Node.js StringDecoder

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.

Node.js StringDecoder Methods

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.

Node.js StringDecoder Example

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