26 KiB
Buffer
Stability: 2 - Stable
Pure JavaScript is Unicode friendly but not nice to binary data. When dealing with TCP streams or the file system, it's necessary to handle octet streams. Node.js has several strategies for manipulating, creating, and consuming octet streams.
Raw data is stored in instances of the Buffer
class. A Buffer
is similar
to an array of integers but corresponds to a raw memory allocation outside
the V8 heap. A Buffer
cannot be resized.
The Buffer
class is a global, making it very rare that one would need
to ever require('buffer')
.
Converting between Buffers and JavaScript string objects requires an explicit encoding method. Here are the different string encodings.
-
'ascii'
- for 7 bit ASCII data only. This encoding method is very fast, and will strip the high bit if set. -
'utf8'
- Multibyte encoded Unicode characters. Many web pages and other document formats use UTF-8. -
'utf16le'
- 2 or 4 bytes, little endian encoded Unicode characters. Surrogate pairs (U+10000 to U+10FFFF) are supported. -
'ucs2'
- Alias of'utf16le'
. -
'base64'
- Base64 string encoding. -
'binary'
- A way of encoding raw binary data into strings by using only the first 8 bits of each character. This encoding method is deprecated and should be avoided in favor ofBuffer
objects where possible. This encoding will be removed in future versions of Node.js. -
'hex'
- Encode each byte as two hexadecimal characters.
Creating a typed array from a Buffer
works with the following caveats:
-
The buffer's memory is copied, not shared.
-
The buffer's memory is interpreted as an array, not a byte array. That is,
new Uint32Array(new Buffer([1,2,3,4]))
creates a 4-elementUint32Array
with elements[1,2,3,4]
, not aUint32Array
with a single element[0x1020304]
or[0x4030201]
.
NOTE: Node.js v0.8 simply retained a reference to the buffer in array.buffer
instead of cloning it.
While more efficient, it introduces subtle incompatibilities with the typed
arrays specification. ArrayBuffer#slice()
makes a copy of the slice while
Buffer#slice()
creates a view.
Class: Buffer
The Buffer class is a global type for dealing with binary data directly. It can be constructed in a variety of ways.
new Buffer(size)
size
Number
Allocates a new buffer of size
bytes. size
must be less than
1,073,741,824 bytes (1 GB) on 32 bits architectures or
2,147,483,648 bytes (2 GB) on 64 bits architectures,
otherwise a RangeError
is thrown.
Unlike ArrayBuffers
, the underlying memory for buffers is not initialized. So
the contents of a newly created Buffer
are unknown and could contain
sensitive data. Use buf.fill(0)
to initialize a buffer to zeroes.
new Buffer(array)
array
Array
Allocates a new buffer using an array
of octets.
new Buffer(buffer)
buffer
{Buffer}
Copies the passed buffer
data onto a new Buffer
instance.
new Buffer(str[, encoding])
str
String - string to encode.encoding
String - encoding to use, Optional.
Allocates a new buffer containing the given str
.
encoding
defaults to 'utf8'
.
Class Method: Buffer.isEncoding(encoding)
encoding
{String} The encoding string to test
Returns true if the encoding
is a valid encoding argument, or false
otherwise.
Class Method: Buffer.isBuffer(obj)
obj
Object- Return: Boolean
Tests if obj
is a Buffer
.
Class Method: Buffer.byteLength(string[, encoding])
string
Stringencoding
String, Optional, Default: 'utf8'- Return: Number
Gives the actual byte length of a string. encoding
defaults to 'utf8'
.
This is not the same as String.prototype.length
since that returns the
number of characters in a string.
Example:
str = '\u00bd + \u00bc = \u00be';
console.log(str + ": " + str.length + " characters, " +
Buffer.byteLength(str, 'utf8') + " bytes");
// ½ + ¼ = ¾: 9 characters, 12 bytes
Class Method: Buffer.concat(list[, totalLength])
list
{Array} List of Buffer objects to concattotalLength
{Number} Total length of the buffers when concatenated
Returns a buffer which is the result of concatenating all the buffers in the list together.
If the list has no items, or if the totalLength is 0, then it returns a zero-length buffer.
If totalLength is not provided, it is read from the buffers in the list. However, this adds an additional loop to the function, so it is faster to provide the length explicitly.
Class Method: Buffer.compare(buf1, buf2)
buf1
{Buffer}buf2
{Buffer}
The same as buf1.compare(buf2)
. Useful
for sorting an Array of Buffers:
var arr = [Buffer('1234'), Buffer('0123')];
arr.sort(Buffer.compare);
buf.length
- Number
The size of the buffer in bytes. Note that this is not necessarily the size
of the contents. length
refers to the amount of memory allocated for the
buffer object. It does not change when the contents of the buffer are changed.
buf = new Buffer(1234);
console.log(buf.length);
buf.write("some string", 0, "ascii");
console.log(buf.length);
// 1234
// 1234
While the length
property is not immutable, changing the value of length
can result in undefined and inconsistent behavior. Applications that wish to
modify the length of a buffer should therefore treat length
as read-only and
use buf.slice
to create a new buffer.
buf = new Buffer(10);
buf.write("abcdefghj", 0, "ascii");
console.log(buf.length); // 10
buf = buf.slice(0,5);
console.log(buf.length); // 5
buf.write(string[, offset][, length][, encoding])
string
String - data to be written to bufferoffset
Number, Optional, Default: 0length
Number, Optional, Default:buffer.length - offset
encoding
String, Optional, Default: 'utf8'
Writes string
to the buffer at offset
using the given encoding.
offset
defaults to 0
, encoding
defaults to 'utf8'
. length
is
the number of bytes to write. Returns number of octets written. If buffer
did
not contain enough space to fit the entire string, it will write a partial
amount of the string. length
defaults to buffer.length - offset
.
The method will not write partial characters.
buf = new Buffer(256);
len = buf.write('\u00bd + \u00bc = \u00be', 0);
console.log(len + " bytes: " + buf.toString('utf8', 0, len));
buf.writeUIntLE(value, offset, byteLength[, noAssert])
buf.writeUIntBE(value, offset, byteLength[, noAssert])
buf.writeIntLE(value, offset, byteLength[, noAssert])
buf.writeIntBE(value, offset, byteLength[, noAssert])
value
{Number} Bytes to be written to bufferoffset
{Number}0 <= offset <= buf.length
byteLength
{Number}0 < byteLength <= 6
noAssert
{Boolean} Default: false- Return: {Number}
Writes value
to the buffer at the specified offset
and byteLength
.
Supports up to 48 bits of accuracy. For example:
var b = new Buffer(6);
b.writeUIntBE(0x1234567890ab, 0, 6);
// <Buffer 12 34 56 78 90 ab>
Set noAssert
to true
to skip validation of value
and offset
. Defaults
to false
.
buf.readUIntLE(offset, byteLength[, noAssert])
buf.readUIntBE(offset, byteLength[, noAssert])
buf.readIntLE(offset, byteLength[, noAssert])
buf.readIntBE(offset, byteLength[, noAssert])
offset
{Number}0 <= offset <= buf.length
byteLength
{Number}0 < byteLength <= 6
noAssert
{Boolean} Default: false- Return: {Number}
A generalized version of all numeric read methods. Supports up to 48 bits of accuracy. For example:
var b = new Buffer(6);
b.writeUint16LE(0x90ab, 0);
b.writeUInt32LE(0x12345678, 2);
b.readUIntLE(0, 6).toString(16); // Specify 6 bytes (48 bits)
// output: '1234567890ab'
Set noAssert
to true to skip validation of offset
. This means that offset
may be beyond the end of the buffer. Defaults to false
.
buf.toString([encoding][, start][, end])
encoding
String, Optional, Default: 'utf8'start
Number, Optional, Default: 0end
Number, Optional, Default:buffer.length
Decodes and returns a string from buffer data encoded using the specified
character set encoding. If encoding
is undefined
or null
, then encoding
defaults to 'utf8'
. The start
and end
parameters default to 0
and
buffer.length
when undefined
.
buf = new Buffer(26);
for (var i = 0 ; i < 26 ; i++) {
buf[i] = i + 97; // 97 is ASCII a
}
buf.toString('ascii'); // outputs: abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
buf.toString('ascii',0,5); // outputs: abcde
buf.toString('utf8',0,5); // outputs: abcde
buf.toString(undefined,0,5); // encoding defaults to 'utf8', outputs abcde
See buffer.write()
example, above.
buf.toJSON()
Returns a JSON-representation of the Buffer instance. JSON.stringify
implicitly calls this function when stringifying a Buffer instance.
Example:
var buf = new Buffer('test');
var json = JSON.stringify(buf);
console.log(json);
// '{"type":"Buffer","data":[116,101,115,116]}'
var copy = JSON.parse(json, function(key, value) {
return value && value.type === 'Buffer'
? new Buffer(value.data)
: value;
});
console.log(copy);
// <Buffer 74 65 73 74>
buf[index]
Get and set the octet at index
. The values refer to individual bytes,
so the legal range is between 0x00
and 0xFF
hex or 0
and 255
.
Example: copy an ASCII string into a buffer, one byte at a time:
str = "Node.js";
buf = new Buffer(str.length);
for (var i = 0; i < str.length ; i++) {
buf[i] = str.charCodeAt(i);
}
console.log(buf);
// Node.js
buf.equals(otherBuffer)
otherBuffer
{Buffer}
Returns a boolean of whether this
and otherBuffer
have the same
bytes.
buf.compare(otherBuffer)
otherBuffer
{Buffer}
Returns a number indicating whether this
comes before or after or is
the same as the otherBuffer
in sort order.
buf.copy(targetBuffer[, targetStart][, sourceStart][, sourceEnd])
targetBuffer
Buffer object - Buffer to copy intotargetStart
Number, Optional, Default: 0sourceStart
Number, Optional, Default: 0sourceEnd
Number, Optional, Default:buffer.length
Copies data from a region of this buffer to a region in the target buffer even
if the target memory region overlaps with the source. If undefined
the
targetStart
and sourceStart
parameters default to 0
while sourceEnd
defaults to buffer.length
.
Example: build two Buffers, then copy buf1
from byte 16 through byte 19
into buf2
, starting at the 8th byte in buf2
.
buf1 = new Buffer(26);
buf2 = new Buffer(26);
for (var i = 0 ; i < 26 ; i++) {
buf1[i] = i + 97; // 97 is ASCII a
buf2[i] = 33; // ASCII !
}
buf1.copy(buf2, 8, 16, 20);
console.log(buf2.toString('ascii', 0, 25));
// !!!!!!!!qrst!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Example: Build a single buffer, then copy data from one region to an overlapping region in the same buffer
buf = new Buffer(26);
for (var i = 0 ; i < 26 ; i++) {
buf[i] = i + 97; // 97 is ASCII a
}
buf.copy(buf, 0, 4, 10);
console.log(buf.toString());
// efghijghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
buf.slice([start[, end]])
start
Number, Optional, Default: 0end
Number, Optional, Default:buffer.length
Returns a new buffer which references the same memory as the old, but offset
and cropped by the start
(defaults to 0
) and end
(defaults to
buffer.length
) indexes. Negative indexes start from the end of the buffer.
Modifying the new buffer slice will modify memory in the original buffer!
Example: build a Buffer with the ASCII alphabet, take a slice, then modify one byte from the original Buffer.
var buf1 = new Buffer(26);
for (var i = 0 ; i < 26 ; i++) {
buf1[i] = i + 97; // 97 is ASCII a
}
var buf2 = buf1.slice(0, 3);
console.log(buf2.toString('ascii', 0, buf2.length));
buf1[0] = 33;
console.log(buf2.toString('ascii', 0, buf2.length));
// abc
// !bc
buf.indexOf(value[, byteOffset])
value
String, Buffer or NumberbyteOffset
Number, Optional, Default: 0- Return: Number
Operates similar to
Array#indexOf().
Accepts a String, Buffer or Number. Strings are interpreted as UTF8. Buffers
will use the entire buffer. So in order to compare a partial Buffer use
Buffer#slice()
. Numbers can range from 0 to 255.
buf.readUInt8(offset[, noAssert])
offset
NumbernoAssert
Boolean, Optional, Default: false- Return: Number
Reads an unsigned 8 bit integer from the buffer at the specified offset.
Set noAssert
to true to skip validation of offset
. This means that offset
may be beyond the end of the buffer. Defaults to false
.
Example:
var buf = new Buffer(4);
buf[0] = 0x3;
buf[1] = 0x4;
buf[2] = 0x23;
buf[3] = 0x42;
for (ii = 0; ii < buf.length; ii++) {
console.log(buf.readUInt8(ii));
}
// 0x3
// 0x4
// 0x23
// 0x42
buf.readUInt16LE(offset[, noAssert])
buf.readUInt16BE(offset[, noAssert])
offset
NumbernoAssert
Boolean, Optional, Default: false- Return: Number
Reads an unsigned 16 bit integer from the buffer at the specified offset with specified endian format.
Set noAssert
to true to skip validation of offset
. This means that offset
may be beyond the end of the buffer. Defaults to false
.
Example:
var buf = new Buffer(4);
buf[0] = 0x3;
buf[1] = 0x4;
buf[2] = 0x23;
buf[3] = 0x42;
console.log(buf.readUInt16BE(0));
console.log(buf.readUInt16LE(0));
console.log(buf.readUInt16BE(1));
console.log(buf.readUInt16LE(1));
console.log(buf.readUInt16BE(2));
console.log(buf.readUInt16LE(2));
// 0x0304
// 0x0403
// 0x0423
// 0x2304
// 0x2342
// 0x4223
buf.readUInt32LE(offset[, noAssert])
buf.readUInt32BE(offset[, noAssert])
offset
NumbernoAssert
Boolean, Optional, Default: false- Return: Number
Reads an unsigned 32 bit integer from the buffer at the specified offset with specified endian format.
Set noAssert
to true to skip validation of offset
. This means that offset
may be beyond the end of the buffer. Defaults to false
.
Example:
var buf = new Buffer(4);
buf[0] = 0x3;
buf[1] = 0x4;
buf[2] = 0x23;
buf[3] = 0x42;
console.log(buf.readUInt32BE(0));
console.log(buf.readUInt32LE(0));
// 0x03042342
// 0x42230403
buf.readInt8(offset[, noAssert])
offset
NumbernoAssert
Boolean, Optional, Default: false- Return: Number
Reads a signed 8 bit integer from the buffer at the specified offset.
Set noAssert
to true to skip validation of offset
. This means that offset
may be beyond the end of the buffer. Defaults to false
.
Works as buffer.readUInt8
, except buffer contents are treated as two's
complement signed values.
buf.readInt16LE(offset[, noAssert])
buf.readInt16BE(offset[, noAssert])
offset
NumbernoAssert
Boolean, Optional, Default: false- Return: Number
Reads a signed 16 bit integer from the buffer at the specified offset with specified endian format.
Set noAssert
to true to skip validation of offset
. This means that offset
may be beyond the end of the buffer. Defaults to false
.
Works as buffer.readUInt16*
, except buffer contents are treated as two's
complement signed values.
buf.readInt32LE(offset[, noAssert])
buf.readInt32BE(offset[, noAssert])
offset
NumbernoAssert
Boolean, Optional, Default: false- Return: Number
Reads a signed 32 bit integer from the buffer at the specified offset with specified endian format.
Set noAssert
to true to skip validation of offset
. This means that offset
may be beyond the end of the buffer. Defaults to false
.
Works as buffer.readUInt32*
, except buffer contents are treated as two's
complement signed values.
buf.readFloatLE(offset[, noAssert])
buf.readFloatBE(offset[, noAssert])
offset
NumbernoAssert
Boolean, Optional, Default: false- Return: Number
Reads a 32 bit float from the buffer at the specified offset with specified endian format.
Set noAssert
to true to skip validation of offset
. This means that offset
may be beyond the end of the buffer. Defaults to false
.
Example:
var buf = new Buffer(4);
buf[0] = 0x00;
buf[1] = 0x00;
buf[2] = 0x80;
buf[3] = 0x3f;
console.log(buf.readFloatLE(0));
// 0x01
buf.readDoubleLE(offset[, noAssert])
buf.readDoubleBE(offset[, noAssert])
offset
NumbernoAssert
Boolean, Optional, Default: false- Return: Number
Reads a 64 bit double from the buffer at the specified offset with specified endian format.
Set noAssert
to true to skip validation of offset
. This means that offset
may be beyond the end of the buffer. Defaults to false
.
Example:
var buf = new Buffer(8);
buf[0] = 0x55;
buf[1] = 0x55;
buf[2] = 0x55;
buf[3] = 0x55;
buf[4] = 0x55;
buf[5] = 0x55;
buf[6] = 0xd5;
buf[7] = 0x3f;
console.log(buf.readDoubleLE(0));
// 0.3333333333333333
buf.writeUInt8(value, offset[, noAssert])
value
Numberoffset
NumbernoAssert
Boolean, Optional, Default: false
Writes value
to the buffer at the specified offset. Note, value
must be a
valid unsigned 8 bit integer.
Set noAssert
to true to skip validation of value
and offset
. This means
that value
may be too large for the specific function and offset
may be
beyond the end of the buffer leading to the values being silently dropped. This
should not be used unless you are certain of correctness. Defaults to false
.
Example:
var buf = new Buffer(4);
buf.writeUInt8(0x3, 0);
buf.writeUInt8(0x4, 1);
buf.writeUInt8(0x23, 2);
buf.writeUInt8(0x42, 3);
console.log(buf);
// <Buffer 03 04 23 42>
buf.writeUInt16LE(value, offset[, noAssert])
buf.writeUInt16BE(value, offset[, noAssert])
value
Numberoffset
NumbernoAssert
Boolean, Optional, Default: false
Writes value
to the buffer at the specified offset with specified endian
format. Note, value
must be a valid unsigned 16 bit integer.
Set noAssert
to true to skip validation of value
and offset
. This means
that value
may be too large for the specific function and offset
may be
beyond the end of the buffer leading to the values being silently dropped. This
should not be used unless you are certain of correctness. Defaults to false
.
Example:
var buf = new Buffer(4);
buf.writeUInt16BE(0xdead, 0);
buf.writeUInt16BE(0xbeef, 2);
console.log(buf);
buf.writeUInt16LE(0xdead, 0);
buf.writeUInt16LE(0xbeef, 2);
console.log(buf);
// <Buffer de ad be ef>
// <Buffer ad de ef be>
buf.writeUInt32LE(value, offset[, noAssert])
buf.writeUInt32BE(value, offset[, noAssert])
value
Numberoffset
NumbernoAssert
Boolean, Optional, Default: false
Writes value
to the buffer at the specified offset with specified endian
format. Note, value
must be a valid unsigned 32 bit integer.
Set noAssert
to true to skip validation of value
and offset
. This means
that value
may be too large for the specific function and offset
may be
beyond the end of the buffer leading to the values being silently dropped. This
should not be used unless you are certain of correctness. Defaults to false
.
Example:
var buf = new Buffer(4);
buf.writeUInt32BE(0xfeedface, 0);
console.log(buf);
buf.writeUInt32LE(0xfeedface, 0);
console.log(buf);
// <Buffer fe ed fa ce>
// <Buffer ce fa ed fe>
buf.writeInt8(value, offset[, noAssert])
value
Numberoffset
NumbernoAssert
Boolean, Optional, Default: false
Writes value
to the buffer at the specified offset. Note, value
must be a
valid signed 8 bit integer.
Set noAssert
to true to skip validation of value
and offset
. This means
that value
may be too large for the specific function and offset
may be
beyond the end of the buffer leading to the values being silently dropped. This
should not be used unless you are certain of correctness. Defaults to false
.
Works as buffer.writeUInt8
, except value is written out as a two's complement
signed integer into buffer
.
buf.writeInt16LE(value, offset[, noAssert])
buf.writeInt16BE(value, offset[, noAssert])
value
Numberoffset
NumbernoAssert
Boolean, Optional, Default: false
Writes value
to the buffer at the specified offset with specified endian
format. Note, value
must be a valid signed 16 bit integer.
Set noAssert
to true to skip validation of value
and offset
. This means
that value
may be too large for the specific function and offset
may be
beyond the end of the buffer leading to the values being silently dropped. This
should not be used unless you are certain of correctness. Defaults to false
.
Works as buffer.writeUInt16*
, except value is written out as a two's
complement signed integer into buffer
.
buf.writeInt32LE(value, offset[, noAssert])
buf.writeInt32BE(value, offset[, noAssert])
value
Numberoffset
NumbernoAssert
Boolean, Optional, Default: false
Writes value
to the buffer at the specified offset with specified endian
format. Note, value
must be a valid signed 32 bit integer.
Set noAssert
to true to skip validation of value
and offset
. This means
that value
may be too large for the specific function and offset
may be
beyond the end of the buffer leading to the values being silently dropped. This
should not be used unless you are certain of correctness. Defaults to false
.
Works as buffer.writeUInt32*
, except value is written out as a two's
complement signed integer into buffer
.
buf.writeFloatLE(value, offset[, noAssert])
buf.writeFloatBE(value, offset[, noAssert])
value
Numberoffset
NumbernoAssert
Boolean, Optional, Default: false
Writes value
to the buffer at the specified offset with specified endian
format. Note, behavior is unspecified if value
is not a 32 bit float.
Set noAssert
to true to skip validation of value
and offset
. This means
that value
may be too large for the specific function and offset
may be
beyond the end of the buffer leading to the values being silently dropped. This
should not be used unless you are certain of correctness. Defaults to false
.
Example:
var buf = new Buffer(4);
buf.writeFloatBE(0xcafebabe, 0);
console.log(buf);
buf.writeFloatLE(0xcafebabe, 0);
console.log(buf);
// <Buffer 4f 4a fe bb>
// <Buffer bb fe 4a 4f>
buf.writeDoubleLE(value, offset[, noAssert])
buf.writeDoubleBE(value, offset[, noAssert])
value
Numberoffset
NumbernoAssert
Boolean, Optional, Default: false
Writes value
to the buffer at the specified offset with specified endian
format. Note, value
must be a valid 64 bit double.
Set noAssert
to true to skip validation of value
and offset
. This means
that value
may be too large for the specific function and offset
may be
beyond the end of the buffer leading to the values being silently dropped. This
should not be used unless you are certain of correctness. Defaults to false
.
Example:
var buf = new Buffer(8);
buf.writeDoubleBE(0xdeadbeefcafebabe, 0);
console.log(buf);
buf.writeDoubleLE(0xdeadbeefcafebabe, 0);
console.log(buf);
// <Buffer 43 eb d5 b7 dd f9 5f d7>
// <Buffer d7 5f f9 dd b7 d5 eb 43>
buf.fill(value[, offset][, end])
value
offset
Number, Optionalend
Number, Optional
Fills the buffer with the specified value. If the offset
(defaults to 0
)
and end
(defaults to buffer.length
) are not given it will fill the entire
buffer.
var b = new Buffer(50);
b.fill("h");
buffer.values()
Creates iterator for buffer values (bytes). This function is called automatically
when buffer
is used in a for..of
statement.
buffer.keys()
Creates iterator for buffer keys (indices).
buffer.entries()
Creates iterator for [index, byte]
arrays.
buffer.INSPECT_MAX_BYTES
- Number, Default: 50
How many bytes will be returned when buffer.inspect()
is called. This can
be overridden by user modules.
Note that this is a property on the buffer module returned by
require('buffer')
, not on the Buffer global, or a buffer instance.
ES6 iteration
Buffers can be iterated over using for..of
syntax:
var buf = new Buffer([1, 2, 3]);
for (var b of buf)
console.log(b)
// 1
// 2
// 3
Additionally, buffer.values()
, buffer.keys()
and buffer.entries()
methods can be used to create iterators.
Class: SlowBuffer
Returns an un-pooled Buffer
.
In order to avoid the garbage collection overhead of creating many individually
allocated Buffers, by default allocations under 4KB are sliced from a single
larger allocated object. This approach improves both performance and memory
usage since v8 does not need to track and cleanup as many Persistent
objects.
In the case where a developer may need to retain a small chunk of memory from a pool for an indeterminate amount of time it may be appropriate to create an un-pooled Buffer instance using SlowBuffer and copy out the relevant bits.
// need to keep around a few small chunks of memory
var store = [];
socket.on('readable', function() {
var data = socket.read();
// allocate for retained data
var sb = new SlowBuffer(10);
// copy the data into the new allocation
data.copy(sb, 0, 0, 10);
store.push(sb);
});
Though this should be used sparingly and only be a last resort after a developer has actively observed undue memory retention in their applications.