What is Buffer.writeUInt16BE() method Node.js?

The writeUInt16BE() method

The writeUInt16BE() method in Node.js writes a 16 bits unsigned integer at a specified offset from a buffer in the Big Endianmost significant value is stored at the lowest storage address format.

Syntax

The writeUInt16BE() method can be declared as shown in the code snippet below:

Buffer.writeUInt16BE(value, offset)

Parameters

  • value: A 16 bit signed integer to be written in the buffer.

  • offset: The offset determines the number of bytes to skip before writing to the buffer.

    In other words, it is the index of the buffer.

  • The value of offset should be range from 0 to (bufferLength - 2).
  • The default value of offset is 0.

Return value

The writeUInt16BE() method returns an integer that has a value offset plus the number of bytes written to the buffer.

Code

The code snippet below demonstrates the use of the writeUInt16BE() method:

const buff = Buffer.allocUnsafe(2);
  
buff.writeUInt16BE(0x1234, 0);
  
console.log(buff);

Explanation

  • In line 1, we declare a buffer, buff.

  • The writeUInt16BE() method is used in line 3 to write 16 bits from index 0 in the big-endian format.

    As one index of the buffer is 8 bits, we need to write at 2 indices.

  • The writeUInt16BE() method writes at 2 indices of buff starting from index 0 i.e., index = 0 - index + 2 - 1 = 1.

    Since the code is in the Big Endian format, index 0 is written before index 1.

Free Resources

License: Creative Commons-Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC-BY-SA 4.0)