Class Base64

java.lang.Object
org.ujmp.core.util.Base64

public class Base64 extends Object

Encodes and decodes to and from Base64 notation.

Homepage: http://iharder.net/base64.

Example:

String encoded = Base64.encode( myByteArray );
byte[] myByteArray = Base64.decode( encoded );

The options parameter, which appears in a few places, is used to pass several pieces of information to the encoder. In the "higher level" methods such as encodeBytes( bytes, options ) the options parameter can be used to indicate such things as first gzipping the bytes before encoding them, not inserting linefeeds, and encoding using the URL-safe and Ordered dialects.

Note, according to RFC3548, Section 2.1, implementations should not add line feeds unless explicitly told to do so. I've got Base64 set to this behavior now, although earlier versions broke lines by default.

The constants defined in Base64 can be OR-ed together to combine options, so you might make a call like this:

String encoded = Base64.encodeBytes( mybytes, Base64.GZIP | Base64.DO_BREAK_LINES );

to compress the data before encoding it and then making the output have newline characters.

Also...

String encoded = Base64.encodeBytes( crazyString.getBytes() );

Change Log:

  • v2.3.3 - Changed default char encoding to US-ASCII which reduces the internal Java footprint with its CharEncoders and so forth. Fixed some javadocs that were inconsistent. Removed imports and specified things like java.io.IOException explicitly inline.
  • v2.3.2 - Reduced memory footprint! Finally refined the "guessing" of how big the final encoded data will be so that the code doesn't have to create two output arrays: an oversized initial one and then a final, exact-sized one. Big win when using the encodeBytesToBytes(byte[]) family of methods (and not using the gzip options which uses a different mechanism with streams and stuff).
  • v2.3.1 - Added encodeBytesToBytes(byte[], int, int, int) and some similar helper methods to be more efficient with memory by not returning a String but just a byte array.
  • v2.3 - This is not a drop-in replacement! This is two years of comments and bug fixes queued up and finally executed. Thanks to everyone who sent me stuff, and I'm sorry I wasn't able to distribute your fixes to everyone else. Much bad coding was cleaned up including throwing exceptions where necessary instead of returning null values or something similar. Here are some changes that may affect you:
    • Does not break lines, by default. This is to keep in compliance with RFC3548.
    • Throws exceptions instead of returning null values. Because some operations (especially those that may permit the GZIP option) use IO streams, there is a possiblity of an java.io.IOException being thrown. After some discussion and thought, I've changed the behavior of the methods to throw java.io.IOExceptions rather than return null if ever there's an error. I think this is more appropriate, though it will require some changes to your code. Sorry, it should have been done this way to begin with.
    • Removed all references to System.out, System.err, and the like. Shame on me. All I can say is sorry they were ever there.
    • Throws NullPointerExceptions and IllegalArgumentExceptions as needed such as when passed arrays are null or offsets are invalid.
    • Cleaned up as much javadoc as I could to avoid any javadoc warnings. This was especially annoying before for people who were thorough in their own projects and then had gobs of javadoc warnings on this file.
  • v2.2.1 - Fixed bug using URL_SAFE and ORDERED encodings. Fixed bug when using very small files (~< 40 bytes).
  • v2.2 - Added some helper methods for encoding/decoding directly from one file to the next. Also added a main() method to support command line encoding/decoding from one file to the next. Also added these Base64 dialects:
    1. The default is RFC3548 format.
    2. Calling Base64.setFormat(Base64.BASE64_FORMAT.URLSAFE_FORMAT) generates URL and file name friendly format as described in Section 4 of RFC3548. http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc3548.html
    3. Calling Base64.setFormat(Base64.BASE64_FORMAT.ORDERED_FORMAT) generates URL and file name friendly format that preserves lexical ordering as described in http://www.faqs.org/qa/rfcc-1940.html
    Special thanks to Jim Kellerman at http://www.powerset.com/ for contributing the new Base64 dialects.
  • v2.1 - Cleaned up javadoc comments and unused variables and methods. Added some convenience methods for reading and writing to and from files.
  • v2.0.2 - Now specifies UTF-8 encoding in places where the code fails on systems with other encodings (like EBCDIC).
  • v2.0.1 - Fixed an error when decoding a single byte, that is, when the encoded data was a single byte.
  • v2.0 - I got rid of methods that used booleans to set options. Now everything is more consolidated and cleaner. The code now detects when data that's being decoded is gzip-compressed and will decompress it automatically. Generally things are cleaner. You'll probably have to change some method calls that you were making to support the new options format (ints that you "OR" together).
  • v1.5.1 - Fixed bug when decompressing and decoding to a byte[] using decode( String s, boolean gzipCompressed ). Added the ability to "suspend" encoding in the Output Stream so you can turn on and off the encoding if you need to embed base64 data in an otherwise "normal" stream (like an XML file).
  • v1.5 - Output stream pases on flush() command but doesn't do anything itself. This helps when using GZIP streams. Added the ability to GZip-compress objects before encoding them.
  • v1.4 - Added helper methods to read/write files.
  • v1.3.6 - Fixed OutputStream.flush() so that 'position' is reset.
  • v1.3.5 - Added flag to turn on and off line breaks. Fixed bug in input stream where last buffer being read, if not completely full, was not returned.
  • v1.3.4 - Fixed when "improperly padded stream" error was thrown at the wrong time.
  • v1.3.3 - Fixed I/O streams which were totally messed up.

I am placing this code in the Public Domain. Do with it as you will. This software comes with no guarantees or warranties but with plenty of well-wishing instead! Please visit http://iharder.net/base64 periodically to check for updates or to contribute improvements.

Version:
2.3.3
  • Nested Class Summary

    Nested Classes
    Modifier and Type
    Class
    Description
    static class 
    A Base64.InputStream will read data from another java.io.InputStream, given in the constructor, and encode/decode to/from Base64 notation on the fly.
    static class 
    A Base64.OutputStream will write data to another java.io.OutputStream, given in the constructor, and encode/decode to/from Base64 notation on the fly.
  • Field Summary

    Fields
    Modifier and Type
    Field
    Description
    private static final byte[]
    I don't get the point of this technique, but someone requested it, and it is described here: http:// www.faqs.org/qa/rfcc-1940.html.
    private static final byte[]
    Used in decoding the "ordered" dialect of Base64.
    private static final byte[]
    The 64 valid Base64 values.
    private static final byte[]
    Translates a Base64 value to either its 6-bit reconstruction value or a negative number indicating some other meaning.
    private static final byte[]
    Used in the URL- and Filename-safe dialect described in Section 4 of RFC3548: http://www.faqs.org /rfcs/rfc3548.html.
    private static final byte[]
    Used in decoding URL- and Filename-safe dialects of Base64.
    static final int
    Specify decoding in first bit.
    static final int
    Do break lines when encoding.
    static final int
    Specify encoding in first bit.
    private static final byte
    The equals sign (=) as a byte.
    private static final byte
     
    static final int
    Specify that data should be gzip-compressed in second bit.
    private static final int
    Maximum line length (76) of Base64 output.
    private static final byte
    The new line character (\n) as a byte.
    static final int
    No options specified.
    static final int
    Encode using the special "ordered" dialect of Base64 described here: http://www.faqs.org/qa/rfcc- 1940.html.
    private static final String
    Preferred encoding.
    static final int
    Encode using Base64-like encoding that is URL- and Filename-safe as described in Section 4 of RFC3548: http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc3548.html.
    private static final byte
     
  • Constructor Summary

    Constructors
    Modifier
    Constructor
    Description
    private
    Defeats instantiation.
  • Method Summary

    Modifier and Type
    Method
    Description
    static byte[]
    decode(byte[] source)
    Low-level access to decoding ASCII characters in the form of a byte array.
    static byte[]
    decode(byte[] source, int off, int len, int options)
    Low-level access to decoding ASCII characters in the form of a byte array.
    static byte[]
    Decodes data from Base64 notation, automatically detecting gzip-compressed data and decompressing it.
    static byte[]
    decode(String s, int options)
    Decodes data from Base64 notation, automatically detecting gzip-compressed data and decompressing it.
    private static int
    decode4to3(byte[] source, int srcOffset, byte[] destination, int destOffset, int options)
    Decodes four bytes from array source and writes the resulting bytes (up to three of them) to destination.
    static void
    decodeFileToFile(String infile, String outfile)
    Reads infile and decodes it to outfile.
    static byte[]
    Convenience method for reading a base64-encoded file and decoding it.
    static void
    decodeToFile(String dataToDecode, String filename)
    Convenience method for decoding data to a file.
    static Object
    decodeToObject(String encodedObject)
    Attempts to decode Base64 data and deserialize a Java Object within.
    static void
    encode(ByteBuffer raw, ByteBuffer encoded)
    Performs Base64 encoding on the raw ByteBuffer, writing it to the encoded ByteBuffer.
    static void
    encode(ByteBuffer raw, CharBuffer encoded)
    Performs Base64 encoding on the raw ByteBuffer, writing it to the encoded CharBuffer.
    private static byte[]
    encode3to4(byte[] b4, byte[] threeBytes, int numSigBytes, int options)
    Encodes up to the first three bytes of array threeBytes and returns a four-byte array in Base64 notation.
    private static byte[]
    encode3to4(byte[] source, int srcOffset, int numSigBytes, byte[] destination, int destOffset, int options)
    Encodes up to three bytes of the array source and writes the resulting four Base64 bytes to destination.
    static String
    encodeBytes(byte[] source)
    Encodes a byte array into Base64 notation.
    static String
    encodeBytes(byte[] source, int options)
    Encodes a byte array into Base64 notation.
    static String
    encodeBytes(byte[] source, int off, int len)
    Encodes a byte array into Base64 notation.
    static String
    encodeBytes(byte[] source, int off, int len, int options)
    Encodes a byte array into Base64 notation.
    static byte[]
    encodeBytesToBytes(byte[] source)
    Similar to encodeBytes(byte[]) but returns a byte array instead of instantiating a String.
    static byte[]
    encodeBytesToBytes(byte[] source, int off, int len, int options)
    Similar to encodeBytes(byte[], int, int, int) but returns a byte array instead of instantiating a String.
    static void
    encodeFileToFile(String infile, String outfile)
    Reads infile and encodes it to outfile.
    static String
    Convenience method for reading a binary file and base64-encoding it.
    static String
    encodeObject(Serializable serializableObject)
    Serializes an object and returns the Base64-encoded version of that serialized object.
    static String
    encodeObject(Serializable serializableObject, int options)
    Serializes an object and returns the Base64-encoded version of that serialized object.
    static void
    encodeToFile(byte[] dataToEncode, String filename)
    Convenience method for encoding data to a file.
    private static final byte[]
    getAlphabet(int options)
    Returns one of the _SOMETHING_ALPHABET byte arrays depending on the options specified.
    private static final byte[]
    getDecodabet(int options)
    Returns one of the _SOMETHING_DECODABET byte arrays depending on the options specified.

    Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object

    clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, toString, wait, wait, wait
  • Field Details

    • NO_OPTIONS

      public static final int NO_OPTIONS
      No options specified. Value is zero.
      See Also:
    • ENCODE

      public static final int ENCODE
      Specify encoding in first bit. Value is one.
      See Also:
    • DECODE

      public static final int DECODE
      Specify decoding in first bit. Value is zero.
      See Also:
    • GZIP

      public static final int GZIP
      Specify that data should be gzip-compressed in second bit. Value is two.
      See Also:
    • DO_BREAK_LINES

      public static final int DO_BREAK_LINES
      Do break lines when encoding. Value is 8.
      See Also:
    • URL_SAFE

      public static final int URL_SAFE
      Encode using Base64-like encoding that is URL- and Filename-safe as described in Section 4 of RFC3548: http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc3548.html. It is important to note that data encoded this way is not officially valid Base64, or at the very least should not be called Base64 without also specifying that is was encoded using the URL- and Filename-safe dialect.
      See Also:
    • ORDERED

      public static final int ORDERED
      Encode using the special "ordered" dialect of Base64 described here: http://www.faqs.org/qa/rfcc- 1940.html.
      See Also:
    • MAX_LINE_LENGTH

      private static final int MAX_LINE_LENGTH
      Maximum line length (76) of Base64 output.
      See Also:
    • EQUALS_SIGN

      private static final byte EQUALS_SIGN
      The equals sign (=) as a byte.
      See Also:
    • NEW_LINE

      private static final byte NEW_LINE
      The new line character (\n) as a byte.
      See Also:
    • PREFERRED_ENCODING

      private static final String PREFERRED_ENCODING
      Preferred encoding.
      See Also:
    • WHITE_SPACE_ENC

      private static final byte WHITE_SPACE_ENC
      See Also:
    • EQUALS_SIGN_ENC

      private static final byte EQUALS_SIGN_ENC
      See Also:
    • _STANDARD_ALPHABET

      private static final byte[] _STANDARD_ALPHABET
      The 64 valid Base64 values.
    • _STANDARD_DECODABET

      private static final byte[] _STANDARD_DECODABET
      Translates a Base64 value to either its 6-bit reconstruction value or a negative number indicating some other meaning.
    • _URL_SAFE_ALPHABET

      private static final byte[] _URL_SAFE_ALPHABET
      Used in the URL- and Filename-safe dialect described in Section 4 of RFC3548: http://www.faqs.org /rfcs/rfc3548.html. Notice that the last two bytes become "hyphen" and "underscore" instead of "plus" and "slash."
    • _URL_SAFE_DECODABET

      private static final byte[] _URL_SAFE_DECODABET
      Used in decoding URL- and Filename-safe dialects of Base64.
    • _ORDERED_ALPHABET

      private static final byte[] _ORDERED_ALPHABET
      I don't get the point of this technique, but someone requested it, and it is described here: http:// www.faqs.org/qa/rfcc-1940.html.
    • _ORDERED_DECODABET

      private static final byte[] _ORDERED_DECODABET
      Used in decoding the "ordered" dialect of Base64.
  • Constructor Details

    • Base64

      private Base64()
      Defeats instantiation.
  • Method Details

    • getAlphabet

      private static final byte[] getAlphabet(int options)
      Returns one of the _SOMETHING_ALPHABET byte arrays depending on the options specified. It's possible, though silly, to specify ORDERED and URLSAFE in which case one of them will be picked, though there is no guarantee as to which one will be picked.
    • getDecodabet

      private static final byte[] getDecodabet(int options)
      Returns one of the _SOMETHING_DECODABET byte arrays depending on the options specified. It's possible, though silly, to specify ORDERED and URL_SAFE in which case one of them will be picked, though there is no guarantee as to which one will be picked.
    • encode3to4

      private static byte[] encode3to4(byte[] b4, byte[] threeBytes, int numSigBytes, int options)
      Encodes up to the first three bytes of array threeBytes and returns a four-byte array in Base64 notation. The actual number of significant bytes in your array is given by numSigBytes. The array threeBytes needs only be as big as numSigBytes. Code can reuse a byte array by passing a four-byte array as b4.
      Parameters:
      b4 - A reusable byte array to reduce array instantiation
      threeBytes - the array to convert
      numSigBytes - the number of significant bytes in your array
      Returns:
      four byte array in Base64 notation.
      Since:
      1.5.1
    • encode3to4

      private static byte[] encode3to4(byte[] source, int srcOffset, int numSigBytes, byte[] destination, int destOffset, int options)

      Encodes up to three bytes of the array source and writes the resulting four Base64 bytes to destination. The source and destination arrays can be manipulated anywhere along their length by specifying srcOffset and destOffset. This method does not check to make sure your arrays are large enough to accomodate srcOffset + 3 for the source array or destOffset + 4 for the destination array. The actual number of significant bytes in your array is given by numSigBytes.

      This is the lowest level of the encoding methods with all possible parameters.

      Parameters:
      source - the array to convert
      srcOffset - the index where conversion begins
      numSigBytes - the number of significant bytes in your array
      destination - the array to hold the conversion
      destOffset - the index where output will be put
      Returns:
      the destination array
      Since:
      1.3
    • encode

      public static void encode(ByteBuffer raw, ByteBuffer encoded)
      Performs Base64 encoding on the raw ByteBuffer, writing it to the encoded ByteBuffer. This is an experimental feature. Currently it does not pass along any options (such as DO_BREAK_LINES or GZIP.
      Parameters:
      raw - input buffer
      encoded - output buffer
      Since:
      2.3
    • encode

      public static void encode(ByteBuffer raw, CharBuffer encoded)
      Performs Base64 encoding on the raw ByteBuffer, writing it to the encoded CharBuffer. This is an experimental feature. Currently it does not pass along any options (such as DO_BREAK_LINES or GZIP.
      Parameters:
      raw - input buffer
      encoded - output buffer
      Since:
      2.3
    • encodeObject

      public static String encodeObject(Serializable serializableObject) throws IOException
      Serializes an object and returns the Base64-encoded version of that serialized object.

      As of v 2.3, if the object cannot be serialized or there is another error, the method will throw an java.io.IOException. This is new to v2.3! In earlier versions, it just returned a null value, but in retrospect that's a pretty poor way to handle it.

      The object is not GZip-compressed before being encoded.
      Parameters:
      serializableObject - The object to encode
      Returns:
      The Base64-encoded object
      Throws:
      IOException - if there is an error
      NullPointerException - if serializedObject is null
      Since:
      1.4
    • encodeObject

      public static String encodeObject(Serializable serializableObject, int options) throws IOException
      Serializes an object and returns the Base64-encoded version of that serialized object.

      As of v 2.3, if the object cannot be serialized or there is another error, the method will throw an java.io.IOException. This is new to v2.3! In earlier versions, it just returned a null value, but in retrospect that's a pretty poor way to handle it.

      The object is not GZip-compressed before being encoded.

      Example options:

         GZIP: gzip-compresses object before encoding it.
         DO_BREAK_LINES: break lines at 76 characters
       

      Example: encodeObject( myObj, Base64.GZIP ) or

      Example: encodeObject( myObj, Base64.GZIP | Base64.DO_BREAK_LINES )

      Parameters:
      serializableObject - The object to encode
      options - Specified options
      Returns:
      The Base64-encoded object
      Throws:
      IOException - if there is an error
      Since:
      2.0
      See Also:
    • encodeBytes

      public static String encodeBytes(byte[] source)
      Encodes a byte array into Base64 notation. Does not GZip-compress data.
      Parameters:
      source - The data to convert
      Returns:
      The data in Base64-encoded form
      Throws:
      NullPointerException - if source array is null
      Since:
      1.4
    • encodeBytes

      public static String encodeBytes(byte[] source, int options) throws IOException
      Encodes a byte array into Base64 notation.

      Example options:

         GZIP: gzip-compresses object before encoding it.
         DO_BREAK_LINES: break lines at 76 characters
           Note: Technically, this makes your encoding non-compliant.
       

      Example: encodeBytes( myData, Base64.GZIP ) or

      Example: encodeBytes( myData, Base64.GZIP | Base64.DO_BREAK_LINES )

      As of v 2.3, if there is an error with the GZIP stream, the method will throw an java.io.IOException. This is new to v2.3! In earlier versions, it just returned a null value, but in retrospect that's a pretty poor way to handle it.

      Parameters:
      source - The data to convert
      options - Specified options
      Returns:
      The Base64-encoded data as a String
      Throws:
      IOException - if there is an error
      NullPointerException - if source array is null
      Since:
      2.0
      See Also:
    • encodeBytes

      public static String encodeBytes(byte[] source, int off, int len)
      Encodes a byte array into Base64 notation. Does not GZip-compress data.

      As of v 2.3, if there is an error, the method will throw an java.io.IOException. This is new to v2.3! In earlier versions, it just returned a null value, but in retrospect that's a pretty poor way to handle it.

      Parameters:
      source - The data to convert
      off - Offset in array where conversion should begin
      len - Length of data to convert
      Returns:
      The Base64-encoded data as a String
      Throws:
      NullPointerException - if source array is null
      IllegalArgumentException - if source array, offset, or length are invalid
      Since:
      1.4
    • encodeBytes

      public static String encodeBytes(byte[] source, int off, int len, int options) throws IOException
      Encodes a byte array into Base64 notation.

      Example options:

         GZIP: gzip-compresses object before encoding it.
         DO_BREAK_LINES: break lines at 76 characters
           Note: Technically, this makes your encoding non-compliant.
       

      Example: encodeBytes( myData, Base64.GZIP ) or

      Example: encodeBytes( myData, Base64.GZIP | Base64.DO_BREAK_LINES )

      As of v 2.3, if there is an error with the GZIP stream, the method will throw an java.io.IOException. This is new to v2.3! In earlier versions, it just returned a null value, but in retrospect that's a pretty poor way to handle it.

      Parameters:
      source - The data to convert
      off - Offset in array where conversion should begin
      len - Length of data to convert
      options - Specified options
      Returns:
      The Base64-encoded data as a String
      Throws:
      IOException - if there is an error
      NullPointerException - if source array is null
      IllegalArgumentException - if source array, offset, or length are invalid
      Since:
      2.0
      See Also:
    • encodeBytesToBytes

      public static byte[] encodeBytesToBytes(byte[] source)
      Similar to encodeBytes(byte[]) but returns a byte array instead of instantiating a String. This is more efficient if you're working with I/O streams and have large data sets to encode.
      Parameters:
      source - The data to convert
      Returns:
      The Base64-encoded data as a byte[] (of ASCII characters)
      Throws:
      NullPointerException - if source array is null
      Since:
      2.3.1
    • encodeBytesToBytes

      public static byte[] encodeBytesToBytes(byte[] source, int off, int len, int options) throws IOException
      Similar to encodeBytes(byte[], int, int, int) but returns a byte array instead of instantiating a String. This is more efficient if you're working with I/O streams and have large data sets to encode.
      Parameters:
      source - The data to convert
      off - Offset in array where conversion should begin
      len - Length of data to convert
      options - Specified options
      Returns:
      The Base64-encoded data as a String
      Throws:
      IOException - if there is an error
      NullPointerException - if source array is null
      IllegalArgumentException - if source array, offset, or length are invalid
      Since:
      2.3.1
      See Also:
    • decode4to3

      private static int decode4to3(byte[] source, int srcOffset, byte[] destination, int destOffset, int options)
      Decodes four bytes from array source and writes the resulting bytes (up to three of them) to destination. The source and destination arrays can be manipulated anywhere along their length by specifying srcOffset and destOffset. This method does not check to make sure your arrays are large enough to accomodate srcOffset + 4 for the source array or destOffset + 3 for the destination array. This method returns the actual number of bytes that were converted from the Base64 encoding.

      This is the lowest level of the decoding methods with all possible parameters.

      Parameters:
      source - the array to convert
      srcOffset - the index where conversion begins
      destination - the array to hold the conversion
      destOffset - the index where output will be put
      options - alphabet type is pulled from this (standard, url-safe, ordered)
      Returns:
      the number of decoded bytes converted
      Throws:
      NullPointerException - if source or destination arrays are null
      IllegalArgumentException - if srcOffset or destOffset are invalid or there is not enough room in the array.
      Since:
      1.3
    • decode

      public static byte[] decode(byte[] source)
      Low-level access to decoding ASCII characters in the form of a byte array. Ignores GUNZIP option, if it's set. This is not generally a recommended method, although it is used internally as part of the decoding process. Special case: if len = 0, an empty array is returned. Still, if you need more speed and reduced memory footprint (and aren't gzipping), consider this method.
      Parameters:
      source - The Base64 encoded data
      Returns:
      decoded data
      Since:
      2.3.1
    • decode

      public static byte[] decode(byte[] source, int off, int len, int options) throws IOException
      Low-level access to decoding ASCII characters in the form of a byte array. Ignores GUNZIP option, if it's set. This is not generally a recommended method, although it is used internally as part of the decoding process. Special case: if len = 0, an empty array is returned. Still, if you need more speed and reduced memory footprint (and aren't gzipping), consider this method.
      Parameters:
      source - The Base64 encoded data
      off - The offset of where to begin decoding
      len - The length of characters to decode
      options - Can specify options such as alphabet type to use
      Returns:
      decoded data
      Throws:
      IOException - If bogus characters exist in source data
      Since:
      1.3
    • decode

      public static byte[] decode(String s) throws IOException
      Decodes data from Base64 notation, automatically detecting gzip-compressed data and decompressing it.
      Parameters:
      s - the string to decode
      Returns:
      the decoded data
      Throws:
      IOException - If there is a problem
      Since:
      1.4
    • decode

      public static byte[] decode(String s, int options) throws IOException
      Decodes data from Base64 notation, automatically detecting gzip-compressed data and decompressing it.
      Parameters:
      s - the string to decode
      options - encode options such as URL_SAFE
      Returns:
      the decoded data
      Throws:
      IOException - if there is an error
      NullPointerException - if s is null
      Since:
      1.4
    • decodeToObject

      public static Object decodeToObject(String encodedObject) throws IOException, ClassNotFoundException
      Attempts to decode Base64 data and deserialize a Java Object within. Returns null if there was an error.
      Parameters:
      encodedObject - The Base64 data to decode
      Returns:
      The decoded and deserialized object
      Throws:
      NullPointerException - if encodedObject is null
      IOException - if there is a general error
      ClassNotFoundException - if the decoded object is of a class that cannot be found by the JVM
      Since:
      1.5
    • encodeToFile

      public static void encodeToFile(byte[] dataToEncode, String filename) throws IOException
      Convenience method for encoding data to a file.

      As of v 2.3, if there is a error, the method will throw an java.io.IOException. This is new to v2.3! In earlier versions, it just returned false, but in retrospect that's a pretty poor way to handle it.

      Parameters:
      dataToEncode - byte array of data to encode in base64 form
      filename - Filename for saving encoded data
      Throws:
      IOException - if there is an error
      NullPointerException - if dataToEncode is null
      Since:
      2.1
    • decodeToFile

      public static void decodeToFile(String dataToDecode, String filename) throws IOException
      Convenience method for decoding data to a file.

      As of v 2.3, if there is a error, the method will throw an java.io.IOException. This is new to v2.3! In earlier versions, it just returned false, but in retrospect that's a pretty poor way to handle it.

      Parameters:
      dataToDecode - Base64-encoded data as a string
      filename - Filename for saving decoded data
      Throws:
      IOException - if there is an error
      Since:
      2.1
    • decodeFromFile

      public static byte[] decodeFromFile(String filename) throws IOException
      Convenience method for reading a base64-encoded file and decoding it.

      As of v 2.3, if there is a error, the method will throw an java.io.IOException. This is new to v2.3! In earlier versions, it just returned false, but in retrospect that's a pretty poor way to handle it.

      Parameters:
      filename - Filename for reading encoded data
      Returns:
      decoded byte array
      Throws:
      IOException - if there is an error
      Since:
      2.1
    • encodeFromFile

      public static String encodeFromFile(String filename) throws IOException
      Convenience method for reading a binary file and base64-encoding it.

      As of v 2.3, if there is a error, the method will throw an java.io.IOException. This is new to v2.3! In earlier versions, it just returned false, but in retrospect that's a pretty poor way to handle it.

      Parameters:
      filename - Filename for reading binary data
      Returns:
      base64-encoded string
      Throws:
      IOException - if there is an error
      Since:
      2.1
    • encodeFileToFile

      public static void encodeFileToFile(String infile, String outfile) throws IOException
      Reads infile and encodes it to outfile.
      Parameters:
      infile - Input file
      outfile - Output file
      Throws:
      IOException - if there is an error
      Since:
      2.2
    • decodeFileToFile

      public static void decodeFileToFile(String infile, String outfile) throws IOException
      Reads infile and decodes it to outfile.
      Parameters:
      infile - Input file
      outfile - Output file
      Throws:
      IOException - if there is an error
      Since:
      2.2