Retrieving actual length of a buffer array

Howdy,

I've got an array with a fixed size ( Public Buffer(10000) As Byte )..How would I figure out how many characters are actually in it (.Length returns the size of the array).

Intrestingly enough, If i convert it to a string:

Dim str As String = System.Text.Encoding.ASCII.GetString(Buffer)

str.Length also returns the size of the buffer array, so I guess another question would be how to get the number of characters in that string.

Thanks in advance,
FireRabbit

If you are sure that the data are added to your array consequetively then you can use the following code to retrive the actual lenght of it.

VB Code:

Dim Buffer(10000) as Byte
'
'
'
 
Dim i as Integer ' the lenght you are looking for
i=buffer.IndexOf(buffer, CByte(Nothing))
 
' And for any string
 
i=str.Indexof(Nothing)

but if the data is scatterred around in you buffer then i am affraid you have no other way than looping through the buffe and counting the empty bytes.