StreamReader.ReadLine Method

Definition

Namespace:

System.IO

Assembly:

System.Runtime.dll

Source:

StreamReader.cs

Reads a line of characters from the current stream and returns the data as a string.

public:
 override System::String ^ ReadLine();

public override string? ReadLine ();

override this.ReadLine : unit -> string

Public Overrides Function ReadLine () As String

Returns

String

The next line from the input stream, or null if the end of the input stream is reached.

Exceptions

OutOfMemoryException

There is insufficient memory to allocate a buffer for the returned string.

IOException

An I/O error occurs.

Examples

The following code example reads lines from a file until the end of the file is reached.

using namespace System;
using namespace System::IO;

int main()
{
   String^ path = "c:\\temp\\MyTest.txt";
   try
   {
      if ( File::Exists( path ) )
      {
         File::Delete( path );
      }
      StreamWriter^ sw = gcnew StreamWriter( path );
      try
      {
         sw->WriteLine( "This" );
         sw->WriteLine( "is some text" );
         sw->WriteLine( "to test" );
         sw->WriteLine( "Reading" );
      }
      finally
      {
         delete sw;
      }

      StreamReader^ sr = gcnew StreamReader( path );
      try
      {
         while ( sr->Peek() >= 0 )
         {
            Console::WriteLine( sr->ReadLine() );
         }
      }
      finally
      {
         delete sr;
      }
   }
   catch ( Exception^ e ) 
   {
      Console::WriteLine( "The process failed: {0}", e );
   }
}

using System;
using System.IO;

class Test
{
    
    public static void Main()
    {
        string path = @"c:\temp\MyTest.txt";
        try
        {
            if (File.Exists(path))
            {
                File.Delete(path);
            }

            using (StreamWriter sw = new StreamWriter(path))
            {
                sw.WriteLine("This");
                sw.WriteLine("is some text");
                sw.WriteLine("to test");
                sw.WriteLine("Reading");
            }

            using (StreamReader sr = new StreamReader(path))
            {
                while (sr.Peek() >= 0)
                {
                    Console.WriteLine(sr.ReadLine());
                }
            }
        }
        catch (Exception e)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("The process failed: {0}", e.ToString());
        }
    }
}

Imports System.IO
Imports System.Text

Public Class Test

    Public Shared Sub Main()
        Dim path As String = "c:\temp\MyTest.txt"

        Try
            If File.Exists(path) Then
                File.Delete(path)
            End If

            Dim sw As StreamWriter = New StreamWriter(path)
            sw.WriteLine("This")
            sw.WriteLine("is some text")
            sw.WriteLine("to test")
            sw.WriteLine("Reading")
            sw.Close()

            Dim sr As StreamReader = New StreamReader(path)

            Do While sr.Peek() >= 0
                Console.WriteLine(sr.ReadLine())
            Loop
            sr.Close()
        Catch e As Exception
            Console.WriteLine("The process failed: {0}", e.ToString())
        End Try
    End Sub
End Class

Remarks

A line is defined as a sequence of characters followed by a line feed ("\n"), a carriage return ("\r"), or a carriage return immediately followed by a line feed ("\r\n"). The string that is returned does not contain the terminating carriage return or line feed. The returned value is null if the end of the input stream is reached.

This method overrides TextReader.ReadLine.

If the current method throws an OutOfMemoryException, the reader's position in the underlying Stream object is advanced by the number of characters the method was able to read, but the characters already read into the internal ReadLine buffer are discarded. If you manipulate the position of the underlying stream after reading data into the buffer, the position of the underlying stream might not match the position of the internal buffer. To reset the internal buffer, call the DiscardBufferedData method; however, this method slows performance and should be called only when absolutely necessary.

For a list of common I/O tasks, see Common I/O Tasks.

See also

• File and Stream I/O
• How to: Read Text from a File
• How to: Write Text to a File