VBScript slow byte array copy

Question

I am using the following code to read in a binary file in VBScript and store it in a byte array which I then access from Javascript and copy to a JS array, basically just a sneaky way (the only way!) i've found of reading binary data in my JS.

Function readBinaryFile(fileName)
    dim inStream,buff

    set inStream=CreateObject("ADODB.Stream")
    inStream.Open
    inStream.type=1

    inStream.LoadFromFile fileName

    buff=inStream.Read()
    inStream.Close

    Dim byteArray()

    Dim i
    Dim len
    len = LenB(buff)

    ReDim byteArray(len)

    For i = 1 To len
        byteArray(i-1) = AscB(MidB(buff, i, 1))
    Next

    readBinaryFile=byteArray
End Function

It appears to work exactly as expected, the only problem being it seems extremely slow. For example, reading in a 300kb file can take over 2 minutes. I am expecting to read files up to around 2meg.

Could anyone explain why this is such a slow operation and if there's anything I can do to speed it up?

Thanks.

Shadow Wizard Is Vaccinated V3 Shadow Wizard Is Vaccinated V3 · Accepted Answer · 2010-12-20T14:04:18

The problem is the loop. Try using disconnected recordset to do the conversion:

Function RSBinaryToString(xBinary)
    'Antonin Foller, http://www.motobit.com
    'RSBinaryToString converts binary data (VT_UI1 | VT_ARRAY Or MultiByte string)
    'to a string (BSTR) using ADO recordset

    Dim Binary
    'MultiByte data must be converted To VT_UI1 | VT_ARRAY first.
    If vartype(xBinary)=8 Then Binary = MultiByteToBinary(xBinary) Else Binary = xBinary

    Dim RS, LBinary
    Const adLongVarChar = 201
    Set RS = CreateObject("ADODB.Recordset")
    LBinary = LenB(Binary)

    If LBinary>0 Then
        RS.Fields.Append "mBinary", adLongVarChar, LBinary
        RS.Open
        RS.AddNew
        RS("mBinary").AppendChunk Binary 
        RS.Update
        RSBinaryToString = RS("mBinary")
    Else  
        RSBinaryToString = ""
    End If
End Function

Function MultiByteToBinary(MultiByte)
    '© 2000 Antonin Foller, http://www.motobit.com
    ' MultiByteToBinary converts multibyte string To real binary data (VT_UI1 | VT_ARRAY)
    ' Using recordset
    Dim RS, LMultiByte, Binary
    Const adLongVarBinary = 205
    Set RS = CreateObject("ADODB.Recordset")
    LMultiByte = LenB(MultiByte)
    If LMultiByte>0 Then
        RS.Fields.Append "mBinary", adLongVarBinary, LMultiByte
        RS.Open
        RS.AddNew
        RS("mBinary").AppendChunk MultiByte & ChrB(0)
        RS.Update
        Binary = RS("mBinary").GetChunk(LMultiByte)
    End If
    MultiByteToBinary = Binary
End Function

In your case have readBinaryFile return the "ASCII contents" of the file and use it instead of the array: readBinaryFile = RSBinaryToString(buf)

VBScript slow byte array copy

3 Answers