# Method Stdio.Buffer()->read_hstring()

Method read_hstring

  `string(8bit) read_hstring(int(0..) n, void|int offset)`

Description

  Identical in functionality to read(read_number(n)) but faster.

  Read a network byte order number of size n*8 bits, then return the indicated number of bytes as a string.

  offset is substracted from the specified length prior to reading the string. Typical usage involves substracting n to account for the room used by the size.

  If there is not enough data available return 0.

  Note that pike string can not be longer than 0x7fffffff bytes (~2Gb).