I'm trying to read binary data using C#. I have all the information about the layout of the data in the files I want to read. I'm able to read the data "chunk by chunk", i.e. getting the first 40 bytes of data converting it to a string, get the next 40 bytes.
Since there are at least three slightly different version of the data, I would like to read the data directly into a struct. It just feels so much more right than by reading it "line by line".
I have tried the following approach but to no avail:
StructType aStruct;
int count = Marshal.SizeOf(typeof(StructType));
byte[] readBuffer = new byte[count];
BinaryReader reader = new BinaryReader(stream);
readBuffer = reader.ReadBytes(count);
GCHandle handle = GCHandle.Alloc(readBuffer, GCHandleType.Pinned);
aStruct = (StructType) Marshal.PtrToStructure(handle.AddrOfPinnedObject(), typeof(StructType));
handle.Free();
The stream is an opened FileStream from which I have began to read from. I get an AccessViolationExceptio
n when using Marshal.PtrToStructure
.
The stream contains more information than I'm trying to read since I'm not interested in data at the end of the file.
The struct is defined like:
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Explicit)]
struct StructType
{
[FieldOffset(0)]
public string FileDate;
[FieldOffset(8)]
public string FileTime;
[FieldOffset(16)]
public int Id1;
[FieldOffset(20)]
public string Id2;
}
The examples code is changed from original to make this question shorter.
How would I read binary data from a file into a struct?
The problem is the strings in your struct. I found that marshaling types like byte/short/int is not a problem; but when you need to marshal into a complex type such as a string, you need your struct to explicitly mimic an unmanaged type. You can do this with the MarshalAs attrib.
For your example, the following should work:
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Explicit)]
struct StructType
{
[FieldOffset(0)]
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.ByValTStr, SizeConst = 8)]
public string FileDate;
[FieldOffset(8)]
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.ByValTStr, SizeConst = 8)]
public string FileTime;
[FieldOffset(16)]
public int Id1;
[FieldOffset(20)]
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.ByValTStr, SizeConst = 66)] //Or however long Id2 is.
public string Id2;
}