FileStream.ReadAsync Method

Definition

Namespace:

System.IO

Assembly:

System.Runtime.dll

Overloads

ReadAsync(Memory<Byte>, CancellationToken)	Asynchronously reads a sequence of bytes from the current file stream and writes them to a memory region, advances the position within the file stream by the number of bytes read, and monitors cancellation requests.
ReadAsync(Byte[], Int32, Int32, CancellationToken)	Asynchronously reads a sequence of bytes from the current file stream and writes them to a byte array beginning at a specified offset, advances the position within the file stream by the number of bytes read, and monitors cancellation requests.

ReadAsync(Memory<Byte>, CancellationToken)

Source:

FileStream.cs

Asynchronously reads a sequence of bytes from the current file stream and writes them to a memory region, advances the position within the file stream by the number of bytes read, and monitors cancellation requests.

public override System.Threading.Tasks.ValueTask<int> ReadAsync (Memory<byte> buffer, System.Threading.CancellationToken cancellationToken = default);

override this.ReadAsync : Memory<byte> * System.Threading.CancellationToken -> System.Threading.Tasks.ValueTask<int>

Public Overrides Function ReadAsync (buffer As Memory(Of Byte), Optional cancellationToken As CancellationToken = Nothing) As ValueTask(Of Integer)

Parameters

buffer

Memory<Byte>

The buffer to write the data into.

cancellationToken

CancellationToken

The token to monitor for cancellation requests. The default value is None.

Returns

ValueTask<Int32>

A task that represents the asynchronous read operation and wraps the total number of bytes read into the buffer. The result value can be less than the number of bytes requested if the number of bytes currently available is less than the requested number, or it can be 0 (zero) if the end of the stream has been reached.

Exceptions

OperationCanceledException

The cancellation token was canceled. This exception is stored into the returned task.

Examples

The following example shows how to read from a file asynchronously.

using System;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using System.Windows;
using System.Windows.Controls;
using System.IO;

namespace WpfApplication1
{
    public partial class MainWindow : Window
    {
        public MainWindow()
        {
            InitializeComponent();
        }

        private async void Button_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
        {
            string filename = @"c:\Temp\userinputlog.txt";
            byte[] result;

            using (FileStream SourceStream = File.Open(filename, FileMode.Open))
            {
                result = new byte[SourceStream.Length];
                await SourceStream.ReadAsync(result, 0, (int)SourceStream.Length);
            }

            UserInput.Text = System.Text.Encoding.ASCII.GetString(result);
        }
    }
}

open System.Text
open System.IO

let read () =
    task {
        let filename = @"c:\Temp\userinputlog.txt"
        use sourceStream = File.Open(filename, FileMode.Open)
        let length = int sourceStream.Length    
        let result = Array.zeroCreate length 
        let! _ = sourceStream.ReadAsync(result, 0, length)
        return Encoding.ASCII.GetString result
    }

let main =
    task {
        let! text = read ()
        printfn $"{text}"
    }    
main.Wait()

Imports System.IO
Imports System.Text

Class MainWindow
    Private Async Sub Button_Click(sender As Object, e As RoutedEventArgs)
        Dim filename As String = "c:\Temp\userinputlog.txt"

        Dim result As Byte()

        Using SourceStream As FileStream = File.Open(filename, FileMode.Open)
            result = New Byte(SourceStream.Length - 1) {}
            Await SourceStream.ReadAsync(result, 0, CType(SourceStream.Length, Integer))
        End Using

        UserInput.Text = System.Text.Encoding.ASCII.GetString(result)
    End Sub
End Class

Remarks

The ReadAsync method enables you to perform resource-intensive file operations without blocking the main thread. This performance consideration is particularly important in a Windows 8.x Store app or desktop app where a time-consuming stream operation can block the UI thread and make your app appear as if it is not working. The async methods are used in conjunction with the async and await keywords in Visual Basic and C#.

Use the CanRead property to determine whether the current instance supports reading.

If the operation is canceled before it completes, the returned task contains the TaskStatus.Canceled value for the Status property. If the handle to the file is disposed, the returned task contains the ObjectDisposedException exception in the Task.Exception property.

ReadAsync(Byte[], Int32, Int32, CancellationToken)

Source:

FileStream.cs

Asynchronously reads a sequence of bytes from the current file stream and writes them to a byte array beginning at a specified offset, advances the position within the file stream by the number of bytes read, and monitors cancellation requests.

public:
 override System::Threading::Tasks::Task<int> ^ ReadAsync(cli::array <System::Byte> ^ buffer, int offset, int count, System::Threading::CancellationToken cancellationToken);

public override System.Threading.Tasks.Task<int> ReadAsync (byte[] buffer, int offset, int count, System.Threading.CancellationToken cancellationToken);

override this.ReadAsync : byte[] * int * int * System.Threading.CancellationToken -> System.Threading.Tasks.Task<int>

Public Overrides Function ReadAsync (buffer As Byte(), offset As Integer, count As Integer, cancellationToken As CancellationToken) As Task(Of Integer)

Parameters

buffer

Byte[]

The buffer to write the data into.

offset

Int32

The byte offset in buffer at which to begin writing data from the stream.

count

Int32

The maximum number of bytes to read.

cancellationToken

CancellationToken

The token to monitor for cancellation requests.

Returns

Task<Int32>

A task that represents the asynchronous read operation and wraps the total number of bytes read into the buffer. The result value can be less than the number of bytes requested if the number of bytes currently available is less than the requested number, or it can be 0 (zero) if the end of the stream has been reached.

Exceptions

ArgumentNullException

buffer is null.

ArgumentOutOfRangeException

offset or count is negative.

ArgumentException

The sum of offset and count is larger than the buffer length.

NotSupportedException

The stream does not support reading.

ObjectDisposedException

The stream has been disposed.

InvalidOperationException

The stream is currently in use by a previous read operation.

OperationCanceledException

The cancellation token was canceled. This exception is stored into the returned task.

Examples

The following example shows how to read from a file asynchronously.

using System;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using System.Windows;
using System.Windows.Controls;
using System.IO;

namespace WpfApplication1
{
    public partial class MainWindow : Window
    {
        public MainWindow()
        {
            InitializeComponent();
        }

        private async void Button_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
        {
            string filename = @"c:\Temp\userinputlog.txt";
            byte[] result;

            using (FileStream SourceStream = File.Open(filename, FileMode.Open))
            {
                result = new byte[SourceStream.Length];
                await SourceStream.ReadAsync(result, 0, (int)SourceStream.Length);
            }

            UserInput.Text = System.Text.Encoding.ASCII.GetString(result);
        }
    }
}

open System.Text
open System.IO

let read () =
    task {
        let filename = @"c:\Temp\userinputlog.txt"
        use sourceStream = File.Open(filename, FileMode.Open)
        let length = int sourceStream.Length    
        let result = Array.zeroCreate length 
        let! _ = sourceStream.ReadAsync(result, 0, length)
        return Encoding.ASCII.GetString result
    }

let main =
    task {
        let! text = read ()
        printfn $"{text}"
    }    
main.Wait()

Imports System.IO
Imports System.Text

Class MainWindow
    Private Async Sub Button_Click(sender As Object, e As RoutedEventArgs)
        Dim filename As String = "c:\Temp\userinputlog.txt"

        Dim result As Byte()

        Using SourceStream As FileStream = File.Open(filename, FileMode.Open)
            result = New Byte(SourceStream.Length - 1) {}
            Await SourceStream.ReadAsync(result, 0, CType(SourceStream.Length, Integer))
        End Using

        UserInput.Text = System.Text.Encoding.ASCII.GetString(result)
    End Sub
End Class

Remarks

The ReadAsync method enables you to perform resource-intensive file operations without blocking the main thread. This performance consideration is particularly important in a Windows 8.x Store app or desktop app where a time-consuming stream operation can block the UI thread and make your app appear as if it is not working. The async methods are used in conjunction with the async and await keywords in Visual Basic and C#.

Use the CanRead property to determine whether the current instance supports reading.

If the operation is canceled before it completes, the returned task contains the TaskStatus.Canceled value for the Task.Status property. If the handle to the file is disposed, the returned task contains the ObjectDisposedException exception in the Task.Exception property.

This method stores in the task it returns all non-usage exceptions that the method's synchronous counterpart can throw. If an exception is stored into the returned task, that exception will be thrown when the task is awaited. Usage exceptions, such as ArgumentException, are still thrown synchronously. For the stored exceptions, see the exceptions thrown by Read(Byte[], Int32, Int32).

See also

• Cancellation