Data Signals to file...

[blah2468]

Hi there,
I'm supposed to process an xml file. In this xml file content of a pdf file is returned as data-signals (hexa-decimal sequence of alph-numerical characters)

The format of this xml file (hugely simplified) looks like this:

<EMBEDDED_FILE _Extension=".pdf">
      <DOCUMENT>...</DOCUMENT>
</EMBEDDED_FILE>

Now, I'm supposed to grab this data that is capsulated between the <DOCUMENT> tag, and turn it into a pdf file. I have absolutly no idea on how to do this... any help is much appreciated

 

[jmeckley]

have you tried writing the <document> text to a file and saving with a pdf extension? I would start there.

if that doesn't work. convert the string into a binary array and then write the array to a file with a pdf extension.

one of these to methods should work.

Jason Meckley
Programmer
Specialty Bakers, Inc.

 

[blah2468]

Hey thanx for the tip; that's exactly what I did to begin with.. no luck

Following 3 lines do the magic though:

Dim bt() As Byte
bt = System.Convert.FromBase64String(base64String)
System.IO.File.WriteAllBytes(pdfReportFilePathnName, bt)

And here's the complete function i use. I simply pass the function an xmlDocument and tell it where to store the embeded file:

    Public Shared Function Base64ToFile(ByVal xmlDoc As XmlDocument, ByVal pdfReportFilePathnName As String) As String
        'generate the file:
        Try
'get base64 string representing the file
            Dim base64String As String = xmlDoc.GetElementsByTagName("DOCUMENT").Item(0).InnerText

            Dim bt() As Byte
            bt = System.Convert.FromBase64String(base64String)
            System.IO.File.WriteAllBytes(pdfReportFilePathnName, bt)

            Return "Successfully decoded the embeded base-64 report file" + vbCrLf

        Catch ex As Exception
            Return "Failed generating the embeded file due to the following unanticipated error: " + vbCrLf + _
                    ex.Message
        End Try
    End Function

CHEERS!