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Sending A Long in a byte Array

I am trying to send a Long value that represents a filesize into a 128 byte data packet, the first byte is a header then I have reserved the next 8 bytes for the filesize.

I have done some research and found a class called BigInteger
http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4.2/docs/api/java/math/BigInteger.html
that does this.

My problem is knowing how many of the bytes to read back off at the other side, as If I read all 8 on a long value that doesnt fill all 8 then I get a wrong value, here is my code.

-------------
//Create Byte array and append to packet
BigInteger big = new BigInteger(Long.toString(fileLength));
byte[] testlong = new byte[8];
testlong = big.toByteArray();
String dickString = new String(testlong);
System.out.println(big.longValue() );//test to see if its seding the right value

//Copy to the packet
System.arraycopy(testlong, 0, testbuffer, 1, 8);
// I get an arrayindex Out Of Bounds error here

------------
//Read from packet

byte[] fileSize = new byte[8];
//read back the 8 bytes from the data packet
System.arraycopy(testbuffer, 1, fileSize, 0, 8);
BigInteger big2 = new BigInteger(fileSize);
System.out.println(big2.longValue() );

I can get it working with a small number eg 352, but I have to use 2 bytes instead of 8 to avoid the outofbounds exception.

Appreciate any help

CEHJ

Try

BigInteger big = new BigInteger.valueOf(fileLength);
testlong = big.toByteArray();
System.out.println(big.longValue() );//test to see if its seding the right value
//Copy to the packet
System.arraycopy(testlong, 0, testbuffer, 0, 8);

CEHJ

Sorry:

BigInteger big = new BigInteger.valueOf(fileLength);
byte[] testlong = big.toByteArray();
System.out.println(big.longValue() );//test to see if its sending the right value
//Copy to the packet
System.arraycopy(testlong, 0, testbuffer, 0, 8);

CEHJ

LOL, and the second index should be 1, not 0 (just saw the thing about the header). Make sure testbuffer.length >= 9

Mick Barry

Use of BigInteger is a bit slow and unecessary.

You can use bit manipulation to handle converting bytes into long.
Here's an example of how to convert 4 bytes into an int, doing it for a long is a simple extension:
      int ch1 = buf[0]
      int ch2 = buf[1];
      int ch3 = buf[2];
      int ch4 = buf[3];
int = return ((ch1 << 24) + (ch2 << 16) + (ch3 << 8) + (ch4 << 0));

Or alternatively use a DataInputStream wrapping a ByteArrayInputStream to handle it for you:

DataInputStream in = new DataInputStream(new ByteArrayInputStream(buf));
long l = in.readLong();

Mick Barry

Similiar techniques can also be used for going the other direction.

CEHJ

It's only slow if it's perceptibly slow - and it almost certainly won't be. It's certainly more elegant and clearer.

Mick Barry

More elegant and clear than:

long l = in.readLong();

I don't think so :)

CEHJ

I was talking about your first suggestion

welsh_boy

ASKER

Here is my ammended code, I am still getting the error

--

//Declare the Data Packet
byte [] testbuffer=new byte [128];
//Set Header
testbuffer[0]=PacketCode.SFT;
//Copy File name at byte[9]
System.arraycopy(tester, 0, testbuffer, 9, tester.length);

BigInteger big = new BigInteger(Long.toString(fileLength));
byte[] testlong = big.toByteArray();
System.out.println("Long Send to Packet : " + big.longValue() );//test to see if its sending the right value
//Copy to the packet at position 1 - 8
System.arraycopy(testlong, 0, testbuffer, 1, 8); //<-- I get an out of bounds error here

//Read back long from the packet array

//Set up and empty 8 byte array
byte[] fileSize = new byte[8];
//Copy long back from the byte array pos 1-8
System.arraycopy(testbuffer, 1, fileSize, 0, 8);
BigInteger big2 = new BigInteger(fileSize);
System.out.println("Read Long from Data Packet: " + big2.longValue() );

Mick Barry

DataOuputStream out = new DataOutputStream(new ByteArrayOutputStream(128));
out.writeByte(PacketCode.SFT);
out.writeLong(fileLength);
out.write(tester);
byte [] testbuffer= out.toByteArray();

Mick Barry

And reading it back:

DataInputStream in = new DataInputStream(new ByteArrayInputStream(testbuffer));
byte packet = in.readByte();
long fileLength = in.readLong();

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CEHJ

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Mick Barry

> byte[] testlong = big.toByteArray();

This will not necessarily return an 8 byte buffer. If you want to use this approach you will need to do:

System.arraycopy(testlong, 0, testbuffer, 1, testlong.length);

Mick Barry

Actually thats not right either, should be:

System.arraycopy(testlong, 0, testbuffer, 1+(8-testlong.length), testlong.length);

Lot simpler to use DataOutput :)

welsh_boy

ASKER

cheers objects but the DataOutputStream doesnt seem to have a toByteArray() method
Im running Java 1.31

I have looked for the javadocs
http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.3/ja/docs/ja/api/java/io/DataOutputStream.html

any ideas??

SOLUTION

Mick Barry

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welsh_boy

ASKER

thanks objects an CEHJ

Decided to go with the DataOuputStream method, It is a lot more efficient

Thanks for the lesson!

Mick Barry

:-)

http://www.objects.com.au

CEHJ

>>Decided to go with the DataOuputStream method, It is a lot more efficient

I agree. And objects is right about the toByteArray method of BigInteger: if there are leading zeros in the long, they won't be represented by empty array elements - they'll simply be omitted. There really should be a toLongByteArray method or something returning all 8 bytes.