Swiftpack.co - christophhagen/BinaryCodable as Swift Package

This package provides convenient encoding and decoding to/from binary data for all Swift Codable types. It also provides limited cross-compatibility to Google Protocol Buffers.

Use cases

There are only few encoders and decoders available for Swift's Codable format, and Apple provides a JSONEncoder and a PropertyListEncoder for basic encoding. While these can cover some use cases (especially when interacting with Web Content through JSON), they lack encoding efficiency when designing APIs within an ecosystem. JSON, for example, is notoriously inefficient when it comes to binary data.

One very popular alternative for binary data are Google's Protocol Buffers, which offer broad support across different platforms and programming languages. But they don't support Swift's Codable protocol, and thus require manual message definitions, the Protobuf compiler, and a lot of copying between data structures during encoding and decoding.

So if you're looking for a decently efficient binary encoder in a pure Swift project, then BinaryCodable may be right for you. Simply make your structs (or classes!) conform to Codable, and BinaryCodable does the rest!

The message format is similar to that of Protocol Buffers (with some additions to support more types). It is possible to create limited compatibility between the two formats to exchange data with systems that don't support Swift.

Alternatives

The approach using Protocol Buffers mentioned above could be an option, but if you're looking for a Codable-compatible alternative, be sure to check out CBORCoding, which is also available on other platforms. It appears to have nearly the same encoding efficiency as BinaryCodable. You may also want to have a look at PotentCodables.

Installation

Swift Package Manager

Simply include in your Package.swift:

dependencies: [
    .package(
        name: "BinaryCodable", 
        url: "https://github.com/christophhagen/BinaryCodable", 
        from: "1.0.0")
],
targets: [
    .target(name: "MyTarget", dependencies: [
        .product(name: "BinaryCodable", package: "BinaryCodable")
    ])
]

Xcode project

Select your Project, navigate to the Package Dependencies tab, and add https://github.com/christophhagen/BinaryCodable using the + button.

Usage

Let's assume a message definition:

struct Message: Codable {

    var sender: String
    
    var isRead: Bool
    
    var unreadCount: Int
}

Simply import the module where you need to encode or decode a message:

import BinaryCodable

Encoding

Construct an encoder when converting instances to binary data, and feed the message(s) into it:

let message: Message = ...

let encoder = BinaryEncoder()
let data = try encoder.encode(message)

It's also possible to encode single values, arrays, optionals, sets, enums, dictionaries, and more, so long as they conform to Codable.

Decoding

Decoding instances from binary data works much the same way:

let decoder = BinaryDecoder()
let message = try decoder.decode(Message.self, from: data)

Alternatively, the type can be inferred:

let message: Message = try decoder.decode(from: data)

Errors

It is possible for both encoding and decoding to fail. All possible errors occuring during encoding produce BinaryEncodingError errors, while unsuccessful decoding produces BinaryDecodingErrors. Both are enums with several cases describing the nature of the error. See the documentation of the types to learn more about the different error conditions.

Handling corrupted data

The binary format provides no provisions to detect data corruption, and various errors can occur as the result of added, changed, or missing bytes and bits. Additional external measures (checksums, error-correcting codes, ...) should be applied if there is an increased risk of data corruption.

As an example, consider the simple encoding of a String inside a struct, which consists of a key followed by the length of the string in bytes, and the string content. The length of the string is encoded using variable-length encoding, so a single bit flip (in the MSB of the length byte) could result in a very large length being decoded, causing the decoder to wait for a very large number of bytes to decode the string. This simple error would cause much data to be skipped, potentially corrupting the data stream indefinitely. At the same time, it is not possible to determine with certainty where the error occured, making error recovery difficult without additional information about boundaries between elements.

The decoding errors provided by the library are therefore only hints about error likely occuring from non-conformance to the binary format or version incompatibility, which are not necessarily the true causes of the failures when data corruption is present.

Coding Keys

The Codable protocol uses CodingKey definitions to identify properties of instances. By default, coding keys are generated using the string values of the property names.

Similar to JSON encoding, BinaryCodable can embed the property names in the encoded data.

Unlike JSON (which is human-readable), the binary representation produced by BinaryCodable is intended for cases when efficient encoding is important. Codable allows the use of integer keys for each property, which significantly increases encoding efficiency. You can specify integer keys by adding an Int enum conforming to the CodingKey protocol to the Codable type:

struct Message: Codable {

    var sender: String
    
    var isRead: Bool
    
    var unreadCount: Int
    
    // Assign an integer to each property
    enum CodingKeys: Int, CodingKey {
        case sender = 1
        case isRead = 2
        case unreadCount = 3
    }
}

The enum must have a raw value of either Int or String, and the cases must match the property names within the type (it is possible to omit keys for properties which should not be encoded).

Using integer keys can significantly decrease the binary size, especially for long property names. Additionally, integer keys can be useful when intending to store the binary data persistently. Changes to property names can be performed in the code without breaking the decoding of older data (although this can also be achieved with custom String keys).

Notes:

• Small, positive integer keys produce the smallest binary sizes.
• The 0 integer key shouldn't be used, since it is also used internally when encoding super.
• Negative values for integer keys are not recommended (but possible). Since the keys are encoded as Varint, they are very inefficient for negative numbers.
• The allowed range for integer keys is from -576460752303423488 (-2^59, inclusive) to 576460752303423487 (2^59-1, inclusive). Values outside of these bounds will cause a fatalError crash.

Property wrappers

Fixed size integers

While varints are efficient for small numbers, their encoding introduces a storage and computation penalty when the integers are often large, e.g. for random numbers. BinaryCodable provides the FixedSize wrapper, which forces integers to be encoded using their little-endian binary representations. This means that e.g. an Int32 is always encoded as 4 byte (instead of 1-5 bytes using Varint encoding). This makes 32-bit FixedSize types more efficient than Varint if values are often larger than 2^28 (2^56 for 64-bit types).

Use the property wrapper within a Codable definition to enforce fixed-width encoding for a property:

struct MyStruct: Codable {

    /// Always encoded as 4 bytes
    @FixedSize 
    var largeInteger: Int32
}

The FixedSize wrapper is available to all Varint types: Int, UInt, Int32, UInt32, Int64, and UInt64.

Other property wrappers

There is an additional SignedValue wrapper, which is only useful when encoding in protobuf-compatible format.

Options

Sorting keys

The BinaryEncoder provides the sortKeysDuringEncoding option, which forces fields in "keyed" containers, such as struct properties (and some dictionaries), to be sorted in the binary data. This sorting is done by using either the integer keys (if defined), or the property names. Dictionaries with Int or String keys are also sorted.

Sorting the binary data does not influence decoding, but introduces a computation penalty during encoding. It should therefore only be used if the binary data must be consistent across multiple invocations.

Note: The sortKeysDuringEncoding option does not neccessarily guarantee deterministic binary data, and should be used with care.

Encoding optionals in arrays

Sequences of Optional values (like arrays, sets, ...) are normally encoded using a nil index set. The index of each nil element in the sequence is recorded, and only non-nil values are encoded. The indices of nil elements are then prepended to the data as an array of integers. During decoding, this index set is checked to place nil values between the non-nil elements at the appropriate indices.

This encoding scheme is usually more efficient than, e.g. indicating for each element whether the value is non-optional using an additional byte. There can be specific cases where nil index sets become less efficient, e.g. when storing very large arrays of mostly nil values.

In these cases, the encoder option prependNilIndexSetForUnkeyedContainers can be set to false, causing the encoder to omit the nil index set in favour of an additional byte before each element. The decoder must then have containsNilIndexSetForUnkeyedContainers set to false, so that the data can be successfully decoded.

Stream encoding and decoding

The library provides the option to perform encoding and decoding of continuous streams, such as when writing sequences of elements to a file, or when transmitting data over a network. This functionality can be used through BinaryStreamEncoder and BinaryStreamDecoder, causing the encoder to embed additional information into the data to allow continuous decoding (mostly length information). Encoding and decoding is always done with sequences of one specific type, since multiple types in one stream could not be distinguished from one another.

Encoding of a stream works similarly to normal encoding:

let encoder = BinaryStreamEncoder<Int>()
let chunk1 = try encoder.encode(1)
let chunk2 = try encoder.encode(contentsOf: [2,3])
...

let data = chunk1 + chunk2 + ...

Decoding of the individual chunks, with the decoder returning all elements which can be decoded using the currently available data.

let decoder = BinaryStreamDecoder<Int>()
let decoded1 = try decoder.decode(chunk1)
print(decoded1) // [1]

let decoded2 = try decoder.decode(chunk2)
print(decoded2) // [2,3]

The decoder has an internal buffer, so incomplete data can be inserted into the decoder as it becomes available. The output of decode(_ data:) will be empty until the next complete element is processed.

File encoding and decoding

Writing data streams to files is a common use case, so the library also provides wrappers around BinaryStreamEncoder and BinaryStreamDecoder to perform these tasks. The BinaryFileEncoder can be used to sequentially write elements to a file:

let encoder = BinaryFileEncoder<DataElement>(fileAt: url)
try encoder.write(element1)
try encoder.write(element2)
...
try encoder.close() // Close the file

Elements will always be appended to the end of file, so existing files can be updated with additional data.

Decoding works in a similar way, except with a callback to handle each element as it is decoded:

let decoder = BinaryFileDecoder<DataElement>(fileAt: url)
try decoder.read { element in
    // Process each element
}

There is also the possibility to read all elements at once using readAll(), or to read only one element at a time (readElement()).

Protocol Buffer compatibility

Achieving Protocol Buffer compatibility is described in ProtobufSupport.md.

Binary format

To learn more about the encoding format, see BinaryFormat.md.

Tests

The library comes with an extensive test suite, which checks that encoding works correctly for many cases. These tests can be executed using swift test from the package root, or when opening the package using Xcode.

License

MIT. See License.md

Roadmap

Generate protobuf definitions

It should be possible to generate a string containing a working Protobuf definition for any type that is determined to be Protobuf compatible.

Speed

Increasing the speed of the encoding and decoding process is not a huge priority at the moment. If you have any pointers on how to improve the performance further, feel free to contribute.

Contributing

Users of the library are encouraged to contribute to this repository.

Feature suggestions

Please file an issue with a description of the feature you're missing. Check other open and closed issues for similar suggestions and comment on them before creating a new issue.

Bug reporting

File an issue with a clear description of the problem. Please include message definitions and other data where possible so that the error can be reproduced.

Documentation

If you would like to extend the documentation of this library, or translate the documentation into other languages, please also open an issue, and I'll contact you for further discussions.