How do I encode a string to base64 using only boost?

I'm trying to quickly encode a simple ASCII string to base64 (Basic HTTP Authentication using boost::asio) and not paste in any new code code or use any libraries beyond boost.

Simple signature would look like: string Base64Encode(const string& text);

Again I realize the algorithm is easy and there are many libraries/examples doing this but I'm looking for a clean boost example. I found boost serialization but no clear examples there or from Google. http://www.boost.org/doc/libs/1_46_1/libs/serialization/doc/dataflow.html

Is this possible without adding the actual base64 algorithm explicitly to my code?

Solution 1:

Here is my solution. It uses the same basic technique as the other solutions on this page, but solves the problem of the padding in what I feel is a more elegant way. This solution also makes use of C++11.

I think that most of the code is self explanatory. The bit of math in the encode function calculates the number of '=' characters we need to add. The modulo 3 of val.size() the remainder, but what we really want is the difference between val.size() and the next number divisible by three. Since we have the remainder we can just subtract the remainder from 3, but that leaves 3 in the case that we want 0, so we have to modulo 3 one more time.

#include <boost/archive/iterators/binary_from_base64.hpp>
#include <boost/archive/iterators/base64_from_binary.hpp>
#include <boost/archive/iterators/transform_width.hpp>
#include <boost/algorithm/string.hpp>

std::string decode64(const std::string &val) {
    using namespace boost::archive::iterators;
    using It = transform_width<binary_from_base64<std::string::const_iterator>, 8, 6>;
    return boost::algorithm::trim_right_copy_if(std::string(It(std::begin(val)), It(std::end(val))), [](char c) {
        return c == '\0';
    });
}

std::string encode64(const std::string &val) {
    using namespace boost::archive::iterators;
    using It = base64_from_binary<transform_width<std::string::const_iterator, 6, 8>>;
    auto tmp = std::string(It(std::begin(val)), It(std::end(val)));
    return tmp.append((3 - val.size() % 3) % 3, '=');
}

Solution 2:

I improved the example in the link you provided a little:

#include <boost/archive/iterators/base64_from_binary.hpp>
#include <boost/archive/iterators/insert_linebreaks.hpp>
#include <boost/archive/iterators/transform_width.hpp>
#include <boost/archive/iterators/ostream_iterator.hpp>
#include <sstream>
#include <string>
#include <iostream>


int main()
{
    using namespace boost::archive::iterators;

    std::string test = "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Fusce ornare ullamcorper ipsum ac gravida.";

    std::stringstream os;
    typedef 
        insert_linebreaks<         // insert line breaks every 72 characters
            base64_from_binary<    // convert binary values to base64 characters
                transform_width<   // retrieve 6 bit integers from a sequence of 8 bit bytes
                    const char *,
                    6,
                    8
                >
            > 
            ,72
        > 
        base64_text; // compose all the above operations in to a new iterator

    std::copy(
        base64_text(test.c_str()),
        base64_text(test.c_str() + test.size()),
        ostream_iterator<char>(os)
    );

    std::cout << os.str();
}

This prints the string encoded base64 nicely formated with a line break every 72 characters onto the console, ready to be put into an email. If you don't like the linebreaks, just stay with this:

    typedef 
        base64_from_binary<
           transform_width<
                const char *,
                6,
                8
            >
        > 
        base64_text;

Solution 3:

You could use beast's implementation.

For boost version 1.71, the functions are:

boost::beast::detail::base64::encode()
boost::beast::detail::base64::encoded_size()
boost::beast::detail::base64::decode()
boost::beast::detail::base64::decoded_size()

From #include <boost/beast/core/detail/base64.hpp>

For older versions back to beast's inclusion in 1.66, the functions are:

boost::beast::detail::base64_encode()
boost::beast::detail::base64_decode()

From #include <boost/beast/core/detail/base64.hpp>

Solution 4:

Another solution using boost base64 encode decode:

const std::string base64_padding[] = {"", "==","="};
std::string base64_encode(const std::string& s) {
  namespace bai = boost::archive::iterators;

  std::stringstream os;

  // convert binary values to base64 characters
  typedef bai::base64_from_binary
  // retrieve 6 bit integers from a sequence of 8 bit bytes
  <bai::transform_width<const char *, 6, 8> > base64_enc; // compose all the above operations in to a new iterator

  std::copy(base64_enc(s.c_str()), base64_enc(s.c_str() + s.size()),
            std::ostream_iterator<char>(os));

  os << base64_padding[s.size() % 3];
  return os.str();
}

std::string base64_decode(const std::string& s) {
  namespace bai = boost::archive::iterators;

  std::stringstream os;

  typedef bai::transform_width<bai::binary_from_base64<const char *>, 8, 6> base64_dec;

  unsigned int size = s.size();

  // Remove the padding characters, cf. https://svn.boost.org/trac/boost/ticket/5629
  if (size && s[size - 1] == '=') {
    --size;
    if (size && s[size - 1] == '=') --size;
  }
  if (size == 0) return std::string();

  std::copy(base64_dec(s.data()), base64_dec(s.data() + size),
            std::ostream_iterator<char>(os));

  return os.str();
}

And here are the test cases:

    std::string t_e[TESTSET_SIZE] = {
        ""
      , "M"
      , "Ma"
      , "Man"
      , "pleasure."
      , "leasure."
      , "easure."
      , "asure."
      , "sure."
};
std::string t_d[TESTSET_SIZE] = {
        ""
      , "TQ=="
      , "TWE="
      , "TWFu"
      , "cGxlYXN1cmUu"
      , "bGVhc3VyZS4="
      , "ZWFzdXJlLg=="
      , "YXN1cmUu"
      , "c3VyZS4="
};

Hope this helps