Encoding.GetCharCount Method

Definition

Namespace:

System.Text

Assembly:

System.Runtime.dll

When overridden in a derived class, calculates the number of characters produced by decoding a sequence of bytes.

Overloads

GetCharCount(Byte[])	When overridden in a derived class, calculates the number of characters produced by decoding all the bytes in the specified byte array.
GetCharCount(ReadOnlySpan<Byte>)	When overridden in a derived class, calculates the number of characters produced by decoding the provided read-only byte span.
GetCharCount(Byte*, Int32)	When overridden in a derived class, calculates the number of characters produced by decoding a sequence of bytes starting at the specified byte pointer.
GetCharCount(Byte[], Int32, Int32)	When overridden in a derived class, calculates the number of characters produced by decoding a sequence of bytes from the specified byte array.

GetCharCount(Byte[])

Source:

Encoding.cs

When overridden in a derived class, calculates the number of characters produced by decoding all the bytes in the specified byte array.

public:
 virtual int GetCharCount(cli::array <System::Byte> ^ bytes);

public virtual int GetCharCount (byte[] bytes);

abstract member GetCharCount : byte[] -> int
override this.GetCharCount : byte[] -> int

Public Overridable Function GetCharCount (bytes As Byte()) As Integer

Parameters

bytes

Byte[]

The byte array containing the sequence of bytes to decode.

Returns

Int32

The number of characters produced by decoding the specified sequence of bytes.

Exceptions

ArgumentNullException

bytes is null.

DecoderFallbackException

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

-and-

DecoderFallback is set to DecoderExceptionFallback.

Examples

The following example encodes a string into an array of bytes, and then decodes the bytes into an array of characters.

using namespace System;
using namespace System::Text;
void PrintCountsAndChars( array<Byte>^bytes, Encoding^ enc );
int main()
{
   
   // Create two instances of UTF32Encoding: one with little-endian byte order and one with big-endian byte order.
   Encoding^ u32LE = Encoding::GetEncoding( "utf-32" );
   Encoding^ u32BE = Encoding::GetEncoding( "utf-32BE" );
   
   // Use a string containing the following characters:
   //    Latin Small Letter Z (U+007A)
   //    Latin Small Letter A (U+0061)
   //    Combining Breve (U+0306)
   //    Latin Small Letter AE With Acute (U+01FD)
   //    Greek Small Letter Beta (U+03B2)
   String^ myStr = "za\u0306\u01FD\u03B2";
   
   // Encode the string using the big-endian byte order.
   array<Byte>^barrBE = gcnew array<Byte>(u32BE->GetByteCount( myStr ));
   u32BE->GetBytes( myStr, 0, myStr->Length, barrBE, 0 );
   
   // Encode the string using the little-endian byte order.
   array<Byte>^barrLE = gcnew array<Byte>(u32LE->GetByteCount( myStr ));
   u32LE->GetBytes( myStr, 0, myStr->Length, barrLE, 0 );
   
   // Get the char counts, and decode the byte arrays.
   Console::Write( "BE array with BE encoding : " );
   PrintCountsAndChars( barrBE, u32BE );
   Console::Write( "LE array with LE encoding : " );
   PrintCountsAndChars( barrLE, u32LE );
}

void PrintCountsAndChars( array<Byte>^bytes, Encoding^ enc )
{
   
   // Display the name of the encoding used.
   Console::Write( "{0,-25} :", enc );
   
   // Display the exact character count.
   int iCC = enc->GetCharCount( bytes );
   Console::Write( " {0,-3}", iCC );
   
   // Display the maximum character count.
   int iMCC = enc->GetMaxCharCount( bytes->Length );
   Console::Write( " {0,-3} :", iMCC );
   
   // Decode the bytes and display the characters.
   array<Char>^chars = enc->GetChars( bytes );
   Console::WriteLine( chars );
}

/* 
This code produces the following output.  The question marks take the place of characters that cannot be displayed at the console.

BE array with BE encoding : System.Text.UTF32Encoding : 5   12  :zăǽβ
LE array with LE encoding : System.Text.UTF32Encoding : 5   12  :zăǽβ

*/

using System;
using System.Text;

public class SamplesEncoding  {

   public static void Main()  {

      // Create two instances of UTF32Encoding: one with little-endian byte order and one with big-endian byte order.
      Encoding u32LE = Encoding.GetEncoding( "utf-32" );
      Encoding u32BE = Encoding.GetEncoding( "utf-32BE" );

      // Use a string containing the following characters:
      //    Latin Small Letter Z (U+007A)
      //    Latin Small Letter A (U+0061)
      //    Combining Breve (U+0306)
      //    Latin Small Letter AE With Acute (U+01FD)
      //    Greek Small Letter Beta (U+03B2)
      String myStr = "za\u0306\u01FD\u03B2";

      // Encode the string using the big-endian byte order.
      byte[] barrBE = new byte[u32BE.GetByteCount( myStr )];
      u32BE.GetBytes( myStr, 0, myStr.Length, barrBE, 0 );

      // Encode the string using the little-endian byte order.
      byte[] barrLE = new byte[u32LE.GetByteCount( myStr )];
      u32LE.GetBytes( myStr, 0, myStr.Length, barrLE, 0 );

      // Get the char counts, and decode the byte arrays.
      Console.Write( "BE array with BE encoding : " );
      PrintCountsAndChars( barrBE, u32BE );
      Console.Write( "LE array with LE encoding : " );
      PrintCountsAndChars( barrLE, u32LE );
   }

   public static void PrintCountsAndChars( byte[] bytes, Encoding enc )  {

      // Display the name of the encoding used.
      Console.Write( "{0,-25} :", enc.ToString() );

      // Display the exact character count.
      int iCC  = enc.GetCharCount( bytes );
      Console.Write( " {0,-3}", iCC );

      // Display the maximum character count.
      int iMCC = enc.GetMaxCharCount( bytes.Length );
      Console.Write( " {0,-3} :", iMCC );

      // Decode the bytes and display the characters.
      char[] chars = enc.GetChars( bytes );
      Console.WriteLine( chars );
   }
}


/* 
This code produces the following output.  The question marks take the place of characters that cannot be displayed at the console.

BE array with BE encoding : System.Text.UTF32Encoding : 5   12  :zăǽβ
LE array with LE encoding : System.Text.UTF32Encoding : 5   12  :zăǽβ

*/

Imports System.Text

Public Class SamplesEncoding   

   Public Shared Sub Main()

      ' Create two instances of UTF32Encoding: one with little-endian byte order and one with big-endian byte order.
      Dim u32LE As Encoding = Encoding.GetEncoding("utf-32")
      Dim u32BE As Encoding = Encoding.GetEncoding("utf-32BE")

      ' Use a string containing the following characters:
      '    Latin Small Letter Z (U+007A)
      '    Latin Small Letter A (U+0061)
      '    Combining Breve (U+0306)
      '    Latin Small Letter AE With Acute (U+01FD)
      '    Greek Small Letter Beta (U+03B2)
      Dim myStr As String = "za" & ChrW(&H0306) & ChrW(&H01FD) & ChrW(&H03B2) 

      ' Encode the string using the big-endian byte order.
      ' NOTE: In VB.NET, arrays contain one extra element by default.
      '       The following line creates the array with the exact number of elements required.
      Dim barrBE(u32BE.GetByteCount(myStr) - 1) As Byte
      u32BE.GetBytes(myStr, 0, myStr.Length, barrBE, 0)

      ' Encode the string using the little-endian byte order.
      ' NOTE: In VB.NET, arrays contain one extra element by default.
      '       The following line creates the array with the exact number of elements required.
      Dim barrLE(u32LE.GetByteCount(myStr) - 1) As Byte
      u32LE.GetBytes(myStr, 0, myStr.Length, barrLE, 0)

      ' Get the char counts, and decode the byte arrays.
      Console.Write("BE array with BE encoding : ")
      PrintCountsAndChars(barrBE, u32BE)
      Console.Write("LE array with LE encoding : ")
      PrintCountsAndChars(barrLE, u32LE)

   End Sub


   Public Shared Sub PrintCountsAndChars(bytes() As Byte, enc As Encoding)

      ' Display the name of the encoding used.
      Console.Write("{0,-25} :", enc.ToString())

      ' Display the exact character count.
      Dim iCC As Integer = enc.GetCharCount(bytes)
      Console.Write(" {0,-3}", iCC)

      ' Display the maximum character count.
      Dim iMCC As Integer = enc.GetMaxCharCount(bytes.Length)
      Console.Write(" {0,-3} :", iMCC)

      ' Decode the bytes and display the characters.
      Dim chars As Char() = enc.GetChars(bytes)
      Console.WriteLine(chars)

   End Sub

End Class


'This code produces the following output.  The question marks take the place of characters that cannot be displayed at the console.
'
'BE array with BE encoding : System.Text.UTF32Encoding : 5   12  :zăǽβ
'LE array with LE encoding : System.Text.UTF32Encoding : 5   12  :zăǽβ

Remarks

To calculate the exact array size required by GetChars(Byte[]) to store the resulting characters, you should use the GetCharCount(Byte[]) method. To calculate the maximum array size, you should use the GetMaxCharCount(Int32) method. The GetCharCount(Byte[]) method generally allows allocation of less memory, while the GetMaxCharCount method generally executes faster.

The GetCharCount(Byte[]) method determines how many characters result in decoding a sequence of bytes, and the GetChars(Byte[]) method performs the actual decoding. The Encoding.GetChars method expects discrete conversions, in contrast to the Decoder.GetChars method, which handles multiple passes on a single input stream.

Several versions of GetCharCount and GetChars are supported. The following are some programming considerations for use of these methods:

• Your app might need to decode multiple input bytes from a code page and process the bytes using multiple calls. In this case, you probably need to maintain state between calls.

• If your app handles string outputs, you should use the GetString method. Since this method must check string length and allocate a buffer, it is slightly slower, but the resulting String type is to be preferred.

• The byte version of GetChars(Byte*, Int32, Char*, Int32) allows some fast techniques, particularly with multiple calls to large buffers. Bear in mind, however, that this method version is sometimes unsafe, since pointers are required.

• If your app must convert a large amount of data, it should reuse the output buffer. In this case, the GetChars(Byte[], Int32, Int32, Char[], Int32) version that supports output character buffers is the best choice.

• Consider using the Decoder.Convert method instead of GetCharCount. The conversion method converts as much data as possible and throws an exception if the output buffer is too small. For continuous decoding of a stream, this method is often the best choice.

See also

• GetChars
• GetMaxCharCount(Int32)
• GetDecoder()

GetCharCount(ReadOnlySpan<Byte>)

Source:

Encoding.cs

When overridden in a derived class, calculates the number of characters produced by decoding the provided read-only byte span.

public:
 virtual int GetCharCount(ReadOnlySpan<System::Byte> bytes);

public virtual int GetCharCount (ReadOnlySpan<byte> bytes);

abstract member GetCharCount : ReadOnlySpan<byte> -> int
override this.GetCharCount : ReadOnlySpan<byte> -> int

Public Overridable Function GetCharCount (bytes As ReadOnlySpan(Of Byte)) As Integer

Parameters

bytes

ReadOnlySpan<Byte>

A read-only byte span to decode.

Returns

Int32

The number of characters produced by decoding the byte span.

Remarks

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

The GetCharCount method determines how many characters result in decoding a sequence of bytes, and the GetChars method performs the actual decoding. The GetChars method expects discrete conversions, in contrast to the Decoder.GetChars method, which handles multiple passes on a single input stream.

Several versions of GetCharCount and GetChars are supported. The following are some programming considerations for use of these methods:

• Your app might need to decode multiple input bytes from a code page and process the bytes using multiple calls. In this case, you probably need to maintain state between calls.

• If your app handles string outputs, it is recommended to use the GetString method. Since this method must check string length and allocate a buffer, it is slightly slower, but the resulting String type is to be preferred.

• If your app must convert a large amount of data, it should reuse the output buffer. In this case, the GetChars(Byte[], Int32, Int32, Char[], Int32) version that supports output character buffers is the best choice.

• Consider using the Decoder.Convert method instead of GetCharCount. The conversion method converts as much data as possible and throws an exception if the output buffer is too small. For continuous decoding of a stream, this method is often the best choice.

GetCharCount(Byte*, Int32)

Source:

Encoding.cs

Important

This API is not CLS-compliant.

When overridden in a derived class, calculates the number of characters produced by decoding a sequence of bytes starting at the specified byte pointer.

public:
 virtual int GetCharCount(System::Byte* bytes, int count);

[System.CLSCompliant(false)]
public virtual int GetCharCount (byte* bytes, int count);

[<System.CLSCompliant(false)>]
abstract member GetCharCount : nativeptr<byte> * int -> int
override this.GetCharCount : nativeptr<byte> * int -> int

Parameters

bytes

Byte*

A pointer to the first byte to decode.

count

Int32

The number of bytes to decode.

Returns

Int32

The number of characters produced by decoding the specified sequence of bytes.

Attributes

CLSCompliantAttribute

Exceptions

ArgumentNullException

bytes is null.

ArgumentOutOfRangeException

count is less than zero.

DecoderFallbackException

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

-and-

DecoderFallback is set to DecoderExceptionFallback.

Remarks

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

The GetCharCount method determines how many characters result in decoding a sequence of bytes, and the GetChars method performs the actual decoding. The GetChars method expects discrete conversions, in contrast to the Decoder.GetChars method, which handles multiple passes on a single input stream.

Several versions of GetCharCount and GetChars are supported. The following are some programming considerations for use of these methods:

• Your app might need to decode multiple input bytes from a code page and process the bytes using multiple calls. In this case, you probably need to maintain state between calls.

• If your app handles string outputs, it is recommended to use the GetString method. Since this method must check string length and allocate a buffer, it is slightly slower, but the resulting String type is to be preferred.

• The byte version of GetChars(Byte*, Int32, Char*, Int32) allows some fast techniques, particularly with multiple calls to large buffers. Bear in mind, however, that this method version is sometimes unsafe, since pointers are required.

• If your app must convert a large amount of data, it should reuse the output buffer. In this case, the GetChars(Byte[], Int32, Int32, Char[], Int32) version that supports output character buffers is the best choice.

• Consider using the Decoder.Convert method instead of GetCharCount. The conversion method converts as much data as possible and throws an exception if the output buffer is too small. For continuous decoding of a stream, this method is often the best choice.

See also

• GetChars
• GetMaxCharCount(Int32)
• GetDecoder()

GetCharCount(Byte[], Int32, Int32)

Source:

Encoding.cs

When overridden in a derived class, calculates the number of characters produced by decoding a sequence of bytes from the specified byte array.

public:
 abstract int GetCharCount(cli::array <System::Byte> ^ bytes, int index, int count);

public abstract int GetCharCount (byte[] bytes, int index, int count);

abstract member GetCharCount : byte[] * int * int -> int

Public MustOverride Function GetCharCount (bytes As Byte(), index As Integer, count As Integer) As Integer

Parameters

bytes

Byte[]

The byte array containing the sequence of bytes to decode.

index

Int32

The index of the first byte to decode.

count

Int32

The number of bytes to decode.

Returns

Int32

The number of characters produced by decoding the specified sequence of bytes.

Exceptions

ArgumentNullException

bytes is null.

ArgumentOutOfRangeException

index or count is less than zero.

-or-

index and count do not denote a valid range in bytes.

DecoderFallbackException

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

-and-

DecoderFallback is set to DecoderExceptionFallback.

Examples

The following example converts a string from one encoding to another.

using namespace System;
using namespace System::Text;

int main()
{
   String^ unicodeString = "This string contains the unicode character Pi (\u03a0)";
   
   // Create two different encodings.
   Encoding^ ascii = Encoding::ASCII;
   Encoding^ unicode = Encoding::Unicode;
   
   // Convert the string into a byte array.
   array<Byte>^unicodeBytes = unicode->GetBytes( unicodeString );
   
   // Perform the conversion from one encoding to the other.
   array<Byte>^asciiBytes = Encoding::Convert( unicode, ascii, unicodeBytes );
   
   // Convert the new Byte into[] a char and[] then into a string.
   array<Char>^asciiChars = gcnew array<Char>(ascii->GetCharCount( asciiBytes, 0, asciiBytes->Length ));
   ascii->GetChars( asciiBytes, 0, asciiBytes->Length, asciiChars, 0 );
   String^ asciiString = gcnew String( asciiChars );
   
   // Display the strings created before and after the conversion.
   Console::WriteLine( "Original String*: {0}", unicodeString );
   Console::WriteLine( "Ascii converted String*: {0}", asciiString );
}
// The example displays the following output:
//    Original string: This string contains the unicode character Pi (Π)
//    Ascii converted string: This string contains the unicode character Pi (?)

using System;
using System.Text;

class Example
{
   static void Main()
   {
      string unicodeString = "This string contains the unicode character Pi (\u03a0)";

      // Create two different encodings.
      Encoding ascii = Encoding.ASCII;
      Encoding unicode = Encoding.Unicode;

      // Convert the string into a byte array.
      byte[] unicodeBytes = unicode.GetBytes(unicodeString);

      // Perform the conversion from one encoding to the other.
      byte[] asciiBytes = Encoding.Convert(unicode, ascii, unicodeBytes);
         
      // Convert the new byte[] into a char[] and then into a string.
      char[] asciiChars = new char[ascii.GetCharCount(asciiBytes, 0, asciiBytes.Length)];
      ascii.GetChars(asciiBytes, 0, asciiBytes.Length, asciiChars, 0);
      string asciiString = new string(asciiChars);

      // Display the strings created before and after the conversion.
      Console.WriteLine("Original string: {0}", unicodeString);
      Console.WriteLine("Ascii converted string: {0}", asciiString);
   }
}
// The example displays the following output:
//    Original string: This string contains the unicode character Pi (Π)
//    Ascii converted string: This string contains the unicode character Pi (?)

Imports System.Text

Class Example
   Shared Sub Main()
      Dim unicodeString As String = "This string contains the unicode character Pi (" & ChrW(&H03A0) & ")"

      ' Create two different encodings.
      Dim ascii As Encoding = Encoding.ASCII
      Dim unicode As Encoding = Encoding.Unicode

      ' Convert the string into a byte array.
      Dim unicodeBytes As Byte() = unicode.GetBytes(unicodeString)

      ' Perform the conversion from one encoding to the other.
      Dim asciiBytes As Byte() = Encoding.Convert(unicode, ascii, unicodeBytes)

      ' Convert the new byte array into a char array and then into a string.
      Dim asciiChars(ascii.GetCharCount(asciiBytes, 0, asciiBytes.Length)-1) As Char
      ascii.GetChars(asciiBytes, 0, asciiBytes.Length, asciiChars, 0)
      Dim asciiString As New String(asciiChars)

      ' Display the strings created before and after the conversion.
      Console.WriteLine("Original string: {0}", unicodeString)
      Console.WriteLine("Ascii converted string: {0}", asciiString)
   End Sub
End Class
' The example displays the following output:
'    Original string: This string contains the unicode character Pi (Π)
'    Ascii converted string: This string contains the unicode character Pi (?)

The following example encodes a string into an array of bytes, and then decodes a range of the bytes into an array of characters.

using namespace System;
using namespace System::Text;
void PrintCountsAndChars( array<Byte>^bytes, int index, int count, Encoding^ enc );
int main()
{
   
   // Create two instances of UTF32Encoding: one with little-endian byte order and one with big-endian byte order.
   Encoding^ u32LE = Encoding::GetEncoding( "utf-32" );
   Encoding^ u32BE = Encoding::GetEncoding( "utf-32BE" );
   
   // Use a string containing the following characters:
   //    Latin Small Letter Z (U+007A)
   //    Latin Small Letter A (U+0061)
   //    Combining Breve (U+0306)
   //    Latin Small Letter AE With Acute (U+01FD)
   //    Greek Small Letter Beta (U+03B2)
   String^ myStr = "za\u0306\u01FD\u03B2";
   
   // Encode the string using the big-endian byte order.
   array<Byte>^barrBE = gcnew array<Byte>(u32BE->GetByteCount( myStr ));
   u32BE->GetBytes( myStr, 0, myStr->Length, barrBE, 0 );
   
   // Encode the string using the little-endian byte order.
   array<Byte>^barrLE = gcnew array<Byte>(u32LE->GetByteCount( myStr ));
   u32LE->GetBytes( myStr, 0, myStr->Length, barrLE, 0 );
   
   // Get the char counts, decode eight bytes starting at index 0,
   // and print out the counts and the resulting bytes.
   Console::Write( "BE array with BE encoding : " );
   PrintCountsAndChars( barrBE, 0, 8, u32BE );
   Console::Write( "LE array with LE encoding : " );
   PrintCountsAndChars( barrLE, 0, 8, u32LE );
}

void PrintCountsAndChars( array<Byte>^bytes, int index, int count, Encoding^ enc )
{
   
   // Display the name of the encoding used.
   Console::Write( "{0,-25} :", enc );
   
   // Display the exact character count.
   int iCC = enc->GetCharCount( bytes, index, count );
   Console::Write( " {0,-3}", iCC );
   
   // Display the maximum character count.
   int iMCC = enc->GetMaxCharCount( count );
   Console::Write( " {0,-3} :", iMCC );
   
   // Decode the bytes and display the characters.
   array<Char>^chars = enc->GetChars( bytes, index, count );
   
   // The following is an alternative way to decode the bytes:
   // Char[] chars = new Char[iCC];
   // enc->GetChars( bytes, index, count, chars, 0 );
   Console::WriteLine( chars );
}

/* 
This code produces the following output.  The question marks take the place of characters that cannot be displayed at the console.

BE array with BE encoding : System.Text.UTF32Encoding : 2   6   :za
LE array with LE encoding : System.Text.UTF32Encoding : 2   6   :za

*/

using System;
using System.Text;

public class SamplesEncoding  {

   public static void Main()  {

      // Create two instances of UTF32Encoding: one with little-endian byte order and one with big-endian byte order.
      Encoding u32LE = Encoding.GetEncoding( "utf-32" );
      Encoding u32BE = Encoding.GetEncoding( "utf-32BE" );

      // Use a string containing the following characters:
      //    Latin Small Letter Z (U+007A)
      //    Latin Small Letter A (U+0061)
      //    Combining Breve (U+0306)
      //    Latin Small Letter AE With Acute (U+01FD)
      //    Greek Small Letter Beta (U+03B2)
      String myStr = "za\u0306\u01FD\u03B2";

      // Encode the string using the big-endian byte order.
      byte[] barrBE = new byte[u32BE.GetByteCount( myStr )];
      u32BE.GetBytes( myStr, 0, myStr.Length, barrBE, 0 );

      // Encode the string using the little-endian byte order.
      byte[] barrLE = new byte[u32LE.GetByteCount( myStr )];
      u32LE.GetBytes( myStr, 0, myStr.Length, barrLE, 0 );

      // Get the char counts, decode eight bytes starting at index 0,
      // and print out the counts and the resulting bytes.
      Console.Write( "BE array with BE encoding : " );
      PrintCountsAndChars( barrBE, 0, 8, u32BE );
      Console.Write( "LE array with LE encoding : " );
      PrintCountsAndChars( barrLE, 0, 8, u32LE );
   }

   public static void PrintCountsAndChars( byte[] bytes, int index, int count, Encoding enc )  {

      // Display the name of the encoding used.
      Console.Write( "{0,-25} :", enc.ToString() );

      // Display the exact character count.
      int iCC  = enc.GetCharCount( bytes, index, count );
      Console.Write( " {0,-3}", iCC );

      // Display the maximum character count.
      int iMCC = enc.GetMaxCharCount( count );
      Console.Write( " {0,-3} :", iMCC );

      // Decode the bytes and display the characters.
      char[] chars = enc.GetChars( bytes, index, count );

      // The following is an alternative way to decode the bytes:
      // char[] chars = new char[iCC];
      // enc.GetChars( bytes, index, count, chars, 0 );

      Console.WriteLine( chars );
   }
}


/* 
This code produces the following output.  The question marks take the place of characters that cannot be displayed at the console.

BE array with BE encoding : System.Text.UTF32Encoding : 2   6   :za
LE array with LE encoding : System.Text.UTF32Encoding : 2   6   :za

*/

Imports System.Text

Public Class SamplesEncoding   

   Public Shared Sub Main()

      ' Create two instances of UTF32Encoding: one with little-endian byte order and one with big-endian byte order.
      Dim u32LE As Encoding = Encoding.GetEncoding("utf-32")
      Dim u32BE As Encoding = Encoding.GetEncoding("utf-32BE")

      ' Use a string containing the following characters:
      '    Latin Small Letter Z (U+007A)
      '    Latin Small Letter A (U+0061)
      '    Combining Breve (U+0306)
      '    Latin Small Letter AE With Acute (U+01FD)
      '    Greek Small Letter Beta (U+03B2)
      Dim myStr As String = "za" & ChrW(&H0306) & ChrW(&H01FD) & ChrW(&H03B2)

      ' Encode the string using the big-endian byte order.
      ' NOTE: In VB.NET, arrays contain one extra element by default.
      '       The following line creates barrBE with the exact number of elements required.
      Dim barrBE(u32BE.GetByteCount(myStr) - 1) As Byte
      u32BE.GetBytes(myStr, 0, myStr.Length, barrBE, 0)

      ' Encode the string using the little-endian byte order.
      ' NOTE: In VB.NET, arrays contain one extra element by default.
      '       The following line creates barrLE with the exact number of elements required.
      Dim barrLE(u32LE.GetByteCount(myStr) - 1) As Byte
      u32LE.GetBytes(myStr, 0, myStr.Length, barrLE, 0)

      ' Get the char counts, decode eight bytes starting at index 0,
      ' and print out the counts and the resulting bytes.
      Console.Write("BE array with BE encoding : ")
      PrintCountsAndChars(barrBE, 0, 8, u32BE)
      Console.Write("LE array with LE encoding : ")
      PrintCountsAndChars(barrLE, 0, 8, u32LE)

   End Sub


   Public Shared Sub PrintCountsAndChars(bytes() As Byte, index As Integer, count As Integer, enc As Encoding)

      ' Display the name of the encoding used.
      Console.Write("{0,-25} :", enc.ToString())

      ' Display the exact character count.
      Dim iCC As Integer = enc.GetCharCount(bytes, index, count)
      Console.Write(" {0,-3}", iCC)

      ' Display the maximum character count.
      Dim iMCC As Integer = enc.GetMaxCharCount(count)
      Console.Write(" {0,-3} :", iMCC)

      ' Decode the bytes.
      Dim chars As Char() = enc.GetChars(bytes, index, count)

      ' The following is an alternative way to decode the bytes:
      ' NOTE: In VB.NET, arrays contain one extra element by default.
      '       The following line creates the array with the exact number of elements required.
      ' Dim chars(iCC - 1) As Char
      ' enc.GetChars( bytes, index, count, chars, 0 )

      ' Display the characters.
      Console.WriteLine(chars)

   End Sub

End Class


'This code produces the following output.  The question marks take the place of characters that cannot be displayed at the console.
'
'BE array with BE encoding : System.Text.UTF32Encoding : 2   6   :za
'LE array with LE encoding : System.Text.UTF32Encoding : 2   6   :za

Remarks

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

The GetCharCount method determines how many characters result in decoding a sequence of bytes, and the GetChars method performs the actual decoding. The GetChars method expects discrete conversions, in contrast to the Decoder.GetChars method, which handles multiple passes on a single input stream.

Several versions of GetCharCount and GetChars are supported. The following are some programming considerations for use of these methods:

• Your app might need to decode multiple input bytes from a code page and process the bytes using multiple calls. In this case, you probably need to maintain state between calls.

• If your app handles string outputs, it is recommended to use the GetString method. Since this method must check string length and allocate a buffer, it is slightly slower, but the resulting String type is to be preferred.

• The byte version of GetChars(Byte*, Int32, Char*, Int32) allows some fast techniques, particularly with multiple calls to large buffers. Bear in mind, however, that this method version is sometimes unsafe, since pointers are required.

• If your app must convert a large amount of data, it should reuse the output buffer. In this case, the GetChars(Byte[], Int32, Int32, Char[], Int32) version that supports output character buffers is the best choice.

• Consider using the Decoder.Convert method instead of GetCharCount. The conversion method converts as much data as possible and throws an exception if the output buffer is too small. For continuous decoding of a stream, this method is often the best choice.

See also

• GetChars
• GetMaxCharCount(Int32)
• GetDecoder()