InputB, InputB$

Returns a fixed number of bytes read from a file opened in Input or Binary mode.

Syntax:

  • InputB( Number , [ # ] FileNumber ) — returns a Variant.
  • InputB$( Number , [ # ] FileNumber ) — returns a String whose underlying bytes are the bytes that were read.
Number
required The number of bytes to return.
FileNumber
required The file number used to open the file with the Open statement.

InputB is the byte-oriented counterpart of Input. Where Input counts and returns characters (two bytes per character in twinBASIC’s UTF-16 buffer), InputB counts and returns raw bytes — useful when reading binary data through a textually-opened channel.

The bytes are packed into the result without any character-set translation; the String form simply reinterprets the byte run as a UTF-16 string for storage.

Example

Dim Bytes As Variant
Open "data.bin" For Binary Access Read As #1
Bytes = InputB(LOF(1), 1)            ' Read the whole file as bytes.
Close #1

See Also

License: CC-BY-4.0 Code license: MIT Attribution: VBA-Docs