Class Base64


  • public class Base64
    extends java.lang.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 the opposite way so that you tell it _not_ to add line feeds since I always thought line feeds were required -- I was wrong, but I'm reluctant to change the default behavior now. Sorry.

    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.DONT_BREAK_LINES );

    to compress the data before encoding it and then making the output have no newline characters.

    Change Log:

    • 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.

    • Nested Class Summary

      Nested Classes 
      Modifier and Type Class Description
      static class  Base64.InputStream
      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  Base64.OutputStream
      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.
    • Method Summary

      All Methods Static Methods Concrete Methods 
      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[] decode​(java.lang.String s)
      Decodes data from Base64 notation, automatically detecting gzip-compressed data and decompressing it.
      static byte[] decode​(java.lang.String s, int options)
      Decodes data from Base64 notation, automatically detecting gzip-compressed data and decompressing it.
      static void decodeFileToFile​(java.lang.String infile, java.lang.String outfile)
      Reads infile and decodes it to outfile.
      static byte[] decodeFromFile​(java.lang.String filename)
      Convenience method for reading a base64-encoded file and decoding it.
      static void decodeToFile​(java.lang.String dataToDecode, java.lang.String filename)
      Convenience method for decoding data to a file.
      static java.lang.Object decodeToObject​(java.lang.String encodedObject)
      Attempts to decode Base64 data and deserialize a Java Object within.
      static void encode​(java.nio.ByteBuffer raw, java.nio.ByteBuffer encoded)
      Performs Base64 encoding on the raw ByteBuffer, writing it to the encoded ByteBuffer.
      static void encode​(java.nio.ByteBuffer raw, java.nio.CharBuffer encoded)
      Performs Base64 encoding on the raw ByteBuffer, writing it to the encoded CharBuffer.
      static java.lang.String encodeBytes​(byte[] source)
      Encodes a byte array into Base64 notation.
      static java.lang.String encodeBytes​(byte[] source, int options)
      Encodes a byte array into Base64 notation.
      static java.lang.String encodeBytes​(byte[] source, int off, int len)
      Encodes a byte array into Base64 notation.
      static java.lang.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​(java.lang.String infile, java.lang.String outfile)
      Reads infile and encodes it to outfile.
      static java.lang.String encodeFromFile​(java.lang.String filename)
      Convenience method for reading a binary file and base64-encoding it.
      static java.lang.String encodeObject​(java.io.Serializable serializableObject)
      Serializes an object and returns the Base64-encoded version of that serialized object.
      static java.lang.String encodeObject​(java.io.Serializable serializableObject, int options)
      Serializes an object and returns the Base64-encoded version of that serialized object.
      static void encodeToFile​(byte[] dataToEncode, java.lang.String filename)
      Convenience method for encoding data to a file.
      • Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object

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

      • NO_OPTIONS

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

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

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

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

        public static final int DO_BREAK_LINES
        Do break lines when encoding. Value is 8.
        See Also:
        Constant Field Values
      • 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:
        Constant Field Values
    • Method Detail

      • encode

        public static void encode​(java.nio.ByteBuffer raw,
                                  java.nio.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​(java.nio.ByteBuffer raw,
                                  java.nio.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 java.lang.String encodeObject​(java.io.Serializable serializableObject)
                                             throws java.io.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:
        java.io.IOException - if there is an error
        java.lang.NullPointerException - if serializedObject is null
        Since:
        1.4
      • encodeObject

        public static java.lang.String encodeObject​(java.io.Serializable serializableObject,
                                                    int options)
                                             throws java.io.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:
        java.io.IOException - if there is an error
        Since:
        2.0
        See Also:
        GZIP, DO_BREAK_LINES
      • encodeBytes

        public static java.lang.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:
        java.lang.NullPointerException - if source array is null
        Since:
        1.4
      • encodeBytes

        public static java.lang.String encodeBytes​(byte[] source,
                                                   int options)
                                            throws java.io.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:
        java.io.IOException - if there is an error
        java.lang.NullPointerException - if source array is null
        Since:
        2.0
        See Also:
        GZIP, DO_BREAK_LINES
      • encodeBytes

        public static java.lang.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:
        java.lang.NullPointerException - if source array is null
        java.lang.IllegalArgumentException - if source array, offset, or length are invalid
        Since:
        1.4
      • encodeBytes

        public static java.lang.String encodeBytes​(byte[] source,
                                                   int off,
                                                   int len,
                                                   int options)
                                            throws java.io.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:
        java.io.IOException - if there is an error
        java.lang.NullPointerException - if source array is null
        java.lang.IllegalArgumentException - if source array, offset, or length are invalid
        Since:
        2.0
        See Also:
        GZIP, DO_BREAK_LINES
      • 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:
        java.lang.NullPointerException - if source array is null
        Since:
        2.3.1
      • encodeBytesToBytes

        public static byte[] encodeBytesToBytes​(byte[] source,
                                                int off,
                                                int len,
                                                int options)
                                         throws java.io.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:
        java.io.IOException - if there is an error
        java.lang.NullPointerException - if source array is null
        java.lang.IllegalArgumentException - if source array, offset, or length are invalid
        Since:
        2.3.1
        See Also:
        GZIP, DO_BREAK_LINES
      • 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 java.io.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:
        java.io.IOException - If bogus characters exist in source data
        Since:
        1.3
      • decode

        public static byte[] decode​(java.lang.String s)
                             throws java.io.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:
        java.io.IOException - If there is a problem
        Since:
        1.4
      • decode

        public static byte[] decode​(java.lang.String s,
                                    int options)
                             throws java.io.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:
        java.io.IOException - if there is an error
        java.lang.NullPointerException - if s is null
        Since:
        1.4
      • decodeToObject

        public static java.lang.Object decodeToObject​(java.lang.String encodedObject)
                                               throws java.io.IOException,
                                                      java.lang.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:
        java.lang.NullPointerException - if encodedObject is null
        java.io.IOException - if there is a general error
        java.lang.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,
                                        java.lang.String filename)
                                 throws java.io.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:
        java.io.IOException - if there is an error
        java.lang.NullPointerException - if dataToEncode is null
        Since:
        2.1
      • decodeToFile

        public static void decodeToFile​(java.lang.String dataToDecode,
                                        java.lang.String filename)
                                 throws java.io.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:
        java.io.IOException - if there is an error
        Since:
        2.1
      • decodeFromFile

        public static byte[] decodeFromFile​(java.lang.String filename)
                                     throws java.io.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:
        java.io.IOException - if there is an error
        Since:
        2.1
      • encodeFromFile

        public static java.lang.String encodeFromFile​(java.lang.String filename)
                                               throws java.io.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:
        java.io.IOException - if there is an error
        Since:
        2.1
      • encodeFileToFile

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

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