asked on

How to convert 16 bit byte to 2 string characters

I have a C# app that reads binary data from an app through a C++ import.

The data i am trying to read is held in short integers so i need to split the int16 into its byte pairs and read the values into its two strings.

I do it in VB.net with the following function
Public Shared Function ByteToString(ByVal bytStr As Byte) As String
Dim strCon As String 'hold the string
strCon = Convert.ToChar(bytStr)
'return the string
Return strCon
End Function

But i cannot find the same functionality in C#.

Supposedly this should work but all i store then is the numeric value of the byte
bytByteArr[1].ToString();

Thanks for any help!!

Winston Smith

ASKER

Little more info

I read in from a byte array 2 bytes at a time
'read the next 2 bytes in
bytByteArr = brContents.ReadBytes(2);

for example first two bytes are 73 and 114 - which are the letters I and r
Then i get 101 and 110 - which are e and n respectively

Hope this helps my clear as mud question

numberkruncher

If you have a 16-bit integer:

int input = 1234;
int lower = input & 0x00FF;
int upper = (input & 0xFF00) >> 4;

numberkruncher

Sorry, that should be a shift of 8-bits not 4!

If you have a 16-bit integer:

int input = 1234;
int lower = input & 0x00FF;
int upper = (input & 0xFF00) >> 8;

Open in new window

ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION

numberkruncher

membership

This solution is only available to members.

To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.

Start Free Trial

Winston Smith

ASKER

numberkruncher, that works great. i think i am taking the long way at getting what i need done but your idea gets my string out of the binary data.

A question though. I know the field i am grabbing can be up to 20 ints long, thats 40 short ints that i grab. At any point there can be null terminators within the data ('\0' i belive is the code from C++ i am grabbing). How can i strip this from my string or toss it as i create it?

Thanks!!

Winston Smith

ASKER

Its OK, i found it.

//set the char we want to trim, in this case the nulls
char[] trimNulls = { '\0' };

//return the result
return strTextResult.Trim(trimNulls);

Thanks!!