What is the Buffer.writeUIntLE() method in Node.js?

The Buffer.writeUIntLE() method in Node.js writes a given number of bytes at a specified offset from a buffer in the Little Endianleast significant value is stored at the lowest storage address format.

Syntax

The Buffer.writeUIntLE() method can be declared as shown in the code snippet below:


Buffer.writeUIntLE(value, offset, byteCount)

Parameters

  • value: A 32 bit signed integer to be written in the buffer.

  • offset: The offset determines the number of bytes to skip before reading the buffer. In other words, it is the index of the buffer.

    • The value of offset should be range from 0 to (bufferLength - byteCount).
    • The default value of offset is 0.
  • byteCount: The number of bytes to be read.

    • The value of byteCount should range from 0 to 6.

Return value

The writeUIntLE() method returns an integer that offset + the number of bytes write to the buffer.

Code

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

const buff = Buffer.allocUnsafe(4);
buff.writeUIntLE(0x12345678, 0, 4);
console.log(buff);

Explanation

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

  • The writeUIntLE() method is used in line 3 to write 4 bytes from the index 0 in the little-endian format.

    As one index of the buffer is 8 bits, we need to write at 4 indices. The writeUIntLE() method writes at 4 indices of buff, starting from the index 0 i.e., index = 0 - index + 4 = 4.

    Since the code is in the Little Endian format, index 4 is written before index 3, index 3 is written before index 2, and so on.

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