# Convert String to BinaryString

**URL:** <https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/convert-string-to-binarystring/64067>\
**Category:** Ruby\
**Created:** [June 21, 2006, 8:12pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/convert-string-to-binarystring/64067 "2006-06-21T20:12:55Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![wickie](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/w/ba9def/32.png) [@wickie](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/wickie)\
**Post date:** [June 21, 2006, 8:12pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/convert-string-to-binarystring/64067/1 "2006-06-21T20:12:55Z")

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Hi guys,

Once I already asked how to create a hex string in â??little-endianâ? order  
in Ruby. In this case the most appropriate way is to use function  
sprintf() or “%”. But  
those function return aString but I need aBinarystring. So, my question  
is how to convert aString to aBinarystring?

Thanks in advance.

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**Author:** ![wickie](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/w/ba9def/32.png) [@wickie](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/wickie)\
**Post date:** [June 21, 2006, 9:23pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/convert-string-to-binarystring/64067/2 "2006-06-21T21:23:48Z")

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On Jun 21, 2006, at 2:13 PM, Michael stepanov wrote:

> Thanks in advance.
> 
> –  
> Posted via [http://www.ruby-forum.com/](http://www.ruby-forum.com/).

% irb  
irb(main):001:0\> 12.to\_s(2)  
=\> “1100”  
irb(main):002:0\> “12”.to\_i.to\_s(2)  
=\> “1100”

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![wickie](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/w/ba9def/32.png) [@wickie](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/wickie)\
**Post date:** [June 22, 2006, 11:37am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/convert-string-to-binarystring/64067/3 "2006-06-22T11:37:08Z")

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Logan C. wrote:

> On Jun 21, 2006, at 2:13 PM, Michael stepanov wrote:
> 
> > Thanks in advance.
> > 
> > –  
> > Posted via [http://www.ruby-forum.com/](http://www.ruby-forum.com/).
> 
> % irb  
> irb(main):001:0\> 12.to\_s(2)  
> =\> “1100”  
> irb(main):002:0\> “12”.to\_i.to\_s(2)  
> =\> “1100”

I found how to send what I need with pack:

s = [1,3,144,3,50].pack(“NnNNe”)  
print s.unpack(“H\*”)[0] =\> 000000010003000000720000000342480000

pack is cool, but Template characters I found here -  
[http://www.rubycentral.com/ref/ref\_c\_array.html#include\_qm](http://www.rubycentral.com/ref/ref_c_array.html#include_qm)

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![wickie](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/w/ba9def/32.png) [@wickie](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/wickie)\
**Post date:** [June 22, 2006, 9:21pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/convert-string-to-binarystring/64067/4 "2006-06-22T21:21:20Z")

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Michael stepanov wrote:

> pack is cool, but Template characters I found here -  
> [http://www.rubycentral.com/ref/ref\_c\_array.html#include\_qm](http://www.rubycentral.com/ref/ref_c_array.html#include_qm)

You can also use

ri pack  
ri unpack

for a quick reference.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![wickie](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/w/ba9def/32.png) [@wickie](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/wickie)\
**Post date:** [June 23, 2006, 11:30am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/convert-string-to-binarystring/64067/5 "2006-06-23T11:30:44Z")

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Joel VanderWerf wrote:

> Michael stepanov wrote:
> 
> > pack is cool, but Template characters I found here -  
> > [http://www.rubycentral.com/ref/ref\_c\_array.html#include\_qm](http://www.rubycentral.com/ref/ref_c_array.html#include_qm)
> 
> You can also use
> 
> ri pack  
> ri unpack
> 
> for a quick reference.

Thanks a lot! It’s very useful!