Gapotchenko.FX.Data.Encoding.Base64 2024.1.3

Overview

The module provides the implementation of binary-to-text encoding algorithms belonging to the Base64 family.

Quick Start

Use the following code to get the textual representation of the specified data in Base64 encoding:

using Gapotchenko.FX.Data.Encoding;

var encodedText = Base64.GetString(data);

To get the data back from the textual representation, use the following method:

var decodedData = Base64.GetBytes(encodedText);

Static Methods vs Interface

Base64 encoding classes provide a set of convenient static methods that represent the most commonly used operations. For a more general and full use, however, the classes implement ITextDataEncoding interface which can be accessed via the Instance property of the corresponding encoding class.

Iterative Data Processing

If you need to encode the data iteratively then the following approach becomes handy:

var encoding = Base64.Instance;

// Create a streaming encoder that iteratively encodes the data and
// writes the encoded text to the specified text writer.
var stream = encoding.CreateEncoder(textWriter);

// Iteratively stream the data to encode.
stream.Write(...); // block 1
// ...
stream.Write(...); // block N

// Flush the data to the underlying text writer.
stream.Flush();

The same approach is valid for the decoding operation which is the opposite of the encoding:

var encoding = Base64.Instance;

// Create a streaming decoder that iteratively reads the encoded text
// from the specified text reader and decodes the data on the fly.
var stream = encoding.CreateDecoder(textReader);

// Iteratively stream the decoded data.
stream.Read(...); // block 1
// ...
stream.Read(...); // block N

The streaming encoder and decoder can be used to iteratively transcode the data from one encoding to another.

Available Base64 Algorithms

Base64 family of binary-to-text data encodings consists of several attested algorithms with predefined parameters:

* Data encoding efficiency is the ratio between the amount of original data and its encoded representation.

Recommended Base64 Algorithm

Among all other possibilities, it is recommended to use the standard Base64 algorithm which is provided by Base64 class.

All other predefined algorithms are provided by the corresponding classes of Gapotchenko.FX.Data.Encoding.Base64 module.

Custom Base64 Algorithms

Once in a while, you may encounter a custom Base64 algorithm that is neither widely known nor characterized. In that case, you can instantiate a custom data encoding algorithm with the desired parameters by hand. For example:

var encoding = new CustomBase64("ΑΒΓΔΕΖΗΘΙΚΛΜΝΞΟΠΡΣΤΥΦΧΨΩ0123456789αβγδεζηθικλμνξοπρστυφχψωABCDEF");

If you want to formalize a custom algorithm even further, you may opt in to create a separate class for it with a convenient accessor property:

/// <summary>
/// Defines a custom Base64 data encoding algorithm.
/// </summary>
sealed class FooBase64 : CustomBase64
{
    FooBase64() :
        base("ΑΒΓΔΕΖΗΘΙΚΛΜΝΞΟΠΡΣΤΥΦΧΨΩ0123456789αβγδεζηθικλμνξοπρστυφχψωABCDEF")
    {
    }

    public static FooBase64 Instance { get; } = new();
}

That will allow you to use the algorithm effortlessly from several places in the codebase later:

var encodedText = FooBase64.Instance.GetString(...);

Commonly Used Types

• Gapotchenko.FX.Data.Encoding.Base64
• Gapotchenko.FX.Data.Encoding.Base64Url

Other Modules

Let's continue with a look at some other modules provided by Gapotchenko.FX:

• Gapotchenko.FX
• Gapotchenko.FX.AppModel.Information
• Gapotchenko.FX.Collections
• Gapotchenko.FX.Console
• Gapotchenko.FX.Data
  • Gapotchenko.FX.Data.Encoding
    • Gapotchenko.FX.Data.Encoding.Base16
    • Gapotchenko.FX.Data.Encoding.Base24
    • Gapotchenko.FX.Data.Encoding.Base32
    • ➴ Gapotchenko.FX.Data.Encoding.Base64
  • Gapotchenko.FX.Data.Integrity.Checksum
• Gapotchenko.FX.Diagnostics
• Gapotchenko.FX.IO
• Gapotchenko.FX.Linq
• Gapotchenko.FX.Math
• Gapotchenko.FX.Memory
• Gapotchenko.FX.Security.Cryptography
• Gapotchenko.FX.Text
• Gapotchenko.FX.Threading
• Gapotchenko.FX.Tuples

Or look at the full list of modules.