Ok, you've got answers how to extract bytes from an (UTF-8) string. Good.

But I think the real question should be: Why don't you know what is in that string? If it can contain binary data and UTF-8 then you should know how it comes into your program. And there is the point you have work on.

For example: If you read the string from a file, you should know if it is a binary file (open it :bytes then) or a UTF-8 file (open it :utf8) or a EBCDIC file or Big5...

Or is it binary with embedded UTF-8 strings? Then open it :bytes and convert the extracted text pieces.

Note: Or aren't you working with UTF-8 at all? Then characters are bytes for you. No need to worry.

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In reply to Re: How do I safely, portably extract one or more bytes from a string? by Beechbone
in thread How do I safely, portably extract one or more bytes from a string? by Anonymous Monk

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