How to convert hex data from a text file into string file

Question

I have a list of data in a text file, which is written in hex like this:

AE 66 55 78 FF 6A 48 40 CA BC 1B 2C 18 94 28 28 
CF EA 02 00 02 51 23 05 0E F2 DD 5A E5 38 48 48 
CA BC 1B 2C 18 94 28 40 EE B6 65 87 E3 6A 48 48 
..

And I want to convert the values into char in another text file

I have tried this in c#:

 private static void OpenFile()
            {
ASCIIEncoding ascii = new ASCIIEncoding();

                string str = string.Empty;
                using (System.IO.BinaryReader br = new System.IO.BinaryReader
                    (new System.IO.FileStream(
                        "hexa2.txt",
                        System.IO.FileMode.Open,
                        System.IO.FileAccess.Read,
                        System.IO.FileShare.None), Encoding.UTF8))
 using (System.IO.StreamWriter sw = new System.IO.StreamWriter("sms23.txt"))
                {
                   str = @"the path";
                    Byte[] bytes = ascii.GetBytes(str);
                    foreach (var value in bytes)
                        sw.WriteLine("{0:X2}", value);
                    sw.WriteLine();
                    String decoded = ascii.GetString(bytes);
                    sw.WriteLine("Decoded string: '{0}'", decoded);
                }
           }

I expect that every byte will be converted into char. e.g. "EE" is "î"

So.. What is the problem you're encountering? An Exception? Strange results? — Aars93
– Aars93, Commented Mar 25, 2019 at 12:58

Magnetron · Accepted Answer · 2019-03-25 13:19:04Z

1

You have a text file, not a binary file, so you must read the hex strings, convert then to the respective number and then get the corresponding char for that number.

// string input = @"EE B6 45 78 FF 6A 48 40 CA BC 1B 2C 18 94 28 28 
// CF EA 02 00 00 00 00 00 0E F2 DD 5A E4 38 48 48 
// CA BC 1B 2C 18 94 28 40 EE B6 45 78 FF 6A 48 48 ";
string input = File.ReadAllText("yourFile.txt");
string output = new string(
    input.Replace("\n"," ").Replace("\r","")
        .Split(new char[]{' '},StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries)
        .Select(x=>(char)Convert.ToInt32(x,16))
        .ToArray()
);
File.WriteAllText("newFile.txt",output);
//Output: î¶ExÿjH@Ê¼←,↑?((Ïê☻     ♫òÝZä8HHÊ¼←,↑?(@î¶ExÿjHH

You don't specified an encoding, so I'm just casting the hex to char directly. To Specify the encoding you should use the bellow code

byte[] dataArray = 
    input.Replace("\n"," ").Replace("\r","")
        .Split(new char[]{' '},StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries)
        .Select(x=>(byte)Convert.ToInt32(x,16))
        .ToArray();
string output = Encoding.UTF8.GetString(dataArray);

Where you can replace Encoding.UTF8 for the desired one.

edited Mar 25, 2019 at 13:19

answered Mar 25, 2019 at 13:11

Magnetron

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7 Comments

HMZ Over a year ago

i have no idea, why the output is so strange !! it should be coordinates

Magnetron Over a year ago

@HMZ either you are using the wrong encoding, or your data is wrong. I Updated my code with a way to specify which encoding you're using.

HMZ Over a year ago

How does the output look like ?

Magnetron Over a year ago

@HMZ With UTF8 is ?Ex?jH@'←,↑?((??☻ ♫??Z?8HH'←,↑?(@?Ex?jHH. None of the encodings I tried gave coordinates as result. Maybe your data is wrong. Where did you get the file?

Magnetron Over a year ago

@HMZ well, I don't know this file type, but maybe it doesn't give what you're expecting it to give. How do you know it gives coordinates as an hex string that represents chars?

|

Ashkan Mobayen Khiabani · Accepted Answer · 2019-03-25 12:58:53Z

0

string hex = File.ReadAllText("file.txt").Replace(" ","").Replace(Environment.NewLine,"");
var result = Enumerable.Range(0, hex.Length)
             .Where(x => x % 2 == 0)
             .Select(x => Convert.ToByte(hex.Substring(x, 2), 16))
             .ToArray();


File.WriteAllBytes( "file.bin", result);

answered Mar 25, 2019 at 12:58

Ashkan Mobayen Khiabani

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1 Comment

HMZ Over a year ago

there is an OutOfRangeException here Select(x => Convert.ToByte(hex.Substring(x, 2), 16) it should be Enumerable.Range(0, hex.Length-1)

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