storing a byte array in web.config

Question

I have a developer key

 byte[] key = new Byte[]
            {
                0x01, 0x42, 0xA0, 0xE1, 0x5E, 0xEE, 0xA7, 0x01, 0x71, 0x9A, 0xCB, 0xAB, 0x58, 0xEB, 0xED, 0x44...

that I want to store in my web.config, can I do something like as follows

<add key="spotify-devkey" value="0x01, 0x42, 0xA0, 0xE1, 0x5E, 0xEE, 0xA7, 0x01, 0x71, 0x9A, 0xCB, 0xAB, 0x58, 0xEB, 0xED, 0x44,...

and if I can do it this easily what code would I need to get the byte array from the stored string?

possible duplicate of [Convert hex string to byte array](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/321370/convert-hex-string-to-byte-array), or [How do you convert Byte Array to Hexadecimal String, and vice versa, in C#?](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/311165/how-do-you-convert-byte-array-to-hexadecimal-string-and-vice-versa-in-c) — Grant Thomas, Mar 20 '12 at 12:55

score 11 · Answer 1 · answered Mar 20 '12 at 13:04

11

I would use Base64

System.Convert.ToBase64String(key,0,key.Length);

and

System.Convert.FromBase64String(keyStringFromConfig);

to help keep the config file 'clean'

answered Mar 20 '12 at 13:04

Justin Wignall

3,490
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+1 I recommend saving as a base 64 and converting back as well, much cleaner solution. – Sean Haddy Nov 06 '12 at 21:41

Bala R · Accepted Answer · 2012-03-20T13:01:23.767

4

string value = ... // value from config file.
byte[] key = value.Split(new[] {','}).Select(s => Convert.ToByte(s, 16))
                                     .ToArray();

edited Mar 20 '12 at 13:01

answered Mar 20 '12 at 12:52

Bala R

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storing a byte array in web.config

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