encoded-buffer v0.2.6

Encoded-Buffer

Encode data into a well-formatted buffer and decode it when needed.

Example

const { encode, decode } = require("encoded-buffer");

let buf = encode( // encode data
    "string",
    12345,
    Symbol("desc"),
    /regexp/,
    ["a", "r", "r", "a", "y"],
    {type: "object"},
    null,
    undefined,
    Buffer.from("or a buffer"),
    new Error("even an error"),
    new Date()
    true
);

console.log(buf);
console.log(buf.toString());

let data = decode(buf); // decode data

console.log(data); // decoded data is an array, or null when failed.

Buffer Format

When data is encoded, it will be formatted with a leading character and number that indicates the original type and the byte length of the data, and every part of the data is separated by ;. the style would seemed like this:

s:6:string;n:5:12345;S:12:Symbol(desc);r:8:/regexp/;...

Array will be enwrapped with [], and objects will be enwrapped with {}, and they are encoded recursively.

This map shows the representations of supported types:

• a => Array arrays will be encoded recursively.
• b => boolean booleans are encoded either as 1 or empty buffer.
• B => Buffer buffers will keep the original form.
• d => Date encode the ISO string, when decode, generate a new instance.
• e => Error encode all properties in an object, when decode, generate a new instance according to the name, message, stack and any other properties.
• f => function functions cannot be encoded, so treated as void.
• n => number encoded as string.
• o => object objects will be encoded recursively.
• r => RegExp encoded as string.
• s => string buffered as what it is, special characters like \r, \n, etc. should be escaped.
• S => symbol encoded as string, when decode, generate a new symbol.
• u => undefined encoded as 0x0.
• v => void for null, encoded as 0x0.

Purpose

The major purpose of the this module is meant to encode data into a well-formatted buffer, so that it could be transferred via the Internet or other materials, and decoded automatically by the program.