code: public String encode(String str) throws IOException {
      	byte[] array;
      	try { 
      		array = str.getBytes(encoding);
      	} catch (IOException e) {
      		array = str.getBytes(); // take default
      	}
      	// Calculate expected size to avoid any buffer expansion copies within the ByteArrayOutput code
      	ByteArrayOutputStream baos = new ByteArrayOutputStream((int)(array.length*1.363)); // account for 4 bytes for 3 and a byte or two more
      	
      	encode(new ByteArrayInputStream(array),baos);
      	return baos.toString(encoding);
      }
docs: Helper function for String API of "Encode"
  use "getBytes" with appropriate char encoding, etc.
  
  @param str
  @return
  @throws IOException