Question

I’m fairly close I believe but my stream is either null or its been disposed. Here is the sample code.

var ms = new MemoryStream();
using (var sw = new StreamWriter(ms))
{
   using (var tw = new HtmlTextWriter(sw))
   {
    ViewEngineResult viewResult = ViewEngines.Engines.FindView(controller.ControllerContext, viewName, null);
    ViewContext viewContext = new ViewContext(controller.ControllerContext, viewResult.View, controller.ViewData, controller.TempData, sw);
    viewResult.View.Render(viewContext, tw);
    ms.Position = 0;
    return ms;
    }
}

the calling code results in an objectDisposedException because the stream is disposed. If I move the return outside of the using, the result is null. What am I doing wrong here? Any ideas how I can this to work correctly?

Answer 1

To use a class in a using block, that class must implement IDisposable. When the block ends, it invokes IDisposable.Dispose() which disposes your Stream. This is a good practice, but if you want the stream, either remove the using or put the return inside it. I would go with the second option.