Basically ArrayBuffer is used to keep binary data. It can be the binary data of an image for example.
In other languages buffers are proved very useful. Yes, of course it is a little more difficult to understand/use than other data types.
ArrayBuffer can be used to get data of jpg image (RGB bytes) and produce a png out of it by adding alpha byte (i.e. RGBA).
Mozilla site has given a small use of ArrayBuffer here
Answer from Imdad on Stack OverflowWorking with complex data structures
By combining a single buffer with multiple views of different types, starting at different offsets into the buffer, you can interact with data objects containing multiple data types. This lets you, for example, interact with complex data structures from WebGL, data files, or C structures you need to use while using js-ctypes.
Consider this C structure:
struct someStruct { unsigned long id; char username[16]; float amountDue; };You can access a buffer containing data in this format like this:
var buffer = new ArrayBuffer(24); // ... read the data into the buffer ... var idView = new Uint32Array(buffer, 0, 1); var usernameView = new Uint8Array(buffer, 4, 16); var amountDueView = new Float32Array(buffer, 20, 1);Then you can access, for example, the amount due with
amountDueView[0].Note: The data structure alignment in a C structure is platform-dependent. Take precautions and considerations for these padding differences.
Basically ArrayBuffer is used to keep binary data. It can be the binary data of an image for example.
In other languages buffers are proved very useful. Yes, of course it is a little more difficult to understand/use than other data types.
ArrayBuffer can be used to get data of jpg image (RGB bytes) and produce a png out of it by adding alpha byte (i.e. RGBA).
Mozilla site has given a small use of ArrayBuffer here
Working with complex data structures
By combining a single buffer with multiple views of different types, starting at different offsets into the buffer, you can interact with data objects containing multiple data types. This lets you, for example, interact with complex data structures from WebGL, data files, or C structures you need to use while using js-ctypes.
Consider this C structure:
struct someStruct { unsigned long id; char username[16]; float amountDue; };You can access a buffer containing data in this format like this:
var buffer = new ArrayBuffer(24); // ... read the data into the buffer ... var idView = new Uint32Array(buffer, 0, 1); var usernameView = new Uint8Array(buffer, 4, 16); var amountDueView = new Float32Array(buffer, 20, 1);Then you can access, for example, the amount due with
amountDueView[0].Note: The data structure alignment in a C structure is platform-dependent. Take precautions and considerations for these padding differences.
An ArrayBuffer is a chunk of binary data in RAM. There are a few ways to "open" an ArrayBuffer for reading and writing:
Typed arrays, such as
Uint16Array, can read and write the buffer by treating it as an array of integers. They don't let you control endianness; it uses the CPU's preferred endianness.Uint8Arrayis useful for controlling individual bytes (copying, slicing, etc).DataViewis not as simple, but it gives you more control. It lets you choose the endianness, integer size, and byte index (e.g. you can access a 32 bit integer at an index that's not divisible by 32 bits). These things can be specified each time you read and write an integer with the sameDataView.
More info: https://javascript.info/arraybuffer-binary-arrays
Hello,
I am trying to learn more about websockets, and to practice I’ve been reverse-engineering the communications between the client and server for basic html games.
For the super simple ones, it’s really easy — the client and server just send each other 8-9 element long arrays with information such as “x position” and “y position” for every nearby object.
But recently I tried this method with a more complex game (diep.io) and I’ve encountered some problems. After I found the right websocket (which took a while — there are many decoys), the data I get is just an “ArrayBuffer”, and I have no idea what this is.
When I see in the console: ArrayBuffer(1) or some other number, does this mean there is only one element in the array? How do I access this data? I’ve tried solutions online but nothing can reliably convert this messy data format into a simple array. It seems like the usual problem is that my array contains data a specific function does not expect and I get an offset error.
Thanks for the help!