Google Protocol Buffers (AKA protobuf) is a popular data serialization scheme used for communication protocols, data storage, etc. There are implementations are available for almost every popular language. The focus points of this scheme are brevity (data is encoded in a very size-efficient manner) and extensibility (one can add keys to the structure, while keeping it readable in previous version of software).
Protobuf uses semi-self-describing encoding scheme for its
messages. It means that it is possible to parse overall structure of
the message (skipping over fields one can't understand), but to
fully understand the message, one needs a protocol definition file
(.proto
). To be specific:
.proto
file provides info on
which symbolic field names these field tags map to.sint32
vs uint32
vs some enum, or string
from bytes
), but
it's enough information to determine how many bytes to
parse. Interpretation of the value should be done according to the
type specified in .proto
file.This page hosts a formal specification of Google Protocol Buffers (protobuf) using Kaitai Struct. This specification can be automatically translated into a variety of programming languages to get a parsing library.
import kaitai_struct_nim_runtime
import options
import /common/vlq_base128_le
import "vlq_base128_le"
type
GoogleProtobuf* = ref object of KaitaiStruct
`pairs`*: seq[GoogleProtobuf_Pair]
`parent`*: KaitaiStruct
GoogleProtobuf_Pair* = ref object of KaitaiStruct
`key`*: VlqBase128Le
`value`*: KaitaiStruct
`parent`*: GoogleProtobuf
`wireTypeInst`: GoogleProtobuf_Pair_WireTypes
`wireTypeInstFlag`: bool
`fieldTagInst`: int
`fieldTagInstFlag`: bool
GoogleProtobuf_Pair_WireTypes* = enum
varint = 0
bit_64 = 1
len_delimited = 2
group_start = 3
group_end = 4
bit_32 = 5
GoogleProtobuf_DelimitedBytes* = ref object of KaitaiStruct
`len`*: VlqBase128Le
`body`*: seq[byte]
`parent`*: GoogleProtobuf_Pair
proc read*(_: typedesc[GoogleProtobuf], io: KaitaiStream, root: KaitaiStruct, parent: KaitaiStruct): GoogleProtobuf
proc read*(_: typedesc[GoogleProtobuf_Pair], io: KaitaiStream, root: KaitaiStruct, parent: GoogleProtobuf): GoogleProtobuf_Pair
proc read*(_: typedesc[GoogleProtobuf_DelimitedBytes], io: KaitaiStream, root: KaitaiStruct, parent: GoogleProtobuf_Pair): GoogleProtobuf_DelimitedBytes
proc wireType*(this: GoogleProtobuf_Pair): GoogleProtobuf_Pair_WireTypes
proc fieldTag*(this: GoogleProtobuf_Pair): int
##[
Google Protocol Buffers (AKA protobuf) is a popular data
serialization scheme used for communication protocols, data storage,
etc. There are implementations are available for almost every
popular language. The focus points of this scheme are brevity (data
is encoded in a very size-efficient manner) and extensibility (one
can add keys to the structure, while keeping it readable in previous
version of software).
Protobuf uses semi-self-describing encoding scheme for its
messages. It means that it is possible to parse overall structure of
the message (skipping over fields one can't understand), but to
fully understand the message, one needs a protocol definition file
(`.proto`). To be specific:
* "Keys" in key-value pairs provided in the message are identified
only with an integer "field tag". `.proto` file provides info on
which symbolic field names these field tags map to.
* "Keys" also provide something called "wire type". It's not a data
type in its common sense (i.e. you can't, for example, distinguish
`sint32` vs `uint32` vs some enum, or `string` from `bytes`), but
it's enough information to determine how many bytes to
parse. Interpretation of the value should be done according to the
type specified in `.proto` file.
* There's no direct information on which fields are optional /
required, which fields may be repeated or constitute a map, what
restrictions are placed on fields usage in a single message, what
are the fields' default values, etc, etc.
@see <a href="https://protobuf.dev/programming-guides/encoding/">Source</a>
]##
proc read*(_: typedesc[GoogleProtobuf], io: KaitaiStream, root: KaitaiStruct, parent: KaitaiStruct): GoogleProtobuf =
template this: untyped = result
this = new(GoogleProtobuf)
let root = if root == nil: cast[GoogleProtobuf](this) else: cast[GoogleProtobuf](root)
this.io = io
this.root = root
this.parent = parent
##[
Key-value pairs which constitute a message
]##
block:
var i: int
while not this.io.isEof:
let it = GoogleProtobuf_Pair.read(this.io, this.root, this)
this.pairs.add(it)
inc i
proc fromFile*(_: typedesc[GoogleProtobuf], filename: string): GoogleProtobuf =
GoogleProtobuf.read(newKaitaiFileStream(filename), nil, nil)
##[
Key-value pair
]##
proc read*(_: typedesc[GoogleProtobuf_Pair], io: KaitaiStream, root: KaitaiStruct, parent: GoogleProtobuf): GoogleProtobuf_Pair =
template this: untyped = result
this = new(GoogleProtobuf_Pair)
let root = if root == nil: cast[GoogleProtobuf](this) else: cast[GoogleProtobuf](root)
this.io = io
this.root = root
this.parent = parent
##[
Key is a bit-mapped variable-length integer: lower 3 bits
are used for "wire type", and everything higher designates
an integer "field tag".
]##
let keyExpr = VlqBase128Le.read(this.io, this.root, this)
this.key = keyExpr
##[
Value that corresponds to field identified by
`field_tag`. Type is determined approximately: there is
enough information to parse it unambiguously from a stream,
but further infromation from `.proto` file is required to
interprete it properly.
]##
block:
let on = this.wireType
if on == google_protobuf.varint:
let valueExpr = VlqBase128Le.read(this.io, this.root, this)
this.value = valueExpr
elif on == google_protobuf.len_delimited:
let valueExpr = GoogleProtobuf_DelimitedBytes.read(this.io, this.root, this)
this.value = valueExpr
elif on == google_protobuf.bit_64:
let valueExpr = KaitaiStruct(this.io.readU8le())
this.value = valueExpr
elif on == google_protobuf.bit_32:
let valueExpr = KaitaiStruct(this.io.readU4le())
this.value = valueExpr
proc wireType(this: GoogleProtobuf_Pair): GoogleProtobuf_Pair_WireTypes =
##[
"Wire type" is a part of the "key" that carries enough
information to parse value from the wire, i.e. read correct
amount of bytes, but there's not enough informaton to
interprete in unambiguously. For example, one can't clearly
distinguish 64-bit fixed-sized integers from 64-bit floats,
signed zigzag-encoded varints from regular unsigned varints,
arbitrary bytes from UTF-8 encoded strings, etc.
]##
if this.wireTypeInstFlag:
return this.wireTypeInst
let wireTypeInstExpr = GoogleProtobuf_Pair_WireTypes(GoogleProtobuf_Pair_WireTypes((this.key.value and 7)))
this.wireTypeInst = wireTypeInstExpr
this.wireTypeInstFlag = true
return this.wireTypeInst
proc fieldTag(this: GoogleProtobuf_Pair): int =
##[
Identifies a field of protocol. One can look up symbolic
field name in a `.proto` file by this field tag.
]##
if this.fieldTagInstFlag:
return this.fieldTagInst
let fieldTagInstExpr = int((this.key.value shr 3))
this.fieldTagInst = fieldTagInstExpr
this.fieldTagInstFlag = true
return this.fieldTagInst
proc fromFile*(_: typedesc[GoogleProtobuf_Pair], filename: string): GoogleProtobuf_Pair =
GoogleProtobuf_Pair.read(newKaitaiFileStream(filename), nil, nil)
proc read*(_: typedesc[GoogleProtobuf_DelimitedBytes], io: KaitaiStream, root: KaitaiStruct, parent: GoogleProtobuf_Pair): GoogleProtobuf_DelimitedBytes =
template this: untyped = result
this = new(GoogleProtobuf_DelimitedBytes)
let root = if root == nil: cast[GoogleProtobuf](this) else: cast[GoogleProtobuf](root)
this.io = io
this.root = root
this.parent = parent
let lenExpr = VlqBase128Le.read(this.io, this.root, this)
this.len = lenExpr
let bodyExpr = this.io.readBytes(int(this.len.value))
this.body = bodyExpr
proc fromFile*(_: typedesc[GoogleProtobuf_DelimitedBytes], filename: string): GoogleProtobuf_DelimitedBytes =
GoogleProtobuf_DelimitedBytes.read(newKaitaiFileStream(filename), nil, nil)