Convert a binary data (BinaryRead) to a string by VBS

To work with real binary data (Safearray of bytes, VT_UI1 | VT_ARRAY ) see ByteArray class of ScriptUtilities library. ByteArray class lets you prepare binary data, save/restore the data from a disk, do conversion between binary and string data using several code pages (ansi, oem, utf8, )

There are at least two ways you can convert binary data (for example data from BinaryRead method) to a string.

1. Use VBS MultiByte functions :

Function SimpleBinaryToString(Binary)
  'SimpleBinaryToString converts binary data (VT_UI1 | VT_ARRAY Or MultiByte string)
  'to a string (BSTR) using MultiByte VBS functions
  Dim I, S
  For I = 1 To LenB(Binary)
    S = S & Chr(AscB(MidB(Binary, I, 1)))
  Next
  SimpleBinaryToString = S
End Function

SimpleBinaryToString is clear function, but the function takes much time for large data. You can use it to convert data with up to 100kB of size (concatenation of large string takes much processor time). You can use similar function with better performance :

Function BinaryToString(Binary)
  'Antonin Foller, http://www.motobit.com
  'Optimized version of a simple BinaryToString algorithm.
  
  Dim cl1, cl2, cl3, pl1, pl2, pl3
  Dim L
  cl1 = 1
  cl2 = 1
  cl3 = 1
  L = LenB(Binary)
  
  Do While cl1<=L
    pl3 = pl3 & Chr(AscB(MidB(Binary,cl1,1)))
    cl1 = cl1 + 1
    cl3 = cl3 + 1
    If cl3>300 Then
      pl2 = pl2 & pl3
      pl3 = ""
      cl3 = 1
      cl2 = cl2 + 1
      If cl2>200 Then
        pl1 = pl1 & pl2
        pl2 = ""
        cl2 = 1
      End If
    End If
  Loop
  BinaryToString = pl1 & pl2 & pl3
End Function

This function is up to 20 times faster than SimpleBinaryToString. You can use it to convert up to 2 MB of binary data.

2. Use ADODB.Recordset :

ADODB.Recordset lets you work with all supported VARIANT data types - also with binary and String data (VT_UI1 | VT_ARRAY, BSTR). It lets you convert between these two data formats :

Function RSBinaryToString(xBinary)
  'Antonin Foller, http://www.motobit.com
  'RSBinaryToString converts binary data (VT_UI1 | VT_ARRAY Or MultiByte string)
  'to a string (BSTR) using ADO recordset

  Dim Binary
  'MultiByte data must be converted To VT_UI1 | VT_ARRAY first.
  If vartype(xBinary)=8 Then Binary = MultiByteToBinary(xBinary) Else Binary = xBinary
  
  Dim RS, LBinary
  Const adLongVarChar = 201
  Set RS = CreateObject("ADODB.Recordset")
  LBinary = LenB(Binary)
  
  If LBinary>0 Then
    RS.Fields.Append "mBinary", adLongVarChar, LBinary
    RS.Open
    RS.AddNew
      RS("mBinary").AppendChunk Binary 
    RS.Update
    RSBinaryToString = RS("mBinary")
  Else
    RSBinaryToString = ""
  End If
End Function

RSBinaryToString is not limitted by time - only by physical memory. The function is up to 100 times faster than MultiByte conversions - you can use it to convert up to 100MB data.
The function lets you also convert MultiByte strings to String. Next function converts MultiByte string to binary data :

Function MultiByteToBinary(MultiByte)
  '  2000 Antonin Foller, http://www.motobit.com
  ' MultiByteToBinary converts multibyte string To real binary data (VT_UI1 | VT_ARRAY)
  ' Using recordset
  Dim RS, LMultiByte, Binary
  Const adLongVarBinary = 205
  Set RS = CreateObject("ADODB.Recordset")
  LMultiByte = LenB(MultiByte)
  If LMultiByte>0 Then
    RS.Fields.Append "mBinary", adLongVarBinary, LMultiByte
    RS.Open
    RS.AddNew
      RS("mBinary").AppendChunk MultiByte & ChrB(0)
    RS.Update
    Binary = RS("mBinary").GetChunk(LMultiByte)
  End If
  MultiByteToBinary = Binary
End Function

3. Use ADODB.Stream :

ADODB.Stream lets you work with String and binary data type. It lets you also convert between these two data formats :

'Stream_BinaryToString Function
'2003 Antonin Foller, http://www.motobit.com
'Binary - VT_UI1 | VT_ARRAY data To convert To a string 
'CharSet - charset of the source binary data - default is "us-ascii"
Function Stream_BinaryToString(Binary, CharSet)
  Const adTypeText = 2
  Const adTypeBinary = 1
  
  'Create Stream object
  Dim BinaryStream 'As New Stream
  Set BinaryStream = CreateObject("ADODB.Stream")
  
  'Specify stream type - we want To save text/string data.
  BinaryStream.Type = adTypeBinary
  
  'Open the stream And write text/string data To the object
  BinaryStream.Open
  BinaryStream.Write Binary
  
  
  'Change stream type To binary
  BinaryStream.Position = 0
  BinaryStream.Type = adTypeText
  
  'Specify charset For the source text (unicode) data.
  If Len(CharSet) > 0 Then
    BinaryStream.CharSet = CharSet
  Else
    BinaryStream.CharSet = "us-ascii"
  End If
  
  'Open the stream And get binary data from the object
  Stream_BinaryToString = BinaryStream.ReadText
End Function

To save/retrieve binary data from a disk, binary file upload and download in ASP or better work with binary data (different code pages - ANSI, MAC, UTF, search binary data, etc.) see Pure and Huge ASP file upload with progress..

Convert a binary data (BinaryRead) to a string by VBSMOTOBIT.COM

1. Use VBS MultiByte functions :

2. Use ADODB.Recordset :

3. Use ADODB.Stream :

See also

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