zproto is two things. First, a code generator capable of producing fast and efficient binary codecs for ZeroMQ-based protocols. Second, a base project for your ZeroMQ C protocol clients and servers.
To use zproto, clone the repository at https://github.com/zeromq/zproto.
Build and test using the usual commands:
./autogen.sh
./configure
make check
And then install the code generator:
make install
Next, read the model/zproto_example.xml file to learn how to write your own protocol specifications. The binary codec has the same name, and is src/zproto_example.c and include/zproto_example.h.
To rebuild the codec, first build and install https://github.com/imatix/gsl. Then run these commands:
cd generate
./generate
cd ..
make check
Finally, to use zproto as the base for your own projects, clone the git repository, then:
rm .git
rm model/*.gsl
git init .
And then manually change all references to 'zproto' to your own project prefix, both in filenames, and inside the sources. We may script this, later.
Goals:
- Very good performance on little-changing data.
- Full flexibility on often-changing data (headers).
- Portable to any programming language.
- Built for ZeroMQ.
- Easy to use.
The origin of this project is Chapter 7 of the ZeroMQ Guide.
To use this tool, please build and install the iMatix GSL code generator.
To contribute patches back to this code, please send GitHub pull requests, adding your name to AUTHORS. The full contract for contributions is ZeroMQ RFC 22, http://rfc.zeromq.org/spec:22, with the change of using the MIT license.
To use:
- Write your protocol as an XML file, using model/zproto_example.xml as a starting point.
- Generate your protocol, using model/generate as a starting point.
- Add the generated .h and .c class to your git repository.
- Don't modify generated codecs. Change the model, and regenerate.