Runtime error Attempting to deserialize an empty stream

Question

I am trying to deserialize an list of string from a file. Here my code

FileStream filestream = new FileStream(@"D:\cache.bin", FileMode.OpenOrCreate);
try
{
    BinaryFormatter binformat = new BinaryFormatter();
    _cacheFileList = (List<string>)binformat.Deserialize(filestream);
}
catch (SerializationException ex)
{
    Console.WriteLine(ex.Message);
}
finally 
{
    filestream.Close();
}

I am getting a Runtime error. Attempting to deserialize an empty stream.

So, what else would you expect when trying to deserialize an empty file? — D Stanley, Sep 03 '14 at 04:35
This is a part of my program. When my program starts it takes the recent file names from the cache file and populate to the recently open tab. As the program run first time so the file remains empty. — Sowvik Roy, Sep 03 '14 at 04:39

score 11 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 03 '14 at 05:10

11

If you want support for empty files, first check if the file is empty:

if (filestream.Length == 0)

If it is, initialise your data. If it isn't, deserialise from the file. (Note that the content of the file should be the result of serialisation.)

answered Sep 03 '14 at 05:10

Sam

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Runtime error Attempting to deserialize an empty stream

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