c# - Read binary file into a struct

Question

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 AccessViolationException 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?

Answer 1

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;
}