On Jun 08, 2006, at 04:38 UTC, RBNUBE wrote: > Can you give me a specific example of where I might run into problems if I > don't use Base 64?
Sure: suppose the binary data happens to contain a byte that's the same byte as an end-of-line sequence. TextInputStream.ReadLine will then stop reading at that point, giving you bogus saveinfo, and probably confusing your code when it reads whatever is supposed to come next. Or suppose somebody opens your text file in their favorite text editor, changes something, and saves it (that's what one does with text files, right?). The binary data may well get hopelessly munged by this procedure, since the text editor wouldn't be able to interpret most of those bytes as text. There are all sorts of pitfalls that can occur if you attempt to store raw binary data in a text file -- the solution is to either switch to a binary file, or convert the binary data into proper text. EncodeBase64 makes the latter very easy. Best, - Joe -- Joe Strout -- [EMAIL PROTECTED] Verified Express, LLC "Making the Internet a Better Place" http://www.verex.com/ _______________________________________________ Unsubscribe or switch delivery mode: <http://www.realsoftware.com/support/listmanager/> Search the archives of this list here: <http://support.realsoftware.com/listarchives/lists.html>
