Converting String to UTF-16 Representation in Java

Question

I'm trying to convert Java Strings into their various encoding types and print it out.

For example, luke would be 6C 75 6B 65 in UTF-8 and UTF-16 while the Chinese character 猪 would would be E7 8C AA in UTF-8 and 732A in UTF-16.

How do I write a function that does that?

new String( org.apache.commons.codec.binary.Hex.encodeHex(str.getBytes("UTF-16")));

doesn't seem to work for UTF-16.

The UTF-16 encoding of luke would be 00 6C 00 75 00 6B 00 65. 6C 75 6B 65 would be 汵步. — user149341
– user149341, Commented Sep 10, 2013 at 4:14
@duskwuff I'm using this tool since I don't know how to do it in Java yet. How did you do the conversion? — Luke
– Luke, Commented Sep 10, 2013 at 4:25

Jin Kwon · Accepted Answer · 2021-02-19 02:49:36Z

8

public class UseTheForce {
    public static void main(final String[] args)
        throws java.io.UnsupportedEncodingException {
        for (final byte b : args[0].getBytes(args[1])) {
            System.out.printf("%1$02X ", (b & 0xFF));
        }
        System.out.println();
    }
}

Test

$ java UseTheForce luke US-ASCII
6C 75 6B 65

$ java UseTheForce luke UTF-8
6C 75 6B 65

$ java UseTheForce luke UTF-16
FE FF 00 6C 00 75 00 6B 00 65

$ java UseTheForce luke UTF-16BE
00 6C 00 75 00 6B 00 65

$ java UseTheForce luke UTF-16LE
6C 00 75 00 6B 00 65 00

$ java UseTheForce luke UTF-32
00 00 00 6C 00 00 00 75 00 00 00 6B 00 00 00 65

May the force be with you.

UPDATE

As describe in Formatter.html#detail, the (b & 0xFF) part is not necessary.

edited Feb 19, 2021 at 2:49

answered Sep 10, 2013 at 4:32

Jin Kwon

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3 Comments

Luke Over a year ago

thanks buddy! Mine did actually work. I just forgot the FE FF that's in front for strictly UTF-16.

Mubasher Over a year ago

Can I know why (b & 0xFF) ?

Jin Kwon Over a year ago

@Mubasher That's making the signed 8-bit value into an unsigned which, I just realized, is not necessary.

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