String array to byte array C#

Question

Is it possible to convert string[] to byte[]? I'm trying to send ICS file but I want to avoid saving it on server and retrieving it back. Here is the code I have so far and it breaks while trying to convert to bytes[]

string schLocation = "Conference Room";
            string schSubject = "Business visit discussion";
            string schDescription = "Schedule description";
            System.DateTime schBeginDate = Convert.ToDateTime("7/13/2014 10:00:00 PM");
            System.DateTime schEndDate = Convert.ToDateTime("7/13/2014 11:00:00 PM");

            //PUTTING THE MEETING DETAILS INTO AN ARRAY OF STRING

            String[] contents = { "BEGIN:VCALENDAR",
                              "PRODID:-//Flo Inc.//FloSoft//EN",
                              "BEGIN:VEVENT",
                              "DTSTART:" + schBeginDate.ToUniversalTime().ToString("yyyyMMdd\\THHmmss\\Z"), 
                              "DTEND:" + schEndDate.ToUniversalTime().ToString("yyyyMMdd\\THHmmss\\Z"), 
                              "LOCATION:" + schLocation, 
                         "DESCRIPTION;ENCODING=QUOTED-PRINTABLE:" + schDescription,
                              "SUMMARY:" + schSubject, "PRIORITY:3", 
                         "END:VEVENT", "END:VCALENDAR" };
            //byte[] data = contents.Select(x => Byte.Parse(x)).ToArray();
            byte[] data = contents.Select(x => Convert.ToByte(x, 16)).ToArray();

            MemoryStream ms = new MemoryStream(data);
            MailMessage message = new MailMessage("[email protected]", "[email protected]");
            message.Subject = schSubject;
            message.Body = "This is test";
            message.IsBodyHtml = false;
            message.Attachments.Add(new Attachment(ms, "meeting.ics"));
            SmtpClient client = new SmtpClient(ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["SmtpServer"]);
            client.Send(message);

I get a following error: Additional non-parsable characters are at the end of the string.

Patrick Hofman · Accepted Answer · 2014-07-09 13:59:35Z

3

I would create a single string since your string[] doesn't have any purpose. You can use Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes to get the actual bytes from that string.

In this sample I use a StringBuilder for performance reasons:

StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
sb.AppendLine("BEGIN:VCALENDAR");
sb.AppendLine("PRODID:-//Flo Inc.//FloSoft//EN");
sb.AppendLine("BEGIN:VEVENT");
sb.AppendLine("DTSTART:" + schBeginDate.ToUniversalTime().ToString("yyyyMMdd\\THHmmss\\Z"));
sb.AppendLine("DTEND:" + schEndDate.ToUniversalTime().ToString("yyyyMMdd\\THHmmss\\Z"));
sb.AppendLine("LOCATION:" + schLocation);
sb.AppendLine("DESCRIPTION;ENCODING=QUOTED-PRINTABLE:" + schDescription);
sb.AppendLine("SUMMARY:" + schSubject, "PRIORITY:3");
sb.AppendLine("END:VEVENT", "END:VCALENDAR");

byte[] data = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(sb.ToString());

answered Jul 9, 2014 at 13:59

Patrick Hofman

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CathalMF · Accepted Answer · 2014-07-09 14:01:25Z

2

string[] abc = new string[]{"hello", "myfriend"};

string fullstring = String.Join(Environment.NewLine, abc);    // Joins all elements in the array together into a single string.
byte[] arrayofbytes = Encoding.Default.GetBytes(fullstring);     // Convert the string to byte array.

answered Jul 9, 2014 at 14:01

CathalMF

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1 Comment

Patrick Hofman Over a year ago

Just as a hint: I think the ICS format desires it is multi-line, so for the separator in String.Join use Environment.NewLine.

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