--- schema_version: "1" id: 85f0b656bfba316a1f9b35ecdd6960d91db8ed68a51e02a67d69ddde7f7cd0c5 title: EncodingUtil Class collection: legacydeveloper version: current locale: en-us portal_url: https://docs.salesforce.com/legacydeveloper/current/en-us/apexref/apex_classes_restful_encodingUtil.md canonical_url: https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.apexref.meta/apexref/apex_classes_restful_encodingUtil.htm source_site: developer.salesforce.com content_type: documentation content_hash: 78ed9e7c9795e736a46c7c7cc1c1eb14f4cbb6bc378ebcf26d0a48f5e7e04447 description: Use the methods in the EncodingUtil class to encode and decode URL strings, and convert strings to hexadecimal format. Converts a Base64-encoded String to a Blob representing its normal form.Converts a Blob to an unencoded String representing its normal form.Converts the specified hexadecimal (base 16) string to a Blob value and returns this Blob value.Returns a hexadecimal (base 16) representation of the inputBlob. This method can be used to compute the client response (for example, HA1 or HA2) for HTTP Digest Authentication (RFC2617). Decodes a string in application/x-www-form-urlencoded format using a specific encoding scheme, for example “UTF-8.”Encodes a string into the application/x-www-form-urlencoded format using a specific encoding scheme, for example “UTF-8.” --- # EncodingUtil Class Use the methods in the EncodingUtil class to encode and decode URL strings, and convert strings to hexadecimal format. ## Namespace [System](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.apexref.meta/apexref/apex_namespace_System.htm "The System namespace provides classes and methods for core Apex functionality.") ## Usage ![Note](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.apexref.meta/apexref/images/icon_note.png) #### Note You cannot use the EncodingUtil methods to move documents with non-ASCII characters to Salesforce. You can, however, download a document from Salesforce. To do so, query the ID of the document using the API query call, then request it by ID. ## EncodingUtil Methods The following are methods for EncodingUtil. All methods are static. - **[base64Decode(inputString)](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.apexref.meta/apexref/apex_classes_restful_encodingUtil.htm#apex_System_EncodingUtil_base64Decode)** Converts a Base64-encoded String to a Blob representing its normal form. - **[base64Encode(inputBlob)](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.apexref.meta/apexref/apex_classes_restful_encodingUtil.htm#apex_System_EncodingUtil_base64Encode)** Converts a Blob to an unencoded String representing its normal form. - **[convertFromHex(inputString)](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.apexref.meta/apexref/apex_classes_restful_encodingUtil.htm#apex_System_EncodingUtil_convertFromHex)** Converts the specified hexadecimal (base 16) string to a Blob value and returns this Blob value. - **[convertToHex(inputBlob)](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.apexref.meta/apexref/apex_classes_restful_encodingUtil.htm#apex_System_EncodingUtil_convertToHex)** Returns a hexadecimal (base 16) representation of the inputBlob. This method can be used to compute the client response (for example, HA1 or HA2) for HTTP Digest Authentication (RFC2617). - **[urlDecode(inputString, encodingScheme)](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.apexref.meta/apexref/apex_classes_restful_encodingUtil.htm#apex_System_EncodingUtil_urlDecode)** Decodes a string in application/x-www-form-urlencoded format using a specific encoding scheme, for example “UTF-8.” - **[urlEncode(inputString, encodingScheme)](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.apexref.meta/apexref/apex_classes_restful_encodingUtil.htm#apex_System_EncodingUtil_urlEncode)** Encodes a string into the application/x-www-form-urlencoded format using a specific encoding scheme, for example “UTF-8.” ### base64Decode(inputString) Converts a Base64-encoded String to a Blob representing its normal form. #### Signature public static Blob base64Decode(String inputString) #### Parameters - **inputString**: Type: [String](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.apexref.meta/apexref/apex_methods_system_string.htm#apex_methods_system_string "Contains methods for the String primitive data type.") #### Return Value Type: [Blob](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.apexref.meta/apexref/apex_methods_system_blob.htm#apex_methods_system_blob "Contains methods for the Blob primitive data type.") ### base64Encode(inputBlob) Converts a Blob to an unencoded String representing its normal form. #### Signature public static String base64Encode(Blob inputBlob) #### Parameters - **inputBlob**: Type: [Blob](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.apexref.meta/apexref/apex_methods_system_blob.htm#apex_methods_system_blob "Contains methods for the Blob primitive data type.") #### Return Value Type: [String](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.apexref.meta/apexref/apex_methods_system_string.htm#apex_methods_system_string "Contains methods for the String primitive data type.") ### convertFromHex(inputString) Converts the specified hexadecimal (base 16) string to a Blob value and returns this Blob value. #### Signature public static Blob convertFromHex(String inputString) #### Parameters - **inputString**: Type: [String](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.apexref.meta/apexref/apex_methods_system_string.htm#apex_methods_system_string "Contains methods for the String primitive data type.") The hexadecimal string to convert. The string can contain only valid hexadecimal characters (0-9, a-f, A-F) and must have an even number of characters. #### Return Value Type: [Blob](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.apexref.meta/apexref/apex_methods_system_blob.htm#apex_methods_system_blob "Contains methods for the Blob primitive data type.") #### Usage Each byte in the Blob is constructed from two hexadecimal characters in the input string. The convertFromHex method throws the following exceptions. - NullPointerException — the inputString is null. - InvalidParameterValueException — the inputString contains invalid hexadecimal characters or doesn’t contain an even number of characters. #### Example Blob blobValue = EncodingUtil.convertFromHex('4A4B4C'); Assert.areEqual('JKL', blobValue.toString()); ### convertToHex(inputBlob) Returns a hexadecimal (base 16) representation of the inputBlob. This method can be used to compute the client response (for example, HA1 or HA2) for HTTP Digest Authentication (RFC2617). #### Signature public static String convertToHex(Blob inputBlob) #### Parameters - **inputBlob**: Type: [Blob](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.apexref.meta/apexref/apex_methods_system_blob.htm#apex_methods_system_blob "Contains methods for the Blob primitive data type.") #### Return Value Type: [String](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.apexref.meta/apexref/apex_methods_system_string.htm#apex_methods_system_string "Contains methods for the String primitive data type.") ### urlDecode(inputString, encodingScheme) Decodes a string in application/x-www-form-urlencoded format using a specific encoding scheme, for example “UTF-8.” #### Signature public static String urlDecode(String inputString, String encodingScheme) #### Parameters - **inputString**: Type: [String](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.apexref.meta/apexref/apex_methods_system_string.htm#apex_methods_system_string "Contains methods for the String primitive data type.") - **encodingScheme**: Type: [String](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.apexref.meta/apexref/apex_methods_system_string.htm#apex_methods_system_string "Contains methods for the String primitive data type.") #### Return Value Type: [String](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.apexref.meta/apexref/apex_methods_system_string.htm#apex_methods_system_string "Contains methods for the String primitive data type.") #### Usage This method uses the supplied encoding scheme to determine which characters are represented by any consecutive sequence of the form \\"%xy". For more information about the format, see [The form-urlencoded Media Type](http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/html-spec/html-spec_8.html#SEC8.2.1) in Hypertext Markup Language - 2.0. ### urlEncode(inputString, encodingScheme) Encodes a string into the application/x-www-form-urlencoded format using a specific encoding scheme, for example “UTF-8.” #### Signature public static String urlEncode(String inputString, String encodingScheme) #### Parameters - **inputString**: Type: [String](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.apexref.meta/apexref/apex_methods_system_string.htm#apex_methods_system_string "Contains methods for the String primitive data type.") - **encodingScheme**: Type: [String](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.apexref.meta/apexref/apex_methods_system_string.htm#apex_methods_system_string "Contains methods for the String primitive data type.") #### Return Value Type: [String](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.apexref.meta/apexref/apex_methods_system_string.htm#apex_methods_system_string "Contains methods for the String primitive data type.") #### Usage The rules that apply when the method encodes a string: - These characters remain the same: - Alphanumeric characters A - Z, a - z, and 0 -9. - Special characters dot (.), hyphen (-), asterisk (\*), and under score (\_). - The space character is converted to a plus sign (+). - All other characters are unsafe. This method uses the supplied encoding scheme to obtain the bytes for unsafe characters. For more information about the format, see [The form-urlencoded Media Type](https://www.w3.org/MarkUp/html-spec/html-spec_8.html#SEC8.2.1) in Hypertext Markup Language - 2.0. #### Example String encoded = EncodingUtil.urlEncode(url, 'UTF-8'); Here, _url_ is a placeholder value.