How to Decode "=?utf-8?B?...?=" to string in C#

Question

I use Visual Studio 2010, C# to read Gmail inbox using IMAP, it works as a charm, but I think Unicode is not fully supported as I cannot get Persian (Farsi) strings easily.

For instance I have my string: سلام, but IMAP gives me: "=?utf-8?B?2LPZhNin2YU=?=".

How can I convert it to original string? any tips from converting utf-8 to string?

Answer 1

Let's have a look at the meaning of the MIME encoding:

=?utf-8?B?...something...?=
    ^   ^
    |   +--- The bytes are Base64 encoded
    |
    +---- The string is UTF-8 encoded

So, to decode this, take the ...something... out of your string (2LPZhNin2YU= in your case) and then

1. reverse the Base64 encoding

   var bytes = Convert.FromBase64String("2LPZhNin2YU=");
   

2. interpret the bytes as a UTF8 string

   var text = Encoding.UTF8.GetString(bytes);
   

text should now contain the desired result.

---

A description of this format can be found in Wikipedia:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIME#Encoded-Word

Answer 2

What you have is a MIME encoded string. .NET does not include libraries for MIME decoding, but you can either implement this yourself or use a library.