This class converts strings of Unicode characters to and from byte arrays. Derived classes implement specific encoding types. The GetBytes( ) method takes an array of characters and returns the corresponding array of bytes. The GetChars( ) method does the opposite conversion. GetByteCount( ) and GetCharCount( ) allow you to get the exact size of the encoding or decoding to size the output buffer appropriately.

The GetEncoder( ) and GetDecoder( ) methods create Encoder and Decoder instances that allow you to do encoding across sequential blocks in which partial byte codes may remain in the buffer.

public abstract class Encoding {
// Protected Constructors
   protected Encoding( );
   protected Encoding(int codePage);
// Public Static Properties
   public static Encoding ASCII{get; }
   public static Encoding BigEndianUnicode{get; }
   public static Encoding Default{get; }
   public static Encoding Unicode{get; }
   public static Encoding UTF7{get; }
   public static Encoding UTF8{get; }
// Public Instance Properties
   public virtual string BodyName{get; }
   public virtual int CodePage{get; }
   public virtual string EncodingName{get; }
   public virtual string HeaderName{get; }
   public virtual bool IsBrowserDisplay{get; }
   public virtual bool IsBrowserSave{get; }
   public virtual bool IsMailNewsDisplay{get; }
   public virtual bool IsMailNewsSave{get; }
   public virtual string WebName{get; }
   public virtual int WindowsCodePage{get; }
// Public Static Methods
   public static byte[ ] Convert(Encoding srcEncoding, Encoding dstEncoding, byte[ ] bytes);
   public static byte[ ] Convert(Encoding srcEncoding, Encoding dstEncoding, byte[ ] bytes, 
        int index, int count);
   public static Encoding GetEncoding(int codepage);
   public static Encoding GetEncoding(string name);
// Public Instance Methods
   public override bool Equals(object value);        
// overrides object
   public virtual int GetByteCount(char[ ] chars);
   public abstract int GetByteCount(char[ ] chars, int index,  int count);
   public virtual int GetByteCount(string s);
   public virtual byte[ ] GetBytes(char[ ] chars);
   public virtual byte[ ] GetBytes(char[ ] chars, int index, int count);
   public virtual byte[ ] GetBytes(string s);
   public abstract int GetBytes(char[ ] chars, int charIndex, int charCount, byte[ ] bytes, 
        int byteIndex);
   public virtual int GetBytes(string s, int charIndex, int charCount, byte[ ] bytes, 
        int byteIndex);
   public virtual int GetCharCount(byte[ ] bytes);
   public abstract int GetCharCount(byte[ ] bytes, int index, int count);
   public virtual char[ ] GetChars(byte[ ] bytes);
   public virtual char[ ] GetChars(byte[ ] bytes, int index, int count);
   public abstract int GetChars(byte[ ] bytes, int byteIndex, int byteCount, char[ ] chars, 
        int charIndex);
   public virtual Decoder GetDecoder( );
   public virtual Encoder GetEncoder( );
   public override int GetHashCode( );    
// overrides object
   public abstract int GetMaxByteCount(int charCount);
   public abstract int GetMaxCharCount(int byteCount);
   public virtual byte[ ] GetPreamble( );
   public virtual string GetString(byte[ ] bytes);
   public virtual string GetString(byte[ ] bytes, int index, int count);
}

Subclasses

ASCIIEncoding, UnicodeEncoding, UTF7Encoding, UTF8Encoding

Returned By

System.IO.StreamReader.CurrentEncoding, System.IO.TextWriter.Encoding, System.Xml.XmlParserContext.Encoding, System.Xml.XmlTextReader.Encoding, System.Xml.XmlValidatingReader.Encoding

Passed To

System.IO.BinaryReader.BinaryReader( ), System.IO.BinaryWriter.BinaryWriter( ), System.IO.StreamReader.StreamReader( ), System.IO.StreamWriter.StreamWriter( ), System.String.String( ), System.Xml.XmlParserContext.{Encoding, XmlParserContext( )}, System.Xml.XmlTextWriter.XmlTextWriter( )