We Keep Coding

Converting Byte[] to string to remain the original byte format

I have large amount of data which consists of tables,font,bold,size,etc. Those data will be stored as byte[] in Database.
when i retrieve those data i need to convert byte[] into string,because i need to some find & replace from this string,after i convert this string into byte[],am losing the original data structure which means, i can't able to see any tables,font,bold etc. properly. So how can i find and replace in byte[] by converting string and also to keep remain the data in original format.

The short answer is don't. Figure out the format of the data and see what you can do to do the manipulation. If the data is actually text, just stored as byte[], your approach would work, provided you encode the string correctly (ie. if your DB expects UTF-8, use UTF-8 encoding, if it's windows-1251, use that).
If you have a structure where a part of it is a string, what you're doing can't really work well. First, you probably want to modify just the relevant parts of the field. On MS SQL, you have handy functions for that. But even then, you should know what's actually stored there, not just assume that a string replace will magically work.
Now, a hack could be to use an explicit encoding that doesn't break the non-string data. That would be some single-byte encoding that doesn't do anything fancy. This is OK as long as you use the same encoding while reading the text data - however, if you use any variant of unicode, you're out of luck; due to features like string normalization, you can't really guarantee that what comes in comes out the same way, per-byte. It's generally a bad practice anyway.
Don't forget that it's quite possible the string you are looking for is actually somewhere outside of the text fields - even by pure chance, it can happen, and certain practices make that even more likely.
Again: figure out the data format inside that data field - then you can decide how to do what you want.

Try this
string result = System.Text.Encoding.UTF8.GetString(byteArray)

To make Byte[] to String
byte[] byteArray = new byte[10]; // put your byte array here
public void byteToString()
{
stringTemp = "";
stringTemp = BitConverter.ToString(byteArray).Replace("-", "");
}
And your data still in byteArray.. :)

If the byte Array contains binary data and is no string, try to convert it to base64:
Convert.ToBase64String(yourByteArray);

How to convert serialized byte array back to its text form

I have a text that is a property of an object.The object gets XmlSerialized and after that there is an element in the XML call Text that represents the text from the object.I am wondering how to turn it back to string.
THE TYPE OF SERIALIZATION: XmlSerializer serizlizer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(Act));
THE PROPERTY IN THE CLASS :
[System.Runtime.Serialization.OptionalFieldAttribute()]
private byte[] ActTextField;
In the xml file it looks something like that:
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
I can not even suppose what is its encoding and how to decode it.I tried to read it into byte array but it didn't actualy work after applying few decodings Encode.UTF8 , Encode.ASCII,

That looks like Base64 to me - just use
byte[] data = Convert.FromBase64String(base64Text);
It's odd that it's using base64 at all if this is really a text property though. I'd expect just the text.
To convert that binary data back to text you would need to know which encoding was used to convert it to the binary data to start with - and UTF-8 is the most likely - but all the repeated AAAAA... parts in there make this look pretty unlike text, to be honest.
EDIT: Now that we've seen the field declaration, we can see that it was a byte[] to start with, so that makes sense for it to be encoded in this way. Judging by comments, it sounds like it's actually a Word file - at which point extracting the text is a very separate problem.

Convert file (or byte[]) into ascii, then convert that ascii back into the original file

I'm using an old technology called RTTY to send data (it's basically fancy Morse Code) over radio.
RTTY can only transmit ascii characters
What I want to do is convert a file such as a small jpg or something similar into a block of ascii text, send the characters over radio, then convert the characters on the remote end back into the original file.
Some help getting started would be great.
I know I need to use StreamReader but then how can I convert the byte[] into an encoded ascii string that I can then 'decode'.

I know i need to use streamreader but then how can I convert the byte[] into an encoded ascii string that I can then 'decode'
Basically, you want to use a Base64 conversion. It will inflate the size of the data, but it guarantees that you'll be able to round-trip the original binary data.
Use Convert.ToBase64String to convert a byte[] into a string, and Convert.FromBase64String to do the reverse.

Store binary data string into byte array using c#

I have a webservice that returns a binary data as a string. Using C# code how can I store it in byte array? Is this the right way?
System.Text.UTF8Encoding encoding = new System.Text.UTF8Encoding();
byte[] bytes = encoding.GetBytes(inputString);
Actually, this didn't work. Let me explain it more:
the web service code converts a string (containing XSLFO data) into byte array using utf8 encoding. In my web service response I only see data something like "PGZvOnJvb3QgeG1sbnM6Zm89Imh0dHA6Ly93d3cudzMub3JnLzE5OTkvWFNML0Zvcm1hdCIgeG1sbnM­6eGY9Imh0dHA6Ly93d3cuZWNyaW9uLmNvbS94Zi8xLjAiIHhtbG5zOm1zeHNsPSJ1c==". Actually I would like to have the original string value that was converted into byte[] in the service. Not sure if it possible?

No, that's a bad idea.
Unless the input data was originally text, trying to use Encoding is a bad idea. The web service should be using something like base64 to encode it - at which point you can use Convert.FromBase64String to get the original binary data back.
Basically, treating arbitrary binary data as if it were encoded text is a quick way to lose data. When you need to represent binary data in a string, you should use base64, hex or something similar.
This may mean you need to change the web service as well, of course - if it's creating the string by simply treating the binary data as UTF-8-encoded text, it's broken to start with.

If the string is encoded in UTF8 Encoding, then yes that is the correct way. If it is in Unicode it is very similar:
System.Text.Unicode encoding = new System.Text.Unicode();
byte[] bytes = encoding.GetBytes(inputString);
Base64Encoding is a little different:
byte[] bytes = Convert.FromBase64String(inputString);

Converting string from memorystream to binary[] contains leading crap

--Edit with more bgnd information--
A (black box) COM object returns me a string.
A 2nd COM object expects this same string as byte[] as input and returns a byte[] with the processed data.
This will be fed to a browser as downloadable, non-human-readable file that will be loaded in a client side stand-alone application.
so I get the string inputString from the 1st COM and convert it into a byte[] as follows
BinaryFormatter bf = new BinaryFormatter();
MemoryStream ms = new MemoryStream();
bf.Serialize(ms, inputString);
obj = ms.ToArray();
I feed it to the 2nd COM and read it back out.
The result gets written to the browser.
Response.ContentType = "application/octet-stream";
Response.AddHeader("content-disposition", "attachment; filename="test.dat");
Response.BinaryWrite(obj);
The error occurs in the 2nd COm because the formatting is incorrect.
I went to check the original string and that was perfectly fine. I then pumped the result from the 1st com directly to the browser and watched what came out. It appeared that somewhere along the road extra unreadable characters are added. What are these characters, what are they used for and how can I prevent them from making my 2nd COM grind to a halt?
The unreadable characters are of this kind:
NUL/SOH/NUL/NUL/NUL/FF/FF/FF/FF/SOH/NUL/NUL/NUL etc
Any ideas?
--Answer--
Use
System.Text.Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(theString)
rather then
BinaryFormatter.Serialize()

BinaryFormatter is almost certainly not what you want to use.
If you just need to convert a string to bytes, use Encoding.GetBytes for a suitable encoding, of course. UTF-8 is usually correct, but check whether the document specifies an encoding.

Okay, with your updated information: your 2nd COM object expects binary data, but you want to create that binary data from a string. Does it treat it as plain binary data?
My guess is that something is going to reverse this process on the client side. If it's eventually going to want to reconstruct the data as a string, you need to pick the right encoding to use, and use it on both sides. UTF-8 is a good bet in most cases, but if the client side is just going to write out the data to a file and use it as an XML file, you need to choose the appropriate encoding based on the XML.
You said before that the first few characters of the string were just "<foo>" (or something similar) - does that mean there's no XML declaration? If not, choose UTF-8. Otherwise, you should look at the XML declaration and use that to determine your encoding (again defaulting to UTF-8 if the declaration doesn't specify the encoding).
Once you've got the right encoding, use Encoding.GetBytes as mentioned in earlier answers.

I think you are missing the point of BinarySerialization.
For starters, what Type is formulaXml?
Binary serialization will compact that into a machine represented value, NOT XML! The content will look like:
ÿÿÿÿ AIronScheme, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, Public
Perhaps you should be looking at the XML serializer instead.
Update:
You want to write out some XML as a 'content-disposition' stream.
To do this, do something like:
byte[] buffer = Encoding.Default.GetBytes(formulaXml);
Response.BinaryWrite(buffer);
That should work like you hoped (I think).

The BinaryFormatter's job is to convert the objects into some opaque serialisation format that can only be understood by another BinaryFormatter at the other end.
(Just about to mention Encoding.GetBytes as well, but Jon beat me to it.)
You'll probably want to use System.Text.Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes().

Is the crap in the beginning two bytes long?
This could be the byte order mark of a Unicode encoded string.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byte-order_mark