How do you convert strings to binary and back in PHP?

Converting Strings to Binary and Back in PHP

Converting data effectively is crucial in secure password storage and database operations. PHP provides versatile functions to transform strings into binary formats and revert them back to their original form.

Converting String to Binary

To convert a string to binary, we can utilize the pack function:

<code class="php">$value = unpack('H*', "Stack");
echo base_convert($value[1], 16, 2); // Outputs: 0101001101110100011000010110001101101011</code>

Here, we first use unpack to convert the string into a hexadecimal representation. Subsequently, base_convert converts this hexadecimal string to binary.

Converting Binary to String

To reverse the process, we can employ the pack function again:

<code class="php">echo pack('H*', base_convert('0101001101110100011000010110001101101011', 2, 16)); // Outputs: Stack</code>

In this example, we use base_convert to change the binary representation into a hexadecimal string. Finally, pack decodes this hexadecimal string back into its original character form.

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