The objective is to create a string from a list of byte format. The list consists of a series of short commands composed of 2-5 bytes and ending with a ";" character. The code should peal off the first command to the delimiter. Here's the code currently used:

Code:
dim SP2buf as new list(of byte)(2000)
dim todo(1000) as char
dim SP2idx as integer

 If SP2buf.Count > 0 Then
                SP2idx = SP2buf.IndexOf(59)   'find the ; delimiter
                If SP2idx >= 0 Then   ' is the ; there 
                    todo = (SP2.Encoding.GetChars(SP2buf.ToArray, 0, SP2idx))
                End If
  End If
Since the todo array gets converted to a string a bit later in the program, I want to just define it as a string to begin with and convert directly from the byte list to a string, but stopping the conversion when the delimiter is encountered. I haven't seen any VB capability to do that directly. Any help?