ArrayBuffer to base64 encoded string

Question

I need an efficient (read native) way to convert an ArrayBuffer to a base64 string which needs to be used on a multipart post.

Answer 1

function _arrayBufferToBase64( buffer ) {
    var binary = '';
    var bytes = new Uint8Array( buffer );
    var len = bytes.byteLength;
    for (var i = 0; i < len; i++) {
        binary += String.fromCharCode( bytes[ i ] );
    }
    return window.btoa( binary );
}

but, non-native implementations are faster e.g. https://gist.github.com/958841 see http://jsperf.com/encoding-xhr-image-data/6

Updated benchmarks: https://jsben.ch/wnaZC

Answer 2

This works fine for me:

var base64String = btoa(String.fromCharCode.apply(null, new Uint8Array(arrayBuffer)));

In ES6, the syntax is a little simpler:

const base64String = btoa(String.fromCharCode(...new Uint8Array(arrayBuffer)));

As pointed out in the comments, this method may result in a runtime error in some browsers when the ArrayBuffer is large. The exact size limit is implementation dependent in any case.

Answer 3

For those who like it short, here's an other one using Array.reduce which will not cause stack overflow:

var base64 = btoa(
  new Uint8Array(arrayBuffer)
    .reduce((data, byte) => data + String.fromCharCode(byte), '')
);

Answer 4

There is another asynchronous way use Blob and FileReader.

I didn't test the performance. But it is a different way of thinking.

function arrayBufferToBase64( buffer, callback ) {
    var blob = new Blob([buffer],{type:'application/octet-binary'});
    var reader = new FileReader();
    reader.onload = function(evt){
        var dataurl = evt.target.result;
        callback(dataurl.substr(dataurl.indexOf(',')+1));
    };
    reader.readAsDataURL(blob);
}

//example:
var buf = new Uint8Array([11,22,33]);
arrayBufferToBase64(buf, console.log.bind(console)); //"CxYh"

Answer 5

This example uses the built-in FileReader readDataURL() to do the conversion to base64 encoding. Data URLs are structured data:[<mediatype>][;base64],<data>, so we split that url at the comma and return only the base64 encoded characters.

const blob = new Blob([array]);        
const reader = new FileReader();

reader.onload = (event) => {
  const dataUrl = event.target.result;
  const [_, base64] = dataUrl.split(','); 
  // do something with base64
};
   
reader.readAsDataURL(blob);

Or as a promisified utility:

async function encode(array) {
  return new Promise((resolve) => {
    const blob = new Blob([array]);
    const reader = new FileReader();
    
    reader.onload = (event) => {
      const dataUrl = event.target.result;
      const [_, base64] = dataUrl.split(',');
      
      resolve(base64);
    };
    
    reader.readAsDataURL(blob);
  });
}

const encoded = await encode(typedArray);

Answer 6

The OP did not specify the Running Environment but if you are using Node.JS there is a very simple way to do such thing.

According with the official Node.JS docs https://nodejs.org/api/buffer.html#buffer_buffers_and_character_encodings

// This step is only necessary if you don't already have a Buffer Object
const buffer = Buffer.from(yourArrayBuffer);

const base64String = buffer.toString('base64');

Also, If you are running under Angular for example, the Buffer Class will also be made available in a Browser Environment.

Answer 7

I used this and works for me.

function arrayBufferToBase64( buffer ) {
    var binary = '';
    var bytes = new Uint8Array( buffer );
    var len = bytes.byteLength;
    for (var i = 0; i < len; i++) {
        binary += String.fromCharCode( bytes[ i ] );
    }
    return window.btoa( binary );
}



function base64ToArrayBuffer(base64) {
    var binary_string =  window.atob(base64);
    var len = binary_string.length;
    var bytes = new Uint8Array( len );
    for (var i = 0; i < len; i++)        {
        bytes[i] = binary_string.charCodeAt(i);
    }
    return bytes.buffer;
}

Answer 8

My recommendation for this is to NOT use native btoa strategies—as they don't correctly encode all ArrayBuffer's…

rewrite the DOMs atob() and btoa()

Since DOMStrings are 16-bit-encoded strings, in most browsers calling window.btoa on a Unicode string will cause a Character Out Of Range exception if a character exceeds the range of a 8-bit ASCII-encoded character.

While I have never encountered this exact error, I have found that many of the ArrayBuffer's I have tried to encode have encoded incorrectly.

I would either use MDN recommendation or gist.

• https://github.com/beatgammit/base64-js
• https://gist.github.com/jonleighton/958841

Answer 9

Below are 2 simple functions for converting Uint8Array to Base64 String and back again

arrayToBase64String(a) {
    return btoa(String.fromCharCode(...a));
}

base64StringToArray(s) {
    let asciiString = atob(s);
    return new Uint8Array([...asciiString].map(char => char.charCodeAt(0)));
}

Answer 10

If you're okay with adding a library, base64-arraybuffer:

yarn add base64-arraybuffer

then:

• encode(buffer) - Encodes ArrayBuffer into base64 string
• decode(str) - Decodes base64 string to ArrayBuffer

Answer 11

This worked for me:

Buffer.from(myArrayBuffer).toString("base64");

Answer 12

ABtoB64(ab) {
    return new Promise(res => {
        const fr = new FileReader();
        fr.onload = ({target: {result: s}}) => res(s.slice(s.indexOf(';base64,') + 8));
        fr.readAsDataURL(new Blob([ab]));
    });
}

asynchronous method using file reader.

Answer 13

You can derive a normal array from the ArrayBuffer by using Array.prototype.slice. Use a function like Array.prototype.map to convert bytes in to characters and join them together to forma string.

function arrayBufferToBase64(ab){

    var dView = new Uint8Array(ab);   //Get a byte view        

    var arr = Array.prototype.slice.call(dView); //Create a normal array        

    var arr1 = arr.map(function(item){        
      return String.fromCharCode(item);    //Convert
    });

    return window.btoa(arr1.join(''));   //Form a string

}

This method is faster since there are no string concatenations running in it.

Answer 14

In the Browser suggested solutions with btoa seem fine. But in Node.js btoa is deprecated

It is recommended to use buffer.toString(encoding)

like

const myString = buffer.toString("base64")

Answer 15

i use TextDecode api to convert it to normal text and then convert it to Base64

const uint =  new Uint8Array([ 73, 32, 108, 111, 118, 101, 32, 121, 111, 117 ]).buffer
const decoder = new TextDecoder()
const decodedText = decoder.decode(uint)
const base64Code = btoa(decodedText)

Answer 16

 var uint8Array = new Uint8Array(BytesArray);

 var base64Str = btoa(String.fromCharCode(...uint8Array));

 Or,

 var base64Str = btoa(uint8Array.reduce((x, y) => x + String.fromCharCode(y), ''));

Answer 17

Use uint8-to-b64 package to do encoding/decoding in browser and Node.js

Answer 18

By my side, using Chrome navigator, I had to use DataView() to read an arrayBuffer

function _arrayBufferToBase64( tabU8A ) {
var binary = '';
let lecteur_de_donnees = new DataView(tabU8A);
var len = lecteur_de_donnees.byteLength;
var chaine = '';
var pos1;
for (var i = 0; i < len; i++) {
    binary += String.fromCharCode( lecteur_de_donnees.getUint8( i ) );
}
chaine = window.btoa( binary )
return chaine;}

Answer 19

function _arrayBufferToBase64(uarr) {
    var strings = [], chunksize = 0xffff;
    var len = uarr.length;

    for (var i = 0; i * chunksize < len; i++){
        strings.push(String.fromCharCode.apply(null, uarr.subarray(i * chunksize, (i + 1) * chunksize)));
    }

    return strings.join("");
}

This is better, if you use JSZip for unpack archive from string