Java decode hex values using utf-8 encoding

Question

I am trying to decode some hex values to their actual names, but i am having issue.

21043D0438043C043E043A04 should be decoded to СНИМОК. Current code I am using

String test = "21043D0438043C043E043A04";
byte[] bytes = Hex.decodeHex(test.toCharArray());               
String a = new String(bytes, "UTF-8");

but i am getting some pretty weird results.

Tried also getting it as utf8 bytes but did not work.

byte[] bytesone = test.getBytes(Charset.forName("UTF-8"));
String b = new String(bytesone, Charset.forName("UTF-8"));
byte[] bytes = Hex.decodeHex(b.toCharArray());              
String a = new String(bytes, "UTF-8");

Thanks in advance

The string "21043D0438043C043E043A04" is not a utf-8 hex encoding of "СНИМОК". "d0a1d09dd098d09cd09ed09a" is. — Gorazd Rebolj
– Gorazd Rebolj, Commented Dec 11, 2017 at 13:33

Joop Eggen · Accepted Answer · 2017-12-11 13:33:35Z

4

\u0421 is the Cyrillic С so the code seems UTF-16LE (little endian).

String a = new String(bytes, "UTF-16LE");
String a = new String(bytes, StandardCharsets.UTF_16LE);

answered Dec 11, 2017 at 13:33

Joop Eggen

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2 Comments

machekj Over a year ago

Thank you for you quick answer ! Strangely enough I am now getting ?????? in the console.

Joop Eggen Over a year ago

The console is probably OS dependent with its encoding, that cannot handle Cyrillic script. Unrepresentable Unicode code points, will be converted to a place holder.

Josh Lee · Accepted Answer · 2017-12-11 13:32:52Z

3

This looks more like UTF-16LE.

answered Dec 11, 2017 at 13:32

Josh Lee

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