Convert byte array to string of bytes

Question

byte[] val = { 3, 4, 5 };

Dictionary<String, Object> dict = new Dictionary<String, Object>();
dict.Add("val", val);
//...

string request_json = new JavaScriptSerializer().Serialize(dict);
Console.Out.WriteLine(request_json);

This produces

{"val":[3,4,5]}

What's the best way to convert val such that the above produces the following (or equivalent) instead:

{"val":"\u0003\u0004\u0005"}

(This is passed to a web service which expects a string of arbitrary bytes rather than an array of arbitrary bytes.)

In case it helps, I would have used the following in Perl:

pack "C*", @bytes

A more descriptive Perl solution would be:

join "", map { chr($_) } @bytes

This should do the trick: var b = String.Join("", val.Select(_ => @"\u"+_.ToString("X4"))); — rbm
– rbm, Commented Nov 8, 2016 at 22:00
var str = System.Text.Encoding.Default.GetString(byteArraVar); -> this will do the job, too bad the question is closed ;) — mybirthname
– mybirthname, Commented Nov 8, 2016 at 22:04
@Quantic, That's not the meaning it would have. Picture val containing the a .zip file, for example. — ikegami
– ikegami, Commented Nov 8, 2016 at 22:06
@mybirthname, That encodes according to the ANSI code page. That's no good. — ikegami
– ikegami, Commented Nov 8, 2016 at 22:12
But that does not print the \u which i thought was needed. — rbm
– rbm, Commented Nov 8, 2016 at 22:21

rbm · Accepted Answer · 2016-11-08 22:57:20Z

2

This should do the trick:

dict.Add("val", String.Join("", val.Select(_ => (char)_)));

or as suggested by Michael:

dict.Add("val", String.Concat(val.Select(_ => (char)_)));

edited Nov 8, 2016 at 22:57

answered Nov 8, 2016 at 22:48

rbm

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3 Comments

Michael Liu Over a year ago

I think you can use String.Concat instead of String.Join with an empty delimiter.

Lei Yang Over a year ago

What does _ mean in C# lamba?

Scott Chamberlain Over a year ago

@LeiYang it has no special meaning, it is just a valid variable name. the _ could just have been as easily called x or value

ikegami · Accepted Answer · 2016-11-18 19:05:50Z

1

One possible solution:

StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder(val.Length);
foreach (byte b in val) {
    sb.Append((char)b);
}

dict.Add("val", sb.ToString());

Note: Convert.ToChar(b) could be used instead of (char)b.

edited Nov 18, 2016 at 19:05

answered Nov 8, 2016 at 22:40

ikegami

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