_HexToString Function - invalid Conversion result since AutoIt Version 3.3.14.0

[Gunnar]

I'm using the _HexToString Function (included in String.au3 Library). The tool I coded with AutoIt in 2014 worked perfectly, but when I recompile with an actual AutoIt Version the Calculations have wrong results.

I digged into and found the root cause, the _HexToString Function does a bad job starting with AutoIt 3.3.14.0 (Released 10th July, 2015) . The Changelog says: "Changed: _HexToString() to _StringToHex() now handles strings and binary as UTF-8 by default."

OK, so you changed the internal handling. But in my opinion this should not lead to a wrong result.

To demonstrate the problem, I wrot some lines of sample code.

What I do is: Convert a Hex to a String, then convert the String to a Hex. I would expect, that the Input-HEX is the same as the output HEX. But you can see, that this is not the case, the output-Hex changes (starting with v3.3.14.0).

Workaround: Using my own _HexToStringAnsi and _StringToHexAnsi Functions which to the conversion like it was done ins String.au3 in older Versions.

Opt("MustDeclareVars", 1)

#include <String.au3>

Local $HEX        = "08045cb64115eb65e2466e1b5c19065def72e35b5402249e1159f279f9dd02b9"
Local $StringUTF8 = _HexToString($HEX)
Local $StringAnsi = _HexToStringAnsi($HEX)

ConsoleWrite("Demonstrating: AutoIt _HexToString and _StringToHex broken since Version 3.3.14.0 (uses UTF8 instead of ANSI)" & @CRLF)
ConsoleWrite("String ANSI:   " & $StringAnsi & @CRLF)
ConsoleWrite("String UTF8:   " & $StringUTF8 & @CRLF)
ConsoleWrite("HEX original input:      " & $HEX & @CRLF) ;
ConsoleWrite("HEX converted from Ansi: " & _StringToHexAnsi($StringAnsi) & @CRLF) ;
ConsoleWrite("HEX converted from UTF8: " & _StringToHexAnsi($StringUTF8) & @CRLF) ;


; Instead of using _StringtoHex and _HexToString from String.au3 using this self-made Functions:
Func _StringToHexAnsi($sString)
    Return Hex(StringToBinary($sString, $SB_ANSI))
EndFunc

Func _HexToStringAnsi($sHex)
    If Not (StringLeft($sHex, 2) == "0x") Then $sHex = "0x" & $sHex
    Return BinaryToString($sHex, $SB_ANSI)
EndFunc

Attached a Screenshot of the Output with most current AutoIt v3.3.14.5 (Released 16th March, 2018). 

[Gunnar]

Slightly modified, to demonstrate both Conversion Variants:

Opt("MustDeclareVars", 1)

#include <String.au3>

Local $HEX        = "08045cb64115eb65e2466e1b5c19065def72e35b5402249e1159f279f9dd02b9"
Local $StringUTF8 = _HexToString($HEX)
Local $StringAnsi = _HexToStringAnsi($HEX)

ConsoleWrite("Demonstrating: AutoIt _HexToString and _StringToHex broken since Version 3.3.14.0 (uses UTF8 instead of ANSI)" & @CRLF)
ConsoleWrite("String ANSI:   " & $StringAnsi & @CRLF)
ConsoleWrite("String UTF8:   " & $StringUTF8 & @CRLF)
ConsoleWrite("HEX original input:      " & $HEX & @CRLF) ;
ConsoleWrite("HEX converted from Ansi as Ansi: " & _StringToHexAnsi($StringAnsi) & @CRLF) ;
ConsoleWrite("HEX converted from UTF8 as Ansi: " & _StringToHexAnsi($StringUTF8) & @CRLF) ;
ConsoleWrite("HEX converted from UTF8 as UTF8: " & _StringToHex($StringUTF8) & @CRLF) ;


; Instead of using _StringtoHex and _HexToString from String.au3 using this self-made Functions:
Func _StringToHexAnsi($sString)
    Return Hex(StringToBinary($sString, $SB_ANSI))
EndFunc

Func _HexToStringAnsi($sHex)
    If Not (StringLeft($sHex, 2) == "0x") Then $sHex = "0x" & $sHex
    Return BinaryToString($sHex, $SB_ANSI)
EndFunc

Output: