BinData FoxPro Reference Documentation

BinData

Current Version: 11.6.0

Chilkat.BinData

Build, transform, encode, decode, inspect, and save binary data.

Chilkat.BinData is a general-purpose mutable byte container used throughout Chilkat for working with binary content in memory. It can load bytes from files, byte arrays, strings, and encoded text; append additional data in many forms; retrieve content as raw bytes, chunks, text, or encoded strings; compute hashes; convert character encodings; validate UTF-8; remove byte ranges; and write the final result to files.

Load binary content

Load data from files, byte arrays, strings, encoded strings, or other Chilkat objects that produce binary output.

Append and build data

Append bytes, strings, integers, BOMs, counted strings, padded fields, encoded data, and other BinData objects.

Encode and decode

Convert binary data to and from text encodings such as Base64, hex, URL encoding, and other supported binary encodings.

Text and charset handling

Interpret bytes as text, append strings using a specified charset, convert character encodings, and validate UTF-8 content.

Inspect and modify bytes

Get byte counts, extract chunks, remove ranges, compare data, and work with specific portions of a binary buffer.

Hash and save output

Compute hashes for the contained data and write the resulting bytes to files or pass them to other Chilkat classes.

Common pattern: Load or append binary data, perform any needed encoding, decoding, hashing, charset conversion, or byte-level edits, then retrieve the result as bytes, text, an encoded string, or a file. Use BinData whenever a Chilkat method needs a mutable in-memory binary buffer.

Object Creation

loBinData = CreateObject('Chilkat.BinData')

Visual FoxPro is a 32-bit application and therefore uses the 32-bit Chilkat ActiveX. To bind to a specific major version of Chilkat, append the major version number to the ProgID, such as CreateObject('Chilkat.BinData.11') for Chilkat v11.*.*.

Properties

DebugLogFilePath
DebugLogFilePath As String

If set to a file path, this property logs the LastErrorText of each Chilkat method or property call to the specified file. This logging helps identify the context and history of Chilkat calls leading up to any crash or hang, aiding in debugging.

Enabling the VerboseLogging property provides more detailed information. This property is mainly used for debugging rare instances where a Chilkat method call causes a hang or crash, which should generally not happen.

Possible causes of hangs include:

  • A timeout property set to 0, indicating an infinite timeout.
  • A hang occurring within an event callback in the application code.
  • An internal bug in the Chilkat code causing the hang.

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LastBinaryResult
LastBinaryResult As Variant (read-only)

This property is mainly used in SQL Server stored procedures to retrieve binary data from the last method call that returned binary data. It is only accessible if Chilkat.Global.KeepBinaryResult is set to 1. This feature allows for the retrieval of large varbinary results in an SQL Server environment, which has restrictions on returning large data via method calls, though temp tables can handle binary properties.

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LastErrorHtml
LastErrorHtml As String (read-only)

Provides HTML-formatted information about the last called method or property. If a method call fails or behaves unexpectedly, check this property for details. Note that information is available regardless of the method call's success.

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LastErrorText
LastErrorText As String (read-only)

Provides plain text information about the last called method or property. If a method call fails or behaves unexpectedly, check this property for details. Note that information is available regardless of the method call's success.

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LastErrorXml
LastErrorXml As String (read-only)

Provides XML-formatted information about the last called method or property. If a method call fails or behaves unexpectedly, check this property for details. Note that information is available regardless of the method call's success.

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LastMethodSuccess
LastMethodSuccess As Number

Indicates the success or failure of the most recent method call: 1 means success, 0 means failure. This property remains unchanged by property setters or getters. This method is present to address challenges in checking for null or Nothing returns in certain programming languages. Note: This property does not apply to methods that return integer values or to boolean-returning methods where the boolean does not indicate success or failure.

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LastStringResult
LastStringResult As String (read-only)

In SQL Server stored procedures, this property holds the string return value of the most recent method call that returns a string. It is accessible only when Chilkat.Global.KeepStringResult is set to TRUE. SQL Server has limitations on string lengths returned from methods and properties, but temp tables can be used to access large strings.

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LastStringResultLen
LastStringResultLen As Number (read-only)

The length, in characters, of the string contained in the LastStringResult property.

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NumBytes
NumBytes As Number (read-only)
Introduced in version 9.5.0.51

The number of bytes contained within the object.

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VerboseLogging
VerboseLogging As Number

If set to 1, then the contents of LastErrorText (or LastErrorXml, or LastErrorHtml) may contain more verbose information. The default value is 0. Verbose logging should only be used for debugging. The potentially large quantity of logged information may adversely affect peformance.

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Version
Version As String (read-only)

Version of the component/library, such as "10.1.0"

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Methods

AppendBd
AppendBd(binData As ChilkatBinData) As Number
Introduced in version 9.5.0.62

Appends the contents of another BinData to this object.

Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.

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AppendBinary
AppendBinary(data As Variant) As Number
Introduced in version 9.5.0.51

Appends binary data to the current contents, if any.

Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.

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AppendBom
AppendBom(charset As String) As Number
Introduced in version 9.5.0.62

Appends the appropriate BOM (byte order mark), also known as a preamble, for the given charset. If the charset has no defined BOM, then nothing is appended. An application would typically call this to append the utf-8, utf-16, or utf-32 BOM.

Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.

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AppendByte
AppendByte(byteValue As Number) As Number
Introduced in version 9.5.0.77

Appends a single byte. The byteValue should be a value from 0 to 255.

Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.

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AppendCountedString
AppendCountedString(numCountBytes As Number, bigEndian As Number, str As String, charset As String) As Number
Introduced in version 9.5.0.91

Appends a byte count followed by the string in the desired character encoding, such as utf-8. The numCountBytes is the size in bytes of the integer to represent the byte count. If 0, then a minimal number of bytes is used. If bigEndian is 1, the byte count is appended in big endian byte ordering, otherwise little-ending byte ordering. The str is the string to be appended. The charset is the character encoding, such as utf-8, utf-16, windows-1252, etc.

Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.

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AppendData
AppendData(data As Variant, numBytes As Number) As Number
Introduced in version 11.0.0

Appends binary data to the current contents.

Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.

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AppendEncoded
AppendEncoded(encData As String, encoding As String) As Number
Introduced in version 9.5.0.51

Appends encoded binary data to the current data. The encoding may be Base64, modBase64, base64Url, Base32, Base58, QP (for quoted-printable), URL (for url-encoding), Hex, or any of the encodings found at Chilkat Binary Encodings List.

Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.

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AppendEncodedSb
AppendEncodedSb(sb As ChilkatStringBuilder, encoding As String) As Number
Introduced in version 9.5.0.62

Decodes the contents of sb and appends the decoded bytes to this object. The encoding may be Base64, modBase64, base64Url, Base32, Base58, QP (for quoted-printable), URL (for url-encoding), Hex, or any of the encodings found at Chilkat Binary Encodings List.

Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.

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AppendInt2
AppendInt2(value As Number, littleEndian As Number) As Number
Introduced in version 9.5.0.77

Appends a 16-bit integer (2 bytes). If littleEndian is 1, then the integer bytes are appended in little-endian byte order, otherwise big-endian byte order is used.

Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.

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AppendInt4
AppendInt4(value As Number, littleEndian As Number) As Number
Introduced in version 9.5.0.77

Appends a 32-bit integer (4 bytes). If littleEndian is 1, then the integer bytes are appended in little-endian byte order, otherwise big-endian byte order is used.

Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.

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AppendPadded
AppendPadded(str As String, charset As String, padWithSpace As Number, fieldLen As Number) As Number
Introduced in version 9.5.0.80

Appends a string to this object, padded to the fieldLen with NULL or SPACE chars. If padWithSpace is 1, then SPACE chars are used and the string is not null-terminated. If fieldLen is 0, then null bytes are used. The charset controls the byte representation to use, such as utf-8.

Note: This call will always append a total number of bytes equal to fieldLen. If the str is longer than fieldLen, the method returns 0 to indicate failure and nothing is appended.

Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.

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AppendSb
AppendSb(sb As ChilkatStringBuilder, charset As String) As Number
Introduced in version 9.5.0.62

Appends the contents of a StringBuilder to this object.

Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.

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AppendString
AppendString(str As String, charset As String) As Number
Introduced in version 9.5.0.62

Appends a string to this object. (This does not append the BOM. If a BOM is required, the AppendBom method can be called to append the appropriate BOM.)

Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.

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ByteSwap
ByteSwap(size As Number)
Introduced in version 11.0.0

Does either 16-bit or 32-bit byte swapping of the entire contents. If size equals 16, then swaps in 2 bytes (e.g., 0x1234 → 0x3412). If size equals 32, then swaps 4 bytes (e.g., 0x12345678 → 0x78563412)

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CharsetConvert
CharsetConvert(fromCharset As String, toCharset As String, allOrNone As Number) As Number
Introduced in version 11.0.0

This method converts the character encoding of an object's contents from one format to another, such as from Windows-1252 to UTF-8. The allOrNone parameter determines error handling for unrepresentable bytes. If allOrNone is 1, the object's contents remain unchanged when errors occur. If 0, error bytes are discarded. The method returns 1 if successful and 0 if errors occur.

Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.

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Clear
Clear() As Number
Introduced in version 9.5.0.51

Clears the contents.

Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.

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ContentsEqual
ContentsEqual(binData As ChilkatBinData) As Number
Introduced in version 9.5.0.62

Return 1 if the contents of this object equals the contents of binData.

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FindString
FindString(str As String, startIdx As Number, charset As String) As Number
Introduced in version 9.5.0.85

Return the index where the first occurrence of str is found. Return -1 if not found. The startIdx indicates the byte index where the search begins. The charset specifies the byte representation of str that is to be searched. For example, it can be utf-8, windows-1252, ansi, utf-16, etc.

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GetBinary
GetBinary() As Variant
Introduced in version 9.5.0.51

Retrieves the binary data contained within the object.

Returns a zero-length byte array (as a Variant) on failure.

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GetBinaryChunk
GetBinaryChunk(offset As Number, numBytes As Number) As Variant
Introduced in version 9.5.0.51

Retrieves a chunk of the binary data contained within the object.

Returns a zero-length byte array (as a Variant) on failure.

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GetByte
GetByte(index As Number) As Number
Introduced in version 9.5.0.92

Returns the value of the byte at the given index. The returned value is an integer from 0 to 255.

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GetData
GetData() As Variant
Introduced in version 11.0.0

Retrieves the binary data contained within the object.

Returns a zero-length byte array (as a Variant) on failure.

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GetDataChunk
GetDataChunk(offset As Number, numBytes As Number) As Variant
Introduced in version 11.0.0

Retrieves a chunk of the binary data contained within the object.

Returns a zero-length byte array (as a Variant) on failure.

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GetEncoded
GetEncoded(encoding As String) As String
Introduced in version 9.5.0.51

Retrieves the binary data as an encoded string. The encoding may be Base64, modBase64, base64Url, Base32, Base58, QP (for quoted-printable), URL (for url-encoding), Hex, or any of the encodings found at Chilkat Binary Encodings List.

Returns .NULL. on failure

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GetEncodedChunk
GetEncodedChunk(offset As Number, numBytes As Number, encoding As String) As String
Introduced in version 9.5.0.51

Retrieves a chunk of the binary data and returns it in encoded form. The encoding may be Base64, modBase64, base64Url, Base32, Base58, QP (for quoted-printable), URL (for url-encoding), Hex, or any of the encodings found at Chilkat Binary Encodings List.

Returns .NULL. on failure

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GetEncodedSb
GetEncodedSb(encoding As String, sb As ChilkatStringBuilder) As Number
Introduced in version 9.5.0.64

Writes the encoded data to a StringBuilder. The encoding may be Base64, modBase64, base64Url, Base32, Base58, QP (for quoted-printable), URL (for url-encoding), Hex, or any of the encodings found at Chilkat Binary Encodings List.

Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.

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GetHash
GetHash(algorithm As String, encoding As String) As String
Introduced in version 9.5.0.91

Returns the hash of the contents of this object. The algorithm is the hash algorithm, and can be sha1, sha256, sha384, sha512, sha3-224, sha3-256, sha3-384, sha3-512, md2, md5, ripemd128, ripemd160,ripemd256, or ripemd320. The encoding can be base64, modBase64, base64Url, base32, base58, qp (for quoted-printable), url (for url-encoding), hex, hexLower, or any of the encodings found at Chilkat Binary Encodings List.

Returns .NULL. on failure

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GetInt2
GetInt2(index As Number, littleEndian As Number) As Number
Introduced in version 9.5.0.88

Returns the value of the 16-bit signed integer stored in big-endian or little-endian byte ordering at the given index.

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GetInt4
GetInt4(index As Number, littleEndian As Number) As Number
Introduced in version 9.5.0.88

Returns the value of the 32-bit signed integer stored in big-endian or little-endian byte ordering at the given index.

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GetString
GetString(charset As String) As String
Introduced in version 9.5.0.67

Interprets the bytes according to charset and returns the string. The charset can be utf-8, utf-16, ansi, iso-8859-*, windows-125*, or any of the supported character encodings listed in the link below.

Returns .NULL. on failure

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GetTextChunk
GetTextChunk(startIdx As Number, numBytes As Number, charset As String) As String
Introduced in version 9.5.0.85

Returns numBytes bytes starting at startIdx. The bytes are interpreted according to charset (for example, utf-8, ansi, utf-16, windows-1252, etc.)

Returns .NULL. on failure

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IsValidUtf8
IsValidUtf8() As Number
Introduced in version 10.1.0

Returns 1 if this object contains valid utf-8 byte sequences. Any invalid byte sequence that is not valid utf-8 will cause this function to return 0.

Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.

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LoadBinary
LoadBinary(data As Variant) As Number
Introduced in version 9.5.0.51

Loads binary data and replaces the current contents, if any.

Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.

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LoadEncoded
LoadEncoded(encData As String, encoding As String) As Number
Introduced in version 9.5.0.51

Loads binary data from an encoded string, replacing the current contents, if any. The encoding may be Base64, modBase64, base64Url, Base32, Base58, QP (for quoted-printable), URL (for url-encoding), Hex, or any of the encodings found at Chilkat Binary Encodings List.

Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.

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LoadFile
LoadFile(path As String) As Number
Introduced in version 9.5.0.51

Loads data from a file.

Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.

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RemoveByteVal
RemoveByteVal(value As Number)
Introduced in version 9.5.0.90

Removes bytes having a specified value (0-255). For example, to remove all null bytes, pass 0 in value.

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RemoveChunk
RemoveChunk(offset As Number, numBytes As Number) As Number
Introduced in version 9.5.0.51

Removes a chunk of bytes from the binary data.

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SecureClear
SecureClear() As Number
Introduced in version 9.5.0.67

Securely clears the contents by writing 0 bytes to the memory prior to deallocating the internal memory.

Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.

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WriteAppendFile
WriteAppendFile(path As String) As Number
Introduced in version 9.5.0.91

Appends the contents of this object to a file.

Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.

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WriteFile
WriteFile(path As String) As Number
Introduced in version 9.5.0.62

Writes the contents to a file.

Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.

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