Convert a JSON Object to Buffer and Buffer to JSON Object back

Question

I have a JSON object and I'm converting it to a Buffer and doing some process here. Later I want to convert the same buffer data to convert to valid JSON object.

I'm working on Node V6.9.1

Below is the code I tried but I'm getting [object object] when I convert back to JSON and cannot open this object.

var obj = {
   key:'value',
   key:'value',
   key:'value',
   key:'value',
   key:'value'
}

var buf = new Buffer.from(obj.toString());

console.log('Real Buffer ' + buf);  //This prints --> Real Buffer <Buffer 5b 6f 62 6a 65 63 74>

var temp = buf.toString();

console.log('Buffer to String ' + buf);  //This prints --> Buffer to String [object Object]

So I tried to print whole object using inspect way

console.log('Full temp ' + require('util').inspect(buf, { depth: null }));  //This prints --> '[object object]' [not printing the obj like declared above]

If i try to read it like an array

 console.log(buf[0]);  // This prints --> [

I tried parsing also it throw SyntaxError: Unexpected token o in JSON at position 2

I need to view it as real object like I created (I mean like declared above).

Please help..

new Buffer() is deprecated. See here: nodejs.org/api/buffer.html#buffer_new_buffer_array — Spencer
– Spencer, Commented Dec 6, 2019 at 20:28

Ebrahim Pasbani · Accepted Answer · 2017-12-14 20:22:27Z

356

You need to stringify the json, not calling toString

var buf = Buffer.from(JSON.stringify(obj));

And for converting string to json obj :

var temp = JSON.parse(buf.toString());

edited Dec 14, 2017 at 20:22

answered Jan 31, 2017 at 7:00

Ebrahim Pasbani

9,3962 gold badges26 silver badges32 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

6 Comments

gilamran Over a year ago

This will not work if is there's another buffer field in obj

Dzenly Over a year ago

actually, toString is not needed here. groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/nodejs/hybuh7DbQkM

Jorge Mauricio Over a year ago

for me, it worked when I took away the JSON.stringify and put the object directly inside the parameters, like so: var buf = Buffer.from({ key:'value', key:'value', key:'value', key:'value', key:'value' });

Werlious Over a year ago

@Dzenly while toString is technically not needed, it should be used. Reading the page you linked, it states that the buffer is converted to a string (using Buffer.toString) using utf8 encoding, and while normally this is not an issue, if the buffer was created in some other encoding, you will get garbage. So really, for things like this, it should be fine, but for a lot of other scenarios (where you have little to no control over things passed in), knowing and respecting the encoding is a must

Isaac Over a year ago

Good point @werlious, plus typescript doesn't allow JSON.parse(buffer)

|

Santosh Singh · Accepted Answer · 2021-09-23 12:21:06Z

8

Kindly copy below snippet

const jsonObject = {
        "Name":'Ram',
        "Age":'28',
        "Dept":'IT'
      }
      const encodedJsonObject = Buffer.from(JSON.stringify(jsonObject)).toString('base64'); 
      console.log('--encodedJsonObject-->', encodedJsonObject)
      //Output     --encodedJsonObject--> eyJOYW1lIjoiUmFtIiwiQWdlIjoiMjgiLCJEZXB0IjoiSVQifQ==

      const decodedJsonObject = Buffer.from(encodedJsonObject, 'base64').toString('ascii'); 
      console.log('--decodedJsonObject-->', JSON.parse(decodedJsonObject))
      //Output     --decodedJsonObject--> {Name: 'Ram', Age: '28', Dept: 'IT'}

answered Sep 23, 2021 at 12:21

Santosh Singh

1,30016 silver badges15 bronze badges

Comments

Aminadav Glickshtein · Accepted Answer · 2021-08-31 14:00:44Z

4

as @Ebrahim you have to use first JSON.stringify to convert the JSON to string, and then you can convert it to a Buffer. But it's little bit risky to use JSON.stringify since it can break your app in case of self refrencing or circular referncing:

   var y={}
   y.a=y
   JSON.stringify(y) // Uncaught TypeError: Converting circular structure to JSON

If you have such a risk, it better to use a safe stringify solution like this the npm module safe-json-stringify

And then you have to do:

// convert to buffer:
const stringify = require('safe-json-stringify');
var buf = Buffer.from(stringify(obj));

// convert from buffer:
var temp = JSON.parse(buf.toString());

answered Aug 31, 2021 at 14:00

Aminadav Glickshtein

24.8k13 gold badges84 silver badges118 bronze badges

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Convert a JSON Object to Buffer and Buffer to JSON Object back

3 Answers 3

6 Comments

Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Linked

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

3 Answers 3

6 Comments

Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Linked

Related