NAME

Native::Packing

DESCRIPTION

This module provides a role for binary serialization of simple structs. At this stage, only scalar native integer and numeric attributes are supported.

This role is applicable to classes that contain only simple native numeric attributes, representing the structure of the data.

EXAMPLE

use v6;
    use Native::Packing :Endian;

# open a GIF read the 'screen' header
    my class GifHeader
        does Native::Packing[Endian::Vax] {
        has uint16 $.width;
        has uint16 $.height;
        has uint8 $.flags;
        has uint8 $.bgColorIndex;
        has uint8 $.aspect;
    }

my $fh = "t/lightbulb.gif".IO.open( :r :bin);
    $fh.read(6);  # skip GIF header

my GifHeader $screen .= read: $fh;

say "GIF has size {$screen.width} X {$screen.height}";

METHODS

unpack(buf8)

Class level method. Unpack bytes from a buffer. Create a struct object.

pack(buf8?)

Object level method. Serialize the object to a buffer.

read(fh)

Class level method. Read data from a binary file. Create an object.

write(fh)

Object level method. Write the object to a file

bytes

Determine the overall size of the struct. Sum of all its attributes.

host-endian

Return the endian of the host Endian::Network(0) or Endian::Vax(1).