ASCIIEncoding.GetChars Method

Definition

Decodes a sequence of bytes into a set of characters.

Overloads

GetChars(ReadOnlySpan<Byte>, Span<Char>)

Decodes the specified byte span into the specified character span.

GetChars(Byte*, Int32, Char*, Int32)

Decodes a sequence of bytes starting at the specified byte pointer into a set of characters that are stored starting at the specified character pointer.

GetChars(Byte[], Int32, Int32, Char[], Int32)

Decodes a sequence of bytes from the specified byte array into the specified character array.

GetChars(ReadOnlySpan<Byte>, Span<Char>)

Source:
ASCIIEncoding.cs
Source:
ASCIIEncoding.cs
Source:
ASCIIEncoding.cs

Decodes the specified byte span into the specified character span.

public override int GetChars (ReadOnlySpan<byte> bytes, Span<char> chars);

Parameters

bytes
ReadOnlySpan<Byte>

The span containing the bytes to decode.

chars
Span<Char>

The span to contain the resulting set of characters.

Returns

The actual number of characters written into chars.

Remarks

To calculate the exact size required by GetChars to store the resulting characters, use GetCharCount. To calculate the maximum size, use GetMaxCharCount. The GetCharCount method generally allows allocation of less memory, while the GetMaxCharCount method generally executes faster.

Data to be converted, such as data read from a stream, can be available only in sequential blocks. In this case, or if the amount of data is so large that it needs to be divided into smaller blocks, you should use the Decoder or the Encoder provided by the GetDecoder method or the GetEncoder method, respectively.

ASCIIEncoding does not provide error detection. Any byte greater than hexadecimal 0x7F is decoded as the Unicode question mark ("?").

Caution

For security reasons, you should use UTF8Encoding, UnicodeEncoding, or UTF32Encoding and enable error detection.

Applies to

.NET 9 and other versions
Product Versions
.NET Core 3.0, Core 3.1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

GetChars(Byte*, Int32, Char*, Int32)

Source:
ASCIIEncoding.cs
Source:
ASCIIEncoding.cs
Source:
ASCIIEncoding.cs

Important

This API is not CLS-compliant.

CLS-compliant alternative
System.Text.ASCIIEncoding.GetChars(Byte[], Int32, Int32, Char[], Int32)

Decodes a sequence of bytes starting at the specified byte pointer into a set of characters that are stored starting at the specified character pointer.

[System.CLSCompliant(false)]
[System.Security.SecurityCritical]
public override int GetChars (byte* bytes, int byteCount, char* chars, int charCount);
[System.CLSCompliant(false)]
public override int GetChars (byte* bytes, int byteCount, char* chars, int charCount);
[System.CLSCompliant(false)]
[System.Runtime.InteropServices.ComVisible(false)]
public override int GetChars (byte* bytes, int byteCount, char* chars, int charCount);
[System.CLSCompliant(false)]
[System.Security.SecurityCritical]
[System.Runtime.InteropServices.ComVisible(false)]
public override int GetChars (byte* bytes, int byteCount, char* chars, int charCount);

Parameters

bytes
Byte*

A pointer to the first byte to decode.

byteCount
Int32

The number of bytes to decode.

chars
Char*

A pointer to the location at which to start writing the resulting set of characters.

charCount
Int32

The maximum number of characters to write.

Returns

The actual number of characters written at the location indicated by chars.

Attributes

Exceptions

bytes is null.

-or-

chars is null.

byteCount or charCount is less than zero.

charCount is less than the resulting number of characters.

A fallback occurred (for more information, see Character Encoding in .NET)

-and-

DecoderFallback is set to DecoderExceptionFallback.

Remarks

To calculate the exact array size required by GetChars to store the resulting characters, the application uses GetCharCount. To calculate the maximum array size, the application should use GetMaxCharCount. The GetCharCount method generally allows allocation of less memory, while the GetMaxCharCount method generally executes faster.

Data to be converted, such as data read from a stream, can be available only in sequential blocks. In this case, or if the amount of data is so large that it needs to be divided into smaller blocks, the application should use the Decoder or the Encoder provided by the GetDecoder method or the GetEncoder method, respectively.

ASCIIEncoding does not provide error detection. Any byte greater than hexadecimal 0x7F is decoded as the Unicode question mark ("?").

Caution

For security reasons, your application is recommended to use UTF8Encoding, UnicodeEncoding, or UTF32Encoding and enable error detection.

See also

Applies to

.NET 9 and other versions
Product Versions
.NET Core 1.0, Core 1.1, Core 2.0, Core 2.1, Core 2.2, Core 3.0, Core 3.1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
.NET Framework 2.0, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5, 4.5.1, 4.5.2, 4.6, 4.6.1, 4.6.2, 4.7, 4.7.1, 4.7.2, 4.8, 4.8.1
.NET Standard 1.3, 1.4, 1.6, 2.0, 2.1
UWP 10.0

GetChars(Byte[], Int32, Int32, Char[], Int32)

Source:
ASCIIEncoding.cs
Source:
ASCIIEncoding.cs
Source:
ASCIIEncoding.cs

Decodes a sequence of bytes from the specified byte array into the specified character array.

public override int GetChars (byte[] bytes, int byteIndex, int byteCount, char[] chars, int charIndex);

Parameters

bytes
Byte[]

The byte array containing the sequence of bytes to decode.

byteIndex
Int32

The index of the first byte to decode.

byteCount
Int32

The number of bytes to decode.

chars
Char[]

The character array to contain the resulting set of characters.

charIndex
Int32

The index at which to start writing the resulting set of characters.

Returns

The actual number of characters written into chars.

Exceptions

bytes is null.

-or-

chars is null.

byteIndex or byteCount or charIndex is less than zero.

-or-

byteindex and byteCount do not denote a valid range in bytes.

-or-

charIndex is not a valid index in chars.

chars does not have enough capacity from charIndex to the end of the array to accommodate the resulting characters.

A fallback occurred (for more information, see Character Encoding in .NET)

-and-

DecoderFallback is set to DecoderExceptionFallback.

Examples

The following example demonstrates how to decode a range of elements from a byte array and store the result in a set of elements in a Unicode character array.

using System;
using System.Text;

class ASCIIEncodingExample {
    public static void Main() {
        Char[] chars;
        Byte[] bytes = new Byte[] {
             65,  83,  67,  73,  73,  32,  69,
            110,  99, 111, 100, 105, 110, 103,
             32,  69, 120,  97, 109, 112, 108, 101
        };

        ASCIIEncoding ascii = new ASCIIEncoding();

        int charCount = ascii.GetCharCount(bytes, 6, 8);
        chars = new Char[charCount];
        int charsDecodedCount = ascii.GetChars(bytes, 6, 8, chars, 0);

        Console.WriteLine(
            "{0} characters used to decode bytes.", charsDecodedCount
        );

        Console.Write("Decoded chars: ");
        foreach (Char c in chars) {
            Console.Write("[{0}]", c);
        }
        Console.WriteLine();
    }
}

Remarks

To calculate the exact array size required by GetChars to store the resulting characters, the application uses GetCharCount. To calculate the maximum array size, the application should use GetMaxCharCount. The GetCharCount method generally allows allocation of less memory, while the GetMaxCharCount method generally executes faster.

Data to be converted, such as data read from a stream, can be available only in sequential blocks. In this case, or if the amount of data is so large that it needs to be divided into smaller blocks, the application should use the Decoder or the Encoder provided by the GetDecoder method or the GetEncoder method, respectively.

ASCIIEncoding does not provide error detection. Any byte greater than hexadecimal 0x7F is decoded as the Unicode question mark ("?").

Caution

For security reasons, your application is recommended to use UTF8Encoding, UnicodeEncoding, or UTF32Encoding and enable error detection.

See also

Applies to

.NET 9 and other versions
Product Versions
.NET Core 1.0, Core 1.1, Core 2.0, Core 2.1, Core 2.2, Core 3.0, Core 3.1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
.NET Framework 1.1, 2.0, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5, 4.5.1, 4.5.2, 4.6, 4.6.1, 4.6.2, 4.7, 4.7.1, 4.7.2, 4.8, 4.8.1
.NET Standard 1.3, 1.4, 1.6, 2.0, 2.1
UWP 10.0