problem with Convert.FromBas e64String function

[scottrm]

I have a asp.net web service built in c# which is accepting a string
parameter from a vb6 client. The string parameter contains some xml. I am
attempting to convert the string to a byte array using the
Convert.FromBas e64String function but get the following error.

Invalid length for a Base-64 char array

The same code works ok if I call it from an asp.net client. In that client I
am just passing the parameter through as a standard string. Any ideas why
the same is not working from the vb6 client?

--
Scott

[Ben Dewey]

Could you attach your code?

[Jon Skeet [C# MVP]]

scottrm <sc*****@newsgr oup.nospam> wrote:

I have a asp.net web service built in c# which is accepting a string
parameter from a vb6 client. The string parameter contains some xml. I am
attempting to convert the string to a byte array using the
Convert.FromBas e64String function but get the following error.

Invalid length for a Base-64 char array

The same code works ok if I call it from an asp.net client. In that client I
am just passing the parameter through as a standard string. Any ideas why
the same is not working from the vb6 client?

It sounds like you're not actually getting the same string. Check
whether you're getting a rogue null termination character at the end of
the string.

I suggest you dump out the string in both the working and non-working
versions and compare them *very* carefully. (Compare the lengths
first!). See
http://www.pobox.com/~skeet/csharp/strings.html
for some code you can grab to help you dump the strings out in a useful
way.

--
Jon Skeet - <sk***@pobox.co m>
http://www.pobox.com/~skeet Blog: http://www.msmvps.com/jon.skeet
If replying to the group, please do not mail me too

[scottrm]

Thanks for the reply, the strings did seem to be different, by one character,
the string from the vb6 client seemed to have a blank character (U+0020)
where there should have been a + symbol (U+002b). Any ideas on why this is
happening?

Have a good Christmas!
--
Scott
"Jon Skeet [C# MVP]" wrote:

scottrm <sc*****@newsgr oup.nospam> wrote:

I have a asp.net web service built in c# which is accepting a string
parameter from a vb6 client. The string parameter contains some xml. I am
attempting to convert the string to a byte array using the
Convert.FromBas e64String function but get the following error.

Invalid length for a Base-64 char array

The same code works ok if I call it from an asp.net client. In that client I
am just passing the parameter through as a standard string. Any ideas why
the same is not working from the vb6 client?

It sounds like you're not actually getting the same string. Check
whether you're getting a rogue null termination character at the end of
the string.

I suggest you dump out the string in both the working and non-working
versions and compare them *very* carefully. (Compare the lengths
first!). See
http://www.pobox.com/~skeet/csharp/strings.html
for some code you can grab to help you dump the strings out in a useful
way.

--
Jon Skeet - <sk***@pobox.co m>
http://www.pobox.com/~skeet Blog: http://www.msmvps.com/jon.skeet
If replying to the group, please do not mail me too

[scottrm]

Just to clarify on this, in the vb code the string is being declared
correctly with the "+" symbol in it. It is on the transfer of the string into
the c# web service that things seem to be going wrong.
--
Scott
"scottrm" wrote:

Thanks for the reply, the strings did seem to be different, by one character,
the string from the vb6 client seemed to have a blank character (U+0020)
where there should have been a + symbol (U+002b). Any ideas on why this is
happening?

Have a good Christmas!
--
Scott
"Jon Skeet [C# MVP]" wrote:

scottrm <sc*****@newsgr oup.nospam> wrote:

I have a asp.net web service built in c# which is accepting a string
parameter from a vb6 client. The string parameter contains some xml. I am
attempting to convert the string to a byte array using the
Convert.FromBas e64String function but get the following error.

Invalid length for a Base-64 char array

The same code works ok if I call it from an asp.net client. In that client I
am just passing the parameter through as a standard string. Any ideas why
the same is not working from the vb6 client?

It sounds like you're not actually getting the same string. Check
whether you're getting a rogue null termination character at the end of
the string.

I suggest you dump out the string in both the working and non-working
versions and compare them *very* carefully. (Compare the lengths
first!). See
http://www.pobox.com/~skeet/csharp/strings.html
for some code you can grab to help you dump the strings out in a useful
way.

--
Jon Skeet - <sk***@pobox.co m>
http://www.pobox.com/~skeet Blog: http://www.msmvps.com/jon.skeet
If replying to the group, please do not mail me too

[Jon Skeet [C# MVP]]

scottrm <sc*****@newsgr oup.nospam> wrote:

Just to clarify on this, in the vb code the string is being declared
correctly with the "+" symbol in it. It is on the transfer of the string into
the c# web service that things seem to be going wrong.

It sounds like you're not decoding a URL parameter correctly - note
that "+" is the URL encoded form of " ".

I suggest you trace at what point the string has a space, and how it's
being transferred. If you're using the normal web service
infrastructure, it should all be dealt with for you though...

--
Jon Skeet - <sk***@pobox.co m>
http://www.pobox.com/~skeet Blog: http://www.msmvps.com/jon.skeet
If replying to the group, please do not mail me too