Convert string to buffer Node

Question

I am using a library which on call of a function returns the toString of a buffer.

The exact code is

return Buffer.concat(stdOut).toString('utf-8');

But I don't want string version of it.

I just want the buffer

So how to convert string back to buffer.

Something like if

var bufStr = Buffer.concat(stdOut).toString('utf-8');
//convert bufStr back to only Buffer.concat(stdOut).

How to do this?

I tried doing

var buf = Buffer.from(bufStr, 'utf-8');

But it throws utf-8 is not a function. When I do

var buf = Buffer.from(bufStr);

It throws TypeError : this is not a typed array.

Thanks

Elad Nava · Accepted Answer · 2016-10-09 12:06:47Z

251

You can do:

var buf = Buffer.from(bufStr, 'utf8');

But this is a bit silly, so another suggestion would be to copy the minimal amount of code out of the called function to allow yourself access to the original buffer. This might be quite easy or fairly difficult depending on the details of that library.

edited Oct 9, 2016 at 12:06

Elad Nava

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answered May 25, 2016 at 12:20

John Zwinck

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6 Comments

Aniket Over a year ago

I tried to do Buffer.from(bufStr, 'utf-8'); but it says utf-8 is not a function. If I omit the second argument utf-8 then it throws TypeError: this is not a typed array.

John Zwinck Over a year ago

@Aniket: Probably your Node version is older. Try just Buffer(bufStr) instead until you upgrade.

Elad Nava Over a year ago

Actually, it should be 'utf8' and not 'utf-8'. Edited the answer.

user1742529 Over a year ago

iconv-lite is better, because it uses standard charset names from world of client js (like utf-8), instread of NodeJS redefinitions (like utf8).

bobmoff Over a year ago

Buffer.from(str) is enough, as 'utf8' is default. nodejs.org/api/…

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Emdadul Sawon · Accepted Answer · 2016-05-25 12:26:51Z

19

You can use Buffer.from() to convert a string to buffer. More information on this can be found here

var buf = Buffer.from('some string', 'encoding');

for example

var buf = Buffer.from(bStr, 'utf-8');

answered May 25, 2016 at 12:26

Emdadul Sawon

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Comments

mido · Accepted Answer · 2021-02-22 09:17:38Z

16

Note: Just reposting John Zwinck's comment as answer.

One issue might be that you are using a older version of Node (for the moment, I cannot upgrade, codebase struck with v4.3.1). Simple solution here is, using the deprecated way:

new Buffer(bufferStr)

Note #2: This is for people struck in older version, for whom Buffer.from does not work

edited Feb 22, 2021 at 9:17

answered Feb 8, 2017 at 10:48

mido

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Comments

Krishan Kumar Mourya · Accepted Answer · 2017-05-19 10:04:20Z

4

This is working for me, you might change your code like this

var responseData=x.toString();

to

var responseData=x.toString("binary");

and finally

response.write(new Buffer(toTransmit, "binary"));

answered May 19, 2017 at 10:04

Krishan Kumar Mourya

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2 Comments

Sahil Rajput Over a year ago

Amazing I was looking for this only!

Routhinator Over a year ago

Where does toTransmit come from? This is seemingly randomly in your answer without context.

Ishan Sathe · Accepted Answer · 2024-09-30 06:23:33Z

1

I think npm package must have been updated. Because the following function

let buf = Buffer.from(contractCode, 'utf-8')

seems to be working very well for me. I even cross verified by doing

console.log(String(buf))

and indeed the previous string is being returned to me

answered Sep 30, 2024 at 6:23

Ishan Sathe

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