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Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center
BinaryRead
  • See Also
    • BinaryReadList
    • BinaryWrite
    • ByteArray
    • Read
    • Import
    • ImportString

    • Formats
    • Byte
  • Related Guides
    • Binary Data
    • Using Connected Devices
    • Network Programming
    • Free-Form & External Input
    • Low-Level File Operations
    • Files
    • Raspberry Pi
    • External Operations
    • Direct Control of External Processes
    • Systems-Related String Operations
  • Tech Notes
    • Binary Files
    • See Also
      • BinaryReadList
      • BinaryWrite
      • ByteArray
      • Read
      • Import
      • ImportString

      • Formats
      • Byte
    • Related Guides
      • Binary Data
      • Using Connected Devices
      • Network Programming
      • Free-Form & External Input
      • Low-Level File Operations
      • Files
      • Raspberry Pi
      • External Operations
      • Direct Control of External Processes
      • Systems-Related String Operations
    • Tech Notes
      • Binary Files

BinaryRead[stream]

reads one byte of raw binary data from an input stream, and returns an integer from 0 to 255.

BinaryRead[stream,type]

reads an object of the specified type.

BinaryRead[stream,{type1,type2,…}]

reads a sequence of objects of the specified types.

Details and Options
Details and Options Details and Options
Examples  
Basic Examples  
Scope  
See Also
Tech Notes
Related Guides
History
Cite this Page
BUILT-IN SYMBOL
  • See Also
    • BinaryReadList
    • BinaryWrite
    • ByteArray
    • Read
    • Import
    • ImportString

    • Formats
    • Byte
  • Related Guides
    • Binary Data
    • Using Connected Devices
    • Network Programming
    • Free-Form & External Input
    • Low-Level File Operations
    • Files
    • Raspberry Pi
    • External Operations
    • Direct Control of External Processes
    • Systems-Related String Operations
  • Tech Notes
    • Binary Files
    • See Also
      • BinaryReadList
      • BinaryWrite
      • ByteArray
      • Read
      • Import
      • ImportString

      • Formats
      • Byte
    • Related Guides
      • Binary Data
      • Using Connected Devices
      • Network Programming
      • Free-Form & External Input
      • Low-Level File Operations
      • Files
      • Raspberry Pi
      • External Operations
      • Direct Control of External Processes
      • Systems-Related String Operations
    • Tech Notes
      • Binary Files

BinaryRead

BinaryRead[stream]

reads one byte of raw binary data from an input stream, and returns an integer from 0 to 255.

BinaryRead[stream,type]

reads an object of the specified type.

BinaryRead[stream,{type1,type2,…}]

reads a sequence of objects of the specified types.

Details and Options

  • Possible types to read are:
  • "Byte"8‐bit unsigned integer
    "Character8"8‐bit character
    "Character16"16‐bit character
    "Character32"32-bit character
    "Complex64"IEEE single‐precision complex number
    "Complex128"IEEE double‐precision complex number
    "Complex256"IEEE quad‐precision complex number
    "Integer8"8‐bit signed integer
    "Integer16"16‐bit signed integer
    "Integer24"24-bit signed integer
    "Integer32"32‐bit signed integer
    "Integer64"64‐bit signed integer
    "Integer128"128‐bit signed integer
    "Real32"IEEE single‐precision real number
    "Real64"IEEE double‐precision real number
    "Real128"IEEE quad‐precision real number
    "TerminatedString"null‐terminated string of 8‐bit characters
    "UnsignedInteger8"8‐bit unsigned integer
    "UnsignedInteger16"16‐bit unsigned integer
    "UnsignedInteger24"24-bit unsigned integer
    "UnsignedInteger32"32‐bit unsigned integer
    "UnsignedInteger64"64‐bit unsigned integer
    "UnsignedInteger128"128‐bit unsigned integer
  • The first argument to BinaryRead can be InputStream["name",n], or simply "name" if there is at most one open input stream with the specified name. BinaryRead will call OpenRead to open files with no associated stream.
  • BinaryRead[File["file"],…] is also supported.
  • You can open a file or pipe to get an InputStream object using OpenRead.
  • Streams for use with BinaryRead should be opened with BinaryFormat->True.
  • There is always a "current point" maintained for any stream. When you read an object from a stream, the current point is left after the input you read. Successive calls to BinaryRead can therefore be used to read successive objects in a stream such as a file.
  • BinaryRead returns EndOfFile if you are at the end of the file.
  • BinaryRead returns Infinity for IEEE "infinity", and Indeterminate for IEEE "not‐a‐number".
  • The following options can be given:
  • ByteOrdering$ByteOrderingwhat byte ordering to use
    Path$Paththe path to search for files to be opened

Examples

open all close all

Basic Examples  (1)

Create a file with a sequence of bytes:

Read the first byte from the file:

Read the second byte as an 8-bit character:

Read the next byte as an 8-bit signed integer:

Close the file:

Scope  (1)

Read bytes from the file specified using File object:

See Also

BinaryReadList  BinaryWrite  ByteArray  Read  Import  ImportString

Formats: Byte

Tech Notes

    ▪
  • Binary Files

Related Guides

    ▪
  • Binary Data
  • ▪
  • Using Connected Devices
  • ▪
  • Network Programming
  • ▪
  • Free-Form & External Input
  • ▪
  • Low-Level File Operations
  • ▪
  • Files
  • ▪
  • Raspberry Pi
  • ▪
  • External Operations
  • ▪
  • Direct Control of External Processes
  • ▪
  • Systems-Related String Operations

History

Introduced in 2004 (5.1) | Updated in 2007 (6.0) ▪ 2016 (11.0) ▪ 2019 (12.0)

Wolfram Research (2004), BinaryRead, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/BinaryRead.html (updated 2019).

Text

Wolfram Research (2004), BinaryRead, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/BinaryRead.html (updated 2019).

CMS

Wolfram Language. 2004. "BinaryRead." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. Last Modified 2019. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/BinaryRead.html.

APA

Wolfram Language. (2004). BinaryRead. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/BinaryRead.html

BibTeX

@misc{reference.wolfram_2025_binaryread, author="Wolfram Research", title="{BinaryRead}", year="2019", howpublished="\url{https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/BinaryRead.html}", note=[Accessed: 01-December-2025]}

BibLaTeX

@online{reference.wolfram_2025_binaryread, organization={Wolfram Research}, title={BinaryRead}, year={2019}, url={https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/BinaryRead.html}, note=[Accessed: 01-December-2025]}

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