C#: Implementing NetworkStream.Peek?

Question

Currently, there isn\'t a NetworkStream.Peek method in C#. What is the best way of implementing such a method which functions just like NetworkStream.Read

Answer 1

I ran into the same 'peek for magic number and then decide which stream processor to send the stream to' requirement and unfortunately can't weasel my way out of that problem - as suggested in comments to Aaronaught's answer - by passing the already consumed bytes into the stream processing methods in separate parameters, as those methods are a given and they expect System.IO.Stream and nothing else.

I solved this by creating a more or less universal PeekableStream class that wraps a Stream. It works for NetworkStreams, but also for any other Stream, provided you Stream.CanRead it.

---

Edit

Alternatively, you could use the brand new ReadSeekableStream and do

var readSeekableStream = new ReadSeekableStream(networkStream, /* >= */ count);
...
readSeekableStream.Read(..., count);
readSeekableStream.Seek(-count, SeekOrigin.Current);

---

In any event, here comes PeekableStream:

/// 

/// PeekableStream wraps a Stream and can be used to peek ahead in the underlying stream,
/// without consuming the bytes. In other words, doing Peek() will allow you to look ahead in the stream,
/// but it won't affect the result of subsequent Read() calls.
/// 
/// This is sometimes necessary, e.g. for peeking at the magic number of a stream of bytes and decide which
/// stream processor to hand over the stream.
/// 
public class PeekableStream : Stream
{
    private readonly Stream underlyingStream;
    private readonly byte[] lookAheadBuffer;

    private int lookAheadIndex;

    public PeekableStream(Stream underlyingStream, int maxPeekBytes)
    {
        this.underlyingStream = underlyingStream;
        lookAheadBuffer = new byte[maxPeekBytes];
    }

    protected override void Dispose(bool disposing)
    {
        if (disposing)
            underlyingStream.Dispose();

        base.Dispose(disposing);
    }

    /// 

    /// Peeks at a maximum of count bytes, or less if the stream ends before that number of bytes can be read.
    /// 
    /// Calls to this method do not influence subsequent calls to Read() and Peek().
    /// 
    /// Please note that this method will always peek count bytes unless the end of the stream is reached before that - in contrast to the Read()
    /// method, which might read less than count bytes, even though the end of the stream has not been reached.
    /// 
    /// An array of bytes. When this method returns, the buffer contains the specified byte array with the values between offset and
    /// (offset + number-of-peeked-bytes - 1) replaced by the bytes peeked from the current source.
    /// The zero-based byte offset in buffer at which to begin storing the data peeked from the current stream.
    /// The maximum number of bytes to be peeked from the current stream.
    /// The total number of bytes peeked into the buffer. If it is less than the number of bytes requested then the end of the stream has been reached.
    public virtual int Peek(byte[] buffer, int offset, int count)
    {
        if (count > lookAheadBuffer.Length)
            throw new ArgumentOutOfRangeException("count", "must be smaller than peekable size, which is " + lookAheadBuffer.Length);

        while (lookAheadIndex < count)
        {
            int bytesRead = underlyingStream.Read(lookAheadBuffer, lookAheadIndex, count - lookAheadIndex);

            if (bytesRead == 0) // end of stream reached
                break;

            lookAheadIndex += bytesRead;
        }

        int peeked = Math.Min(count, lookAheadIndex);
        Array.Copy(lookAheadBuffer, 0, buffer, offset, peeked);
        return peeked;
    }

    public override bool CanRead { get { return true; } }

    public override long Position
    {
        get
        {
            return underlyingStream.Position - lookAheadIndex;
        }
        set
        {
            underlyingStream.Position = value;
            lookAheadIndex = 0; // this needs to be done AFTER the call to underlyingStream.Position, as that might throw NotSupportedException, 
                                // in which case we don't want to change the lookAhead status
        }
    }

    public override int Read(byte[] buffer, int offset, int count)
    {
        int bytesTakenFromLookAheadBuffer = 0;
        if (count > 0 && lookAheadIndex > 0)
        {
            bytesTakenFromLookAheadBuffer = Math.Min(count, lookAheadIndex);
            Array.Copy(lookAheadBuffer, 0, buffer, offset, bytesTakenFromLookAheadBuffer);
            count -= bytesTakenFromLookAheadBuffer;
            offset += bytesTakenFromLookAheadBuffer;
            lookAheadIndex -= bytesTakenFromLookAheadBuffer;
            if (lookAheadIndex > 0) // move remaining bytes in lookAheadBuffer to front
                // copying into same array should be fine, according to http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/z50k9bft(v=VS.90).aspx :
                // "If sourceArray and destinationArray overlap, this method behaves as if the original values of sourceArray were preserved
                // in a temporary location before destinationArray is overwritten."
                Array.Copy(lookAheadBuffer, lookAheadBuffer.Length - bytesTakenFromLookAheadBuffer + 1, lookAheadBuffer, 0, lookAheadIndex);
        }

        return count > 0
            ? bytesTakenFromLookAheadBuffer + underlyingStream.Read(buffer, offset, count)
            : bytesTakenFromLookAheadBuffer;
    }

    public override int ReadByte()
    {
        if (lookAheadIndex > 0)
        {
            lookAheadIndex--;
            byte firstByte = lookAheadBuffer[0];
            if (lookAheadIndex > 0) // move remaining bytes in lookAheadBuffer to front
                Array.Copy(lookAheadBuffer, 1, lookAheadBuffer, 0, lookAheadIndex);
            return firstByte;
        }
        else
        {
            return underlyingStream.ReadByte();
        }
    }

    public override long Seek(long offset, SeekOrigin origin)
    {
        long ret = underlyingStream.Seek(offset, origin);
        lookAheadIndex = 0; // this needs to be done AFTER the call to underlyingStream.Seek(), as that might throw NotSupportedException,
                            // in which case we don't want to change the lookAhead status
        return ret;
    }

    // from here on, only simple delegations to underlyingStream

    public override bool CanSeek { get { return underlyingStream.CanSeek; } }
    public override bool CanWrite { get { return underlyingStream.CanWrite; } }
    public override bool CanTimeout { get { return underlyingStream.CanTimeout; } }
    public override int ReadTimeout { get { return underlyingStream.ReadTimeout; } set { underlyingStream.ReadTimeout = value; } }
    public override int WriteTimeout { get { return underlyingStream.WriteTimeout; } set { underlyingStream.WriteTimeout = value; } }
    public override void Flush() { underlyingStream.Flush(); }
    public override long Length { get { return underlyingStream.Length; } }
    public override void SetLength(long value) { underlyingStream.SetLength(value); }
    public override void Write(byte[] buffer, int offset, int count) { underlyingStream.Write(buffer, offset, count); }
    public override void WriteByte(byte value) { underlyingStream.WriteByte(value); }
}