Converting from hex to string

Ivan Prodanov picture Ivan Prodanov · Apr 7, 2009 · Viewed 168.4k times · Source

I need to check for a string located inside a packet that I receive as byte array. If I use BitConverter.ToString(), I get the bytes as string with dashes (f.e.: 00-50-25-40-A5-FF).
I tried most functions I found after a quick googling, but most of them have input parameter type string and if I call them with the string with dashes, It throws an exception.

I need a function that turns hex(as string or as byte) into the string that represents the hexadecimal value(f.e.: 0x31 = 1). If the input parameter is string, the function should recognize dashes(example "47-61-74-65-77-61-79-53-65-72-76-65-72"), because BitConverter doesn't convert correctly.

Answer

Marc Gravell picture Marc Gravell · Apr 7, 2009

Like so?

static void Main()
{
    byte[] data = FromHex("47-61-74-65-77-61-79-53-65-72-76-65-72");
    string s = Encoding.ASCII.GetString(data); // GatewayServer
}
public static byte[] FromHex(string hex)
{
    hex = hex.Replace("-", "");
    byte[] raw = new byte[hex.Length / 2];
    for (int i = 0; i < raw.Length; i++)
    {
        raw[i] = Convert.ToByte(hex.Substring(i * 2, 2), 16);
    }
    return raw;
}