How to generate a binary file? C#

Question

I need to make a method that generates a binary (4 bytes long), receives List of integers and writes this List one by one in the file. So, I have this:

public void FrameCodesBinaryWriter(List<int> frameCodes)
{
    using (FileStream fileStream = new FileStream(binaryFilePath,  FileMode.Create)) // destiny file directory.
    {
        using (BinaryWriter binaryWriter = new BinaryWriter(fileStream))
        {
            for (int i = 0; i < frameCodes.Count; i++)
            {
                binaryWriter.Write(frameCodes[i]);
            }
            binaryWriter.Close();
        }
    }
}

is this correct? or some other solution please

Are you testing us? You can know if it is correct -- what happened when you tested it? — Hogan
– Hogan, Commented Apr 18, 2011 at 17:02
the file is generated, but I only want to make sure that is correct — ale
– ale, Commented Apr 18, 2011 at 17:08
Tip: you don't need to explicitly call Close() on binaryWriter. The using statement takes care of doing that correctly. — R. Martinho Fernandes
– R. Martinho Fernandes, Commented Apr 18, 2011 at 17:10
If you want to make sure it is correct, why not use a BinaryReader to read back the values and check if the numbers are equivalent? This is very simple debugging. — Marlon
– Marlon, Commented Apr 18, 2011 at 17:20

ICR · Accepted Answer · 2011-04-18 18:19:55Z

As it is it should work fine. Here is a refactored version, you can pick and choose which bits of the refactoring you like.

public void WriteFrameCodesAsBinary(IEnumerable<int> frameCodes)
{
    using (FileStream fileStream = new FileStream(binaryFilePath,  FileMode.Create))
    using (BinaryWriter binaryWriter = new BinaryWriter(fileStream))
    {
        foreach (int frameCode in frameCodes) {
            binaryWriter.Write(frameCode);
        }
    }
}

I would rename the function to describe the action it will do. FrameCodesBinaryWriter sounds more like a class name to me.

If you don't need the ordering of the List<T>, it might be an idea to accept an IEnumerable<T> instead. That way you can be more flexible about what you pass in.

Some people like to stack their using statements to remove a layer of nesting (code indentation). Personally I'm not a massive fan of this, but it's a matter of personal taste and style.

Using an IEnumerable<T> forces us to use foreach, but even with List<T> it can look cleaner/make it more obvious you are iterating through the list.

As previously mentioned, if you are using using you don't need to explicitly close the binary writer - that will be done automatically when the using block is exited.

thumbmunkeys · Accepted Answer · 2011-04-18 17:09:51Z

0

You don't need to close binaryWriter because you have a using clause anyway. binaryFilePath needs to be a field of the class, apart from that it looks ok.

answered Apr 18, 2011 at 17:09

thumbmunkeys

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