Convert bytes into a binary coded decimal (BCD) string


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BCD is where the hex value of a byte represents two integer values between zero and nine; e.g., 0x98 -> "98" (whereas its integer value is actually 152). The method throws an exception if non-BCD data is input.

There is actually a built-in method to do BCD: System.BitConverter.ToString. Note, though, that BitConverter only uses the endianness of the host machine, so you might need to convert to Big or Little Endian depending on the data source or destination.

Example: `BitConverter.ToString(new byte[] {0xAE, 0xD0})` gives us the string `AE-D0`.


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  1. /// <summary>
  2. /// Convert the argument bytes into their binary-coded decimal (BCD) representation, e.g.
  3. /// { 0x01, 0x10 } -> "0110" (for Big Endian byte order)
  4. /// { 0x01, 0x10 } -> "1001" (for Little Endian byte order)
  5. /// </summary>
  6. /// <param name="isLittleEndian">True if the byte order is "little end first (leftmost)".</param>
  7. /// <param name="bytes">A comma-separated list of bytes or byte array</param>
  8. /// <returns>String representation of the bytes as BCD.</returns>
  9. /// <exception cref="ArgumentException">Thrown if the argument bytes contain non-BCD data (e.g. nibble values with 0xA-0xF).</exception>
  10. public static string ConvertToBinaryCodedDecimal(bool isLittleEndian, params byte[] bytes)
  11. {
  12. StringBuilder bcd = new StringBuilder(bytes.Length * 2);
  13. if (isLittleEndian)
  14. {
  15. for (int i = bytes.Length-1; i >= 0; i--)
  16. {
  17. byte bcdByte = bytes[i];
  18. int idHigh = bcdByte >> 4;
  19. int idLow = bcdByte & 0x0F;
  20. if (idHigh > 9 || idLow > 9)
  21. {
  22. throw new ArgumentException(
  23. String.Format("One of the argument bytes was not in binary-coded decimal format: byte[{0}] = 0x{1:X2}.",
  24. i, bcdByte));
  25. }
  26. bcd.Append(string.Format("{0}{1}", idHigh, idLow));
  27. }
  28. }
  29. else
  30. {
  31. for (int i = 0; i < bytes.Length; i++)
  32. {
  33. byte bcdByte = bytes[i];
  34. int idHigh = bcdByte >> 4;
  35. int idLow = bcdByte & 0x0F;
  36. if (idHigh > 9 || idLow > 9)
  37. {
  38. throw new ArgumentException(
  39. String.Format("One of the argument bytes was not in binary-coded decimal format: byte[{0}] = 0x{1:X2}.",
  40. i, bcdByte));
  41. }
  42. bcd.Append(string.Format("{0}{1}", idHigh, idLow));
  43. }
  44. }
  45. return bcd.ToString();
  46. }

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