Environment.NewLine);
            Thread.Sleep(2000);

            Console.WriteLine("New object 'Person' arrived to the client:");
            Console.WriteLine(string.Format("Id: {0}, Name: {1}, Birthday: {2}.", p2.Id, p2.Name, p2.BirthDate.ToShortDateString()));
            Console.WriteLine(string.Format("Phone: {0} {1}", p2.Phones[0].Type.ToString(), p2.Phones[0].Number));
            Console.WriteLine(string.Format("Phone: {0} {1}", p2.Phones[1].Type.ToString(), p2.Phones[1].Number));

            Console.Read();
        }

        private static MemoryStream GetMemoryStreamFromString(string s)
        {
            var stream = new MemoryStream();
            var sw = new StreamWriter(stream);
            sw.Write(s);
            sw.Flush();
            stream.Position = 0;
            return stream;
        }

        private static string GetStringFromMemoryStream(MemoryStream ms)
        {
            ms.Position = 0;
            using (StreamReader sr = new StreamReader(ms))
            {
                return sr.ReadToEnd();
            }
        }
    }

    [DataContract]
    internal class Person
    {
        [DataMember]
        public int Id { get; set; }
        [DataMember]
        public string Name { get; set; }
        [DataMember]
        public DateTime BirthDate { get; set; }
        [DataMember]
        public List<Phone> Phones { get; set; }
    }

    [DataContract]
    internal class Phone
    {
        [DataMember]
        public PhoneTypes Type { get; set; }
        [DataMember]
        public string Number { get; set; }
    }

    internal enum PhoneTypes
    {
        Home = 1,
        Movil = 2
    }
}

You can also use

Encoding.ASCII.GetString(ms.ToArray());

I don't think this is less efficient, but I couldn't swear to it. It also lets you choose a different encoding, whereas using a StreamReader you'd have to specify that as a parameter.

A slightly modified version of Brian's answer allows optional management of read start, This seems to be the easiest method. probably not the most efficient, but easy to understand and use.

Public Function ReadAll(ByVal memStream As MemoryStream, Optional ByVal startPos As Integer = 0) As String
    ' reset the stream or we'll get an empty string returned
    ' remember the position so we can restore it later
    Dim Pos = memStream.Position
    memStream.Position = startPos

    Dim reader As New StreamReader(memStream)
    Dim str = reader.ReadToEnd()

    ' reset the position so that subsequent writes are correct
    memStream.Position = Pos

    Return str
End Function

You can also use

Encoding.ASCII.GetString(ms.ToArray());

I don't think this is less efficient, but I couldn't swear to it. It also lets you choose a different encoding, whereas using a StreamReader you'd have to specify that as a parameter.

Only use method Convert.ToBase64String

Convert.ToBase64String(inputStream.ToArray());

use a StreamReader, then you can use the ReadToEnd method that returns a string.

Using a StreamReader to convert the MemoryStream to a String.

<Extension()> _
Public Function ReadAll(ByVal memStream As MemoryStream) As String
    ' Reset the stream otherwise you will just get an empty string.
    ' Remember the position so we can restore it later.
    Dim pos = memStream.Position
    memStream.Position = 0

    Dim reader As New StreamReader(memStream)
    Dim str = reader.ReadToEnd()

    ' Reset the position so that subsequent writes are correct.
    memStream.Position = pos

    Return str
End Function

In this case, if you really want to use ReadToEnd method in MemoryStream in an easy way, you can use this Extension Method to achieve this:

public static class SetExtensions
{
    public static string ReadToEnd(this MemoryStream BASE)
    {
        BASE.Position = 0;
        StreamReader R = new StreamReader(BASE);
        return R.ReadToEnd();
    }
}

And you can use this method in this way:

using (MemoryStream m = new MemoryStream())
{
    //for example i want to serialize an object into MemoryStream
    //I want to use XmlSeralizer
    XmlSerializer xs = new XmlSerializer(_yourVariable.GetType());
    xs.Serialize(m, _yourVariable);

    //the easy way to use ReadToEnd method in MemoryStream
    MessageBox.Show(m.ReadToEnd());
}

Previous solutions wouldn't work in cases where encoding is involved. Here is - kind of a "real life" - example how to do this properly...

using(var stream = new System.IO.MemoryStream())
{
  var serializer = new DataContractJsonSerializer(typeof(IEnumerable<ExportData>),  new[]{typeof(ExportData)}, Int32.MaxValue, true, null, false);               
  serializer.WriteObject(stream, model);  


  var jsonString = Encoding.Default.GetString((stream.ToArray()));
}

use a StreamReader, then you can use the ReadToEnd method that returns a string.

Using a StreamReader to convert the MemoryStream to a String.

<Extension()> _
Public Function ReadAll(ByVal memStream As MemoryStream) As String
    ' Reset the stream otherwise you will just get an empty string.
    ' Remember the position so we can restore it later.
    Dim pos = memStream.Position
    memStream.Position = 0

    Dim reader As New StreamReader(memStream)
    Dim str = reader.ReadToEnd()

    ' Reset the position so that subsequent writes are correct.
    memStream.Position = pos

    Return str
End Function

byte[] array = Encoding.ASCII.GetBytes("MyTest1 - MyTest2");
MemoryStream streamItem = new MemoryStream(array);

// convert to string
StreamReader reader = new StreamReader(streamItem);
string text = reader.ReadToEnd();

This sample shows how to read a string from a MemoryStream, in which I've used a serialization (using DataContractJsonSerializer), pass the string from some server to client, and then, how to recover the MemoryStream from the string passed as parameter, then, deserialize the MemoryStream.

I've used parts of different posts to perform this sample.

Hope that this helps.

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.IO;
using System.Runtime.Serialization;
using System.Runtime.Serialization.Json;
using System.Threading;

namespace JsonSample
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            var phones = new List<Phone>
            {
                new Phone { Type = PhoneTypes.Home, Number = "28736127" },
                new Phone { Type = PhoneTypes.Movil, Number = "842736487" }
            };
            var p = new Person { Id = 1, Name = "Person 1", BirthDate = DateTime.Now, Phones = phones };

            Console.WriteLine("New object 'Person' in the server side:");
            Console.WriteLine(string.Format("Id: {0}, Name: {1}, Birthday: {2}.", p.Id, p.Name, p.BirthDate.ToShortDateString()));
            Console.WriteLine(string.Format("Phone: {0} {1}", p.Phones[0].Type.ToString(), p.Phones[0].Number));
            Console.WriteLine(string.Format("Phone: {0} {1}", p.Phones[1].Type.ToString(), p.Phones[1].Number));

            Console.Write(Environment.NewLine);
            Thread.Sleep(2000);

            var stream1 = new MemoryStream();
            var ser = new DataContractJsonSerializer(typeof(Person));

            ser.WriteObject(stream1, p);

            stream1.Position = 0;
            StreamReader sr = new StreamReader(stream1);
            Console.Write("JSON form of Person object: ");
            Console.WriteLine(sr.ReadToEnd());

            Console.Write(Environment.NewLine);
            Thread.Sleep(2000);

            var f = GetStringFromMemoryStream(stream1);

            Console.Write(Environment.NewLine);
            Thread.Sleep(2000);

            Console.WriteLine("Passing string parameter from server to client...");

            Console.Write(Environment.NewLine);
            Thread.Sleep(2000);

            var g = GetMemoryStreamFromString(f);
            g.Position = 0;
            var ser2 = new DataContractJsonSerializer(typeof(Person));
            var p2 = (Person)ser2.ReadObject(g);

            Console.Write(Environment.NewLine);
            Thread.Sleep(2000);

            Console.WriteLine("New object 'Person' arrived to the client:");
            Console.WriteLine(string.Format("Id: {0}, Name: {1}, Birthday: {2}.", p2.Id, p2.Name, p2.BirthDate.ToShortDateString()));
            Console.WriteLine(string.Format("Phone: {0} {1}", p2.Phones[0].Type.ToString(), p2.Phones[0].Number));
            Console.WriteLine(string.Format("Phone: {0} {1}", p2.Phones[1].Type.ToString(), p2.Phones[1].Number));

            Console.Read();
        }

        private static MemoryStream GetMemoryStreamFromString(string s)
        {
            var stream = new MemoryStream();
            var sw = new StreamWriter(stream);
            sw.Write(s);
            sw.Flush();
            stream.Position = 0;
            return stream;
        }

        private static string GetStringFromMemoryStream(MemoryStream ms)
        {
            ms.Position = 0;
            using (StreamReader sr = new StreamReader(ms))
            {
                return sr.ReadToEnd();
            }
        }
    }

    [DataContract]
    internal class Person
    {
        [DataMember]
        public int Id { get; set; }
        [DataMember]
        public string Name { get; set; }
        [DataMember]
        public DateTime BirthDate { get; set; }
        [DataMember]
        public List<Phone> Phones { get; set; }
    }

    [DataContract]
    internal class Phone
    {
        [DataMember]
        public PhoneTypes Type { get; set; }
        [DataMember]
        public string Number { get; set; }
    }

    internal enum PhoneTypes
    {
        Home = 1,
        Movil = 2
    }
}

Why not make a nice extension method on the MemoryStream type?

public static class MemoryStreamExtensions
{

    static object streamLock = new object();

    public static void WriteLine(this MemoryStream stream, string text, bool flush)
    {
        byte[] bytes = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(text + Environment.NewLine);
        lock (streamLock)
        {
            stream.Write(bytes, 0, bytes.Length);
            if (flush)
            {
                stream.Flush();
            }
        }
    }

    public static void WriteLine(this MemoryStream stream, string formatString, bool flush, params string[] strings)
    {
        byte[] bytes = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(String.Format(formatString, strings) + Environment.NewLine);
        lock (streamLock)
        {
            stream.Write(bytes, 0, bytes.Length);
            if (flush)
            {
                stream.Flush();
            }
        }
    }

    public static void WriteToConsole(this MemoryStream stream)
    {
        lock (streamLock)
        {
            long temporary = stream.Position;
            stream.Position = 0;
            using (StreamReader reader = new StreamReader(stream, Encoding.UTF8, false, 0x1000, true))
            {
                string text = reader.ReadToEnd();
                if (!String.IsNullOrEmpty(text))
                {
                    Console.WriteLine(text);
                }
            }
            stream.Position = temporary;
        }
    }
}

Of course, be careful when using these methods in conjunction with the standard ones. :) ...you'll need to use that handy streamLock if you do, for concurrency.

byte[] array = Encoding.ASCII.GetBytes("MyTest1 - MyTest2");
MemoryStream streamItem = new MemoryStream(array);

// convert to string
StreamReader reader = new StreamReader(streamItem);
string text = reader.ReadToEnd();

Using a StreamReader to convert the MemoryStream to a String.

<Extension()> _
Public Function ReadAll(ByVal memStream As MemoryStream) As String
    ' Reset the stream otherwise you will just get an empty string.
    ' Remember the position so we can restore it later.
    Dim pos = memStream.Position
    memStream.Position = 0

    Dim reader As New StreamReader(memStream)
    Dim str = reader.ReadToEnd()

    ' Reset the position so that subsequent writes are correct.
    memStream.Position = pos

    Return str
End Function

You can also use

Encoding.ASCII.GetString(ms.ToArray());

I don't think this is less efficient, but I couldn't swear to it. It also lets you choose a different encoding, whereas using a StreamReader you'd have to specify that as a parameter.

In this case, if you really want to use ReadToEnd method in MemoryStream in an easy way, you can use this Extension Method to achieve this:

public static class SetExtensions
{
    public static string ReadToEnd(this MemoryStream BASE)
    {
        BASE.Position = 0;
        StreamReader R = new StreamReader(BASE);
        return R.ReadToEnd();
    }
}

And you can use this method in this way:

using (MemoryStream m = new MemoryStream())
{
    //for example i want to serialize an object into MemoryStream
    //I want to use XmlSeralizer
    XmlSerializer xs = new XmlSerializer(_yourVariable.GetType());
    xs.Serialize(m, _yourVariable);

    //the easy way to use ReadToEnd method in MemoryStream
    MessageBox.Show(m.ReadToEnd());
}