base58-universal

Base58 Universal Encoder/Decoder (base58-universal)

Encoder/decoder for The Base58 Encoding Scheme for Node.js and Web browsers

Table of Contents

• Security
• Background
• Install
• Usage
• Contribute
• Commercial Support
• License

Security

TBD

Background

This library provides an encoder and decoder for The Base58 Encoding Scheme using an alphabet popularized by Bitcoin. It works in both Node.js and in Web browsers with no dependencies.

Install

• Node.js >=14 required.

To install for Node.js or in a Web project using npm:

npm install base58-universal

To install locally or for development:

git clone https://github.com/digitalbazaar/base58-universal.git
cd base58-universal
npm install

Usage

import {encode, decode} from 'base58-universal';

Encoding

• encode(input[, maxline])
  • input: Uint8Array - bytes to encode
  • maxline: Number - maximum number of encoded characters per line to use, defaults to infinite.
  • Returns a base58 encoded string.

import {encode} from 'base58-universal';

const input1 = Uint8Array([1, 2, 3, 4]);
const encoded1 = encode(input1);
// > 2VfUX

const input2 = Uint8Array([1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]);
const encoded2 = encode(input2, 8);
// > 4HUtbHhN\r\n2TkpR

Decoding

• decode(input)
  • input: String - string to decode
  • Returns a Uint8Array with the decoded bytes.

import {decode} from 'base58-universal';

const input3 = '2VfUX';
const decoded3 = decode(input3);
// > Uint8Array [ 1, 2, 3, 4 ]

const input4 = '4HUtbHhN\r\n2TkpR';
const decoded4 = decode(input4);
// > Uint8Array [
//   1, 2, 3, 4,  5,
//   6, 7, 8, 9, 10
// ]

String Handling

This library uses Uint8Array for encoder input and decoder output. Conversion to and from strings can be done with a variety of tools.

Browser

• TextEncoder and TextDecoder using the Encoding standard.

const input5 = new TextEncoder().encode('abc');
const encoded5 = encode(input5);
// > ZiCa

const decoded6 = decode(encoded5);
const output6 = new TextDecoder().decode(decoded6);
// > abc

Node.js

• util.TextEncoder and util.TextDecoder globals using the Encoding standard.
• Buffer from and toString with encoding options.

const input7 = new TextEncoder().encode('abc');
const encoded7 = encode(input7);
// > ZiCa

const decoded8 = decode(encoded7);
const output8 = new TextDecoder().decode(decoded8);
// > abc

// Using Buffer (which is a Uint8Array)
const input9 = Buffer.from('616263', 'hex');
const encoded9 = encode(input9);
const decoded9 = decode(encoded9);
Buffer.from(decoded9).toString();
// > abc
Buffer.from(decoded9).toString('hex');
// > 616263

Contribute

Please follow the Bedrock contributing guidelines.

PRs accepted.

If editing the README, please conform to the standard-readme specification.

Commercial Support

Commercial support for this library is available upon request from Digital Bazaar: [e-mail]

License

New BSD License (3-clause) © Digital Bazaar

Encoder/decoder original implementation from base-x under the MIT License.

Changelog

2.0.0 - 2022-05-13

Changed

• BREAKING: Convert to module (ESM).
• BREAKING: Require Node.js >=14. Due to modern test tools dropping older Node.js version support. The code itself may still work with older Node.js versions.
• Move testing from Travis CI to GitHub Actions.
• Update dependencies.
• Lint module.