diff --git a/code/nel/include/nel/misc/common.h b/code/nel/include/nel/misc/common.h
index 180139ec0..eb70fce9e 100644
--- a/code/nel/include/nel/misc/common.h
+++ b/code/nel/include/nel/misc/common.h
@@ -233,6 +233,26 @@ char		toLower ( const char ch );	// convert only one character
 std::string	toUpper ( const std::string &str);
 void		toUpper ( char *str);
 
+
+/**
+ *  Convert to an hexadecimal std::string
+ */
+std::string toHexa(const uint8 &b);
+std::string toHexa(const uint8 *data, uint size);
+std::string toHexa(const std::string &str);
+std::string toHexa(const char *str);
+
+/**
+*  Convert from an hexadecimal std::string
+*/
+bool fromHexa(const std::string &hexa, uint8 &b);
+bool fromHexa(const std::string &hexa, uint8 *data);
+bool fromHexa(const std::string &hexa, std::string &str);
+bool fromHexa(const char *hexa, uint8 &b);
+bool fromHexa(const char *hexa, uint8 *data);
+bool fromHexa(const char *hexa, std::string &str);
+bool fromHexa(const char hexa, uint8 &b);
+
 // Remove all the characters <= 32 (tab, space, new line, return, vertical tab etc..) at the beginning and at the end of a string
 template <class T> T trim (const T &str)
 {
diff --git a/code/nel/src/misc/common.cpp b/code/nel/src/misc/common.cpp
index 23b02e668..bb6badd18 100644
--- a/code/nel/src/misc/common.cpp
+++ b/code/nel/src/misc/common.cpp
@@ -662,6 +662,109 @@ void		toUpper(char *str)
 	}
 }
 
+std::string toHexa(const uint8 &b)
+{
+	return toString("%02hhx", b);
+}
+
+std::string toHexa(const uint8 *data, uint size)
+{
+	std::string res;
+
+	// hexadecimal string will be always twice the original size
+	res.reserve(size * 2);
+
+	// process each byte
+	for (uint i = 0; i < size; ++i)
+	{
+		res += toHexa(data[i]);
+	}
+
+	return res;
+}
+
+std::string toHexa(const std::string &str)
+{
+	return toHexa((uint8*)str.c_str(), (uint)str.length());
+}
+
+std::string toHexa(const char *str)
+{
+	return toHexa((uint8*)str, (uint)strlen(str));
+}
+
+bool fromHexa(const std::string &hexa, uint8 &b)
+{
+	return fromHexa(hexa.c_str(), b);
+}
+
+bool fromHexa(const std::string &hexa, uint8 *data)
+{
+	return fromHexa(hexa.c_str(), data);
+}
+
+bool fromHexa(const std::string &hexa, std::string &str)
+{
+	return fromHexa(hexa.c_str(), str);
+}
+
+bool fromHexa(const char *hexa, uint8 &b)
+{
+	char c1 = *hexa;
+	char c2 = *(hexa+1);
+	uint8 x1, x2;
+	if (!fromHexa(c1, x1)) return false;
+	if (!fromHexa(c2, x2)) return false;
+	
+	b = (x1 << 4) | x2;
+
+	return true;
+}
+
+bool fromHexa(const char *hexa, uint8 *data)
+{
+	// length of the string
+	uint len = strlen(hexa);
+
+	// process each byte
+	for (uint i = 0; i < len; i += 2)
+	{
+		if (!fromHexa(hexa + i, *(data++))) return false;
+	}
+
+	return true;
+}
+
+bool fromHexa(const char *hexa, std::string &str)
+{
+	str.resize(strlen(hexa) * 2);
+
+	return fromHexa(hexa, (uint8*)str.c_str());
+}
+
+bool fromHexa(const char hexa, uint8 &b)
+{
+	if (hexa >= '0' && hexa <= '9')
+	{
+		b = hexa - '0';
+		return true;
+	}
+	
+	if (hexa >= 'A' && hexa <= 'F')
+	{
+		b = hexa - 'A' + 10;
+		return true;
+	}
+	
+	if (hexa >= 'a' && hexa <= 'f')
+	{
+		b = hexa - 'a' + 10;
+		return true;
+	}
+
+	return false;
+}
+
 std::string formatThousands(const std::string& s)
 {
 	sint i, k;
diff --git a/code/nel/src/misc/md5.cpp b/code/nel/src/misc/md5.cpp
index eaf9df6cc..052bfa0b2 100644
--- a/code/nel/src/misc/md5.cpp
+++ b/code/nel/src/misc/md5.cpp
@@ -118,31 +118,6 @@ CHashKeyMD5 getMD5(const uint8 *buffer, uint32 size)
 	return Message_Digest;
 }
 
-// ****************************************************************************
-// Helper
-// ****************************************************************************
-static bool fromHex(char c, uint8 &x)
-{
-	if (c >= '0' && c <= '9')
-	{
-		x = c - '0';
-		return true;
-	}
-	else if (c >= 'A' && c <= 'F')
-	{
-		x = c - 'A' + 10;
-		return true;
-	}
-	else if (c >= 'a' && c <= 'f')
-	{
-		x = c - 'a' + 10;
-		return true;
-	}
-
-	nlwarning("cannot convert to hexa");
-	return false;
-}
-
 // ****************************************************************************
 // ****************************************************************************
 // CHashKeyMD5
@@ -159,10 +134,7 @@ void CHashKeyMD5::clear()
 // ****************************************************************************
 string CHashKeyMD5::toString() const
 {
-	string sTmp;
-	for (uint32 i = 0; i < 16; ++i)
-		sTmp += NLMISC::toString("%02x", Data[i]);
-	return sTmp;
+	return toHexa(Data, 16);
 }
 
 // ****************************************************************************
@@ -174,16 +146,7 @@ bool CHashKeyMD5::fromString(const std::string &in)
 		return false;
 	}
 
-	for (uint32 i = 0; i < 16; ++i)
-	{
-		char c1 = in[2*i];
-		char c2 = in[2*i+1];
-		uint8 x1, x2;
-		if (!fromHex(c1, x1)) return false;
-		if (!fromHex(c2, x2)) return false;
-		Data[i] = (x1 << 4) | x2;
-	}
-	return true;
+	return fromHexa(in, Data);
 }
 
 // ****************************************************************************
diff --git a/code/ryzom/common/src/game_share/entity_types.h b/code/ryzom/common/src/game_share/entity_types.h
index 189e7c803..23f4bd700 100644
--- a/code/ryzom/common/src/game_share/entity_types.h
+++ b/code/ryzom/common/src/game_share/entity_types.h
@@ -560,17 +560,6 @@ inline CLFECOMMON::TCoord getAbsoluteCoordinateFrom64( uint64 posvalue )
 }*/
 
 
-inline std::string toHexaString(const std::vector<uint8> &v)
-{
-	std::string res;
-	for (uint i = 0; i < v.size(); i++)
-	{
-		res += NLMISC::toString("%x",v[i]);
-	}
-	return res;
-}
-
-
 #endif // NL_ENTITY_TYPES_H
 
 /* End of entity_types.h */