Getting topic content using vb.net and DocumentObj25.CheckOut

Question

Hi, 
 I am trying to remove a reference from a topic programmatically. I am using the DocumentObj class and Checkout. The topic is returned as base 64 encoded (CDATA) as it should according to the documentation. 
 I try to decode it using Encoding.Unicode.Getstring and convert.FromBase64String, see below. I get an "XML" string but it is filled with vbCrLf and vbTab, making it not XML. 
 Is there a better way for me to do this? 
 Dim lsstring As String = documentClient.CheckOut("GUID-123...........", "1", "en-US", "", "", pbData) 
 Dim lsDecodedString As String = System.Text.Encoding.Unicode.GetString(Convert.FromBase64String(lsCDataString))

Alex Sarafian · Accepted Answer

Hi looking into your code, is looks that you are using Visual Basic Script. Not sure if you are using SOAP or COM+ activation. The latter is not supported. 
In general, fr automation I advice you to switch to powershell and use the ISHRemote module available on the gallery. It takes care of many authentication issues and provides a very human readable interface over the API. 
 
Here are some relevant links: 
 github.com/.../ISHRemote 
 sarafian.github.io/.../introduce-ishremote.html 
 www.powershellgallery.com/.../

Alex Sarafian · Answer

ISHRemote is primarily developed for execution outside of the server. There are some improvements upcoming for execution from within the server, but I would advice people to use as a real client. To give you an example, if you setup is integrated with an STS that the server has no direct access to, then you need to connect from a client machine that has connectivity to both.

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Getting topic content using vb.net and DocumentObj25.CheckOut