Initial draft.

This commit is contained in:
brent saner 2024-07-09 18:30:10 -04:00
parent c329fc916e
commit 9a90a55aa8
Signed by: bts
GPG Key ID: 8C004C2F93481F6B
7 changed files with 204 additions and 202 deletions

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@ -20,8 +20,10 @@ Last rendered {localdatetime}
:docinfo: shared
:this_protover: 1
:this_protover_hex: 0x00000001
:lib_ver: master
:lib_ver_ref: branch
//:lib_ver: master
//:lib_ver_ref: branch
:lib_ver: 1.0.0
:lib_ver_ref: tag

[id="license"]
== License
@ -50,45 +52,61 @@ NOTE: In the event of the embedded text in this document differing from the onli

[id="proto"]
== Protocol
The WireProto data packing API is a custom wire protocol//message format designed for incredibly performant, unambiguous, predictable, platform-agnostic, client-agnostic communication. It is based heavily on the https://github.com/openssh/openssh-portable/blob/master/PROTOCOL.key[OpenSSH "v1" key format^] https://git.r00t2.io/r00t2/go_sshkeys/src/branch/master/_ref/KEY_GUIDE.html#v1_plain_2[(example/details)] packing method.
The WireProto data packing API is a custom wire protocol//message format designed for incredibly performant, unambiguous, predictable, platform-agnostic, implementation-agnostic communication. It is based heavily on the https://github.com/openssh/openssh-portable/blob/master/PROTOCOL.key[OpenSSH "v1" key format^] https://git.r00t2.io/r00t2/go_sshkeys/src/branch/master/_ref/KEY_GUIDE.html#v1_plain_2[(example/details)] packing method.

It supports arbitrary binary values, which means they can be anything according to the implementation-specific details; a common practice is to encode ("marshal") a Go struct to JSON bytes, and set that as a WireProto field's value.

It supports both static construction/parsing/dissection and stream approaches in a single format, as well as multiple commands per request message/multiple answers per response message.

*All* packed uint32 values are big-endian.
*All* packed uint32 (_unsigned 32-bit integer_) values are a https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endianness[big-endian^] 4-byte sequence (e.g. `3712599402` == `0xdd49c56a`, or [`0xdd`, `0x49`, `0xc5`, `0x6a`]).

This specification <<proto_ver>> is `{this_protover}` (`{this_protover_hex}`).
This specification's <<proto_ver>> is `{this_protover}` (`{this_protover_hex}`).

For other releases/finalized versions of this specification, see https://git.r00t2.io/r00t2/WireProto/tags[here^].

For in-development versions, drafts, etc. of this specification, see https://git.r00t2.io/r00t2/WireProto/branches[here^].

[id="proto_reqresp"]
=== Requests/Responses
WireProto indicates two types of Messages/communication ends: a _Requester_ (_Requesting End_) and a _Responder_ (_Responding End_).

This terminology is intentionally implementation-agnostic. A _Requester_ is any end of a communication that is *requesting data*, and the _Responder_ is any end of a communication that is *providing that data*. A Responder may not always be present (e.g. in the case of using WireProto for local disk serialization/caching, etc.), and a "client" may be a Requester, Responder, or both -- likewise for a "server".

[id="lib"]
=== Library
This protocol specification is accompanied with a reference library for Golang, https://git.r00t2.io/r00t2/go_wireproto["WireProto"^] (https://git.r00t2.io/r00t2/wireproto[_source_^]):
=== Reference Library
The WireProto specification is accompanied by a reference library for Golang, https://git.r00t2.io/r00t2/go_wireproto["WireProto"^] (https://git.r00t2.io/r00t2/wireproto[_source_^]):

++++
<a href="https://pkg.go.dev/go.pkg.dev/r00t2.io/wireproto">
<img src="https://pkg.go.dev/badge/go.pkg.dev/r00t2.io/wireproto.svg"
alt="Go Reference">
</a>
<br />
<br />
++++

Additional reference libraries may be available in the future.

[id="ytho"]
=== Why a Custom Message Format?
Because existing ones (e.g. JSON, XML, YAML) are slow/bloaty, inaccurate, and/or inflexible. They struggle with binary or abritrary data (or in e.g. XML's case requiring intermediate conditional encoding/decoding).
=== Why Yet Another Message Format?
Because existing methods of serializing data in a structured way (e.g. JSON, XML, YAML) are slow/bloaty, inaccurate, and/or inflexible. They struggle with binary or abritrary data (or in e.g. XML's case requiring intermediate conditional encoding/decoding).

If it can be represented as bytes (which all digital data can), WireProto can send and receive it.

Additionally:

* https://protobuf.dev/[*Protobuf*^] has performance issues (yes, really; protobufs have large overhead) and is restrictive on data types for future-proofing.
* https://protobuf.dev/[*Protobuf*^] has performance issues (yes, really; protobufs have large overhead compared to WireProto) and is restrictive on data types for future-proofing.
* https://go.dev/blog/gob[*Gob*^] is very language-limiting and does not support e.g. nil pointers and cyclical values.
* https://capnproto.org/[Cap'n Proto^] has wide language support and excellent performance but is terribly non-idiomatic, requiring the code to be generated from the schema and not vice versa (which is only ideal if you have only one communication interface).
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JSON_streaming[JSON streams^] have no delimiters defined, and thus this makes it an inconvenience if using a parser that does not know when the message ends/is complete, or if it is expecting a standalone JSON object.
* https://capnproto.org/[Cap'n Proto^] has wide language support and excellent performance but is terribly non-idiomatic, requiring the code to be generated from the schema and not vice versa (which is only ideal if you have only one communication interface and is, in the author's opinion, the entirely incorrect approach).
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JSON_streaming[JSON streams^] have no delimiters defined which makes it an inconvenience if using a parser that does not know when the message ends/is complete, or if it is expecting a standalone JSON object (e.g. native vanilla Golang JSON parsing).

[TIP]
====
WireProto is only used for binary packing/unpacking; this means it can be used with any e.g. https://pkg.go.dev/net#Conn[`net.Conn`^] (and even has helper functions explicitly to facilitate this), storage on-disk, etc.

Thus it is transport/storage-agnostic, and can be used with a https://pkg.go.dev/net#Dial[TCP socket, UDP socket, IPC (InterProcess Communication)/UDS (UNIX Domain Socket) handle,^] https://pkg.go.dev/crypto/tls#Dial[TLS-tunneled TCP socket^], etc.
As such it is transport/storage-agnostic, and can be used with a https://pkg.go.dev/net#Dial[TCP socket, UDP socket, IPC (InterProcess Communication)/UDS (UNIX Domain Socket) handle,^] https://pkg.go.dev/crypto/tls#Dial[TLS-tunneled TCP socket^], etc.

See the <<lib>> for details.
====

[id="msg"]
@ -100,31 +118,31 @@ Throughout this document, you may see references to things like `LF`, `SOH`, and

These refer to _ASCII control characters_. You will also see many values represented in hex.

You can find more details about this (along with a full ASCII reference) https://square-r00t.net/ascii.html[here^]. Note that the socket API fully supports UTF-8 -- just be sure that your <<alloc_size>> are aligned to the byte count, not character count.
You can find more details about this (along with a full ASCII reference) https://square-r00t.net/ascii.html[here^]. Note that the specification fully supports UTF-8 (or any other arbitrary encoding) -- just be sure that your <<alloc_size, size allocators>> are aligned to the *byte count* and not *character count* (as these may not be equal depending on encoding).
====

Each *message* is generally composed of:
Each *message* is composed of:

* The <<msg_respstatus>>footnote:responly[Response messages only.]
* A <<cksum, Checksum>>footnote:optclient[Optional for Request.]footnote:reqsrv[Required for Response.]
* A <<cksum, Checksum>>footnote:optreq[Optional for Request.]footnote:reqresp[Required for Response.]
* A <<hdrs_msgstart>>
* A <<proto_ver>>
* A <<hdrs_bodystart>>
* A <<msg_grp>> <<alloc_cnt>>
* A <<msg_grp>> <<alloc_size>>
* A <<hdrs_bodystart>>
* One (or more) <<msg_grp>>(s), each of which contain:
** One (or more) <<msg_grp_rec>>(s), each of which contain:
*** One (or more) <<msg_grp_rec_kv, Field/Value pair>>(s), each of which contain:
**** A <<msg_grp_rec_kv_nm>>
**** A <<msg_grp_rec_kv_val>>
**** A <<msg_grp_recresp, Copy Record>>footnote:responly[]
*** A <<msg_grp_recresp, copy of the original record>>footnote:responly[]
* A <<hdrs_bodyend>>
* A <<hdrs_msgend>>

[id="msg_respstatus"]
=== Response Status
For responses, their messages have an additional byte prepended; a status indicator.
This allows client programs to quickly bail in the case of an error if no further parsing is desired.
For response messages, a speciall "summary byte" is prepended; a status indicator.
This allows requesting ends to quickly bail in the case of an error if no further parsing is desired.

The status will be indicated by one of <<hdrs_respstart, two values>>: an ASCII `ACK` (`0x06`) for all requests being returned successfully or an ASCII `NAK` (`0x15`) if one or more errors were encountered across all records.

@ -136,7 +154,7 @@ It is maintained seperately from the *library* version/repo tags.

The current protocol version (as demonstrated in this document) is `{this_protover}` (`{this_protover_hex}`).

NOTE: Version `0` is reserved for current `HEAD` of the `master` branch of this specification and should be considered experimental.
NOTE: Version `0` is reserved for current `HEAD` of the `master` branch of this specification and should be considered experimental, not conforming to any specific protocol message format version.

[id="msg_grp"]
=== Record Group
@ -150,18 +168,14 @@ Its structure is:

[id="msg_grp_rec"]
==== Record
A record contains multiple related <<msg_grp_rec_kv, Field/Value Pairs (FVP)>>. It is typical to only have a single Record.
A record contains multiple related <<msg_grp_rec_kv, Field/Value Pairs (FVP)>> and, if a Response Record, a copy of the original reference Request Record it is responding to.

Its structure is:

. <<msg_grp_rec_kv>> <<alloc_cnt>>
. <<msg_grp_rec_kv>> <<alloc_size>>
. One (or more) <<msg_grp_rec_kv, Field/Value Pairs>>

[IMPORTANT]
====
For response messages, the record's size allocator (but NOT the count allocator) includes the <<msg_grp_recresp, Copy Record>> size for each response record copy!footnote:responly[]
====
.. One (or more) <<msg_grp_rec_kv, Field/Value Pairs>>
. <<msg_grp_recresp>> <<alloc_size>>footnote:responly[]

[id="msg_grp_rec_kv"]
===== Field/Value Pair (Key/Value Pair)
@ -176,16 +190,18 @@ Its structure is:

[IMPORTANT]
====
Unlike most/all other <<alloc>> for other sections/levels, the field name and value allocators are consecutive <<alloc_size, Size Allocators>>! This is because there is only one field name and value per record.
Unlike most/all other <<alloc>> for other sections/levels, the field name and value allocators are consecutive <<alloc_size, Size Allocators>>! This is because there is *only one* field name and value per <<msg_grp_rec>>.
====

[id="msg_grp_rec_kv_nm"]
====== Field Name
The field name is usually from a finite set of allowed names. The <<msg_grp_rec_kv_val>>, while written as bytes, often contains a data structure defined by the field name. (A field name is closer to a "value type".) It *must* be a UTF-8 string.
The field name is usually from a finite set of allowed names. The <<msg_grp_rec_kv_val>>, while written as bytes, often contains data defined by the field name. (That is, the parsing of <<msg_grp_rec_kv_val>> often depends on its Field Name.) It is recommended that the field name be a UTF-8-compatible string for simplified serializing and https://www.wireshark.org/[on-the-wire debugging^].

While there is no technical requirement that a field name be unique per-<<msg_grp_rec>>, it is generally recommended (unless emulating/encoding arrays of data in separate <<msg_grp_rec_kv, field/value pairs>>).

Its structure is:

. The name in bytes
. A name/identifier in bytes

[id="msg_grp_rec_kv_val"]
====== Field Value
@ -193,60 +209,50 @@ A field's value is, on the wire, just a series of bytes. The actual content of t

Its structure is:

. The value in bytes
. A value in bytes

[id="msg_grp_recresp"]
===== Copy Record (Response Copy of Request)
This contains a "copy" of the original/request's <<msg_grp_rec>> that this record is in response to.
===== Copy of Original Record
This contains a "copy" of the original/request's <<msg_grp_rec>> that this record is in response to. It is only present in Response message and must not be included in Request messages.

It is a variant of a <<msg_grp_rec>> used exclusively in responses, and is tied to (included in) each response's <<msg_grp_rec_kv, FVP>>.
It is a complete <<msg_grp_rec>> from the request embedded inside the responding Record.

Its structure is:
For example, if a record contains multiple <<msg_grp_rec_kv, field/value pairs>> specifying a query of some data then the response record will contain a copy of that record's query data.

. <<msg_grp_rec_kvcpy>> <<alloc_cnt>>
. <<msg_grp_rec_kvcpy>> <<alloc_size>>
. One (or more) <<msg_grp_rec_kvcpy, Field/Value Pairs (Response Copy)>>

[id="msg_grp_rec_kvcpy"]
====== Field/Value Pair (Key/Value Pair) (Response Copy)
A field/value pair (also referred to as a key/value pair) contains a matched <<msg_grp_rec_kv_nm>> and its <<msg_grp_rec_kv_val>>.

It is a variant of a <<msg_grp_rec_kv, Field/Value Pair>> used exclusively in response copies of the original request's FVP.

Its structure is:

. <<msg_grp_rec_kv_nm>> <<alloc_size>>
. <<msg_grp_rec_kv_val>> <<alloc_size>>
. A single <<msg_grp_rec_kv_nm>>
. A single matching <<msg_grp_rec_kv_val>>

[IMPORTANT]
[NOTE]
====
Unlike most/all other <<alloc>> for other sections/levels, the field name and value allocators are consecutive <<alloc_size, Size Allocators>>! This is because there is only one field name and value per record.
While *not recommended*, it *is* within specification/permissible to "alias" a request record via a session-unique identifier (e.g. https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc4122[UUIDv4^]), *provided* the promise that the requesting end retains an identifiable copy of/can lookup or associate its original record based on that identifying alias.

For example, a requesting end may specify _its own_ provided identifier as an <<msg_grp_rec_kv, field/value pair>> (e.g. `identifier:f18231973d08417e877dd1a2f8e8ab74`) along with additional data. The returning Response Record may then include *only* an original/request record with an FVP of `identifier:f18231973d08417e877dd1a2f8e8ab74` along with the requested data.

Alternatively for another example, a responding end may return a Response Record with an original/request record of a single FVP such as `ref_id:46823da27f8749df9dee8f0bded8cce9` or the like. The requesting end *must* then be able to retrieve the full copy of the original request record as a standalone Response Record based on that `ref_id`. Responding ends *may* enforce lifetimes for request record lookup in this case but they must be promised.
====

[id="cksum"]
== Checksums
Checksums are optional for the client but the server will *always* send them. *If present* in the request, the server will validate to ensure the checksum matches the message body (<<hdrs_bodystart, body start>> to <<hdrs_bodyend, body end>>, headers included). If the checksum does not match, an error will be returned.
Checksums are optional for the requesting end but the responding end *must* send them. *If present* in the request, the responder *must* validate to ensure the checksum matches the message body (<<hdrs_bodystart>> to <<hdrs_bodyend>>, inclusive). If the checksum does not match, an error *must* be returned.

They are represented as a big-endian-packed uint32.

The checksum must be prefixed with a <<hdrs_cksum>>. If no checksum is provided, this prefix must *not* be included in the sequence.
The checksum must be prefixed with a <<hdrs_cksum>>. If no checksum is provided in a request, this prefix *must not* be included in the sequence.

[TIP]
====
You can quickly check if a checksum is present by checking the first byte in requests or the second byte in responses. If it is `ESC` (`0x1b`), a checksum is provided. If it is `SOH` (`0x01`), one was *not* provided.
A responder can quickly check if a checksum is present by checking the first byte in requests. If it is <<hdrs_cksum, `CKSUM`>>, a checksum is provided. If it is <<hdrs_msgstart, `MSGSTART`>>, one was *not* provided.
====

The checksum method used is the https://users.ece.cmu.edu/~koopman/crc/crc32.html[IEEE 802.3 CRC-32^], which should be natively available for all/most client implementations as it is perhaps the most ubiquitous of CRC-32 variants. (Polynomial `0x04c11db7`, reversed polynomial `0xedb88320`.)
The checksum method used is the https://users.ece.cmu.edu/~koopman/crc/crc32.html[IEEE 802.3 CRC-32^], which should be natively available for all/most implementations/languages as it is perhaps the most ubiquitous of CRC-32 variants (e.g. https://docs.python.org/3/library/zlib.html#zlib.crc32[Python^], https://pkg.go.dev/hash/crc32[Golang^], https://github.com/gcc-mirror/gcc/blob/master/libiberty/crc32.c[GNU C/glibc^](?), https://crates.io/keywords/crc32[Rust^], etc.). (Polynomial `0x04c11db7`, reversed polynomial `0xedb88320`.)

To confirm you are using the correct CRC32 implementation (as there are a *ton* of "CRC-32" algorithms and methods out there), use the following validations:
If one needs to implement the appropriate CRC32 implementation, there is extensive detail at the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclic_redundancy_check[CRC Wikipedia article^].

To confirm the correct CRC32 implementation is being used (as there are *many* "CRC-32" algorithms/methods/functions/libraries), the following validations may be used:

.CRC-32 Validations
[cols="^.^2m,3m,^.^1m,^.^2m,^.^2m",options="header"]
|===
| String ^.^| Bytes | Checksum (integer) | Checksum (bytes, little-endian) | Checksum (bytes, big-endian)

| WireProto | 0x5769726550726f746f | 815806352 | 0x30a03790 | 0x9037a030
| FooBarBazQuux | 0x466f6f42617242617a51757578 | 983022564 | 0xe4bb973a | 0x3a97bbe4
| 0123456789abcdef | 0x30313233343536373839616263646566 | 1757737011 | 0x33f0c468 | 0x68c4f033
|===
@ -256,36 +262,36 @@ To confirm you are using the correct CRC32 implementation (as there are a *ton*
Certain sections are wrapped with an identifying header. Those headers are included below for reference.

[id="hdrs_respstart"]
=== `RESPSTART` Byte Sequence
=== `RESPSTART` Indicator
Responses have a <<msg_respstatus>>.footnote:responly[]

It is either an `ACK` (`0x06`) or `NAK` (`0x15`).

[id="hdrs_cksum"]
=== `CKSUM` Header Prefix
A checksum, if provided, will have a prefix header of `ESC` (`0x1b`).
A <<cksum, checksum>>, if providedfootnote:optreq[]footnote:reqresp[], will have a prefix header of `ESC` (`0x1b`).

[id="hdrs_msgstart"]
=== `MSGSTART` Header Prefix
The message start header indicates a start of a message.
The message start header indicates a start of a "message". It is used to delineate operational headers from specification information (e.g. <<proto_ver>>) and data.

It is an `SOH` (`0x01`).

[id="hdrs_bodystart"]
=== `BODYSTART` Header Prefix
The body start header indicates that actual data/records follows.
The body start header indicates that data/records follow. All bytes between `BODYSTART` and <<hdrs_bodyend, `BODYEND`>> are to be assumed to be directly pertinent to the request/response rather than operational.

It is an `STX` (`0x02`).

[id="hdrs_bodyend"]
=== `BODYEND` Sequence
The body end prefix indicates the end of data/records.
The body end prefix indicates the end of data/records. All bytes between <<hdrs_bodystart, `BODYSTART`>> and `BODYEND` are to be assumed to be directly pertinent to the request/response rather than operational.

It is an `ETX` (`0x03`).

[id="hdrs_msgend"]
=== `MSGEND` Sequence
The message end prefix indicates that a message in its entirety has ended.
The message end prefix indicates that a message in its entirety has ended, and if no further communication is necessary per implementation the connection may be disconnected.

It is an `EOT` (`0x04`).

@ -293,11 +299,11 @@ It is an `EOT` (`0x04`).
== Allocators
There are two type of allocators included for each following sequence of bytes: `count allocators` and `size allocators`.

They can be used by clients to determine the size of destination buffers, and are used by the server to efficiently unpack requests.
<<alloc_size, Size allocators>> can be used by receiving ends to efficiently pre-allocate buffers and for sending ends to indicate the amount of remaining data expected.

They are usually paired together with the count allocator preceding the size allocator, but not always (e.g. <<msg_grp_rec_kv>> have two <<alloc_size>>).
They are usually preceded with a <<alloc_cnt, count allocator>> to allow for pre-allocating e.g. slice/array sizes, but not always (e.g. <<msg_grp_rec_kv, field/value pairs>> have two <<alloc_size, size allocators>>).

All allocators are unsigned 32-bit integers, little-endian-packed.
All allocators are unsigned 32-bit integers, big-endian-packed.

[id="alloc_cnt"]
=== Count Allocator
@ -305,11 +311,11 @@ Count allocators indicate *how many* children objects are contained.

[id="alloc_size"]
=== Size Allocator
Size allocators indicate *how much* (in bytes) all children objects are combined together. It includes e.g. separators, etc.
Size allocators indicate *how much* (in bytes) all children objects are combined as one block. They include the allocators themselves of child objects, etc. as well.

[id="ref"]
== Reference Model and Examples
For a more visual explanation, given the following e.g. Golang structs from the https://pkg.go.dev/r00t2.io/wireproto[Golang reference library^] (`wireproto.Request{}` and `wireproto.Response{}`):
For a more visual explanation, given the following e.g. Golang structs from the <<lib>> (`wireproto.Request{}` and `wireproto.Response{}`):

[id="ref_single"]
=== Single/Simple
@ -372,7 +378,7 @@ include::docs/data/response.simple.hex[]

[id="ref_multi"]
=== Multiple/Many/Complex
Multiple commands, parameters, etc. can be specified in one message.
Multiple records, record groups, etc. can be specified in one message.

[id="ref_multi_req"]
==== Complex Request

View File

@ -632,7 +632,7 @@ pre.rouge .gs {
<div class="details">
<span id="author" class="author">Brent Saner</span><br>
<span id="email" class="email"><a href="mailto:bts@square-r00t.net">bts@square-r00t.net</a></span><br>
<span id="revdate">Last rendered 2024-07-07 23:58:11 -0400</span>
<span id="revdate">Last rendered 2024-07-09 18:32:40 -0400</span>
</div>
<div id="toc" class="toc2">
<div id="toctitle">Table of Contents</div>
@ -640,8 +640,9 @@ pre.rouge .gs {
<li><a href="#license">1. License</a></li>
<li><a href="#proto">2. Protocol</a>
<ul class="sectlevel2">
<li><a href="#lib">2.1. Library</a></li>
<li><a href="#ytho">2.2. Why a Custom Message Format?</a></li>
<li><a href="#proto_reqresp">2.1. Requests/Responses</a></li>
<li><a href="#lib">2.2. Reference Library</a></li>
<li><a href="#ytho">2.3. Why Yet Another Message Format?</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><a href="#msg">3. Message Format</a>
@ -658,11 +659,7 @@ pre.rouge .gs {
<li><a href="#msg_grp_rec_kv_val">3.3.1.1.2. Field Value</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><a href="#msg_grp_recresp">3.3.1.2. Copy Record (Response Copy of Request)</a>
<ul class="sectlevel5">
<li><a href="#msg_grp_rec_kvcpy">3.3.1.2.1. Field/Value Pair (Key/Value Pair) (Response Copy)</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><a href="#msg_grp_recresp">3.3.1.2. Copy of Original Record</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
@ -672,7 +669,7 @@ pre.rouge .gs {
<li><a href="#cksum">4. Checksums</a></li>
<li><a href="#hdrs">5. Headers</a>
<ul class="sectlevel2">
<li><a href="#hdrs_respstart">5.1. <code>RESPSTART</code> Byte Sequence</a></li>
<li><a href="#hdrs_respstart">5.1. <code>RESPSTART</code> Indicator</a></li>
<li><a href="#hdrs_cksum">5.2. <code>CKSUM</code> Header Prefix</a></li>
<li><a href="#hdrs_msgstart">5.3. <code>MSGSTART</code> Header Prefix</a></li>
<li><a href="#hdrs_bodystart">5.4. <code>BODYSTART</code> Header Prefix</a></li>
@ -1238,7 +1235,7 @@ In the event of the embedded text in this document differing from the online ver
<h2 id="proto"><a class="link" href="#proto">2. Protocol</a></h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>The WireProto data packing API is a custom wire protocol//message format designed for incredibly performant, unambiguous, predictable, platform-agnostic, client-agnostic communication. It is based heavily on the <a href="https://github.com/openssh/openssh-portable/blob/master/PROTOCOL.key" target="_blank" rel="noopener">OpenSSH "v1" key format</a> <a href="https://git.r00t2.io/r00t2/go_sshkeys/src/branch/master/_ref/KEY_GUIDE.html#v1_plain_2">(example/details)</a> packing method.</p>
<p>The WireProto data packing API is a custom wire protocol//message format designed for incredibly performant, unambiguous, predictable, platform-agnostic, implementation-agnostic communication. It is based heavily on the <a href="https://github.com/openssh/openssh-portable/blob/master/PROTOCOL.key" target="_blank" rel="noopener">OpenSSH "v1" key format</a> <a href="https://git.r00t2.io/r00t2/go_sshkeys/src/branch/master/_ref/KEY_GUIDE.html#v1_plain_2">(example/details)</a> packing method.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>It supports arbitrary binary values, which means they can be anything according to the implementation-specific details; a common practice is to encode ("marshal") a Go struct to JSON bytes, and set that as a WireProto field&#8217;s value.</p>
@ -1247,25 +1244,45 @@ In the event of the embedded text in this document differing from the online ver
<p>It supports both static construction/parsing/dissection and stream approaches in a single format, as well as multiple commands per request message/multiple answers per response message.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p><strong>All</strong> packed uint32 values are big-endian.</p>
<p><strong>All</strong> packed uint32 (<em>unsigned 32-bit integer</em>) values are a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endianness" target="_blank" rel="noopener">big-endian</a> 4-byte sequence (e.g. <code>3712599402</code> == <code>0xdd49c56a</code>, or [<code>0xdd</code>, <code>0x49</code>, <code>0xc5</code>, <code>0x6a</code>]).</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>This specification <a href="#proto_ver">Protocol Version</a> is <code>1</code> (<code>0x00000001</code>).</p>
<p>This specification&#8217;s <a href="#proto_ver">Protocol Version</a> is <code>1</code> (<code>0x00000001</code>).</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>For other releases/finalized versions of this specification, see <a href="https://git.r00t2.io/r00t2/WireProto/tags" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>For in-development versions, drafts, etc. of this specification, see <a href="https://git.r00t2.io/r00t2/WireProto/branches" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.</p>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="lib"><a class="link" href="#lib">2.1. Library</a></h3>
<h3 id="proto_reqresp"><a class="link" href="#proto_reqresp">2.1. Requests/Responses</a></h3>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>This protocol specification is accompanied with a reference library for Golang, <a href="https://git.r00t2.io/r00t2/go_wireproto" target="_blank" rel="noopener">"WireProto"</a> (<a href="https://git.r00t2.io/r00t2/wireproto" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><em>source</em></a>):</p>
<p>WireProto indicates two types of Messages/communication ends: a <em>Requester</em> (<em>Requesting End</em>) and a <em>Responder</em> (<em>Responding End</em>).</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>This terminology is intentionally implementation-agnostic. A <em>Requester</em> is any end of a communication that is <strong>requesting data</strong>, and the <em>Responder</em> is any end of a communication that is <strong>providing that data</strong>. A Responder may not always be present (e.g. in the case of using WireProto for local disk serialization/caching, etc.), and a "client" may be a Requester, Responder, or both&#8201;&#8212;&#8201;likewise for a "server".</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="lib"><a class="link" href="#lib">2.2. Reference Library</a></h3>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>The WireProto specification is accompanied by a reference library for Golang, <a href="https://git.r00t2.io/r00t2/go_wireproto" target="_blank" rel="noopener">"WireProto"</a> (<a href="https://git.r00t2.io/r00t2/wireproto" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><em>source</em></a>):</p>
</div>
<a href="https://pkg.go.dev/go.pkg.dev/r00t2.io/wireproto">
<img src="https://pkg.go.dev/badge/go.pkg.dev/r00t2.io/wireproto.svg"
alt="Go Reference">
</a>
<br />
<br />
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Additional reference libraries may be available in the future.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="ytho"><a class="link" href="#ytho">2.2. Why a Custom Message Format?</a></h3>
<h3 id="ytho"><a class="link" href="#ytho">2.3. Why Yet Another Message Format?</a></h3>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Because existing ones (e.g. JSON, XML, YAML) are slow/bloaty, inaccurate, and/or inflexible. They struggle with binary or abritrary data (or in e.g. XML&#8217;s case requiring intermediate conditional encoding/decoding).</p>
<p>Because existing methods of serializing data in a structured way (e.g. JSON, XML, YAML) are slow/bloaty, inaccurate, and/or inflexible. They struggle with binary or abritrary data (or in e.g. XML&#8217;s case requiring intermediate conditional encoding/decoding).</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>If it can be represented as bytes (which all digital data can), WireProto can send and receive it.</p>
@ -1276,16 +1293,16 @@ In the event of the embedded text in this document differing from the online ver
<div class="ulist">
<ul>
<li>
<p><a href="https://protobuf.dev/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Protobuf</strong></a> has performance issues (yes, really; protobufs have large overhead) and is restrictive on data types for future-proofing.</p>
<p><a href="https://protobuf.dev/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Protobuf</strong></a> has performance issues (yes, really; protobufs have large overhead compared to WireProto) and is restrictive on data types for future-proofing.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://go.dev/blog/gob" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Gob</strong></a> is very language-limiting and does not support e.g. nil pointers and cyclical values.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://capnproto.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cap&#8217;n Proto</a> has wide language support and excellent performance but is terribly non-idiomatic, requiring the code to be generated from the schema and not vice versa (which is only ideal if you have only one communication interface).</p>
<p><a href="https://capnproto.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cap&#8217;n Proto</a> has wide language support and excellent performance but is terribly non-idiomatic, requiring the code to be generated from the schema and not vice versa (which is only ideal if you have only one communication interface and is, in the author&#8217;s opinion, the entirely incorrect approach).</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JSON_streaming" target="_blank" rel="noopener">JSON streams</a> have no delimiters defined, and thus this makes it an inconvenience if using a parser that does not know when the message ends/is complete, or if it is expecting a standalone JSON object.</p>
<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JSON_streaming" target="_blank" rel="noopener">JSON streams</a> have no delimiters defined which makes it an inconvenience if using a parser that does not know when the message ends/is complete, or if it is expecting a standalone JSON object (e.g. native vanilla Golang JSON parsing).</p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
@ -1300,7 +1317,10 @@ In the event of the embedded text in this document differing from the online ver
<p>WireProto is only used for binary packing/unpacking; this means it can be used with any e.g. <a href="https://pkg.go.dev/net#Conn" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><code>net.Conn</code></a> (and even has helper functions explicitly to facilitate this), storage on-disk, etc.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Thus it is transport/storage-agnostic, and can be used with a <a href="https://pkg.go.dev/net#Dial" target="_blank" rel="noopener">TCP socket, UDP socket, IPC (InterProcess Communication)/UDS (UNIX Domain Socket) handle,</a> <a href="https://pkg.go.dev/crypto/tls#Dial" target="_blank" rel="noopener">TLS-tunneled TCP socket</a>, etc.</p>
<p>As such it is transport/storage-agnostic, and can be used with a <a href="https://pkg.go.dev/net#Dial" target="_blank" rel="noopener">TCP socket, UDP socket, IPC (InterProcess Communication)/UDS (UNIX Domain Socket) handle,</a> <a href="https://pkg.go.dev/crypto/tls#Dial" target="_blank" rel="noopener">TLS-tunneled TCP socket</a>, etc.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>See the <a href="#lib">Reference Library</a> for details.</p>
</div>
</td>
</tr>
@ -1326,14 +1346,14 @@ In the event of the embedded text in this document differing from the online ver
<p>These refer to <em>ASCII control characters</em>. You will also see many values represented in hex.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>You can find more details about this (along with a full ASCII reference) <a href="https://square-r00t.net/ascii.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>. Note that the socket API fully supports UTF-8&#8201;&#8212;&#8201;just be sure that your <a href="#alloc_size">Size Allocator</a> are aligned to the byte count, not character count.</p>
<p>You can find more details about this (along with a full ASCII reference) <a href="https://square-r00t.net/ascii.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>. Note that the specification fully supports UTF-8 (or any other arbitrary encoding)&#8201;&#8212;&#8201;just be sure that your <a href="#alloc_size">size allocators</a> are aligned to the <strong>byte count</strong> and not <strong>character count</strong> (as these may not be equal depending on encoding).</p>
</div>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Each <strong>message</strong> is generally composed of:</p>
<p>Each <strong>message</strong> is composed of:</p>
</div>
<div class="ulist">
<ul>
@ -1341,7 +1361,7 @@ In the event of the embedded text in this document differing from the online ver
<p>The <a href="#msg_respstatus">Response Status</a><sup class="footnote" id="_footnote_responly">[<a id="_footnoteref_1" class="footnote" href="#_footnotedef_1" title="View footnote.">1</a>]</sup></p>
</li>
<li>
<p>A <a href="#cksum">Checksum</a><sup class="footnote" id="_footnote_optclient">[<a id="_footnoteref_2" class="footnote" href="#_footnotedef_2" title="View footnote.">2</a>]</sup><sup class="footnote" id="_footnote_reqsrv">[<a id="_footnoteref_3" class="footnote" href="#_footnotedef_3" title="View footnote.">3</a>]</sup></p>
<p>A <a href="#cksum">Checksum</a><sup class="footnote" id="_footnote_optreq">[<a id="_footnoteref_2" class="footnote" href="#_footnotedef_2" title="View footnote.">2</a>]</sup><sup class="footnote" id="_footnote_reqresp">[<a id="_footnoteref_3" class="footnote" href="#_footnotedef_3" title="View footnote.">3</a>]</sup></p>
</li>
<li>
<p>A <a href="#hdrs_msgstart"><code>MSGSTART</code> Header Prefix</a></p>
@ -1350,15 +1370,15 @@ In the event of the embedded text in this document differing from the online ver
<p>A <a href="#proto_ver">Protocol Version</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p>A <a href="#hdrs_bodystart"><code>BODYSTART</code> Header Prefix</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p>A <a href="#msg_grp">Record Group</a> <a href="#alloc_cnt">Count Allocator</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p>A <a href="#msg_grp">Record Group</a> <a href="#alloc_size">Size Allocator</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p>A <a href="#hdrs_bodystart"><code>BODYSTART</code> Header Prefix</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p>One (or more) <a href="#msg_grp">Record Group</a>(s), each of which contain:</p>
<div class="ulist">
<ul>
@ -1376,12 +1396,12 @@ In the event of the embedded text in this document differing from the online ver
<li>
<p>A <a href="#msg_grp_rec_kv_val">Field Value</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p>A <a href="#msg_grp_recresp">Copy Record</a><sup class="footnoteref">[<a class="footnote" href="#_footnotedef_1" title="View footnote.">1</a>]</sup></p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</li>
<li>
<p>A <a href="#msg_grp_recresp">copy of the original record</a><sup class="footnoteref">[<a class="footnote" href="#_footnotedef_1" title="View footnote.">1</a>]</sup></p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</li>
@ -1399,8 +1419,8 @@ In the event of the embedded text in this document differing from the online ver
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="msg_respstatus"><a class="link" href="#msg_respstatus">3.1. Response Status</a></h3>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>For responses, their messages have an additional byte prepended; a status indicator.
This allows client programs to quickly bail in the case of an error if no further parsing is desired.</p>
<p>For response messages, a speciall "summary byte" is prepended; a status indicator.
This allows requesting ends to quickly bail in the case of an error if no further parsing is desired.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>The status will be indicated by one of <a href="#hdrs_respstart">two values</a>: an ASCII <code>ACK</code> (<code>0x06</code>) for all requests being returned successfully or an ASCII <code>NAK</code> (<code>0x15</code>) if one or more errors were encountered across all records.</p>
@ -1424,7 +1444,7 @@ This allows client programs to quickly bail in the case of an error if no furthe
<div class="title">Note</div>
</td>
<td class="content">
Version <code>0</code> is reserved for current <code>HEAD</code> of the <code>master</code> branch of this specification and should be considered experimental.
Version <code>0</code> is reserved for current <code>HEAD</code> of the <code>master</code> branch of this specification and should be considered experimental, not conforming to any specific protocol message format version.
</td>
</tr>
</table>
@ -1454,7 +1474,7 @@ Version <code>0</code> is reserved for current <code>HEAD</code> of the <code>ma
<div class="sect3">
<h4 id="msg_grp_rec"><a class="link" href="#msg_grp_rec">3.3.1. Record</a></h4>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>A record contains multiple related <a href="#msg_grp_rec_kv">Field/Value Pairs (FVP)</a>. It is typical to only have a single Record.</p>
<p>A record contains multiple related <a href="#msg_grp_rec_kv">Field/Value Pairs (FVP)</a> and, if a Response Record, a copy of the original reference Request Record it is responding to.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Its structure is:</p>
@ -1466,25 +1486,18 @@ Version <code>0</code> is reserved for current <code>HEAD</code> of the <code>ma
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="#msg_grp_rec_kv">Field/Value Pair (Key/Value Pair)</a> <a href="#alloc_size">Size Allocator</a></p>
</li>
<div class="olist loweralpha">
<ol class="loweralpha" type="a">
<li>
<p>One (or more) <a href="#msg_grp_rec_kv">Field/Value Pairs</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>
<div class="admonitionblock important">
<table>
<tr>
<td class="icon">
<div class="title">Important</div>
</td>
<td class="content">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>For response messages, the record&#8217;s size allocator (but NOT the count allocator) includes the <a href="#msg_grp_recresp">Copy Record</a> size for each response record copy!<sup class="footnoteref">[<a class="footnote" href="#_footnotedef_1" title="View footnote.">1</a>]</sup></p>
</div>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="#msg_grp_recresp">Copy of Original Record</a> <a href="#alloc_size">Size Allocator</a><sup class="footnoteref">[<a class="footnote" href="#_footnotedef_1" title="View footnote.">1</a>]</sup></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>
<div class="sect4">
<h5 id="msg_grp_rec_kv"><a class="link" href="#msg_grp_rec_kv">3.3.1.1. Field/Value Pair (Key/Value Pair)</a></h5>
@ -1518,7 +1531,7 @@ Version <code>0</code> is reserved for current <code>HEAD</code> of the <code>ma
</td>
<td class="content">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Unlike most/all other <a href="#alloc">Allocators</a> for other sections/levels, the field name and value allocators are consecutive <a href="#alloc_size">Size Allocators</a>! This is because there is only one field name and value per record.</p>
<p>Unlike most/all other <a href="#alloc">Allocators</a> for other sections/levels, the field name and value allocators are consecutive <a href="#alloc_size">Size Allocators</a>! This is because there is <strong>only one</strong> field name and value per <a href="#msg_grp_rec">Record</a>.</p>
</div>
</td>
</tr>
@ -1527,7 +1540,10 @@ Version <code>0</code> is reserved for current <code>HEAD</code> of the <code>ma
<div class="sect5">
<h6 id="msg_grp_rec_kv_nm"><a class="link" href="#msg_grp_rec_kv_nm">3.3.1.1.1. Field Name</a></h6>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>The field name is usually from a finite set of allowed names. The <a href="#msg_grp_rec_kv_val">Field Value</a>, while written as bytes, often contains a data structure defined by the field name. (A field name is closer to a "value type".) It <strong>must</strong> be a UTF-8 string.</p>
<p>The field name is usually from a finite set of allowed names. The <a href="#msg_grp_rec_kv_val">Field Value</a>, while written as bytes, often contains data defined by the field name. (That is, the parsing of <a href="#msg_grp_rec_kv_val">Field Value</a> often depends on its Field Name.) It is recommended that the field name be a UTF-8-compatible string for simplified serializing and <a href="https://www.wireshark.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">on-the-wire debugging</a>.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>While there is no technical requirement that a field name be unique per-<a href="#msg_grp_rec">Record</a>, it is generally recommended (unless emulating/encoding arrays of data in separate <a href="#msg_grp_rec_kv">field/value pairs</a>).</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Its structure is:</p>
@ -1535,7 +1551,7 @@ Version <code>0</code> is reserved for current <code>HEAD</code> of the <code>ma
<div class="olist arabic">
<ol class="arabic">
<li>
<p>The name in bytes</p>
<p>A name/identifier in bytes</p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>
@ -1551,72 +1567,38 @@ Version <code>0</code> is reserved for current <code>HEAD</code> of the <code>ma
<div class="olist arabic">
<ol class="arabic">
<li>
<p>The value in bytes</p>
<p>A value in bytes</p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect4">
<h5 id="msg_grp_recresp"><a class="link" href="#msg_grp_recresp">3.3.1.2. Copy Record (Response Copy of Request)</a></h5>
<h5 id="msg_grp_recresp"><a class="link" href="#msg_grp_recresp">3.3.1.2. Copy of Original Record</a></h5>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>This contains a "copy" of the original/request&#8217;s <a href="#msg_grp_rec">Record</a> that this record is in response to.</p>
<p>This contains a "copy" of the original/request&#8217;s <a href="#msg_grp_rec">Record</a> that this record is in response to. It is only present in Response message and must not be included in Request messages.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>It is a variant of a <a href="#msg_grp_rec">Record</a> used exclusively in responses, and is tied to (included in) each response&#8217;s <a href="#msg_grp_rec_kv">FVP</a>.</p>
<p>It is a complete <a href="#msg_grp_rec">Record</a> from the request embedded inside the responding Record.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Its structure is:</p>
<p>For example, if a record contains multiple <a href="#msg_grp_rec_kv">field/value pairs</a> specifying a query of some data then the response record will contain a copy of that record&#8217;s query data.</p>
</div>
<div class="olist arabic">
<ol class="arabic">
<li>
<p><a href="#msg_grp_rec_kvcpy">Field/Value Pair (Key/Value Pair) (Response Copy)</a> <a href="#alloc_cnt">Count Allocator</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="#msg_grp_rec_kvcpy">Field/Value Pair (Key/Value Pair) (Response Copy)</a> <a href="#alloc_size">Size Allocator</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p>One (or more) <a href="#msg_grp_rec_kvcpy">Field/Value Pairs (Response Copy)</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>
<div class="sect5">
<h6 id="msg_grp_rec_kvcpy"><a class="link" href="#msg_grp_rec_kvcpy">3.3.1.2.1. Field/Value Pair (Key/Value Pair) (Response Copy)</a></h6>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>A field/value pair (also referred to as a key/value pair) contains a matched <a href="#msg_grp_rec_kv_nm">Field Name</a> and its <a href="#msg_grp_rec_kv_val">Field Value</a>.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>It is a variant of a <a href="#msg_grp_rec_kv">Field/Value Pair</a> used exclusively in response copies of the original request&#8217;s FVP.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Its structure is:</p>
</div>
<div class="olist arabic">
<ol class="arabic">
<li>
<p><a href="#msg_grp_rec_kv_nm">Field Name</a> <a href="#alloc_size">Size Allocator</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="#msg_grp_rec_kv_val">Field Value</a> <a href="#alloc_size">Size Allocator</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p>A single <a href="#msg_grp_rec_kv_nm">Field Name</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p>A single matching <a href="#msg_grp_rec_kv_val">Field Value</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>
<div class="admonitionblock important">
<div class="admonitionblock note">
<table>
<tr>
<td class="icon">
<div class="title">Important</div>
<div class="title">Note</div>
</td>
<td class="content">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Unlike most/all other <a href="#alloc">Allocators</a> for other sections/levels, the field name and value allocators are consecutive <a href="#alloc_size">Size Allocators</a>! This is because there is only one field name and value per record.</p>
<p>While <strong>not recommended</strong>, it <strong>is</strong> within specification/permissible to "alias" a request record via a session-unique identifier (e.g. <a href="https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc4122" target="_blank" rel="noopener">UUIDv4</a>), <strong>provided</strong> the promise that the requesting end retains an identifiable copy of/can lookup or associate its original record based on that identifying alias.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>For example, a requesting end may specify <em>its own</em> provided identifier as an <a href="#msg_grp_rec_kv">field/value pair</a> (e.g. <code>identifier:f18231973d08417e877dd1a2f8e8ab74</code>) along with additional data. The returning Response Record may then include <strong>only</strong> an original/request record with an FVP of <code>identifier:f18231973d08417e877dd1a2f8e8ab74</code> along with the requested data.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Alternatively for another example, a responding end may return a Response Record with an original/request record of a single FVP such as <code>ref_id:46823da27f8749df9dee8f0bded8cce9</code> or the like. The requesting end <strong>must</strong> then be able to retrieve the full copy of the original request record as a standalone Response Record based on that <code>ref_id</code>. Responding ends <strong>may</strong> enforce lifetimes for request record lookup in this case but they must be promised.</p>
</div>
</td>
</tr>
@ -1627,18 +1609,17 @@ Version <code>0</code> is reserved for current <code>HEAD</code> of the <code>ma
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="cksum"><a class="link" href="#cksum">4. Checksums</a></h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Checksums are optional for the client but the server will <strong>always</strong> send them. <strong>If present</strong> in the request, the server will validate to ensure the checksum matches the message body (<a href="#hdrs_bodystart">body start</a> to <a href="#hdrs_bodyend">body end</a>, headers included). If the checksum does not match, an error will be returned.</p>
<p>Checksums are optional for the requesting end but the responding end <strong>must</strong> send them. <strong>If present</strong> in the request, the responder <strong>must</strong> validate to ensure the checksum matches the message body (<a href="#hdrs_bodystart"><code>BODYSTART</code> Header Prefix</a> to <a href="#hdrs_bodyend"><code>BODYEND</code> Sequence</a>, inclusive). If the checksum does not match, an error <strong>must</strong> be returned.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>They are represented as a big-endian-packed uint32.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>The checksum must be prefixed with a <a href="#hdrs_cksum"><code>CKSUM</code> Header Prefix</a>. If no checksum is provided, this prefix must <strong>not</strong> be included in the sequence.</p>
<p>The checksum must be prefixed with a <a href="#hdrs_cksum"><code>CKSUM</code> Header Prefix</a>. If no checksum is provided in a request, this prefix <strong>must not</strong> be included in the sequence.</p>
</div>
<div class="admonitionblock tip">
<table>
@ -1648,17 +1629,20 @@ Version <code>0</code> is reserved for current <code>HEAD</code> of the <code>ma
</td>
<td class="content">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>You can quickly check if a checksum is present by checking the first byte in requests or the second byte in responses. If it is <code>ESC</code> (<code>0x1b</code>), a checksum is provided. If it is <code>SOH</code> (<code>0x01</code>), one was <strong>not</strong> provided.</p>
<p>A responder can quickly check if a checksum is present by checking the first byte in requests. If it is <a href="#hdrs_cksum"><code>CKSUM</code></a>, a checksum is provided. If it is <a href="#hdrs_msgstart"><code>MSGSTART</code></a>, one was <strong>not</strong> provided.</p>
</div>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>The checksum method used is the <a href="https://users.ece.cmu.edu/~koopman/crc/crc32.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">IEEE 802.3 CRC-32</a>, which should be natively available for all/most client implementations as it is perhaps the most ubiquitous of CRC-32 variants. (Polynomial <code>0x04c11db7</code>, reversed polynomial <code>0xedb88320</code>.)</p>
<p>The checksum method used is the <a href="https://users.ece.cmu.edu/~koopman/crc/crc32.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">IEEE 802.3 CRC-32</a>, which should be natively available for all/most implementations/languages as it is perhaps the most ubiquitous of CRC-32 variants (e.g. <a href="https://docs.python.org/3/library/zlib.html#zlib.crc32" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Python</a>, <a href="https://pkg.go.dev/hash/crc32" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Golang</a>, <a href="https://github.com/gcc-mirror/gcc/blob/master/libiberty/crc32.c" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GNU C/glibc</a>(?), <a href="https://crates.io/keywords/crc32" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rust</a>, etc.). (Polynomial <code>0x04c11db7</code>, reversed polynomial <code>0xedb88320</code>.)</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>To confirm you are using the correct CRC32 implementation (as there are a <strong>ton</strong> of "CRC-32" algorithms and methods out there), use the following validations:</p>
<p>If one needs to implement the appropriate CRC32 implementation, there is extensive detail at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclic_redundancy_check" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CRC Wikipedia article</a>.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>To confirm the correct CRC32 implementation is being used (as there are <strong>many</strong> "CRC-32" algorithms/methods/functions/libraries), the following validations may be used:</p>
</div>
<table class="tableblock frame-all grid-all stretch">
<caption class="title">Table 1. CRC-32 Validations</caption>
@ -1680,6 +1664,13 @@ Version <code>0</code> is reserved for current <code>HEAD</code> of the <code>ma
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-center valign-middle"><p class="tableblock"><code>WireProto</code></p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock"><code>0x5769726550726f746f</code></p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-center valign-middle"><p class="tableblock"><code>815806352</code></p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-center valign-middle"><p class="tableblock"><code>0x30a03790</code></p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-center valign-middle"><p class="tableblock"><code>0x9037a030</code></p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-center valign-middle"><p class="tableblock"><code>FooBarBazQuux</code></p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock"><code>0x466f6f42617242617a51757578</code></p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-center valign-middle"><p class="tableblock"><code>983022564</code></p></td>
@ -1704,7 +1695,7 @@ Version <code>0</code> is reserved for current <code>HEAD</code> of the <code>ma
<p>Certain sections are wrapped with an identifying header. Those headers are included below for reference.</p>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="hdrs_respstart"><a class="link" href="#hdrs_respstart">5.1. <code>RESPSTART</code> Byte Sequence</a></h3>
<h3 id="hdrs_respstart"><a class="link" href="#hdrs_respstart">5.1. <code>RESPSTART</code> Indicator</a></h3>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Responses have a <a href="#msg_respstatus">Response Status</a>.<sup class="footnoteref">[<a class="footnote" href="#_footnotedef_1" title="View footnote.">1</a>]</sup></p>
</div>
@ -1715,13 +1706,13 @@ Version <code>0</code> is reserved for current <code>HEAD</code> of the <code>ma
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="hdrs_cksum"><a class="link" href="#hdrs_cksum">5.2. <code>CKSUM</code> Header Prefix</a></h3>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>A checksum, if provided, will have a prefix header of <code>ESC</code> (<code>0x1b</code>).</p>
<p>A <a href="#cksum">checksum</a>, if provided<sup class="footnoteref">[<a class="footnote" href="#_footnotedef_2" title="View footnote.">2</a>]</sup><sup class="footnoteref">[<a class="footnote" href="#_footnotedef_3" title="View footnote.">3</a>]</sup>, will have a prefix header of <code>ESC</code> (<code>0x1b</code>).</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="hdrs_msgstart"><a class="link" href="#hdrs_msgstart">5.3. <code>MSGSTART</code> Header Prefix</a></h3>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>The message start header indicates a start of a message.</p>
<p>The message start header indicates a start of a "message". It is used to delineate operational headers from specification information (e.g. <a href="#proto_ver">Protocol Version</a>) and data.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>It is an <code>SOH</code> (<code>0x01</code>).</p>
@ -1730,7 +1721,7 @@ Version <code>0</code> is reserved for current <code>HEAD</code> of the <code>ma
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="hdrs_bodystart"><a class="link" href="#hdrs_bodystart">5.4. <code>BODYSTART</code> Header Prefix</a></h3>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>The body start header indicates that actual data/records follows.</p>
<p>The body start header indicates that data/records follow. All bytes between <code>BODYSTART</code> and <a href="#hdrs_bodyend"><code>BODYEND</code></a> are to be assumed to be directly pertinent to the request/response rather than operational.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>It is an <code>STX</code> (<code>0x02</code>).</p>
@ -1739,7 +1730,7 @@ Version <code>0</code> is reserved for current <code>HEAD</code> of the <code>ma
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="hdrs_bodyend"><a class="link" href="#hdrs_bodyend">5.5. <code>BODYEND</code> Sequence</a></h3>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>The body end prefix indicates the end of data/records.</p>
<p>The body end prefix indicates the end of data/records. All bytes between <a href="#hdrs_bodystart"><code>BODYSTART</code></a> and <code>BODYEND</code> are to be assumed to be directly pertinent to the request/response rather than operational.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>It is an <code>ETX</code> (<code>0x03</code>).</p>
@ -1748,7 +1739,7 @@ Version <code>0</code> is reserved for current <code>HEAD</code> of the <code>ma
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="hdrs_msgend"><a class="link" href="#hdrs_msgend">5.6. <code>MSGEND</code> Sequence</a></h3>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>The message end prefix indicates that a message in its entirety has ended.</p>
<p>The message end prefix indicates that a message in its entirety has ended, and if no further communication is necessary per implementation the connection may be disconnected.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>It is an <code>EOT</code> (<code>0x04</code>).</p>
@ -1763,13 +1754,13 @@ Version <code>0</code> is reserved for current <code>HEAD</code> of the <code>ma
<p>There are two type of allocators included for each following sequence of bytes: <code>count allocators</code> and <code>size allocators</code>.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>They can be used by clients to determine the size of destination buffers, and are used by the server to efficiently unpack requests.</p>
<p><a href="#alloc_size">Size allocators</a> can be used by receiving ends to efficiently pre-allocate buffers and for sending ends to indicate the amount of remaining data expected.</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>They are usually paired together with the count allocator preceding the size allocator, but not always (e.g. <a href="#msg_grp_rec_kv">Field/Value Pair (Key/Value Pair)</a> have two <a href="#alloc_size">Size Allocator</a>).</p>
<p>They are usually preceded with a <a href="#alloc_cnt">count allocator</a> to allow for pre-allocating e.g. slice/array sizes, but not always (e.g. <a href="#msg_grp_rec_kv">field/value pairs</a> have two <a href="#alloc_size">size allocators</a>).</p>
</div>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>All allocators are unsigned 32-bit integers, little-endian-packed.</p>
<p>All allocators are unsigned 32-bit integers, big-endian-packed.</p>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="alloc_cnt"><a class="link" href="#alloc_cnt">6.1. Count Allocator</a></h3>
@ -1780,7 +1771,7 @@ Version <code>0</code> is reserved for current <code>HEAD</code> of the <code>ma
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="alloc_size"><a class="link" href="#alloc_size">6.2. Size Allocator</a></h3>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Size allocators indicate <strong>how much</strong> (in bytes) all children objects are combined together. It includes e.g. separators, etc.</p>
<p>Size allocators indicate <strong>how much</strong> (in bytes) all children objects are combined as one block. They include the allocators themselves of child objects, etc. as well.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
@ -1789,7 +1780,7 @@ Version <code>0</code> is reserved for current <code>HEAD</code> of the <code>ma
<h2 id="ref"><a class="link" href="#ref">7. Reference Model and Examples</a></h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p>For a more visual explanation, given the following e.g. Golang structs from the <a href="https://pkg.go.dev/r00t2.io/wireproto" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Golang reference library</a> (<code>wireproto.Request{}</code> and <code>wireproto.Response{}</code>):</p>
<p>For a more visual explanation, given the following e.g. Golang structs from the <a href="#lib">Reference Library</a> (<code>wireproto.Request{}</code> and <code>wireproto.Response{}</code>):</p>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="ref_single"><a class="link" href="#ref_single">7.1. Single/Simple</a></h3>
@ -1890,7 +1881,7 @@ Version <code>0</code> is reserved for current <code>HEAD</code> of the <code>ma
<span class="c">// RESPONSE (Simple)</span>
<span class="n">testSimpleResp</span> <span class="o">*</span><span class="n">Response</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="o">&amp;</span><span class="n">Response</span><span class="p">{</span>
<span class="n">Status</span><span class="o">:</span> <span class="n">AsciiACK</span><span class="p">,</span>
<span class="n">Checksum</span><span class="o">:</span> <span class="m">4005376897</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="c">// 0xeebd3381</span>
<span class="n">Checksum</span><span class="o">:</span> <span class="m">3472688928</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="c">// 0xcefd0720</span>
<span class="n">ProtocolVersion</span><span class="o">:</span> <span class="n">ProtoVersion</span><span class="p">,</span>
<span class="n">RecordGroups</span><span class="o">:</span> <span class="p">[]</span><span class="o">*</span><span class="n">ResponseRecordGroup</span><span class="p">{</span>
<span class="o">&amp;</span><span class="n">ResponseRecordGroup</span><span class="p">{</span>
@ -1924,7 +1915,7 @@ Version <code>0</code> is reserved for current <code>HEAD</code> of the <code>ma
<pre class="rouge highlight"><code data-lang="text">// RESPONSE (Simple)
06 // HDR:RESPSTART (Status: OK)
1b // HDR:CKSUM
5fde82e5 // Checksum Value (1608418021)
cefd0720 // Checksum Value (3472688928)
01 // HDR:MSGSTART
00000001 // Protocol Version (1)
02 // HDR:BODYSTART
@ -1967,7 +1958,7 @@ Version <code>0</code> is reserved for current <code>HEAD</code> of the <code>ma
</div>
<div class="listingblock">
<div class="content">
<pre class="rouge highlight"><code data-lang="text">061b5fde82e501000000010200000001000000610000000100000059000000010000001d00000030
<pre class="rouge highlight"><code data-lang="text">061bcefd072001000000010200000001000000610000000100000059000000010000001d00000030
000000050000001064617461313c61726269747261727920646174613e0000000200000028000000
06000000066669656c643176616c75653100000006000000066669656c643276616c7565320304</code></pre>
</div>
@ -1977,7 +1968,7 @@ Version <code>0</code> is reserved for current <code>HEAD</code> of the <code>ma
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="ref_multi"><a class="link" href="#ref_multi">7.2. Multiple/Many/Complex</a></h3>
<div class="paragraph">
<p>Multiple commands, parameters, etc. can be specified in one message.</p>
<p>Multiple records, record groups, etc. can be specified in one message.</p>
</div>
<div class="sect3">
<h4 id="ref_multi_req"><a class="link" href="#ref_multi_req">7.2.1. Complex Request</a></h4>
@ -2163,7 +2154,7 @@ Version <code>0</code> is reserved for current <code>HEAD</code> of the <code>ma
<span class="c">// RESPONSE (Complex)</span>
<span class="n">testMultiResp</span> <span class="o">*</span><span class="n">Response</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="o">&amp;</span><span class="n">Response</span><span class="p">{</span>
<span class="n">Status</span><span class="o">:</span> <span class="n">AsciiACK</span><span class="p">,</span>
<span class="n">Checksum</span><span class="o">:</span> <span class="m">2563794802</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="c">// 98d06772</span>
<span class="n">Checksum</span><span class="o">:</span> <span class="m">2928197330</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="c">// 0xae88bed2</span>
<span class="n">ProtocolVersion</span><span class="o">:</span> <span class="n">ProtoVersion</span><span class="p">,</span>
<span class="n">RecordGroups</span><span class="o">:</span> <span class="p">[]</span><span class="o">*</span><span class="n">ResponseRecordGroup</span><span class="p">{</span>
<span class="o">&amp;</span><span class="n">ResponseRecordGroup</span><span class="p">{</span>
@ -2228,7 +2219,7 @@ Version <code>0</code> is reserved for current <code>HEAD</code> of the <code>ma
<pre class="rouge highlight"><code data-lang="text">// RESPONSE (Complex)
06 // HDR:RESPSTART (Status: OK)
1b // HDR:CKSUM
d0ba719f // Checksum Value (3501879711)
ae88bed2 // Checksum Value (2928197330)
01 // HDR:MSGSTART
00000001 // Protocol Version (1)
02 // HDR:BODYSTART
@ -2343,7 +2334,7 @@ d0ba719f // Checksum Value (3501879711)
</div>
<div class="listingblock">
<div class="content">
<pre class="rouge highlight"><code data-lang="text">061bd0ba719f010000000102000000020000019800000002000000c4000000010000001e00000038
<pre class="rouge highlight"><code data-lang="text">061bae88bed2010000000102000000020000019800000002000000c4000000010000001e00000038
00000006000000106461746141313c61726269747261727920646174613e00000002000000300000
0008000000086669656c6441314176616c756541314100000008000000086669656c644131427661
6c7565413142000000010000001e0000003800000006000000106461746141323c61726269747261
@ -2375,7 +2366,7 @@ d0ba719f // Checksum Value (3501879711)
</div>
<div id="footer">
<div id="footer-text">
Last updated 2024-07-07 23:38:45 -0400
Last updated 2024-07-09 18:30:34 -0400
</div>
</div>
</body>

View File

@ -6,8 +6,10 @@
################################################################################################################################

import binascii
import os
import pathlib
import re
import sys
import zlib

prefixes = ('request', 'response')
@ -17,6 +19,8 @@ linecharlimit = 80
linestrp = re.compile(r'^\s*(?P<hex>[A-Fa-f0-9N]+)?(?:\s*//.*)?$')
thisdir = pathlib.Path(__file__).absolute().parent

is_tty = os.isatty(sys.stdout.fileno())


def parse(text):
ret = []
@ -57,6 +61,7 @@ for p in prefixes:
repr_split = []
for i in range(0, len(repr), 16):
repr_split.append(repr[i:i + 16])
print(fnamebase)
for i in repr_split:
print(', '.join(i), end = ',\n')
if is_tty:
print(fnamebase)
for i in repr_split:
print(', '.join(i), end = ',\n')

View File

@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
061bd0ba719f010000000102000000020000019800000002000000c4000000010000001e00000038
061bae88bed2010000000102000000020000019800000002000000c4000000010000001e00000038
00000006000000106461746141313c61726269747261727920646174613e00000002000000300000
0008000000086669656c6441314176616c756541314100000008000000086669656c644131427661
6c7565413142000000010000001e0000003800000006000000106461746141323c61726269747261

View File

@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
// RESPONSE (Complex)
06 // HDR:RESPSTART (Status: OK)
1b // HDR:CKSUM
d0ba719f // Checksum Value (3501879711)
ae88bed2 // Checksum Value (2928197330)
01 // HDR:MSGSTART
00000001 // Protocol Version (1)
02 // HDR:BODYSTART

View File

@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
061b5fde82e501000000010200000001000000610000000100000059000000010000001d00000030
061bcefd072001000000010200000001000000610000000100000059000000010000001d00000030
000000050000001064617461313c61726269747261727920646174613e0000000200000028000000
06000000066669656c643176616c75653100000006000000066669656c643276616c7565320304

View File

@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
// RESPONSE (Simple)
06 // HDR:RESPSTART (Status: OK)
1b // HDR:CKSUM
5fde82e5 // Checksum Value (1608418021)
cefd0720 // Checksum Value (3472688928)
01 // HDR:MSGSTART
00000001 // Protocol Version (1)
02 // HDR:BODYSTART