C#: Implementing NetworkStream.Peek?

Question

Currently, there isn't a NetworkStream.Peek method in C#. What is the best way of implementing such a method which functions just like NetworkStream.ReadByte except that the returned byte is not actually removed from the Stream?

Answer 1

I ran into the same 'peek for magic number and then decide which stream processor to send the stream to' requirement and unfortunately can't weasel my way out of that problem - as suggested in comments to Aaronaught's answer - by passing the already consumed bytes into the stream processing methods in separate parameters, as those methods are a given and they expect System.IO.Stream and nothing else.

I solved this by creating a more or less universal PeekableStream class that wraps a Stream. It works for NetworkStreams, but also for any other Stream, provided you Stream.CanRead it.

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Edit

Alternatively, you could use the brand new ReadSeekableStream and do

var readSeekableStream = new ReadSeekableStream(networkStream, /* >= */ count);
...
readSeekableStream.Read(..., count);
readSeekableStream.Seek(-count, SeekOrigin.Current);

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In any event, here comes PeekableStream:

/// <summary>
/// PeekableStream wraps a Stream and can be used to peek ahead in the underlying stream,
/// without consuming the bytes. In other words, doing Peek() will allow you to look ahead in the stream,
/// but it won't affect the result of subsequent Read() calls.
/// 
/// This is sometimes necessary, e.g. for peeking at the magic number of a stream of bytes and decide which
/// stream processor to hand over the stream.
/// </summary>
public class PeekableStream : Stream
{
    private readonly Stream underlyingStream;
    private readonly byte[] lookAheadBuffer;

    private int lookAheadIndex;

    public PeekableStream(Stream underlyingStream, int maxPeekBytes)
    {
        this.underlyingStream = underlyingStream;
        lookAheadBuffer = new byte[maxPeekBytes];
    }

    protected override void Dispose(bool disposing)
    {
        if (disposing)
            underlyingStream.Dispose();

        base.Dispose(disposing);
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Peeks at a maximum of count bytes, or less if the stream ends before that number of bytes can be read.
    /// 
    /// Calls to this method do not influence subsequent calls to Read() and Peek().
    /// 
    /// Please note that this method will always peek count bytes unless the end of the stream is reached before that - in contrast to the Read()
    /// method, which might read less than count bytes, even though the end of the stream has not been reached.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="buffer">An array of bytes. When this method returns, the buffer contains the specified byte array with the values between offset and
    /// (offset + number-of-peeked-bytes - 1) replaced by the bytes peeked from the current source.</param>
    /// <param name="offset">The zero-based byte offset in buffer at which to begin storing the data peeked from the current stream.</param>
    /// <param name="count">The maximum number of bytes to be peeked from the current stream.</param>
    /// <returns>The total number of bytes peeked into the buffer. If it is less than the number of bytes requested then the end of the stream has been reached.</returns>
    public virtual int Peek(byte[] buffer, int offset, int count)
    {
        if (count > lookAheadBuffer.Length)
            throw new ArgumentOutOfRangeException("count", "must be smaller than peekable size, which is " + lookAheadBuffer.Length);

        while (lookAheadIndex < count)
        {
            int bytesRead = underlyingStream.Read(lookAheadBuffer, lookAheadIndex, count - lookAheadIndex);

            if (bytesRead == 0) // end of stream reached
                break;

            lookAheadIndex += bytesRead;
        }

        int peeked = Math.Min(count, lookAheadIndex);
        Array.Copy(lookAheadBuffer, 0, buffer, offset, peeked);
        return peeked;
    }

    public override bool CanRead { get { return true; } }

    public override long Position
    {
        get
        {
            return underlyingStream.Position - lookAheadIndex;
        }
        set
        {
            underlyingStream.Position = value;
            lookAheadIndex = 0; // this needs to be done AFTER the call to underlyingStream.Position, as that might throw NotSupportedException, 
                                // in which case we don't want to change the lookAhead status
        }
    }

    public override int Read(byte[] buffer, int offset, int count)
    {
        int bytesTakenFromLookAheadBuffer = 0;
        if (count > 0 && lookAheadIndex > 0)
        {
            bytesTakenFromLookAheadBuffer = Math.Min(count, lookAheadIndex);
            Array.Copy(lookAheadBuffer, 0, buffer, offset, bytesTakenFromLookAheadBuffer);
            count -= bytesTakenFromLookAheadBuffer;
            offset += bytesTakenFromLookAheadBuffer;
            lookAheadIndex -= bytesTakenFromLookAheadBuffer;
            if (lookAheadIndex > 0) // move remaining bytes in lookAheadBuffer to front
                // copying into same array should be fine, according to http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/z50k9bft(v=VS.90).aspx :
                // "If sourceArray and destinationArray overlap, this method behaves as if the original values of sourceArray were preserved
                // in a temporary location before destinationArray is overwritten."
                Array.Copy(lookAheadBuffer, lookAheadBuffer.Length - bytesTakenFromLookAheadBuffer + 1, lookAheadBuffer, 0, lookAheadIndex);
        }

        return count > 0
            ? bytesTakenFromLookAheadBuffer + underlyingStream.Read(buffer, offset, count)
            : bytesTakenFromLookAheadBuffer;
    }

    public override int ReadByte()
    {
        if (lookAheadIndex > 0)
        {
            lookAheadIndex--;
            byte firstByte = lookAheadBuffer[0];
            if (lookAheadIndex > 0) // move remaining bytes in lookAheadBuffer to front
                Array.Copy(lookAheadBuffer, 1, lookAheadBuffer, 0, lookAheadIndex);
            return firstByte;
        }
        else
        {
            return underlyingStream.ReadByte();
        }
    }

    public override long Seek(long offset, SeekOrigin origin)
    {
        long ret = underlyingStream.Seek(offset, origin);
        lookAheadIndex = 0; // this needs to be done AFTER the call to underlyingStream.Seek(), as that might throw NotSupportedException,
                            // in which case we don't want to change the lookAhead status
        return ret;
    }

    // from here on, only simple delegations to underlyingStream

    public override bool CanSeek { get { return underlyingStream.CanSeek; } }
    public override bool CanWrite { get { return underlyingStream.CanWrite; } }
    public override bool CanTimeout { get { return underlyingStream.CanTimeout; } }
    public override int ReadTimeout { get { return underlyingStream.ReadTimeout; } set { underlyingStream.ReadTimeout = value; } }
    public override int WriteTimeout { get { return underlyingStream.WriteTimeout; } set { underlyingStream.WriteTimeout = value; } }
    public override void Flush() { underlyingStream.Flush(); }
    public override long Length { get { return underlyingStream.Length; } }
    public override void SetLength(long value) { underlyingStream.SetLength(value); }
    public override void Write(byte[] buffer, int offset, int count) { underlyingStream.Write(buffer, offset, count); }
    public override void WriteByte(byte value) { underlyingStream.WriteByte(value); }
}