Calculates the Base64 representation of a string or binary object. The Base64 format uses printable characters, allowing binary data to be sent in forms and e-mail, and stored in a database or file.
The Base64 representation of a string or binary object.
Conversion functions, Other functions, String functions
ToBase64(string or binary_object[, encoding])
cffile for information about loading and reading binary datacfwddx for information about serializing and deserializing binary dataIsBinary and ToBinary for checking for binary data and converting a Base64 object to binary formatColdFusion MX: Added the encoding attribute.
| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
string or binary_object |
A string, the name of a string, or a binary object. |
encoding |
For a string, defines how characters are represented in a byte array. The following list includes commonly used values:
For more information on character encoding, see: Default: the encoding of the page on which the function is called. See cfcontent. For a binary object, this parameter is ignored. |
Base64 provides 6-bit encoding of data. The encoding process represents 24-bit groups of input bits as output strings of 4 encoded ASCII characters. Binary objects and, in some cases, 8-bit characters, cannot be transported over many internet protocols, such as HTTP and SMTP. Using Base64 safely converts the data into a format that is safe over any internet protocol.
Base64 lets you store binary objects in a database.
Note: To reverse Base64 encoding of a string, you can convert it to a binary object, then convert the binary object to a string, using the toString function.
<h3>ToBase64 Example</h3> <!--- Initialize data. ----> <cfset charData = ""> <!--- Create string of ASCII characters (32-255); concatenate them ---> <cfloop index = "data" from = "32" to = "255"> <cfset ch = chr(data)> <cfset charData = charData & ch> </cfloop> <p> The following string is the concatenation of all characters (32 to 255)
from the ASCII table.<br> <cfoutput>#charData#</cfoutput> </p> <!--- Create a Base64 representation of this string. ----> <cfset data64 = toBase64(charData)> <!----- Convert string to binary. -------> <cfset binaryData = toBinary(data64)> <!--- Convert binary back to Base64. ----> <cfset another64 = toBase64(binaryData)> <!---- Compare another64 with data64 to ensure that they are equal. ----> <cfif another64 eq data64> <h3>Base64 representations are identical.</h3> <cfelse> <h3>Conversion error.</h3> </cfif>