String to Bytes

Category: Data Conversion & Encoding · Node Type ID: converter-string-to-bytes

Encodes text string into raw byte array using specified charset

Overview

Encodes a text string into a raw byte array (Uint8Array) using the selected character encoding (utf-8, ascii, or latin1 / ISO-8859-1).

Because cryptographic primitives (ciphers, hashes, MACs, and digital signatures) operate on exact byte sequences rather than abstract Unicode strings, use this node whenever you want to encrypt, hash, or sign human-readable text.

When to Use

Converting plaintext messages, passphrases, HKDF info strings, or AEAD Additional Authenticated Data (AAD) from String into Bytes.
Encoding ASCII or Latin-1 protocol headers into exact byte arrays.

Parameter Configuration

Parameter (ID)	Type & Default	Visibility Condition	Description & Options
Character Encoding `encoding`	`select` Default: `utf-8`	Always visible	Character encoding used to serialize the string: `utf-8` (variable-width 1–4 bytes per code point), `ascii` (low 7 bits per character), or `latin1` (low 8 bits per character `0x00..0xFF`). `utf-8`: UTF-8 (Standard) `ascii`: ASCII (7-bit) `latin1`: Latin-1 (ISO-8859-1)

Port I/O Specification

See Ports & Connections for general wiring rules, data type colors, and dynamic port creation.

Input Ports

Port Nature: Fixed Input Ports (1 total).

Port Name	Port ID	Data Type	Required	Visibility Condition	Description
`String In`	`string`	`String`	Required	Always visible	Input text string to encode.

Output Ports

Port Nature: Fixed Output Ports (1 total).

Port Name	Port ID	Data Type	Visibility Condition	Description
`Bytes Out`	`bytes`	`Bytes`	Always visible	Encoded byte array (`Uint8Array`).

Error Cases

This node has no runtime failure cases (errorProfile: none) and always succeeds for any valid typed input.

Examples

Encoding a UTF-8 Message for Hashing or Encryption

Convert a text string into bytes before feeding it to SHA-256.

Connect a String source to String to Bytes (Character Encoding = UTF-8).
Connect the Bytes output port to the Data input port of Hash Digest.