How to convert Data to hex string in swift

I want the hexadecimal representation of a Data value in Swift.

Eventually I'd want to use it like this:

let data = Data(base64Encoded: "aGVsbG8gd29ybGQ=")!
print(data.hexString)

A simple implementation (taken from https://stackoverflow.com/questions/25761344/how-to-crypt-string-to-sha1-with-swift/25762128#25762128, with an additional option for uppercase output) would be

extension Data {
    struct HexEncodingOptions: OptionSet {
        let rawValue: Int
        static let upperCase = HexEncodingOptions(rawValue: 1 << 0)
    }

    func hexEncodedString(options: HexEncodingOptions = []) -> String {
        let format = options.contains(.upperCase) ? "%02hhX" : "%02hhx"
        return self.map { String(format: format, $0) }.joined()
    }
}

I chose a hexEncodedString(options:) method in the style of the existing method base64EncodedString(options:).

Data conforms to the Collection protocol, therefore one can use map() to map each byte to the corresponding hex string. The %02x format prints the argument in base 16, filled up to two digits with a leading zero if necessary. The hh modifier causes the argument (which is passed as an integer on the stack) to be treated as a one byte quantity. One could omit the modifier here because $0 is an unsigned number (UInt8) and no sign-extension will occur, but it does no harm leaving it in.

The result is then joined to a single string.

Example:

let data = Data([0, 1, 127, 128, 255])
// For Swift < 4.2 use:
// let data = Data(bytes: [0, 1, 127, 128, 255])
print(data.hexEncodedString()) // 00017f80ff
print(data.hexEncodedString(options: .upperCase)) // 00017F80FF

---

The following implementation is faster by a factor about 50 (tested with 1000 random bytes). It is inspired to RenniePet's solution and Nick Moore's solution, but takes advantage of String(unsafeUninitializedCapacity:initializingUTF8With:) which was introduced with Swift 5.3/Xcode 12 and is available on macOS 11 and iOS 14 or newer.

This method allows to create a Swift string from UTF-8 units efficiently, without unnecessary copying or reallocations.

An alternative implementation for older macOS/iOS versions is also provided.

extension Data {
    struct HexEncodingOptions: OptionSet {
        let rawValue: Int
        static let upperCase = HexEncodingOptions(rawValue: 1 << 0)
    }

    func hexEncodedString(options: HexEncodingOptions = []) -> String {
        let hexDigits = options.contains(.upperCase) ? "0123456789ABCDEF" : "0123456789abcdef"
        if #available(macOS 11.0, iOS 14.0, watchOS 7.0, tvOS 14.0, *) {
            let utf8Digits = Array(hexDigits.utf8)
            return String(unsafeUninitializedCapacity: 2 * self.count) { (ptr) -> Int in
                var p = ptr.baseAddress!
                for byte in self {
                    p[0] = utf8Digits[Int(byte / 16)]
                    p[1] = utf8Digits[Int(byte % 16)]
                    p += 2
                }
                return 2 * self.count
            }
        } else {
            let utf16Digits = Array(hexDigits.utf16)
            var chars: [unichar] = []
            chars.reserveCapacity(2 * self.count)
            for byte in self {
                chars.append(utf16Digits[Int(byte / 16)])
                chars.append(utf16Digits[Int(byte % 16)])
            }
            return String(utf16CodeUnits: chars, count: chars.count)
        }
    }
}

This code extends the Data type with a computed property. It iterates through the bytes of data and concatenates the byte's hex representation to the result:

extension Data {
    var hexDescription: String {
        return reduce("") {$0 + String(format: "%02x", $1)}
    }
}

My version. It's about 10 times faster than the [original] accepted answer by Martin R.

public extension Data {
    private static let hexAlphabet = Array("0123456789abcdef".unicodeScalars)
    func hexStringEncoded() -> String {
        String(reduce(into: "".unicodeScalars) { result, value in
            result.append(Self.hexAlphabet[Int(value / 0x10)])
            result.append(Self.hexAlphabet[Int(value % 0x10)])
        })
    }
}

Swift 4 - From Data to Hex String
Based upon Martin R's solution but even a tiny bit faster.

extension Data {
  /// A hexadecimal string representation of the bytes.
  func hexEncodedString() -> String {
    let hexDigits = Array("0123456789abcdef".utf16)
    var hexChars = [UTF16.CodeUnit]()
    hexChars.reserveCapacity(count * 2)

    for byte in self {
      let (index1, index2) = Int(byte).quotientAndRemainder(dividingBy: 16)
      hexChars.append(hexDigits[index1])
      hexChars.append(hexDigits[index2])
    }

    return String(utf16CodeUnits: hexChars, count: hexChars.count)
  }
}

Swift 4 - From Hex String to Data
I've also added a fast solution for converting a hex String into Data (based on a C solution).

extension String {
  /// A data representation of the hexadecimal bytes in this string.
  func hexDecodedData() -> Data {
    // Get the UTF8 characters of this string
    let chars = Array(utf8)

    // Keep the bytes in an UInt8 array and later convert it to Data
    var bytes = [UInt8]()
    bytes.reserveCapacity(count / 2)

    // It is a lot faster to use a lookup map instead of strtoul
    let map: [UInt8] = [
      0x00, 0x01, 0x02, 0x03, 0x04, 0x05, 0x06, 0x07, // 01234567
      0x08, 0x09, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, // 89:;<=>?
      0x00, 0x0a, 0x0b, 0x0c, 0x0d, 0x0e, 0x0f, 0x00, // @ABCDEFG
      0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00  // HIJKLMNO
    ]

    // Grab two characters at a time, map them and turn it into a byte
    for i in stride(from: 0, to: count, by: 2) {
      let index1 = Int(chars[i] & 0x1F ^ 0x10)
      let index2 = Int(chars[i + 1] & 0x1F ^ 0x10)
      bytes.append(map[index1] << 4 | map[index2])
    }

    return Data(bytes)
  }
}

Note: this function does not validate the input. Make sure that it is only used for hexadecimal strings with (an even amount of) characters.

This doesn't really answer the OP's question since it works on a Swift byte array, not a Data object. And it's much bigger than the other answers. But it should be more efficient since it avoids using String(format: ).

Anyway, in the hopes someone finds this useful ...

public class StringMisc {
   
   // MARK: - Constants
   
   // This is used by the byteArrayToHexString() method
   private static let CHexLookup : [Character] =
      [ "0", "1", "2", "3", "4", "5", "6", "7", "8", "9", "A", "B", "C", "D", "E", "F" ]
   
   
   // Mark: - Public methods
   
   /// Method to convert a byte array into a string containing hex characters, without any
   /// additional formatting.
   public static func byteArrayToHexString(_ byteArray : [UInt8]) -> String {
      
      var stringToReturn = ""
      
      for oneByte in byteArray {
         let asInt = Int(oneByte)
         stringToReturn.append(StringMisc.CHexLookup[asInt >> 4])
         stringToReturn.append(StringMisc.CHexLookup[asInt & 0x0f])
      }
      return stringToReturn
   }
}

Test case:

  // Test the byteArrayToHexString() method
  let byteArray : [UInt8] = [ 0x25, 0x99, 0xf3 ]
  assert(StringMisc.byteArrayToHexString(byteArray) == "2599F3")

Backward compatible and fast solution:

extension Data {
    /// Fast convert to hex by reserving memory (instead of mapping and join).
    public func toHex(uppercase: Bool = false) -> String {
        // Constants (Hex has 2 characters for each Byte).
        let size = self.count * 2;
        let degitToCharMap = Array((
            uppercase ? "0123456789ABCDEF" : "0123456789abcdef"
        ).utf16);
        // Reserve dynamic memory (plus one for null termination).
        let buffer = UnsafeMutablePointer<unichar>.allocate(capacity: size + 1);
        // Convert each byte.
        var index = 0
        for byte in self {
            buffer[index] = degitToCharMap[Int(byte / 16)];
            index += 1;
            buffer[index] = degitToCharMap[Int(byte % 16)];
            index += 1;
        }
        // Set Null termination.
        buffer[index] = 0;
        // Casts to string (without any copying).
        return String(utf16CodeUnitsNoCopy: buffer,
                      count: size, freeWhenDone: true)
    }
}

>Note that above passes ownership of buffer to returned String object. > >Also know that, because Swift's internal String data is UTF16 (but can be UTF8 since Swift 5), all solutions provided in accepted answer do full copy (and are slower), at least if NOT #available(macOS 11.0, iOS 14.0, watchOS 7.0, tvOS 14.0, *) ;-) > >As mentioned on my profile, usage under Apache 2.0 license is allowed too (without attribution need).

A bit different from other answers here:

extension DataProtocol {
	func hexEncodedString(uppercase: Bool = false) -> String {
		return self.map {
			if $0 < 16 {
				return "0" + String($0, radix: 16, uppercase: uppercase)
			} else {
				return String($0, radix: 16, uppercase: uppercase)
			}
		}.joined()
	}
}

However in my basic XCTest + measure setup this was fastest of the 4 I tried.

Going through a 1000 bytes of (the same) random data 100 times each:

Above: Time average: 0.028 seconds, relative standard deviation: 1.3%

MartinR: Time average: 0.037 seconds, relative standard deviation: 6.2%

Zyphrax: Time average: 0.032 seconds, relative standard deviation: 2.9%

NickMoore: Time average: 0.039 seconds, relative standard deviation: 2.0%

Repeating the test returned the same relative results. (Nick and Martins sometimes swapped)

Maybe not the fastest, but data.map({ String($0, radix: 16) }).joined() does the job. As mentioned in the comments, this solution was flawed.