Base64 String Converter

A simple Node.js utility to encode strings to base64 and decode base64 back to strings.

Features

• ✅ Convert strings to base64 encoding
• ✅ Decode base64 strings back to original text
• ✅ Command-line interface (CLI)
• ✅ Interactive mode
• ✅ Module exports for use in other projects
• ✅ Error handling for invalid inputs
• ✅ Support for Unicode characters

Installation

1. Clone or download this project

2. Navigate to the project directory:

   cd base64

3. (Optional) Install globally to use CLI anywhere:

   npm install -g .

Usage

As a Node.js Module

const { stringToBase64, base64ToString } = require('./index.js');

// Encode string to base64
const encoded = stringToBase64('Hello, World!');
console.log(encoded); // SGVsbG8sIFdvcmxkIQ==

// Decode base64 to string
const decoded = base64ToString('SGVsbG8sIFdvcmxkIQ==');
console.log(decoded); // Hello, World!

Command Line Interface

Basic Commands

# Encode a string to base64
node cli.js encode 'Hello, World!'
# Output: SGVsbG8sIFdvcmxkIQ==

# Decode base64 to string
node cli.js decode 'SGVsbG8sIFdvcmxkIQ=='
# Output: Hello, World!

# Show help
node cli.js help

Interactive Mode

# Run interactive mode
node cli.js

# Then use commands like:
encode Hello World
decode SGVsbG8gV29ybGQ=
help
quit

If Installed Globally

# Encode
base64 encode 'Hello, World!'

# Decode
base64 decode 'SGVsbG8sIFdvcmxkIQ=='

# Interactive mode
base64

Running Examples

# Run the demonstration
node index.js

This will show several examples of encoding and decoding strings, including Unicode characters.

API Reference

stringToBase64(input)

Converts a string to base64 encoding.

• Parameters:
  • input (string): The string to encode
• Returns: (string) The base64 encoded string
• Throws: Error if input is not a string

base64ToString(base64Input)

Converts a base64 string back to the original string.

• Parameters:
  • base64Input (string): The base64 string to decode
• Returns: (string) The decoded string
• Throws: Error if input is not a string or is invalid base64

demonstrateConversion()

Runs a demonstration showing various encoding/decoding examples.

Examples

Basic Usage

const { stringToBase64, base64ToString } = require('./index.js');

// Simple text
console.log(stringToBase64('Hello')); // SGVsbG8=

// Text with spaces
console.log(stringToBase64('Hello World')); // SGVsbG8gV29ybGQ=

// Special characters
console.log(stringToBase64('Hello, World!')); // SGVsbG8sIFdvcmxkIQ==

// Unicode characters
console.log(stringToBase64('🚀 Node.js')); // 8J+agSBOb2RlLmpz

Error Handling

try {
    const result = stringToBase64(123); // This will throw an error
} catch (error) {
    console.log(error.message); // "Input must be a string"
}

try {
    const result = base64ToString('invalid-base64!'); // This will throw an error
} catch (error) {
    console.log(error.message); // "Invalid base64 string"
}

Testing

Run the test file to verify functionality:

node test.js

Dependencies

This project uses only Node.js built-in modules:

• Buffer - for base64 encoding/decoding
• readline - for interactive CLI mode

License

MIT License