How do I base64 encode a string efficiently using Excel VBA?

Question

I need to encode a 100KB+ string as base64 in VBA. Are there any built-in functions or COM objects available which will do this as a pure VBA approach is either complex or doesn't scale well at these volumes (see links from dbb and marxidad)?

Solution 1

You can use the MSXML Base64 encoding functionality as described at www.nonhostile.com/howto-encode-decode-base64-vb6.asp:

Function EncodeBase64(text As String) As String
  Dim arrData() As Byte
  arrData = StrConv(text, vbFromUnicode)      

  Dim objXML As MSXML2.DOMDocument
  Dim objNode As MSXML2.IXMLDOMElement

  Set objXML = New MSXML2.DOMDocument 
  Set objNode = objXML.createElement("b64")

  objNode.dataType = "bin.base64"
  objNode.nodeTypedValue = arrData
  EncodeBase64 = objNode.Text 

  Set objNode = Nothing
  Set objXML = Nothing
End Function

Solution 2

As Mark C points out, you can use the MSXML Base64 encoding functionality as described here.

I prefer late binding because it's easier to deploy, so here's the same function that will work without any VBA references:

Function EncodeBase64(text As String) As String
  Dim arrData() As Byte
  arrData = StrConv(text, vbFromUnicode)

  Dim objXML As Variant
  Dim objNode As Variant

  Set objXML = CreateObject("MSXML2.DOMDocument")
  Set objNode = objXML.createElement("b64")

  objNode.dataType = "bin.base64"
  objNode.nodeTypedValue = arrData
  EncodeBase64 = objNode.text

  Set objNode = Nothing
  Set objXML = Nothing
End Function