.NET (Core and Framework)

int x = Convert.ToInt16("some text");

Module INI
    Private Declare Ansi Function WritePrivateProfileString _
       Lib "kernel32.dll" Alias "WritePrivateProfileStringA" _
       (ByVal lpApplicationName As String, _
       ByVal lpKeyName As String, ByVal lpString As String, _
       ByVal lpFileName As String) As Integer

    Private Declare Auto Function GetPrivateProfileString Lib "kernel32" (ByVal lpAppName As String, _
    ByVal lpKeyName As String, _
    ByVal lpDefault As String, _
    ByVal lpReturnedString As StringBuilder, _
    ByVal nSize As Integer, _
    ByVal lpFileName As String) As Integer



    Public Function GetPrivateProfileStringUnicode(ApplicationName As String, KeyName As String, FileName As String) As String
        Dim sb As New StringBuilder(500)
        GetPrivateProfileString(ApplicationName, KeyName, "", sb, sb.Capacity, FileName)
        Dim Value As String = sb.ToString
        If InStr(Value, "#") = 0 Then
            'No #-character found, so there is nothing to convert back
            Return Value
        Else
            Dim i As Integer
            Dim Parts() As String = Split(Value, "#") 'Split value to array
            For i = 1 To UBound(Parts) Step 2         'If i is an odd number Parts(i) always contains a integer which should be converted back
                Parts(i) = Trim(ChrW(CInt(Parts(i))))
            Next
            Return Join(Parts, "")                    'Return the joined array Parts
        End If
    End Function

    Public Sub WritePrivateProfileStringUnicode(ApplicationName As String, KeyName As String, Value As String, FileName As String)
        'First escape the #-character

        Dim NewValue As String = Replace(Value, "#", "#" & Asc("#") & "#")


        If IsUnicode(NewValue) Then
            'Value has unicode characters; we convert them to integer value preceded and followed by a #-character
            Dim i As Integer
            Dim ValueUnicode As String = ""
            For i = 1 To Len(NewValue)
                Dim strChar As String = Mid(NewValue, i, 1)
                If AscW(strChar) > 255 Or AscW(strChar) < 0 Then
                    strChar = "#" & AscW(strChar) & "#"
                End If
                ValueUnicode = ValueUnicode & strChar
            Next
            'Write converted string to INI file directly
            WritePrivateProfileString(ApplicationName, KeyName, ValueUnicode, FileName)
        Else
            'No unicode characters, so write to INI file directly
            WritePrivateProfileString(ApplicationName, KeyName, NewValue, FileName)
        End If
    End Sub

    Private Function IsUnicode(input As String) As Boolean
        Dim asciiBytesCount = Encoding.ASCII.GetByteCount(input)
        Dim unicodBytesCount = Encoding.UTF8.GetByteCount(input)
        Return asciiBytesCount <> unicodBytesCount
    End Function

End Module

Public Function Firma(ByVal XmlFile as String) As Boolean
Dim signedXML as String = "c:\signedXML.xml"
    ' setup the document to sign 
    Dim doc As XmlDocument = New XmlDocument()
    doc.Load(XmlFile)
    Dim signer As SignedXml = New SignedXml(doc)

    'setup the key used to sign 
    Dim key As Security.Cryptography.RSA = New Security.Cryptography.RSACryptoServiceProvider()
    signer.KeyInfo = New Security.Cryptography.Xml.KeyInfo()

    signer.KeyInfo.AddClause(New Security.Cryptography.Xml.RSAKeyValue(key))
    signer.SigningKey = key

    'create a reference to the root of the document 
    Dim orderRef As Security.Cryptography.Xml.Reference = New Security.Cryptography.Xml.Reference("")
    orderRef.AddTransform(New Security.Cryptography.Xml.XmlDsigEnvelopedSignatureTransform())
    orderRef.DigestMethod = "http://www.w3.org/2001/04/xmlenc#sha256"

    signer.AddReference(orderRef)

    'add transforms that only select the order items, type, and 
    'compute the signature, and add it to the document 
    signer.ComputeSignature()
    doc.DocumentElement.AppendChild(signer.GetXml())
    doc.Save(signedXML)
End Function