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1 |
| -# binary-serialize |
2 |
| -A minimal library for binary serialization, using compile time specifier strings similar to std::format |
| 1 | +# Binary Serialize, Header-Only C++ 20 Binary Serialization Classes and Functions |
| 2 | + |
| 3 | +#### Unit Test and Documentation Generation Workflow Status |
| 4 | + |
| 5 | + |
| 6 | + |
| 7 | + |
| 8 | + |
| 9 | + |
| 10 | + |
| 11 | + |
| 12 | + |
| 13 | +## Overview |
| 14 | + |
| 15 | +The `binary_serialize` functions and classes provide serializing and unserializing of binary data. Serialization provides a way to transform application objects into and out of byte streams that can be sent over a network (or used for file IO). |
| 16 | + |
| 17 | +The serialization functionality in this repository is useful when explicit control is needed for every bit and byte. This allows a developer to match an existing wire protocol or encoding scheme or to define his or her own wire protocol. Support is provided for fundamental arithmetic types as well as certain C++ vocabulary types such as `std::optional`. Both big and little endian support is provided. |
| 18 | + |
| 19 | +## Generated Documentation |
| 20 | + |
| 21 | +The generated Doxygen documentation for `binary_serialize` is [here](https://connectivecpp.github.io/binary-serialize/). |
| 22 | + |
| 23 | +## Dependencies |
| 24 | + |
| 25 | +The `binary_serialize` header files do not have any third-party dependencies. It uses C++ standard library headers only. The unit test code does have dependencies as noted below. |
| 26 | + |
| 27 | +## C++ Standard |
| 28 | + |
| 29 | +`binary_serialize` uses C++ 20 features, including ... (fill in details here) ... the "spaceship" operator (`<=>`), `std::span`, and `concepts` / `requires`. |
| 30 | + |
| 31 | +## Supported Compilers |
| 32 | + |
| 33 | +Continuous integration workflows build and unit test on g++ (through Ubuntu), MSVC (through Windows), and clang (through macOS). |
| 34 | + |
| 35 | +## Unit Test Dependencies |
| 36 | + |
| 37 | +The unit test code uses [Catch2](https://github.com/catchorg/Catch2). If the `BINARY_SERIALIZE_BUILD_TESTS` flag is provided to Cmake (see commands below) the Cmake configure / generate will download the Catch2 library as appropriate using the [CPM.cmake](https://github.com/cpm-cmake/CPM.cmake) dependency manager. If Catch2 (v3 or greater) is already installed using a different package manager (such as Conan or vcpkg), the `CPM_USE_LOCAL_PACKAGES` variable can be set which results in `find_package` being attempted. Note that v3 (or later) of Catch2 is required. |
| 38 | + |
| 39 | +The unit test uses utilities from Connective C++'s [utility-rack](https://github.com/connectivecpp/utility-rack). |
| 40 | + |
| 41 | +Specific version (or branch) specs for the dependenies are in `test/CMakeLists.txt`. |
| 42 | + |
| 43 | +## Build and Run Unit Tests |
| 44 | + |
| 45 | +To build and run the unit test program: |
| 46 | + |
| 47 | +First clone the `binary-serialize` repository, then create a build directory in parallel to the `binary-serialize` directory (this is called "out of source" builds, which is recommended), then `cd` (change directory) into the build directory. The CMake commands: |
| 48 | + |
| 49 | +``` |
| 50 | +cmake -D BINARY_SERIALIZE_BUILD_TESTS:BOOL=ON ../binary-serialize |
| 51 | +
|
| 52 | +cmake --build . |
| 53 | +
|
| 54 | +ctest |
| 55 | +``` |
| 56 | + |
| 57 | +For additional test output, run the unit test individually, for example: |
| 58 | + |
| 59 | +``` |
| 60 | +test/binary_serialize_test -s |
| 61 | +``` |
| 62 | + |
| 63 | +The example can be built by adding `-D BINARY_SERIALIZE_BUILD_EXAMPLES:BOOL=ON` to the CMake configure / generate step. |
| 64 | + |
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