how can I convert string to binary data using .net

Question

How can I convert a string variable to a binary data variable using .net 1.1?

I found a way of doing this:

ASCIIEncoding^ ascii = gcnew ASCIIEncoding;
String^ unicodeString = L"This Unicode String* contains two characters with codes outside the ASCII code range, Pi (\u03a0) and Sigma (\u03a3).";
array<Byte>^ binaryData = ascii->GetBytes( unicodeString );

[What have you tried?](http://mattgemmell.com/2008/12/08/what-have-you-tried/) — Some programmer dude, Mar 22 '12 at 09:36
What kind of "binary data"? A PNG picture? An integer representing the sum of the ASCII characters in the string? — DevSolar, Mar 22 '12 at 09:45
i have a string that I want to convert to base64. I need a byte array in order to use Convert::ToBase64String — user1064036, Mar 22 '12 at 10:09
See http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5664345/string-to-binary-in-c-sharp (3rd hit on google) — David, Mar 22 '12 at 10:11
@user1064036: Doesn't matter; the core .Net classes are usable from all CLI languages. — MSalters, Mar 22 '12 at 12:10
@MSalters: Please don't add tags you aren't familiar with. This is a .NET 1.1 question, not a C++/CLI question. — Ben Voigt, Mar 22 '12 at 18:16
@BenVoigt: It was originally tagged C++ (as in ISO C++), which was entirely inappropriate. — MSalters, Mar 23 '12 at 08:05
@MSalters: And removing the `c++` tag was the right thing to do. But adding the `c++-cli` tag was no different than the `c++` tag. — Ben Voigt, Mar 23 '12 at 14:55

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Mar 22 '12 at 10:42

1

What about this?

byte[] InputbyteArray = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(inputString);
string B64String = Convert.ToBase64String(InputbyteArray)

answered Mar 22 '12 at 10:42

Steve

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you say you "found" a solution - an hours after I answered, what is the difference between my answer and your solution? – Steve Mar 22 '12 at 12:59
Your "solution" isn't in the requested language. – Ben Voigt Mar 22 '12 at 18:17
I disagree, it was a .net question not a c++ or clr specific question. The solution is .net, just different syntax - which lets be honest is a trivial conversion. – Steve Mar 22 '12 at 19:25
Finding someone who knows Managed Extensions for C++ is non-trivial. – Ben Voigt Mar 22 '12 at 19:50

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 22 '12 at 18:22

In .NET 1.1, you only have access to the broken Managed Extensions for C++ compiler. It is broken, you should not use it.

However, IIRC, the syntax would be something like:

System::Byte bytes __gc[] = Encoding::ASCII::GetBytes(inputString);
System::String __gc* base64string = Convert::ToBase64String(bytes);

how can I convert string to binary data using .net

2 Answers2