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Which character encoding should I use for Tab-delimited flat file?

We are calling Report Type ‘_GET_MERCHANT_LISTINGS_DATA_’ of MWS API using C# web Application.
Some times we got � Character instead of single quote, space or for any other special characters while encoding data.
We have used Encoding.GetEncoding(1252) method to encode StreamReader.
We are using below code.
Stream s = reportRequest.Report;
StreamReader stream_reader = new StreamReader(s);
string reportResponseText = stream_reader.ReadToEnd();
byte[] byteArray = Encoding.GetEncoding(1252).GetBytes(reportResponseText);
MemoryStream stream = new MemoryStream(byteArray);
StreamReader filestream = new StreamReader(stream);
We also have tried ‘Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(reportResponseText)’ but not useful.
Could anyone please suggest us correct method to encode data in correct format?

How to read only a specific part from HTTP Response body

I need to read only the mode segment from the below response body.
grant_type=password&username=demouser&password=test123&client_id=500DWCSFS-D3C0-4135-A188-17894BABBCCF&mode=device
I used the below function to read the HTTP body and it gives me the entire body. How to chop the mode segment without using substring or changing the value in seek() : bodyStream.BaseStream.Seek(3, SeekOrigin.Begin);
var bodyStream = new StreamReader(HttpContext.Current.Request.InputStream);
bodyStream.BaseStream.Seek(0, SeekOrigin.Begin);
var bodyText = bodyStream.ReadToEnd();

You can't. HTTP uses TCP, which requires you to read the entire body anyway, you can't "seek" into a TCP stream. Well, you can, but that still reads the entire body and discards the unused pieces.
So you have to read the entire stream, and you have to meaningfully parse it, because another parameter could also contain the string "mode", and it could also be at the start, so you also can't search for &mode.
Given this is a form post, you can simply access Request.Form["mode"]. If you do want to parse it yourself:
string formData;
using (reader = new StreamReader(HttpContext.Current.Request.InputStream))
{
formData = reader.ReadToEnd();
}
var queryString = HttpUtility.ParseQueryString(formData);
var mode = queryString["mode"];

Send XML file on request

I'm trying to send a XML file on request, but I'm getting an error when I'm trying to copy the stream, which I'm loading the file into, to the output stream.
Right now it's working fine if I'm making the request (I use HttpListener btw) from a browser; it shows me my .xml just fine. But I'd also like to be able to download the .xml when I make the request.
Any suggestions?
string xString = #"C:\Src\Capabilities.xml";
XDocument capabilities = XDocument.Load(xString);
Stream stream = response.OutputStream;
response.ContentType = "text/xml";
capabilities.Save(stream);
CopyStream(stream, response.OutputStream);
stream.Close();
public static void CopyStream(Stream input, Stream output)
{
input.CopyTo(output);
}
The error I'm getting is at input.CopyTo(output); : "Stream does not support reading."

You probably get the error because the stream input actually is the response.OutputStream, which is an output stream and also makes the source and target of the copy operation the same stream - huh?
Essentially what your code does now (and this is wrong): You save the XML content to the response's output stream (which essentially already sends it to the browser). Then you try to copy the output stream into the output stream. This doesn't work and even if it did - why? You already wrote to the output stream.
You can simplify all this greatly in my opinion as follows:
// Read the XML text into a variable - why use XDocument at all?
string xString = #"C:\Src\Capabilities.xml";
string xmlText = File.ReadAllText(xString);
// Create an UTF8 byte buffer from it (assuming UTF8 is the desired encoding)
byte[] xmlBuffer = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(xmlText);
// Write the UTF8 byte buffer to the response stream
Stream stream = response.OutputStream;
response.ContentType = "text/xml";
response.ContentEncoding = Encoding.UTF8;
stream.Write(xmlBuffer, 0, xmlBuffer.Length);
// Done
stream.Close();

Getting Json Output from Byte Array

I just started a new project on WCF and to be honest I'm very new at this with limited knowledge.
So what I'm trying to do is open a file that is stored in my computer (e.g. word, pdf, etc.) and display the contents in the webpage in JSon format. I converted the file in a byte array and tried to display the Stream. When I did that it asked me to open the file or save it. I don't want that - I just want the contents of the file to be displayed on my local host when i call the method.
Here's what I have:
public string GetRawFile()
{
string file = #"C:\.....\TestFile.pdf";
byte[] rawFile = File.ReadAllBytes(file);
//Stream stream = new MemoryStream(rawFile);
//DataContractJsonSerializer obj = newDataContractJsonSerializer(typeof(string));
//string result = obj.ReadObject(stream).ToString();
//Deserializing
MemoryStream stream = new MemoryStream();
BinaryFormatter binForm = new BinaryFormatter();
stream.Write(rawFile, 0, rawFile.Length);
stream.Seek(0, SeekOrigin.Begin);
Object obj = (Object) binForm.Deserialize(stream);
System.Web.Script.Serialization.JavaScriptSerializer xyz = new System.Web.Script.Serialization.JavaScriptSerializer();
string ejson = xyz.Serialize(obj);
WebOperationContext.Current.OutgoingRequest.ContentType = "text/json";
return ejson;
}
I'm trying to return a string and it's not working, but when I return just the stream it's popping up the "openwith" message.
Also should I use the GET or POST on my datacontract. I'm using REST in C#.

I'm assuming that your file actually contains json. If that is the case just do this;
string file = File.ReadAllText("C:\path\to\file.extension");
You're making the problem a lot more complicated than it needs to be. Just read the file and return it's data as a string. I think you want to use GET for the http method. Generally speaking, you all use post if you're adding new content. If for example the users request would cause the application to write some data to a file or data base then you would typically use POST for the http method. If they're just requesting data, you almost always use GET.

why wont XML read from string? (but will from .txt of same data)

this is the code in question:
using (var file = MemoryMappedFile.OpenExisting("AIDA64_SensorValues"))
{
using (var readerz = file.CreateViewAccessor(0, 0))
{
var bytes = new byte[567];
var encoding = Encoding.ASCII;
readerz.ReadArray<byte>(0, bytes, 0, bytes.Length);
File.WriteAllText("C:\\myFile.txt", encoding.GetString(bytes));
var readerSettings = new XmlReaderSettings { ConformanceLevel = ConformanceLevel.Fragment };
using (var reader = XmlReader.Create("C:\\myFile.txt", readerSettings))
{
This is what myfile.txt looks like:
<sys><id>SCPUCLK</id><label>CPU Clock</label><value>1598</value></sys><sys><id>SCPUFSB</id><label>CPU FSB</label><value>266</value></sys><sys><id>SMEMSPEED</id><label>Memory Speed</label><value>DDR2-667</value></sys><sys><id>SFREEMEM</id><label>Free Memory</label><value>415</value></sys><sys><id>SGPU1CLK</id><label>GPU Clock</label><value>562</value></sys><sys><id>SFREELVMEM</id><label>Free Local Video Memory</label><value>229</value></sys><temp><id>TCPU</id><label>CPU</label><value>42</value></temp><temp><id>TGPU1</id><label>GPU</label><value>58</value></temp>
if i write the data to a txt file on the hard drive with:
File.WriteAllText("C:\\myFile.txt", encoding.GetString(bytes));
then read that same text file with the fragment XmlReader:
XmlReader.Create("C:\\myFile.txt");
it reads it just fine, the program runs and completes like it supposed to, but then if i directly read with the fragment XmlReader like:
XmlReader.Create(encoding.GetString(bytes));
I get exception when run " illegal characters in path" on the XmlReader.Create line.
ive tried writing it to a separate string first and reading that with xmlreader, and it wouldn't help to try to print it to CMD to see what it looks like because CMD wouldnt show the invalid characters im dealing with right?
but oh well i did Console.WriteLine(encoding.GetString(bytes)); and it precisely matched the txt file.
so somehow writing it to the text file is removing some "illegal characters"? what do you guys think?

XmlReader.Create(encoding.GetString(bytes));
XmlReader.Create() interprets your string as the URI where it should read a file from. Instead encapsulate your bytes in a StringReader:
StringReader sr = new StringReader(encoding.GetString(bytes));
XmlReader.Create(sr);

Here:
XmlReader.Create(encoding.GetString(bytes));
you are simply invoking the following method which takes a string representing a filename. However you are passing the actual XML string to it which obviously is an invalid filename.
If you want to load the reader from a buffer you could use a stream:
byte[] bytes = ... represents the XML bytes
using (var stream = new MemoryStream(bytes))
using (var reader = XmlReader.Create(stream))
{
...
}

The method XmlReader.Create() with a single string as argument needs a URI passed and not the XML document as string, please refer to the MSDN. It tries to open a file named "<..." which is an invalid URI. You can pass a Stream instead.

You are passing the xml content in the place where it is expecting a path, as evidenced by the error - illegal characters in path
Use an appropriate overload, and pass a stream - http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.xml.xmlreader.create.aspx