How can I check whether a byte array contains a Unicode string in Java?

Question

Given a byte array that is either a UTF-8 encoded string or arbitrary binary data, what approaches can be used in Java to determine which it is?

The arr

Answer 1

In the original question: How can I check whether a byte array contains a Unicode string in Java?; I found that the term Java Unicode is essentially referring to Utf16 Code Units. I went through this problem myself and created some code that could help anyone with this type of question on their mind find some answers.

I have created 2 main methods, one will display Utf-8 Code Units and the other will create Utf-16 Code Units. Utf-16 Code Units is what you will encounter with Java and JavaScript...commonly seen in the form "\ud83d"

For more help with Code Units and conversion try the website;

https://r12a.github.io/apps/conversion/

Here is code...

    byte[] array_bytes = text.toString().getBytes();
    char[] array_chars = text.toString().toCharArray();
    System.out.println();
    byteArrayToUtf8CodeUnits(array_bytes);
    System.out.println();
    charArrayToUtf16CodeUnits(array_chars);


public static void byteArrayToUtf8CodeUnits(byte[] byte_array)
{
    /*for (int k = 0; k < array.length; k++)
    {
        System.out.println(name + "[" + k + "] = " + "0x" + byteToHex(array[k]));
    }*/
    System.out.println("array.length: = " + byte_array.length);
    //------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    for (int k = 0; k < byte_array.length; k++)
    {
        System.out.println("array byte: " + "[" + k + "]" + " converted to hex" + " = " + byteToHex(byte_array[k]));
    }
    //------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
}
public static void charArrayToUtf16CodeUnits(char[] char_array)
{
    /*Utf16 code units are also known as Java Unicode*/
    System.out.println("array.length: = " + char_array.length);
    //------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    for (int i = 0; i < char_array.length; i++)
    {
        System.out.println("array char: " + "[" + i + "]" + " converted to hex" + " = " + charToHex(char_array[i]));
    }
    //------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
}
static public String byteToHex(byte b)
{
    //Returns hex String representation of byte b
    char hexDigit[] =
            {
                    '0', '1', '2', '3', '4', '5', '6', '7',
                    '8', '9', 'a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e', 'f'
            };
    char[] array = { hexDigit[(b >> 4) & 0x0f], hexDigit[b & 0x0f] };
    return new String(array);
}
static public String charToHex(char c)
{
    //Returns hex String representation of char c
    byte hi = (byte) (c >>> 8);
    byte lo = (byte) (c & 0xff);

    return byteToHex(hi) + byteToHex(lo);
}