Convert charArray to byteArray

Question

I have a string which under all circumstances satisfies ([a-zA-Z0-9])*, and I want to let it run through sha1.

So how do I convert the string (or the char array obtained using ToCharArray()) to a byte array?

All answers I found so far have a big bunch of comments why the conversion from string to byte array is evil, they provide links to character encoding tutorials, and include a bunch of character encodings bloating the code.

Under my circumstances, conversion should be a LINQ oneliner, safe and neat.

I tried:

sha.ComputeHash(validator.ToCharArray().ToArray<byte>())

and I played around as far as my LINQ knowledge goes:

sha.ComputeHash(validator.ToCharArray().ToArray<byte>(c => (byte)c))

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/12527694/c-sharp-convert-char-to-byte-hex-representation should be all you need I'd think... — Chris, Mar 21 '14 at 14:27

score 23 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 21 '14 at 14:36

23

validator.Select(c => (byte)c).ToArray()

Will also work. The "string" type supports "IEnumerable", so you can use LINQ directly with one.

The "Select" method allows you specify a lambda to customize your output. This replaces what you were trying to do with the "ToArray(c => (byte)c))".

answered Mar 21 '14 at 14:36

Yves Dubois

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narrowing but safe under 255. – Jodrell Mar 21 '14 at 14:57
@Alexander, with your range of input, this will generate the same hash as `UTF.GetBytes` – Jodrell Mar 21 '14 at 15:17

score 19 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 21 '14 at 14:25

19

Encoding.GetEncoding("UTF-8").GetBytes(chararray);

answered Mar 21 '14 at 14:25

Konstantin

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I'm not sure about this but, two strings with different normalization might encode to the same bytes. This may or may not be desirable. (I think this point is moot within the range specified in the question.) – Jodrell Mar 21 '14 at 14:33
@Alexander, with your range of input, this will generate the same hash as `.Select(c => (byte)c).ToArray()` – Jodrell Mar 21 '14 at 15:17
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`Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(chararray);` – Vinigas Feb 23 '21 at 15:17

score 7 · Answer 3 · edited Mar 01 '17 at 10:41

7

For your purposes encoding is unnecessary, although it may be more convienient.

You could do instead,

sha.ComputeHash(validator.SelectMany(BitConverter.GetBytes).ToArray());

edited Mar 01 '17 at 10:41

Marcel

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answered Mar 21 '14 at 14:29

Jodrell

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score 6 · Answer 4 · answered Mar 01 '19 at 14:58

6

I like the version:

 System.Text.Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(chararray);

More or less the same as above

answered Mar 01 '19 at 14:58

Stephan Baltzer

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Convert charArray to byteArray

4 Answers4