encode/decode Base-58 C++

Question

I have built a base-58 encoder using this formula: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GedV3S9X89c&feature=youtu.be

Is there a smarter way to encode/decode with base-58?

I read somewhere that you need a bignum library which I use Boost for.

My goal is to convert between these two:

008D4D508F5BF2C28B20A3863405F05D3CD374B045E4B316E7
1Dt8ty59tU9LkrXG2ocWeSzKFAY8fu6jga

Which so easily this website do: http://lenschulwitz.com/base58

I know bitcoin source code have a base-58 encoder/decoder, but I do not know how to implement it successfully.

this may help: https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/5829/how-do-i-base58-checked-encode-decode-an-address-in-c-what-does-normalize-l — Zombie, Jun 21 '18 at 11:12

score 3 · Answer 1 · answered Nov 18 '18 at 21:32

I used BIGNUM from openssl to encode hex with base58

 #include <string>
 #include <vector>
 #include <openssl/bn.h>

 string b58(const char *priv_hex)
 {
   char table[] = {'1','2','3','4','5','6','7','8','9','A','B','C','D','E','F','G','H','J','K','L','M','N','P','Q','R','S','T','U','V','W','X','Y','Z','a','b','c','d','e','f','g','h','i','j','k','m','n','o','p','q','r','s','t','u','v','w','x','y','z'};

BIGNUM *base58 = NULL;

BIGNUM *resultExp = BN_new();
BIGNUM *resultAdd = BN_new();
BIGNUM *resultRem = BN_new();
BN_CTX *bn_ctx = BN_CTX_new();

BN_dec2bn(&base58, "58");

string endresult;
vector<int> v;

BN_hex2bn( &resultAdd, priv_hex );

while( !BN_is_zero(resultAdd) ) {
    BN_div(resultAdd, resultRem, resultAdd, base58, bn_ctx);
    char *asdf = BN_bn2dec(resultRem);
    v.push_back(atoi(asdf));
}

for (int i = (int)v.size()-1; i >= 0; i--) {
    endresult = endresult + table[v[i]];
}

BN_free(resultAdd);
BN_free(resultExp);
BN_free(resultRem);
BN_CTX_free(bn_ctx);

return endresult;
}

and then use it like this:

string ttest = "008D4D508F5BF2C28B20A3863405F05D3CD374B045E4B316E7";
const char *phex = ttest.c_str();
string ret = b58(phex);
cout << ret << endl;

"Dt8ty59tU9LkrXG2ocWeSzKFAY8fu6jga"

I have sill a problem with leading zeros. I try to fix this as well — Markus, Nov 18 '18 at 21:50
Look for specific leading 0s in the input ... for( int i=0 ; i — Richard, Apr 01 '21 at 00:41

MCCCS · Accepted Answer · 2020-06-07T08:06:18.140

I've used Base58 encoding/decoding many times. On the contrary, I hated using a BIGNUM library. So, I used Base-x's base conversion algorithm. (Make sure to respect the MIT license) It should be easy to translate it to any language.

const char * const ALPHABET =
    "123456789ABCDEFGHJKLMNPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijkmnopqrstuvwxyz";
const char ALPHABET_MAP[256] = {
    -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1,
    -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1,
    -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1,
    -1,  0,  1,  2,  3,  4,  5,  6,  7,  8, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1,
    -1,  9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, -1, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, -1,
    22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1,
    -1, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, -1, 44, 45, 46,
    47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1,
    -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1,
    -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1,
    -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1,
    -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1,
    -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1,
    -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1,
    -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1,
    -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1,
};

const double iFactor = 1.36565823730976103695740418120764243208481439700722980119458355862779176747360903943915516885072037696111192757109;

// reslen is the allocated length for result, feel free to overallocate
int EncodeBase58(const unsigned char *source, int len, unsigned char result[], int reslen) {
    int zeros = 0, length = 0, pbegin = 0, pend;
    if (!(pend = len)) return 0;
    while (pbegin != pend && !source[pbegin]) pbegin = ++zeros;
    int size = 1 + iFactor * (double)(pend - pbegin);
    unsigned char b58[size];
    for (int i = 0; i < size; i++) b58[i] = 0;
    while (pbegin != pend) {
        unsigned int carry = source[pbegin];
        int i = 0;
        for (int it1 = size - 1; (carry || i < length) && (it1 != -1); it1--,i++) {
            carry += 256 * b58[it1];
            b58[it1] = carry % 58;
            carry /= 58;
        }
        if (carry) return 0;
        length = i;
        pbegin++;
    }
    int it2 = size - length;
    while ((it2-size) && !b58[it2]) it2++;
    if ((zeros + size - it2 + 1) > reslen) return 0;
    int ri = 0;
    while(ri < zeros) result[ri++] = '1';
    for (; it2 < size; ++it2) result[ri++] = ALPHABET[b58[it2]];
    result[ri] = 0;
    return ri;
}

// result must be declared (for the worst case): char result[len * 2];
int DecodeBase58(
    const unsigned char *str, int len, unsigned char *result) {
    result[0] = 0;
    int resultlen = 1;
    for (int i = 0; i < len; i++) {
        unsigned int carry = (unsigned int) ALPHABET_MAP[str[i]];
        if (carry == -1) return 0;
        for (int j = 0; j < resultlen; j++) {
            carry += (unsigned int) (result[j]) * 58;
            result[j] = (unsigned char) (carry & 0xff);
            carry >>= 8;
        }
        while (carry > 0) {
            result[resultlen++] = carry & 0xff;
            carry >>= 8;
        }
    }

    for (int i = 0; i < len && str[i] == '1'; i++)
        result[resultlen++] = 0;

    // Poorly coded, but guaranteed to work.
    for (int i = resultlen - 1, z = (resultlen >> 1) + (resultlen & 1);
        i >= z; i--) {
        int k = result[i];
        result[i] = result[resultlen - i - 1];
        result[resultlen - i - 1] = k;
    }
    return resultlen;
}

Cool. What would be a quick example on how to use this code? — dalslandan200, Jun 21 '18 at 14:08
**DO NOT** use the above code... It quite simply doesn't work. I've spent a long time debugging my code only to find out it was this God awful implementation of a Base58 encoder and decoder. Did you even TEST this code before you pasted it here??? — The Welder, May 28 '20 at 14:14
Duh, had always been calling encode with the result array initialized to zero. — MCCCS, May 28 '20 at 15:07
@MCCCS It's not the output array that needs to be initialised to zero, it's the **unsigned char digits[len * 137 / 100];** array that does because of **carry += (unsigned int) (digits[j]) << 8;** — The Welder, Jun 06 '20 at 21:36
@MCCCS Also you have a **MUCH** bigger problem with these algorithms. With your encoder, if you try encoding data beginning with 0, or even just a single 0 byte, your output will be "11" encoded when it should be "1". Secondly, with your decoder, if you supply characters outside of the ASCII range, you can start to read outside of your 128 byte mapping array. That's why the bitcoin implementation uses 256 bytes and there's a cast to uint8_t. — The Welder, Jun 06 '20 at 21:42
@TheWelder No, `digits[len * 137/100]` doesn't need to be initialized. Its first element is initalized to zero and in the beginning `digitslen` is 1. Every time `digitslen` is increased, the new element is assigned a value. But this doesn't matter anymore. — MCCCS, Jun 07 '20 at 10:09
@MCCCS You're right, didn't notice the added initialisation of the first element. Anyway, have added my implementation below with a fuzz tester to ensure that it works. — The Welder, Jun 07 '20 at 13:25

score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Jun 07 '20 at 13:23

Have added my own implementation, complete with a fuzz tester to ensure that it works properly. (The CodecMapping parameter is provided so that you can change the alphabet string as I've had to do from time to time)

#include <vector>
#include <random>
#include <string>
#include <algorithm>
#include <iomanip>
#include <iostream>

inline static constexpr const uint8_t Base58Map[] = {
  '1', '2', '3', '4', '5', '6', '7', '8',
  '9', 'A', 'B', 'C', 'D', 'E', 'F', 'G',
  'H', 'J', 'K', 'L', 'M', 'N', 'P', 'Q',
  'R', 'S', 'T', 'U', 'V', 'W', 'X', 'Y',
  'Z', 'a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e', 'f', 'g',
  'h', 'i', 'j', 'k', 'm', 'n', 'o', 'p',
  'q', 'r', 's', 't', 'u', 'v', 'w', 'x',
  'y', 'z' };
inline static constexpr const uint8_t AlphaMap[] = {
  0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff,
  0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff,
  0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff,
  0xff, 0x00, 0x01, 0x02, 0x03, 0x04, 0x05, 0x06, 0x07, 0x08, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff,
  0xff, 0x09, 0x0a, 0x0b, 0x0c, 0x0d, 0x0e, 0x0f, 0x10, 0xff, 0x11, 0x12, 0x13, 0x14, 0x15, 0xff,
  0x16, 0x17, 0x18, 0x19, 0x1a, 0x1b, 0x1c, 0x1d, 0x1e, 0x1f, 0x20, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff,
  0xff, 0x21, 0x22, 0x23, 0x24, 0x25, 0x26, 0x27, 0x28, 0x29, 0x2a, 0x2b, 0xff, 0x2c, 0x2d, 0x2e,
  0x2f, 0x30, 0x31, 0x32, 0x33, 0x34, 0x35, 0x36, 0x37, 0x38, 0x39, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff };

using CodecMapping = struct _codecmapping
{
  _codecmapping(const uint8_t* amap, const uint8_t* bmap) : AlphaMapping(amap), BaseMapping(bmap) {}
  const uint8_t* AlphaMapping;
  const uint8_t* BaseMapping;
};

std::string Base58Encode(const std::vector<uint8_t>& data, CodecMapping mapping)
{
  std::vector<uint8_t> digits((data.size() * 138 / 100) + 1);
  size_t digitslen = 1;
  for (size_t i = 0; i < data.size(); i++)
  {
    uint32_t carry = static_cast<uint32_t>(data[i]);
    for (size_t j = 0; j < digitslen; j++)
    {
      carry = carry + static_cast<uint32_t>(digits[j] << 8);
      digits[j] = static_cast<uint8_t>(carry % 58);
      carry /= 58;
    }
    for (; carry; carry /= 58)
      digits[digitslen++] = static_cast<uint8_t>(carry % 58);
  }
  std::string result;
  for (size_t i = 0; i < (data.size() - 1) && !data[i]; i++)
    result.push_back(mapping.BaseMapping[0]);
  for (size_t i = 0; i < digitslen; i++)
    result.push_back(mapping.BaseMapping[digits[digitslen - 1 - i]]);
  return result;
}

std::vector<uint8_t> Base58Decode(const std::string& data, CodecMapping mapping)
{
  std::vector<uint8_t> result((data.size() * 138 / 100) + 1);
  size_t resultlen = 1;
  for (size_t i = 0; i < data.size(); i++)
  {
    uint32_t carry = static_cast<uint32_t>(mapping.AlphaMapping[data[i] & 0x7f]);
    for (size_t j = 0; j < resultlen; j++, carry >>= 8)
    {
      carry += static_cast<uint32_t>(result[j] * 58);
      result[j] = static_cast<uint8_t>(carry);
    }
    for (; carry; carry >>=8)
      result[resultlen++] = static_cast<uint8_t>(carry);
  }
  result.resize(resultlen);
  for (size_t i = 0; i < (data.size() - 1) && data[i] == mapping.BaseMapping[0]; i++)
    result.push_back(0);
  std::reverse(result.begin(), result.end());
  return result;
}

// Fuzz Testing the Encoder & Decoder
int main(int argc, char** argv)
{
  std::random_device device;
  std::mt19937 generator(device());
  std::uniform_int_distribution d1(1, 100);
  std::uniform_int_distribution d2(0, 255);
  CodecMapping mapping(AlphaMap, Base58Map);

  auto create_data = [&]() -> std::vector<uint8_t> {
    std::vector<uint8_t> data(d1(generator));
    std::cout << "Generating: " << std::dec << static_cast<int>(data.size()) << " points\nPoints:\n";
    for (uint8_t& v : data)
    {
      v = static_cast<uint8_t>(d2(generator));
      std::cout << std::uppercase << std::hex << std::setw(2) << std::setfill('0') << static_cast<int>(v);
    }
    std::cout << std::endl;
    return data;
  };

  std::vector<uint8_t> test_data, decoded_data;
  std::string encoded_data;
  size_t passed = 0;

  for (size_t i = 0; i < 1000; i++)    // Number of tests here!
  {
    test_data = create_data();
    encoded_data = Base58Encode(test_data, mapping);
    decoded_data = Base58Decode(encoded_data, mapping);

    std::cout << "Encoded\n" << encoded_data << "\nDecoded:\n";

    for (uint8_t d : decoded_data)
      std::cout << std::uppercase << std::hex << std::setw(2) << std::setfill('0') << static_cast<int>(d);

    std::cout << "\nTest Result: ";
    if (test_data.size() == decoded_data.size() && test_data == decoded_data)
    {
      std::cout << "PASSED\n";
      passed++;
    }
    else
    {
      std::cout << "FAILED\n";
      break;
    }
    std::cout << std::endl;
  }
  std::cout << "Passed Tests: " << std::dec << static_cast<int>(passed) << std::endl;
  return 0;
}

James Stevens · Answer 4 · 2022-02-22T17:54:42.410

For those who prefer a bit of old skool C, here's my interpretation of @Markus' answer in C

I've tried to keep the code as close to his original code as possible - returns zero on success or -1 or -2 if it runs out of buffer space.

I've included a test string I use & one he provided.

#include <openssl/bn.h>
#include <string.h>

int b58(const char *priv_hex, char * endresult, int end_sz)
{
char table[] = {'1','2','3','4','5','6','7','8','9','A','B','C','D','E','F','G','H',
    'J','K','L','M','N','P','Q','R','S','T','U','V','W','X','Y','Z','a','b','c','d',
    'e','f','g','h','i','j','k','m','n','o','p','q','r','s','t','u','v','w','x','y','z'};

BIGNUM *base58 = NULL;

BIGNUM *resultExp = BN_new();
BIGNUM *resultAdd = BN_new();
BIGNUM *resultRem = BN_new();
BN_CTX *bn_ctx = BN_CTX_new();
int v[300],v_len=0;

    BN_dec2bn(&base58, "58");
    BN_hex2bn( &resultAdd, priv_hex );
    memset(v,0,sizeof(v));

    while( !BN_is_zero(resultAdd) ) {
        BN_div(resultAdd, resultRem, resultAdd, base58, bn_ctx);
        char *asdf = BN_bn2dec(resultRem);
        if ((v_len+1) >= (int)sizeof(v)) return -1;
        v[v_len++] = atoi(asdf);
    }

    if (v_len >= (end_sz-1)) {
        *endresult = 0;
        return -2;
        }

    for(int i = 0;i<v_len;i++) endresult[v_len-i-1] = table[v[i]];
    endresult[v_len] = 0;

    BN_free(resultAdd);
    BN_free(resultExp);
    BN_free(resultRem);
    BN_CTX_free(bn_ctx);

    return 0;
}

main()
{
char * correct = "3MU5WsLWqbK6o9buaD4HtXK1KgozcV8BWj";
char * hex_src = "05d8f01b4132f0c3e290c30788d229811102820524dbc1f61c";
char res[250];

b58(hex_src,res,sizeof(res));
printf("ANS: %s\nTST: %s\n",res,correct);

char * test_q = "008D4D508F5BF2C28B20A3863405F05D3CD374B045E4B316E7";
char * test_ans = "Dt8ty59tU9LkrXG2ocWeSzKFAY8fu6jga";

b58(test_q,res,sizeof(res));
printf("ANS: %s\nTST: %s\n",res,test_ans);
}

encode/decode Base-58 C++

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