cfml

Hi, I have trouble with toBase64() and an image object.
I create an image with ImageNew() or imageCreateCaptcha().
I want to convert them into a base64 string.
In my local ACF2018/Java11 dev env: toBase64(img) returns an empty string.
Now I tried that on <http://trycf.com|trycf.com>
- ACF2018: null pointer exception
- Lucee: expected string
<https://trycf.com/gist/3db1910021fb61459fb255556893acdc/acf2018?theme=monokai>
Any ideas?

I don’t know about acf but Lucee has a very annoying bug in the ImageNew function. I discovered this when trying to test the totp module from forgebox|<https://luceeserver.atlassian.net/browse/LDEV-3964>

result:
_Parameter 1 of the BinaryEncode function, which is now coldfusion.image.Image@2af94e0, must be a valid binary object._

if I try `toBinary(img)`:
_The parameter 1 of function ToBinary, which is now coldfusion.image.Image@7263f3f must be a base-64 encoded string._

my image is created in realtime, not saved.

or i guess `binaryEncode( toBinary(imageObj), "base64" )`

see above: `toBinary()` results in an exception

try writing to ram:// file and then reading it as binary

the first example is what i use to save pdfs as base64 strings all the time

I have just thought of such a workaround as well: save to ramdisk and then read as binary.
But strange that this not work like expected :disappointed:

That's my workaround:
```myCfImage = ImageNew(...);
imageFilePath = 'ram://' &amp; createUUID() &amp; '.png';
myCfImage.write( imageFilePath );
myCfImage = fileReadBinary( imageFilePath );
fileDelete( imageFilePath );
myCfImageBase64 = toBase64( myCfImage );```

This is... odd, for sure. <@U0BJHDX1Q> just off the top of your head have you seen anything like this?

I think the problem with `ImageNew()` is that it doesn't set a file type when you create an image from scratch. There is a Java method, `getImageBytes()`, that appears to remedy this by allowing you to specify the file type:
```myImage = ImageNew("",500,500,"argb","white").getImageBytes("png");```
However, that turns your image object into a binary, so you'll need to send it back to ImageNew to turn it back into an image object:
```myImage = ImageNew(ImageNew("",500,500,"argb","white").getImageBytes("png"));```
Now you should be able to base64 encode it, or do anything else you could do if you had started with a source file.

That said, if base64 encoding is all you need, there is a shortcut:
```ImageNew("",500,500,"argb","white").getBase64String("png")```

Was it working before and stopped working recently? Also, have you tried with JDK8 and CF2018

<@U02MTG3DGVC> thnx for your explaination. the missing filetype makes sense.

<@U0BJHDX1Q> I never used it before. It's a new development.
CF2018 + JDK8: In this company I do not have a custom local environment to test something like that