From dd54563dd939ac475aa51c1d95a90df5d7267d03 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: "Dr. Patrick Urbanke" <patrick@getml.com>
Date: Tue, 15 Apr 2025 19:30:04 +0200
Subject: [PATCH] Added a separate parser for the Bytestring to avoid it being
 serialized as an array; #407

---
 docs/bytestring.md                        |  4 +--
 include/rfl/Bytestring.hpp                |  9 ++----
 include/rfl/parsing/Parser.hpp            |  1 +
 include/rfl/parsing/Parser_bytestring.hpp | 38 +++++++++++++++++++++++
 include/rfl/parsing/Parser_default.hpp    |  4 ---
 include/rfl/parsing/VectorParser.hpp      |  4 +++
 6 files changed, 47 insertions(+), 13 deletions(-)
 create mode 100644 include/rfl/parsing/Parser_bytestring.hpp

diff --git a/docs/bytestring.md b/docs/bytestring.md
index e11e6e54..d4f50a3f 100644
--- a/docs/bytestring.md
+++ b/docs/bytestring.md
@@ -10,5 +10,5 @@ using Bytestring = std::vector<std::byte>;
 }
 ```
 
-Bytestrings are supported by BSON, CBOR, flexbuffers and msgpack. Textual formats
-do not support them.
+Bytestrings are supported by binary formats such as BSON, CBOR, flexbuffers and msgpack. 
+Textual formats do not support them.
diff --git a/include/rfl/Bytestring.hpp b/include/rfl/Bytestring.hpp
index 56f47cda..197531e5 100644
--- a/include/rfl/Bytestring.hpp
+++ b/include/rfl/Bytestring.hpp
@@ -5,13 +5,8 @@
 #include <vector>
 
 namespace rfl {
-// custom type to avoid serializing this as a vector of enums
-// in other means this is the same as
-// using Bytestring = std::vector<std::byte>;
-class Bytestring : public std::vector<std::byte> {
-public:
-  using std::vector<std::byte>::vector;
-};
+
+using Bytestring = std::vector<std::byte>;
 
 }  // namespace rfl
 
diff --git a/include/rfl/parsing/Parser.hpp b/include/rfl/parsing/Parser.hpp
index d82bc434..e7f2ed8d 100644
--- a/include/rfl/parsing/Parser.hpp
+++ b/include/rfl/parsing/Parser.hpp
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 #include "Parser_array.hpp"
 #include "Parser_base.hpp"
 #include "Parser_box.hpp"
+#include "Parser_bytestring.hpp"
 #include "Parser_c_array.hpp"
 #include "Parser_default.hpp"
 #include "Parser_duration.hpp"
diff --git a/include/rfl/parsing/Parser_bytestring.hpp b/include/rfl/parsing/Parser_bytestring.hpp
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..93a7499b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/include/rfl/parsing/Parser_bytestring.hpp
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+#ifndef RFL_PARSING_PARSER_BYTESTRING_HPP_
+#define RFL_PARSING_PARSER_BYTESTRING_HPP_
+
+#include <map>
+
+#include "../Bytestring.hpp"
+#include "../Result.hpp"
+#include "Parser_base.hpp"
+#include "schema/Type.hpp"
+
+namespace rfl::parsing {
+
+template <class R, class W, class ProcessorsType>
+  requires AreReaderAndWriter<R, W, Bytestring>
+struct Parser<R, W, Bytestring, ProcessorsType> {
+  using InputVarType = typename R::InputVarType;
+  using ParentType = Parent<W>;
+
+  static Result<Bytestring> read(const R& _r,
+                                 const InputVarType& _var) noexcept {
+    return _r.template to_basic_type<Bytestring>(_var);
+  }
+
+  template <class P>
+  static void write(const W& _w, const Bytestring& _b,
+                    const P& _parent) noexcept {
+    ParentType::add_value(_w, _b, _parent);
+  }
+
+  static schema::Type to_schema(
+      std::map<std::string, schema::Type>* _definitions) {
+    return schema::Type{schema::Type::Bytestring{}};
+  }
+};
+
+}  // namespace rfl::parsing
+
+#endif
diff --git a/include/rfl/parsing/Parser_default.hpp b/include/rfl/parsing/Parser_default.hpp
index 5bdf21cc..c4e4f3e1 100644
--- a/include/rfl/parsing/Parser_default.hpp
+++ b/include/rfl/parsing/Parser_default.hpp
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@
 #include <stdexcept>
 #include <type_traits>
 
-#include "../Bytestring.hpp"
 #include "../Result.hpp"
 #include "../always_false.hpp"
 #include "../from_named_tuple.hpp"
@@ -152,9 +151,6 @@ struct Parser {
     if constexpr (std::is_same<U, bool>()) {
       return Type{Type::Boolean{}};
 
-    } else if constexpr (std::is_same<U, rfl::Bytestring>()) {
-      return Type{Type::Bytestring{}};
-
     } else if constexpr (std::is_same<U, std::int32_t>()) {
       return Type{Type::Int32{}};
 
diff --git a/include/rfl/parsing/VectorParser.hpp b/include/rfl/parsing/VectorParser.hpp
index e40ddd4f..b6ac9cfe 100644
--- a/include/rfl/parsing/VectorParser.hpp
+++ b/include/rfl/parsing/VectorParser.hpp
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 #include <string>
 #include <type_traits>
 
+#include "../Bytestring.hpp"
 #include "../Result.hpp"
 #include "../always_false.hpp"
 #include "MapParser.hpp"
@@ -37,6 +38,9 @@ struct VectorParser {
 
   using T = typename VecType::value_type;
 
+  static_assert(!std::is_same_v<std::remove_cvref_t<VecType>, Bytestring>,
+                "Cannot be a bytestring.");
+
   static Result<VecType> read(const R& _r, const InputVarType& _var) noexcept {
     if constexpr (treat_as_map()) {
       return MapParser<R, W, VecType, ProcessorsType>::read(_r, _var);