How to read a binary formatted string from a file?

Question

I want to store a string in a file in a way, that it can't be (easily) read. So I use a BinaryFormatter like this:

using (FileStream fs = File.Create(sfDialog.FileName, 2048, FileOptions.None))
{
    BinaryFormatter bf = new BinaryFormatter();
    bf.Serialize(fs, Encoding.Unicode.GetBytes(this.BodyText));
}

where this.BodyText is the string to save.

Now I'm struggling to read it back from the file. I tried BinaryReader without success, so I guess, I have to use a BinaryFormatter. I tried the Deserialize method, but it returns an object which can´t be cast to a string. Also Convert.ToBase64String can't be used on an object.

Does anyone know how to solve my problem?

Answer 1

I agree with the others, you should be using some proper encryption instead of this.

But to answer your actual question: You are serializing a byte array. So that's what you get when you deserialize it.

So, after deserializing, cast to byte[] and convert this byte array to a string:

var s = Encoding.Unicode.GetString((byte[])deserializedValue);