How to output binary data?

Question

I am having trouble saving my file into binary into my database and so, to debug, I am trying to view the contents of the binary. I have tried this:

file.InputStream.Read(fileData, 0, size);
Debug.Print("binary=" + fileData);

It outputs this:

binary=System.Byte[]

How can I see the actual data which should look like 0x78421824794783741237FJKHASJKH etc?

In my database, it only goes in as 0x (which is the larger problem I am trying to solve).

possible duplicate of byte[] to hex string EDIT: FYI, the reason you're getting "System.Byte[]" as your output is that's simply the ToString() representation of the byte array; since the representation is a bit arbitrary (Base 2? Base 16? Base 64?) Also, I'm assuming you want hexadecimal output, but your "should look like" example includes invalid characters ("JKHS"), but I guess that was just you mashing on the keyboard. :) — Chris Sinclair
– Chris Sinclair, Commented Feb 18, 2013 at 19:59
Do you want to see it as a bunch of byte values? Ones and zeros? Base64? What? — Mike Christensen
– Mike Christensen, Commented Feb 18, 2013 at 19:59
Yes, I just want to make sure there is actual data in there; because it's only going in my database as 0x and there should be a bunch of numbers (binary code). — user1477388
– user1477388, Commented Feb 18, 2013 at 20:00

Mike Christensen · Accepted Answer · 2013-02-18 20:08:24Z

1

If you're simply trying to make sure the data is there, the easiest way is probably to output it in Base64 encoding. Something like:

byte[] foo = new byte[] { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 };
string base64 = Convert.ToBase64String(foo);
Console.WriteLine(base64);

Demo

If there were no data (basically a Byte[0]), then base64 would be an empty string.

answered Feb 18, 2013 at 20:08

Mike Christensen

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6 Comments

user1477388 Over a year ago

Awesome, so that gives me binary=iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhE.... Can I just save that in my database and it will output properly? How can I save the data to a database? Currently, when I try to save it, it only stores 0x. Do you happen to have any idea? Thanks for at least showing me this.

Mike Christensen Over a year ago

Sure, you could save that data in your database as a string (usually varchar or text). You'd have to of course convert it back into a Byte[] with Convert.FromBase64String(dbValue) when loading it. However, many databases support storing byte arrays natively, so technically you might not need to serialize the data at all. Your choice.

user1477388 Over a year ago

I am using an existing stored procedure which uses a SQL image column to store the data. It works for other pages, but not for this new thing that I am trying to create. I can't figure out why it's only saving 0x...

Mike Christensen Over a year ago

You'd probably want to post the code that saves the Byte[], as well as the stored procedure. I'd recommend posting a new question, and be sure to tag it with the appropriate database system you're using.

Rafael Over a year ago

@user1477388 Using Base 64 is a good option, if you use simple string queries and don't want to escape your data, the tradeoff is that it occupies around 30% more than binary data, but it may be worth the loss.

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