The Node.js StringDecoder is used to decode buffer into string. It is similar to buffer.toString() but provides extra support to UTF.
You need to use require('string_decoder') to use StringDecoder module.
const StringDecoder = require('string_decoder').StringDecoder;StringDecoder class has two methods only.
| Method | Description |
|---|---|
| decoder.write(buffer) | It is used to return the decoded string. |
| decoder.end() | It is used to return trailing bytes, if any left in the buffer. |
Let's see a simple example of Node.js StringDecoder.
File: stringdecoder_example1.js
const StringDecoder = require('string_decoder').StringDecoder;
const decoder = new StringDecoder('utf8');
const buf1 = new Buffer('this is a test');
console.log(decoder.write(buf1));//prints: this is a test
const buf2 = new Buffer('7468697320697320612074c3a97374', 'hex');
console.log(decoder.write(buf2));//prints: this is a test
const buf3 = Buffer.from([0x62,0x75,0x66,0x66,0x65,0x72]);
console.log(decoder.write(buf3));//prints: buffer
