Data encodings

Data encodings used to transmit binary information via text only systems (email, etc...)

Name / c code RFC Length Description Size increase

uuXXcode uuencode/decode. 3 bytes to 4 24 bits grouped in 4 6 bit chunks using " " to "_" (20h-5Fh). uuencode uses characters that are transformed by some email gateways (e.g. some convert between EBCDIC and ASCII which do not entirely overlap), and there are also several incompatible versions of uuencode including some that map " " to "`". Oldest ~42%

Mime base64 encode / decode. 2045, 1421 as PEM (Privacy Enhanced Mail). 3 bytes to 4 24 bits grouped in 4, 6 bit chunks using A...Z, a...z, 0...9, +, /, =. Output broken in to 64 character lines. The character "=" is used to pad the final group to a full 24 bits. It is translated to nul. Safest ~37%

Quote Printable encode / decode. 2045 1 byte to 3 or 1 20h to 7Eh passed through, others in form =xy[z] where x and y are single hex digits using 0...F hex and z is the optional character that is passed through without encodeing. Least impact on data that is already mostly printable. 3...200%

Charset iso-8859-1 7-bit encoding. 1 byte to 5 or 1 20h to 7Eh passed through, others in form &#nnn [z] where nnn is the decimal value of the byte and z is the optional character that is passed through without encodeing. Stupidest? 10...500%

BinHex 1741 3 to < 4 24 bits grouped in 4, 6 bit chunks using !...-, 0...9, @...[, `...r
simple RLE compression. Best for data with many repeating values. 0...40%

aencode 3 bytes to 4 24 bits grouped in 4, 6 bit chunks using A...Z, a...z, 0...9, (, ), =. Variation of Base64

base85 adobe 4 bytes to 5 From the PostScript Developers Manual Section 4.8.2 ASCII85Decode filter: (thanks to Jason Harper )
This filter decodes data that has been encoded in the ASCII base- 85 encoding and produces binary data.
ASCII base- 85 encoding produces five ASCII printing characters from every four bytes of binary data. Each group of four binary bytes (b1 b2 b3 b4 ) is converted to a group of five encoded characters (c1 c2 c3 c4 c5 ) using the relation:
The five “digits” of the encoded base- 85 number are converted to printable ASCII characters by adding 33 (the ASCII code for !) to each. The resulting data contains only printable ASCII characters with codes in the range 33 (!) to 117 (u).
Two special cases occur during encoding. First, if all five encoded digits are zero, they are represented by the character code 122 (z), instead of by a series of five exclamation points (!!!!!). In addition, if the length of the binary data to be encoded is not a multiple of four bytes, the last partial 4- tuple is used to produce a last, partial output 5- tuple. Given n (1, 2, or 3) bytes of binary data, the encoding first appends 4 n zero bytes to make a complete 4- tuple. This 4- tuple is encoded in the usual way, but without applying the special z case. Finally, only the first n + 1 characters of the resulting 5- tuple are written out. Those characters are immediately followed by the EOD marker, which is the two- character sequence ~>.
The following conditions are errors during decoding: The value represented by a 5- tuple is greater than 2 32 1. A z character occurs in the middle of a 5- tuple. A final partial 5- tuple contains only one character. These conditions never occur in the output produced from a correctly encoded byte sequence.

Most effecient use of available characters when encoding truly binary data. Least Safe. Adobe technical support database notes that you may need to use mime (Base64) encoding to send pdf files on AOL.
~25%

Name / c code	RFC	Length	Description	Size increase
uuXXcode uuencode/decode.		3 bytes to 4	24 bits grouped in 4 6 bit chunks using " " to "_" (20h-5Fh). uuencode uses characters that are transformed by some email gateways (e.g. some convert between EBCDIC and ASCII which do not entirely overlap), and there are also several incompatible versions of uuencode including some that map " " to "`". Oldest	~42%
Mime base64 encode / decode.	2045, 1421 as PEM (Privacy Enhanced Mail).	3 bytes to 4	24 bits grouped in 4, 6 bit chunks using A...Z, a...z, 0...9, +, /, =. Output broken in to 64 character lines. The character "=" is used to pad the final group to a full 24 bits. It is translated to nul. Safest	~37%
Quote Printable encode / decode.	2045	1 byte to 3 or 1	20h to 7Eh passed through, others in form =xy[z] where x and y are single hex digits using 0...F hex and z is the optional character that is passed through without encodeing. Least impact on data that is already mostly printable.	3...200%
Charset iso-8859-1 7-bit encoding.		1 byte to 5 or 1	20h to 7Eh passed through, others in form &#nnn [z] where nnn is the decimal value of the byte and z is the optional character that is passed through without encodeing. Stupidest?	10...500%
BinHex	1741	3 to < 4	24 bits grouped in 4, 6 bit chunks using !...-, 0...9, @...[, `...r simple RLE compression. Best for data with many repeating values.	0...40%
aencode		3 bytes to 4	24 bits grouped in 4, 6 bit chunks using A...Z, a...z, 0...9, (, ), =. Variation of Base64
base85	adobe	4 bytes to 5	From the PostScript Developers Manual Section 4.8.2 ASCII85Decode filter: (thanks to Jason Harper ) This filter decodes data that has been encoded in the ASCII base- 85 encoding and produces binary data. ASCII base- 85 encoding produces five ASCII printing characters from every four bytes of binary data. Each group of four binary bytes (b1 b2 b3 b4 ) is converted to a group of five encoded characters (c1 c2 c3 c4 c5 ) using the relation: The five “digits” of the encoded base- 85 number are converted to printable ASCII characters by adding 33 (the ASCII code for !) to each. The resulting data contains only printable ASCII characters with codes in the range 33 (!) to 117 (u). Two special cases occur during encoding. First, if all five encoded digits are zero, they are represented by the character code 122 (z), instead of by a series of five exclamation points (!!!!!). In addition, if the length of the binary data to be encoded is not a multiple of four bytes, the last partial 4- tuple is used to produce a last, partial output 5- tuple. Given n (1, 2, or 3) bytes of binary data, the encoding first appends 4 n zero bytes to make a complete 4- tuple. This 4- tuple is encoded in the usual way, but without applying the special z case. Finally, only the first n + 1 characters of the resulting 5- tuple are written out. Those characters are immediately followed by the EOD marker, which is the two- character sequence ~>. The following conditions are errors during decoding: The value represented by a 5- tuple is greater than 2 32 1. A z character occurs in the middle of a 5- tuple. A final partial 5- tuple contains only one character. These conditions never occur in the output produced from a correctly encoded byte sequence. Most effecient use of available characters when encoding truly binary data. Least Safe. Adobe technical support database notes that you may need to use mime (Base64) encoding to send pdf files on AOL.	~25%