Stream B4X (B4A / B4J) Reference Documentation

ChilkatStream

Current Version: 11.6.0

Chilkat.Stream

Read, write, pipe, monitor, and control byte or text streams.

Chilkat.Stream is a general-purpose streaming object for moving data between sources and sinks without requiring the entire payload to be handled at once. A stream can read from files, byte arrays, strings, or other sources; write to files, memory, BinData, StringBuilder, or other sinks; handle binary and text data; apply character-set rules for strings; process file parts; track bytes sent and received; and support timeouts, polling, aborts, async task integration, and end-of-stream handling.

File and memory sources

Stream from a source file, byte array, string, or selected file part without manually loading or copying all data first.

File and object sinks

Write streamed data to a sink file, append to an existing file, or output to BinData, StringBuilder, bytes, or strings.

Binary reads and writes

Read or write raw bytes, fixed byte counts, encoded byte strings, individual bytes, or BinData content.

Text streaming

Read and write strings using StringCharset, optionally use a BOM, and read text until CRLF or a matching delimiter.

Timeouts and polling

Control read and write wait behavior, poll for immediately available data, and inspect read or write failure reasons.

Progress and lifecycle

Track bytes sent and received, detect end-of-stream or write-closed state, reset streams, close writing, and abort long-running operations.

Common pattern: Configure the stream's source and sink, set the character set or chunk size if needed, then read or write using the method that matches the data type: bytes, encoded bytes, strings, BinData, or StringBuilder. Check EndOfStream, ReadFailReason, WriteFailReason, NumReceived, NumSent, and LastErrorText to understand stream progress and failures.
Timeout note: For ReadTimeoutMs, a value of 0 means a polling read, not an infinite timeout. For WriteTimeoutMs, 0 means return immediately if the stream cannot be written to right away.

Declare / Initialize / Dispose

Sub Process_Globals
    Private obj As ChilkatStream
End Sub

' Call Initialize before first use -- typically in AppStart (B4J)
' or Activity_Create (B4A):
obj.Initialize                ' classes without events
obj.Initialize("evt")        ' classes with events: "evt" becomes the
                              ' prefix of event Subs such as evt_PercentDone
Initialize  /  Initialize (EventName As String)

Creates the underlying native Chilkat object. Classes that support events take an EventName argument: it becomes the prefix of the event Subs (<EventName>_AbortCheck, <EventName>_PercentDone, <EventName>_ProgressInfo); classes without events take no arguments. The native Chilkat library loads automatically on the first Initialize — from the APK on Android, or extracted from ChilkatB4J.jar on Windows/Linux/macOS.

IsInitialized As Boolean

True if Initialize has been called and the native object exists.

Dispose

Explicitly frees the underlying native object. Calling Dispose is optional — every ChilkatStream is also freed automatically when garbage-collected — but is recommended for long-lived objects holding sockets, sessions, or large buffers. A disposed object can be re-Initialized.

Properties

AbortCurrent
' read/write
AbortCurrent As Boolean
Introduced in version 9.5.0.58

When set to True, causes the currently running method to abort. Methods that always finish quickly (i.e.have no length file operations or network communications) are not affected. If no method is running, then this property is automatically reset to False when the next method is called. When the abort occurs, this property is reset to False. Both synchronous and asynchronous method calls can be aborted. (A synchronous method call could be aborted by setting this property from a separate thread.)

top
CanRead
' read-only
CanRead As Boolean
Introduced in version 9.5.0.56

True if the stream supports reading. Otherwise False.

Note: A stream that supports reading, which has already reached the end-of-stream, will still have a CanRead value of True. This property indicates the stream's inherent ability, and not whether or not the stream can be read at a particular moment in time.

top
CanWrite
' read-only
CanWrite As Boolean
Introduced in version 9.5.0.56

True if the stream supports writing. Otherwise False.

Note: A stream that supports writing, which has already been closed for write, will still have a CanWrite value of True. This property indicates the stream's inherent ability, and not whether or not the stream can be written at a particular moment in time.

top
DataAvailable
' read-only
DataAvailable As Boolean
Introduced in version 9.5.0.56

True if it is known for sure that data is ready and waiting to be read. False if it is not known for sure (it may be that data is immediately available, but reading the stream with a ReadTimeoutMs of 0, which is to poll the stream, is the way to find out).

top
DebugLogFilePath
' read/write
DebugLogFilePath As String

If set to a file path, this property logs the LastErrorText of each Chilkat method or property call to the specified file. This logging helps identify the context and history of Chilkat calls leading up to any crash or hang, aiding in debugging.

Enabling the VerboseLogging property provides more detailed information. This property is mainly used for debugging rare instances where a Chilkat method call causes a hang or crash, which should generally not happen.

Possible causes of hangs include:

  • A timeout property set to 0, indicating an infinite timeout.
  • A hang occurring within an event callback in the application code.
  • An internal bug in the Chilkat code causing the hang.

More Information and Examples
top
DefaultChunkSize
' read/write
DefaultChunkSize As Int
Introduced in version 9.5.0.56

The default internal chunk size for reading or writing. The default value is 65536. If this property is set to 0, it will cause the default chunk size (65536) to be used. Note: The chunk size can have significant performance impact. If performance is an issue, be sure to experiment with different chunk sizes.

top
EndOfStream
' read-only
EndOfStream As Boolean
Introduced in version 9.5.0.56

True if the end-of-stream has already been reached. When the stream has already ended, all calls to Read* methods will return False with the ReadFailReason set to 3 (already at end-of-stream).

top
HeartbeatMs
' read/write
HeartbeatMs As Int
Introduced in version 9.5.0.97

The interval in milliseconds between each AbortCheck event callback, which enables an application to abort certain method calls before they complete. By default, HeartbeatMs is set to 0, meaning no AbortCheck event callbacks will trigger.

More Information and Examples
top
IsWriteClosed
' read-only
IsWriteClosed As Boolean
Introduced in version 9.5.0.56

True if the stream is closed for writing. Once closed, no more data may be written to the stream.

top
LastErrorHtml
' read-only
LastErrorHtml As String

Provides HTML-formatted information about the last called method or property. If a method call fails or behaves unexpectedly, check this property for details. Note that information is available regardless of the method call's success.

top
LastErrorText
' read-only
LastErrorText As String

Provides plain text information about the last called method or property. If a method call fails or behaves unexpectedly, check this property for details. Note that information is available regardless of the method call's success.

top
LastErrorXml
' read-only
LastErrorXml As String

Provides XML-formatted information about the last called method or property. If a method call fails or behaves unexpectedly, check this property for details. Note that information is available regardless of the method call's success.

top
LastMethodSuccess
' read/write
LastMethodSuccess As Boolean

Indicates the success or failure of the most recent method call: True means success, False means failure. This property remains unchanged by property setters or getters. This method is present to address challenges in checking for null or Nothing returns in certain programming languages. Note: This property does not apply to methods that return integer values or to boolean-returning methods where the boolean does not indicate success or failure.

top
Length
' read/write
Length As Long
Introduced in version 9.5.0.56

The length (in bytes) of the stream's source. If unknown, then this property will have a value of -1. This property may be set by the application if it knows in advance the length of the stream.

top
Length32
' read/write
Length32 As Int
Introduced in version 9.5.0.58

The length (in bytes) of the stream's source. If unknown, then this property will have a value of -1. This property may be set by the application if it knows in advance the length of the stream.

Setting this property also sets the Length property (which is a 64-bit integer).

top
NumReceived
' read-only
NumReceived As Long
Introduced in version 9.5.0.56

The number of bytes received by the stream.

top
NumSent
' read-only
NumSent As Long
Introduced in version 9.5.0.56

The number of bytes sent by the stream.

top
ReadFailReason
' read-only
ReadFailReason As Int
Introduced in version 9.5.0.56

This property is automatically set when a Read* method is called. It indicates the reason for failure. Possible values are:

    0>
  1. No failure (success)
  2. Timeout, or no data is immediately available for a polling read.
  3. Aborted by an application callback.
  4. Already at end-of-stream.
  5. Fatal stream error.
  6. Out-of-memory error (this is very unlikely).

top
ReadTimeoutMs
' read/write
ReadTimeoutMs As Int
Introduced in version 9.5.0.56

The maximum number of seconds to wait while reading. The default value is 30 seconds (i.e. 30000ms). A value of 0 indicates a poll. (A polling read is to return with a timeout if no data is immediately available.)

Important: For most Chilkat timeout related properties, a value of 0 indicates an infinite timeout. For this property, a value of 0 indicates a poll. If setting a timeout related property (or method argument) to zero, be sure to understand if 0 means wait forever or poll.

The timeout value is not a total timeout. It is the maximum time to wait while no additional data is forthcoming.

top
SinkFile
' read/write
SinkFile As String
Introduced in version 9.5.0.56

Sets the sink to the path of a file. The file does not need to exist at the time of setting this property. The sink file will be automatically opened on demand, when the stream is first written.

Note: This property takes priority over other potential sinks. Make sure this property is set to an empty string if the stream's sink is to be something else.

top
SinkFileAppend
' read/write
SinkFileAppend As Boolean
Introduced in version 9.5.0.83

If True, the stream appends to the SinkFile rather than truncating and re-writing the sink file. The default value is False.

top
SourceFile
' read/write
SourceFile As String
Introduced in version 9.5.0.56

Sets the source to the path of a file. The file does not need to exist at the time of setting this property. The source file will be automatically opened on demand, when the stream is first read.

Note: This property takes priority over other potential sources. Make sure this property is set to an empty string if the stream's source is to be something else.

top
SourceFilePart
' read/write
SourceFilePart As Int
Introduced in version 9.5.0.59

If the source is a file, then this property can be used to stream one part of the file. The SourceFilePartSize property defines the size (in bytes) of each part. The SourceFilePart and SourceFilePartSize have default values of 0, which means the entire SourceFile is streamed.

This property is a 0-based index. For example, if the SourceFilePartSize is 1000, then part 0 is for bytes 0 to 999, part 1 is for bytes 1000 to 1999, etc.

More Information and Examples
top
SourceFilePartSize
' read/write
SourceFilePartSize As Int
Introduced in version 9.5.0.59

If the source is a file, then this property, in conjunction with the SourceFilePart property, can be used to stream a single part of the file. This property defines the size (in bytes) of each part. The SourceFilePart and SourceFilePartSize have default values of 0, which means that by default, the entire SourceFile is streamed.

More Information and Examples
top
StringBom
' read/write
StringBom As Boolean
Introduced in version 9.5.0.56

If True, then include the BOM when creating a string source via SetSourceString where the charset is utf-8, utf-16, etc. (The term BOM stands for Byte Order Mark, also known as the preamble.) Also, if True, then include the BOM when writing a string via the WriteString method. The default value of this property is False.

top
StringCharset
' read/write
StringCharset As String
Introduced in version 9.5.0.56

Indicates the expected character encoding, such as utf-8, windows-1256, utf-16, etc. for methods that read text such as: ReadString, ReadToCRLF, ReadUntilMatch. Also controls the character encoding when writing strings with the WriteString method. The supported charsets are indicated at the link below.

The default value is utf-8.

More Information and Examples
top
VerboseLogging
' read/write
VerboseLogging As Boolean

If set to True, then the contents of LastErrorText (or LastErrorXml, or LastErrorHtml) may contain more verbose information. The default value is False. Verbose logging should only be used for debugging. The potentially large quantity of logged information may adversely affect peformance.

top
Version
' read-only
Version As String

Version of the component/library, such as "10.1.0"

More Information and Examples
top
WriteFailReason
' read-only
WriteFailReason As Int
Introduced in version 9.5.0.56

This property is automatically set when a Write* method is called. It indicates the reason for failure. Possible values are:

    0>
  1. No failure (success)
  2. Timeout, or unable to immediately write when the WriteTimeoutMs is 0.
  3. Aborted by an application callback.
  4. The stream has already ended.
  5. Fatal stream error.
  6. Out-of-memory error (this is very unlikely).

top
WriteTimeoutMs
' read/write
WriteTimeoutMs As Int
Introduced in version 9.5.0.56

The maximum number of seconds to wait while writing. The default value is 30 seconds (i.e. 30000ms). A value of 0 indicates to return immediately if it is not possible to write to the sink immediately.

top

Methods

ReadBd
ReadBd (binData As ChilkatBinData) As Boolean
Introduced in version 9.5.0.67

Read as much data as is immediately available on the stream. If no data is immediately available, it waits up to ReadTimeoutMs milliseconds for data to arrive. The incoming data is appended to binData.

Returns True for success, False for failure.

top
ReadBytesENC
ReadBytesENC (encoding As String) As String
Introduced in version 9.5.0.56

The same as ReadBytes, except returns the received bytes in encoded string form. The encoding argument indicates the encoding, which can be base64, hex, or any of the multitude of encodings indicated in the link below.

Returns Null on failure

More Information and Examples
top
ReadNBytesENC
ReadNBytesENC (numBytes As Int, encoding As String) As String
Introduced in version 9.5.0.56

The same as ReadNBytes, except returns the received bytes in encoded string form. The encoding argument indicates the encoding, which can be base64, hex, or any of the multitude of encodings indicated in the link below.

Returns Null on failure

More Information and Examples
top
ReadSb
ReadSb (sb As ChilkatStringBuilder) As Boolean
Introduced in version 9.5.0.67

Read as much data as is immediately available on the stream. If no data is immediately available, it waits up to ReadTimeoutMs milliseconds for data to arrive. The data is appended to sb. The incoming bytes are interpreted according to the StringCharset property. For example, if utf-8 bytes are expected, then StringCharset should be set to utf-8 prior to calling ReadSb.

Returns True for success, False for failure.

top
ReadString
ReadString As String
Introduced in version 9.5.0.56

Read as much data as is immediately available on the stream. If no data is immediately available, it waits up to ReadTimeoutMs milliseconds for data to arrive. The data is returned as a string. The incoming bytes are interpreted according to the StringCharset property. For example, if utf-8 bytes are expected, then StringCharset should be set to utf-8 prior to calling ReadString.

Returns Null on failure

top
ReadToCRLF
ReadToCRLF As String
Introduced in version 9.5.0.56

Reads the stream until a CRLF is received. If no data is immediately available, it waits up to ReadTimeoutMs milliseconds for data to arrive. The data is returned as a string. The incoming bytes are interpreted according to the StringCharset property. For example, if utf-8 bytes are expected, then StringCharset should be set to utf-8 prior to calling ReadString.

Note: If the end-of-stream is reached prior to receiving the CRLF, then the remaining data is returned, and the ReadFailReason property will be set to 3 (to indicate end-of-file). This is the only case where as string would be returned that does not end with CRLF.

Returns Null on failure

top
ReadUntilMatch
ReadUntilMatch (matchStr As String) As String
Introduced in version 9.5.0.56

Reads the stream until the string indicated by matchStr is received. If no data is immediately available, it waits up to ReadTimeoutMs milliseconds for data to arrive. The data is returned as a string. The incoming bytes are interpreted according to the StringCharset property. For example, if utf-8 bytes are expected, then StringCharset should be set to utf-8 prior to calling ReadString.

Note: If the end-of-stream is reached prior to receiving the match string, then the remaining data is returned, and the ReadFailReason property will be set to 3 (to indicate end-of-file). This is the only case where as string would be returned that does not end with the desired match string.

Returns Null on failure

top
Reset
Reset
Introduced in version 9.5.0.56

Resets the stream. If a source or sink is open, then it is closed. Properties such as EndOfStream and IsWriteClose are reset to default values.

top
SetSourceString
SetSourceString (srcStr As String, charset As String) As Boolean
Introduced in version 9.5.0.56

Sets the stream's source to the contents of srcStr. The charset indicates the character encoding to be used for the byte representation of the srcStr.

Returns True for success, False for failure.

top
WriteBd
WriteBd (binData As ChilkatBinData) As Boolean
Introduced in version 9.5.0.67

Writes the contents of binData to the stream.

Returns True for success, False for failure.

top
WriteByte
WriteByte (byteVal As Int) As Boolean
Introduced in version 9.5.0.56

Writes a single byte to the stream. The byteVal must have a value from 0 to 255.

Returns True for success, False for failure.

top
WriteBytesENC
WriteBytesENC (byteData As String, encoding As String) As Boolean
Introduced in version 9.5.0.56

Writes binary bytes to a stream. The byte data is passed in encoded string form, where the encoding can be base64, hex, or any of the supported binary encodings listed at the link below.

Returns True for success, False for failure.

More Information and Examples
top
WriteClose
WriteClose As Boolean
Introduced in version 9.5.0.56

Indicates that no more data will be written to the stream.

Returns True for success, False for failure.

top
WriteSb
WriteSb (sb As ChilkatStringBuilder) As Boolean
Introduced in version 9.5.0.67

Writes the contents of sb to the stream. The actual bytes written are the byte representation of the string as indicated by the StringCharset property. For example, to write utf-8 bytes, first set StringCharset equal to utf-8 and then call WriteSb.

Returns True for success, False for failure.

top
WriteString
WriteString (str As String) As Boolean
Introduced in version 9.5.0.56

Writes a string to a stream. The actual bytes written are the byte representation of the string as indicated by the StringCharset property. For example, to write utf-8 bytes, first set StringCharset equal to utf-8 and then call WriteString.

Returns True for success, False for failure.

top

Events

All Chilkat methods are synchronous: the call returns when the work is done. During a call, ChilkatStream raises three events so your application can show progress and offer a way out. The event-name prefix is the string passed to Initialize:

stream.Initialize("evt")     ' event Subs are named evt_AbortCheck, evt_PercentDone, evt_ProgressInfo
stream.HeartbeatMs = 250     ' raise evt_AbortCheck 4 times per second during Chilkat calls

AbortCheck fires at regular intervals controlled by the HeartbeatMs property (0, the default, disables it); PercentDone fires when an operation's completion percentage is known; ProgressInfo delivers named progress values. Returning True from an AbortCheck or PercentDone Sub aborts the running method. Implement only the Subs you need — events are skipped entirely when no matching Sub exists.

If a Chilkat call runs on a separate thread (e.g. via the Threading library), its events are automatically queued to the main thread. Events raised that way cannot abort by return value; set the object's AbortCurrent property to True instead.

AbortCheck
' evt = the EventName passed to Initialize
' Return True to abort the Chilkat method in progress.
Sub evt_AbortCheck As Boolean

Enables a method call to be aborted by triggering the AbortCheck event at intervals defined by the HeartbeatMs property. If HeartbeatMs is set to its default value of 0, no events will occur. For instance, set HeartbeatMs to 200 to trigger 5 AbortCheck events per second.

More Information and Examples

Example (object initialized with stream.Initialize("evt")):

stream.HeartbeatMs = 250   ' fire evt_AbortCheck 4 times per second

Sub evt_AbortCheck As Boolean
    ' Called every HeartbeatMs milliseconds while a Chilkat method is running.
    Return False   ' Return True to abort the method in progress
End Sub
top
PercentDone
' evt = the EventName passed to Initialize
' Return True to abort the Chilkat method in progress.
Sub evt_PercentDone (PctDone As Int) As Boolean

This provides the percentage completion for any method involving network communications or time-consuming processing, assuming the progress can be measured as a percentage. This event is triggered only when it's possible and logical to express the operation's progress as a percentage. The pctDone argument will range from 1 to 100. For methods that finish quickly, the number of PercentDone callbacks may vary, but the final callback will have pctDone equal to 100. For longer operations, callbacks will not exceed one per percentage point (e.g., 1, 2, 3, ..., 98, 99, 100).

The PercentDone callback also acts as an AbortCheck event. For fast methods where PercentDone fires, an AbortCheck event may not trigger since the PercentDone callback already provides an opportunity to abort. For longer operations, where time between PercentDone callbacks is extended, AbortCheck callbacks enable more responsive operation termination.

To abort the operation, set the abort output argument to True. This will cause the method to terminate and return a failure status or corresponding failure value.

More Information and Examples

Example (object initialized with stream.Initialize("evt")):

Sub evt_PercentDone (PctDone As Int) As Boolean
    ' PctDone ranges from 1 to 100.
    Log("Percent done: " & PctDone)
    Return False   ' Return True to abort the method in progress
End Sub
top
ProgressInfo
' evt = the EventName passed to Initialize
Sub evt_ProgressInfo (Name As String, Value As String)

This event callback provides tag name/value pairs that detail what occurs during a method call. To discover existing tag names, create code to handle the event, emit the pairs, and review them. Most tag names are self-explanatory.

Note: Some Chilkat methods don't fire any ProgressInfo events.

More Information and Examples

Example (object initialized with stream.Initialize("evt")):

Sub evt_ProgressInfo (Name As String, Value As String)
    Log(Name & ": " & Value)
End Sub
top