CODEWITHSUNDEEP
vb.netencoding
Mystx
Mystx

Reputation: 103

VB.net will not read text file correctly

I've been trying to use StreamReader to read a log file. I cannot verify what it is encoded in, as when I open it in notepad++ and select ANSI encoding, I get this result:

screenshot

I'm getting the characters needed when using ANSI but they are followed by things like [NULL][EOT][SOH][NUL][SI]

When I try and read the file in VB (using StreamReader or ReadAll) with ANSI encoding selected the resulting string I get back is completely wrong.

How could I read a file like this in VB.net?

Upvotes: 2

Views: 8918

Answers (3)

Sam
Sam

Reputation: 7398

You could use the IO.File.ReadAllText("File Location", encoding as System.Text.Encoding) method,

Dim textFromFile as string = IO.File.ReadAllText("C:\Users\Jason\Desktop\login20130417.rdb", System.Text.Encoding.ASCII) 'Or Unicode, UFT32, UFT8, UFT7, BigEndianUnicode or default. Default is ANSI.

If you still don't get the text you need by using the default encoding (ANSI), then you can always try the other 6 different encoding methods.

Update...

It appears that your file is corrupt, using the code below I was able to get a binary representation of whatever is in the file, I got this,

1111111111111101000001110000010000000000000001010000000000010011000000000000100000000000000111100000000000100110000000000011100000000010000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000110000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000111111111111110100000111000001000000000000000101000000000001001100000000000010000000000000011110000000000010100000000000111111111111110100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000110011100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

The massive amount of null data would suggest that the file is corrupt, which would also explain why we are not getting a lot of data whenever we try to read the file.

The code,

Dim fileData As String = IO.File.ReadAllText("C:\Users\Jason\Desktop\login20130417.rdb")
Dim i As Integer = 0
Dim binaryData As String = ""
Dim ch As String = ""
Do Until i = fileData.Length
   ch = fileData.Chars(i)
   bin = bin & System.Convert.ToString(AscW(ch), 2).PadLeft(8, "0")
   i = i + 1
Loop

Upvotes: 1

Michael Parr
Michael Parr

Reputation: 134

Rdb file? Never heard of it. Quick google makes it less clear - n64 database file, Darkbot, etc...

However considering the name you have, and the general look of the opened file, i would say its a binary file.

If you want to read the file in vb.net you'll need a library of sorts, and i can't help you with one until you are able to shed some light on what the file may be, or what it was created with.

Upvotes: 0

AJ.
AJ.

Reputation: 16719

As @Daniel A. White suggested in his comment, that file does not appear to be encoded like a "normal" text file. A StreamReader will not work in this situation. I would attempt to use a BinaryReader.

Upvotes: 0

Related Questions