# ToBytes

| **Name**    | ***ToBytes***                                                                                                                                              |
| ----------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Syntax      | ToBytes (String str, String codePage)                                                                                                                      |
| Purpose     | To return a byte array in the given encoding.                                                                                                              |
| Description | Returns and array of bytes. Good as an intermediate structure to be used with other functions.                                                             |
| Return Type | Byte                                                                                                                                                       |
| Parameters  | <p>str \[System.String] – The string to convert</p><p>codepage \[System.String] – The code page that string is currently encoded in. Default is UTF-8.</p> |

![](https://github.com/astera-software/Astera_Data_Stack_v9/blob/main/.gitbook/assets/0%20\(1\)%20\(1\)%20\(1\)%20\(1\)%20\(1\).png)

**Example**

In this example, we are passing the required parameters to the function transformation object using a *Variables* object.

Where,

*str =* Hello World

*codepage* = UTF-8 (Default)

![](https://github.com/astera-software/Astera_Data_Stack_v9/blob/main/.gitbook/assets/1%20\(1\)%20\(1\)%20\(1\)%20\(1\)%20\(1\).png)

Right-click on the function transformation object and select *Preview Output.* You can see that Astera has returned the byte value of the specified UTF-8 string.

![](https://github.com/astera-software/Astera_Data_Stack_v9/blob/main/.gitbook/assets/2%20\(1\)%20\(1\)%20\(1\)%20\(1\)%20\(1\).png)