ConsoleWrite is converting binary to string

[BinaryBrother]

Here is my code. Adopted from a post UEZ made.

_GenerateUID()
Func _GenerateUID()
    Local $lReturn, $lDriveSerial,$lRandomSeed = ""
    Local $lChr[2]
    For $N = 1 To 32
        $lChr[0] = Chr(Random(65, 90, 1)) ;A-Z
        $lChr[1] = Chr(Random(48, 57, 1)) ;0-9
        $lRandomSeed &= $lChr[Random(0, 1, 1)]
    Next
    $lDriveSerial = DriveGetSerial(StringLeft(@WindowsDir, 3))
    $lReturn = StringToBinary($lRandomSeed & $lDriveSerial)
    ConsoleWrite($lReturn) ;<--- Is printed as a String.
    ConsoleWrite(@CRLF & $lReturn & @CRLF) ;<--- Printed properly as Binary?
    Return $lReturn
EndFunc   ;==>_GenerateUID

Output:

--> Press Ctrl+Alt+Break to Restart or Ctrl+Break to Stop
V9P03Y144OZW38YC80IW1IJXWH4003501486415223
0x5639503033593134344F5A57333859433830495731494A58574834303033353031343836343135323233
+>10:40:52 AutoIt3.exe ended.rc:0
+>10:40:52 AutoIt3Wrapper Finished.
>Exit code: 0    Time: 0.544

Whenever ConsoleWrite is fed pure binary, it will output it as a string. Whenever a string is mixed with the binary, it outputs the binary as binary.

I found this especially confusing when I consulted the Help Documents for an answer...

Binary data is written as-is. It will not be converted to a string. To print the hex representation of binary data, use the String() function to explicitly cast the data to a string.

 

I'm sure I'm missing something, as usual. As always, thanks for your time!

Edited May 21, 2015 by BinaryBrother

[UEZ]

Seems to be a bug. Once something different than the variable is executed the string becomes a binary string.

Edited May 21, 2015 by UEZ

[jchd]

There is no bug here: MyFunc($BinaryVar) operates on the binary variable passed, but MyFunc("abc" & $BinaryVar) operates on the result of the expression, where the & operator forces conversion of $BinaryVar to a string, hence MyFunc is passed a string in this case.

ConsoleWrite is no different, except that it also converts AutoIt (Unicode) strings to ANSI and this causes non-Ansi characters to be replaced by question marks.

[BrewManNH]

There's a track ticket about this issue #2688.

[BinaryBrother]

There is no bug here: MyFunc($BinaryVar) operates on the binary variable passed, but MyFunc("abc" & $BinaryVar) operates on the result of the expression, where the & operator forces conversion of $BinaryVar to a string, hence MyFunc is passed a string in this case.

ConsoleWrite is no different, except that it also converts AutoIt (Unicode) strings to ANSI and this causes non-Ansi characters to be replaced by question marks.

​

The only thing is, it converts the binary to a string without using the '&' operator. The below is outputting a string to the console, despite being binary.

$Test = StringToBinary(DriveGetSerial("C:\"))
ConsoleWrite($Test)

Since ConsoleWrite is being fed binary and does not convert binary to string, should it not output binary?

Edited May 21, 2015 by BinaryBrother

[jchd]

From the specification of ConsoleWrite in the help file, no!

At the end of the day what we experience here is perfectly logical and conform, relative to specifications. That it may not directly fit somebody (you, me, anyone) today's or tomorrow's need is a complete different matter. Anyway, it's very easy to make it output exactly what's wanted, one way or the other.

[BinaryBrother]

This example just confuses me, so I'm going to stop poking the binary bear...

$Test = Binary(0x00204060)
ConsoleWrite("String: ")
ConsoleWrite($Test)
ConsoleWrite(@CRLF)
ConsoleWrite("Binary: " & $Test & @CRLF)
ConsoleWrite("MORE OUTPUT" & @CRLF)
ConsoleWrite("MORE OUTPUT" & @CRLF)
ConsoleWrite("MORE OUTPUT" & @CRLF)
ConsoleWrite("MORE OUTPUT" & @CRLF)
ConsoleWrite("MORE OUTPUT" & @CRLF)
ConsoleWrite("MORE OUTPUT" & @CRLF)
ConsoleWrite("MORE OUTPUT" & @CRLF)
ConsoleWrite("MORE OUTPUT" & @CRLF)
ConsoleWrite("MORE OUTPUT" & @CRLF)
ConsoleWrite("MORE OUTPUT" & @CRLF)
ConsoleWrite("MORE OUTPUT" & @CRLF)
ConsoleWrite("MORE OUTPUT" & @CRLF)
ConsoleWrite("MORE OUTPUT" & @CRLF)
ConsoleWrite("MORE OUTPUT" & @CRLF)

Output:

--> Press Ctrl+Alt+Break to Restart or Ctrl+Break to Stop
String: `@ +>11:36:54 AutoIt3.exe ended.rc:0
+>11:36:54 AutoIt3Wrapper Finished.
>Exit code: 0    Time: 0.2671

The output completely dies after ConsoleWrite($Test)...

Yeah, the lack of displaying pure binary is easy to fix and doesn't effect anything, really, because a MsgBox() confirms the binary is fine. I just found it lightly confusing. At first, I thought some variables were stubbornly not converting to binary and messed with it for a while trying to force binary conversion a few different ways, before I found that ConsoleWrite was messing with me...

Whoa... I know I'm starting to get off topic, but I just found a bunch of neat console tricks that I never knew!

ConsoleWrite('! = Red' & @CRLF) ; ! = red text color
ConsoleWrite('> = Blue' & @CRLF) ; > = blue text color
ConsoleWrite('- = Orange' & @CRLF) ; - = orange text color
ConsoleWrite('+ = Green' & @CRLF) ; + = green text color
ConsoleWrite('(5) : = Red (jump to line 5 when double-clicked)' & @CRLF) ; '(5) :' red text color and double click jumps to (line number)
ConsoleWrite('Start with String or Integer then ' & @TAB & '6' & ' = Pink (jump to line 6 when double-clicked)' & @CRLF)
; pink text color, any sign and then @TAB & 'line number'

; Example 1
ConsoleWrite('(' & @ScriptLineNumber & ') : = Red (jump to line ' & @ScriptLineNumber & ' when double-clicked)' & @CRLF)

; Clear console output pane of SciTE after 5000 ms
Sleep(5000)
ControlSend("[CLASS:SciTEWindow]", "", "Scintilla2", "+{F5}")

 

Edited May 21, 2015 by BinaryBrother

[jchd]

The first ConsoleWrite in your first binary example has a leading binary 0, which the console interprets as an end of string. That's why all subsequent ConsoleWrite don't show up.

[BinaryBrother]

Hrmm... I just never knew ConsoleWrite behaved this way.