c# create xml from byte array

Question

i have xml what i get as byte array, whats the best way to get the xml string out of it? I was tryng to use xmltextreader and memorystream but with no success..

Where do you get the byte array from? Do you know the encoding used? — R. Martinho Fernandes, Apr 07 '11 at 13:51
I meant the [character encoding](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Character_encoding) of the XML document. — R. Martinho Fernandes, Apr 07 '11 at 13:56

score 69 · Accepted Answer · edited Apr 07 '11 at 14:02

69

XmlDocument doc = new XmlDocument();
string xml = Encoding.UTF8.GetString(buffer);
doc.LoadXml(xml);

OR

XmlDocument doc = new XmlDocument();
MemoryStream ms = new MemoryStream(buffer);
doc.Load(ms);

This assumes your data has UTF8 encoding which is the usual for XML. Also buffer here is the byte array.

edited Apr 07 '11 at 14:02

R. Martinho Fernandes

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answered Apr 07 '11 at 13:50

Aliostad

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Good answer, although the MemoryStream is IDisposable so don't forget to wrap it in a using block! :) – firefox1986 Apr 07 '11 at 13:58
because of a byte order mark (BOM) I found this overload more useful (thanks Jon Skeet) `MemoryStream ms = new MemoryStream(buffer, true);` – bkwdesign Mar 14 '17 at 20:09

score 7 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 07 '11 at 13:55

Assuming your xml is in the default 'UTF8' encoding., you could do something like this;

string xml = System.Text.UTF8Encoding.UTF8.GetString(bytes);
System.Xml.XmlDocument xdoc = new System.Xml.XmlDocument().LoadXml(xml);

Or this;

XmlDocument doc = new XmlDocument();
using (MemoryStream ms = new MemoryStream(buffer))
{
    doc.Load(ms);
}

score 4 · Answer 3 · edited Apr 07 '11 at 14:14

4

Based on the Encoding, you can do

string xmlString = System.Text.UTF8Encoding.UTF8.GetString(bytes);

and use the string

XmlTextReader reader = new XmlTextReader(new StringReader(xmlString));

edited Apr 07 '11 at 14:14

R. Martinho Fernandes

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answered Apr 07 '11 at 13:49

Bala R

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Ooops... GetBytes takes a string and gives an array of bytes. GetString takes an array of bytes and gives a string. FTFY. – R. Martinho Fernandes Apr 07 '11 at 14:15

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Apr 07 '11 at 13:50

0

Take a look at the System.Text.Encoding.UTF8 class. It should let you convert youre byte array into a UTF8 string.

answered Apr 07 '11 at 13:50

NKCSS

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See [XML Encoding Defaults](http://www.opentag.com/xfaq_enc.htm) page here. UTF8 is the correct assumption is most cases. – NKCSS Apr 07 '11 at 13:53
1

Still, I think you should have a note about it on your answer. – R. Martinho Fernandes Apr 07 '11 at 13:54

c# create xml from byte array

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