Stream.ReadByte Method

Definition

Namespace:

System.IO

Assemblies:

netstandard.dll, System.Runtime.dll

Source:

Stream.cs

Reads a byte from the stream and advances the position within the stream by one byte, or returns -1 if at the end of the stream.

C#

public virtual int ReadByte();

Returns

Int32

The unsigned byte cast to an Int32, or -1 if at the end of the stream.

Exceptions

NotSupportedException

The stream does not support reading.

ObjectDisposedException

Methods were called after the stream was closed.

Remarks

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

Attempts to manipulate the stream after the stream has been closed could throw an ObjectDisposedException.

Notes to Inheritors

The default implementation on Stream creates a new single-byte array and then calls Read(Byte[], Int32, Int32). While this is formally correct, it is inefficient. Any stream with an internal buffer should override this method and provide a much more efficient version that reads the buffer directly, avoiding the extra array allocation on every call.

Applies to

See also

• File and Stream I/O
• How to: Read Text from a File
• How to: Write Text to a File