integer as ascii over network

Question

0.00/5 (No votes)

See more:

Someone had this thought and I started thinking about it.
To send an integer as sequence of ASCII symbols over network.

For example, say I have integer 123.

Then over network, I send ASCII code for "1" "2" and "3".

C++

byte sendData[255];
sendData[0] = 49; // ASCII code for "1"
sendData[1] = 50; // ASCII for "2" etc,
sendData[2] = 51;
send(sendData,3); // 3-size

Of course the receiver will be able to parse it and obtain "123".

What are the pros and cons of this method as compared to sending an integer?
e.g., instead of sending ASCII codes of integer to send its binary representation
as it is usually done.

e.g.,

C++

int x = 123; 
send(x,4);
// One problem with this approach is endianness; I think above method does not suffer from endianness problems, am I right?

Posted 26-Oct-13 6:28am

_coder

Updated 26-Oct-13 6:31am

v6

Add a Solution

1 solution

Add a Solution

Add your solution here

Treat my content as plain text, not as HTML

Preview 0

…

Existing Members

Sign in to your account

...or Join us

Download, Vote, Comment, Publish.

Your Email
Password
Forgot your password?

Your Email
This email is in use. Do you need your password?
Optional Password

I have read and agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy
Please subscribe me to the CodeProject newsletters

When answering a question please:

Read the question carefully.
Understand that English isn't everyone's first language so be lenient of bad spelling and grammar.
If a question is poorly phrased then either ask for clarification, ignore it, or edit the question and fix the problem. Insults are not welcome.
Don't tell someone to read the manual. Chances are they have and don't get it. Provide an answer or move on to the next question.

Let's work to help developers, not make them feel stupid.

This content, along with any associated source code and files, is licensed under The Code Project Open License (CPOL)

pasztorpisti · Accepted Answer · 2013-10-26T07:51:00

Sending it as a string has almost only disadvantages. You may want to send it in this format probably only in the following scenarios:
- The receiver application/device is not yours and it expects you to send the integer in string format.
- You send it in string format because you are able to sniff/record the network traffic and text format makes debugging easier because the data traffic is human readable. In same cases I'm using a define to be able to switch between human readable and binary serialization and I use human readable only while debugging.

Another advantage of the text format is that it automatically solves byte ordering/endianness issues between different architectures but handling this in code with binary transfer is also an easy thing.