# File lib/vpim/vcard.rb, line 664
    def Vcard.decode(card)
      if card.respond_to? :to_str
        string = card.to_str
      elsif card.respond_to? :read
        string = card.read(nil)
      else
        raise ArgumentError, "Vcard.decode cannot be called with a #{card.type}"
      end

      string.force_encoding "BINARY"

      case string
        when /^\xEF\xBB\xBF/
          string = string.sub("\xEF\xBB\xBF", '')
        when /^\xFE\xFF/
          arr = string.unpack('n*')
          arr.shift
          string = arr.pack('U*')
        when /^\xFF\xFE/
          arr = string.unpack('v*')
          arr.shift
          string = arr.pack('U*')
        when /^\x00B/i
          string = string.unpack('n*').pack('U*')
        when /^B\x00/i
          string = string.unpack('v*').pack('U*')
      end

      string.force_encoding "utf-8"

      entities = Vpim.expand(Vpim.decode(string))

      # Since all vCards must have a begin/end, the top-level should consist
      # entirely of entities/arrays, even if its a single vCard.
      if entities.detect { |e| ! e.kind_of? Array }
        raise "Not a valid vCard"
      end

      vcards = []

      for e in entities
        vcards.push(new(e.flatten, 'VCARD'))
      end

      vcards
    end