Bytely

bytely is a easy-to-use library for parsing binary data into structured objects. It provies an API for defining data structures in a similar way as low-level languages, specifically C. Through features like nesting, custom callbacks and debugging, bytely offers a flexible approach to work with complex binary data in a simple, clear and type-safe manner.

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Installation

Install the bytely package via npm:

npm install bytely

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Usage

Importing Bytely

import { createStruct } from 'bytely';

Defining Structures

Use createStruct to define a structure, and addMember to add members to the structure:

const exampleStruct = createStruct();
exampleStruct.addMember('name').pointer().string();
exampleStruct.addMember('red').uint8();
exampleStruct.addMember('green').uint8();
exampleStruct.addMember('blue').uint8();
exampleStruct.addMember('number').uint32();

Parsing Data

Once you've defined your structure, use its parse method to parse a DataView:

const view = new DataView(buffer); // DataView of buffer as argument

const data = exampleStruct.parse(view);

Example

// Example binary data setup
const buffer = new ArrayBuffer(20);
const view = new DataView(buffer);
view.setUint32(0, 12, true); // pointer to name (offset 12)
view.setUint8(4, 102); // red
view.setUint8(5, 51); // green
view.setUint8(6, 153); // blue
view.setUint32(7, 12345678, true); // number
const nameBuffer = new TextEncoder().encode('Example');
new Uint8Array(buffer).set(nameBuffer, 12);

// Parsing data
const parsedData = exampleStruct.parse(view);
console.log(parsedData);
// Output: { name: 'Example', red: 102, green: 51, blue: 153, number: 12345678 }

Custom Parsing

Custom parsing allows you to handle non-standard or more complex data. As default parameters the custom callback exposes the DataView, the current offset and all data parsed so far. Define a callback that returns the byte size of the parsed data and the parsed result:

import { createStruct } from 'bytely';

const customStruct = createStruct();
customStruct.addMember('dataLength').uint8();
customStruct.addMember('customData').custom((view, offset, data) => {
  // different handling of byte length depending on already parsed data
  if (data.dataLength === 4) {
    const value = view.getUint32(offset, true);
    return { byteSize: 4, result: value };
  } else {
    const value = view.getUint8(offset);
    return { byteSize: 1, result: value };
  }
});

Extending existing structs

You can extend existing structs to reuse and adapt already existing definitions by passing an existing structure as argument to createStruct:

const point2DStruct = createStruct();
point2DStruct.addMember('id').uint32();
point2DStruct.addMember('x').float32();
point2DStruct.addMember('y').float32();

const point3DStruct = createStruct(point2DStruct);
point3DStruct.addMember('z').float32();

Nested Structures

Define nested structures to parse hierarchical data:

const pointStruct = createStruct();
pointStruct.addMember('x').float32();
pointStruct.addMember('y').float32();

// nested struct inside another struct
const triangleStruct = createStruct();
point2DStruct.addMember('point1').pointer().struct(pointStruct);
point2DStruct.addMember('point2').pointer().struct(pointStruct);
point2DStruct.addMember('point3').pointer().struct(pointStruct);

// handling of arrays
const pointCloudStruct = createStruct();
pointCloudStruct.addMember('pointCount').uint32();
pointCloudStruct.addMember('points').pointer().array('pointCount').struct(pointStruct);

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API Reference

createStruct

Creates a new structure for parsing binary data.

createStruct<T>();
createStruct<T>(existingStruct);

addMember

Adds a member to the structure.

addMember(name);

Supported Data Types

• uint8, uint16, uint32, int32
• float32
• pointer
• string
• struct, structByType
• array
• custom

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Endianness

Currently the data type parsing only supports little-endian, but there are plans to add big-endian support in the future.

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Debugging

Enable debugging by passing an options object with debug: true to any parsing method. This will log the member name, current offset and parsed data value:

const data = struct.parse(view, 0, { debug: true });
// Output: name offset dataValue

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TypeScript Support

bytely is fully typed, allowing you to define and parse structures with strict type checking.

interface Example {
  name: string;
  red: number;
  green: number;
  blue: number;
  number: number;
}

const exampleStruct = createStruct<Example>();
exampleStruct.addMember('name').pointer().string();
exampleStruct.addMember('red').uint8();
exampleStruct.addMember('green').uint8();
exampleStruct.addMember('blue').uint8();
exampleStruct.addMember('number').uint32();

const parsedData = exampleStruct.parse(view);
// parsedData is fully typed according to its struct definition

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License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

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Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Feel free to open issues or submit pull requests on GitHub.