Converting a hex string to a byte array

Question

What is the best way to convert a variable length hex string e.g. \"01A1\" to a byte array containing that data.

i.e converting this:

st         


        

Answer 1

In: "303132", Out: "012". Input string can be odd or even length.

char char2int(char input)
{
    if (input >= '0' && input <= '9')
        return input - '0';
    if (input >= 'A' && input <= 'F')
        return input - 'A' + 10;
    if (input >= 'a' && input <= 'f')
        return input - 'a' + 10;

    throw std::runtime_error("Incorrect symbol in hex string");
};

string hex2str(string &hex)
{
    string out;
    out.resize(hex.size() / 2 + hex.size() % 2);

    string::iterator it = hex.begin();
    string::iterator out_it = out.begin();
    if (hex.size() % 2 != 0) {
        *out_it++ = char(char2int(*it++));
    }

    for (; it < hex.end() - 1; it++) {
        *out_it++ = char2int(*it++) << 4 | char2int(*it);
    };

    return out;
}