Serializer

Latest Version: 1.1.0

The Serializer call includes two static methods that allow you serialize (nearly) any Squirrel object into a blob, and deserialize perviously serialized objects. This is particulairly useful if you’re planning to store information with hardware.spiflash or the with the SPIFlash Library.

The Serializer class only uses static methods, and as a result is not initialized through a constructor.

You can view the library’s source code on GitHub.

To add this library to your project, add #require "Serializer.class.nut:1.1.0" at the top of your agent or device code.

Serializable Squirrel

The Serializer class currently supports the following types:

The Serializer cannot serialize the following types:

functions and function pointers
class instances
meta objects such as device and hardware

Class Methods

Serializer.serialize(obj[, prefix])

The Serializer.serialize() method allows you to transform an arbitrary Squirrel object (obj) into a blob.

#require "Serializer.class.nut:1.1.0"

local data = {
    "foo" : "bar",
    "timestamps" : [1436983175, 1436984975, 1436986775, 1436988575, 1436990375],
    "readings" : [32.5, 33.6, 32.8, 32.9, 32.5],
    "otherData" : {
        "state" : true,
        "test" : "test"
    };
}

local serializedData = Serializer.serialize(data);

// Write the data to SPI Flash @ 0x0000
spiFlash.enable();
spiFlash.erasesector(0x0000);
spiFlash.write(0x0000, serializedData, SPIFLASH_PREVERIFY | SPIFLASH_POSTVERIFY);
spiFlash.disable();

If a prefix value was passed to the method, the Serializer will write this data at the beginning of the blob. Immediatly proceeding the prefix data, the Serializer will write three bytes of header information: a 16-bit unsigned integer representing the length of the serialized data, and an 8-bit unsigned integer representing a CRC.

Byte	Description
0	The lower byte of the length
1	The upper byte of the length
2	The CRC byte

Note The 16-bit length value does include the length of the prefix (if included) or the header data (three bytes).

Serializer.deserialize(serializedBlob[, prefix])

The Serializer.deserialize() method will deserialize a blob that was previous serialized with the Serializer.serialize() method. If the blob was serialized with a prefix, the same prefix must be passed into the Serializer.deserialize() method.

#require "Serializer.class.nut:1.1.0"

// Setup SpiFlash object, spiFlash...

spiFlash.enable();

// Read the header information
local dataBlob = spiFlash.read(0x00, 3);
// Get the length from the first two bytes
local len = dataBlob.readn('w');

// Move to the end of the blob
dataBlob.seek(0, 'e');

// Read the length of the data starting at the end of the header
spiFlash.readintoblob(0x03, dataBlob, len);

// Disable the SPIFlash since we're done
spiFlash.disable();

// Deserialize the blob
local data = Serializer.deserialize(dataBlob);

// Log some data to make sure it worked:
server.log(data.foo);               // bar
server.log(data.otherData.state);   // true
server.log(data.otherData.test);    // test

server.log("Readings:");
for (local i = 0 ; i < data.timestamps.len() ; ++i) {
    server.log(data.timestamps[i] + ": " + data.readings[i]);
}

Serializer.sizeof(object)

The Serializer class needs to add a variety of metadata to Serialized objects in order to properly know how to deserialize the blobs. The Serializer.sizeof() method can be used to quickly determine the size of an object after serialization.

#require "Serializer.class.nut:1.1.0"

local data = {
    "foo": "bar",
    "timestamps": [1436983175, 1436984975, 1436986775, 1436988575, 1436990375],
    "readings": [32.5, 33.6, 32.8, 32.9, 32.5],
    "otherData": {
        "state": true,
        "test": "test"
    };
}

// Check how large our blob will be before serializing
server.log(Serializer.sizeof(data));

License

The Serializer class is licensed under MIT License.