recapn

recapn is a Cap'n Proto implementation for Rust. The goal of recapn is to provide a more modern implementation of Cap'n Proto using the latest and greatest features of Rust with a more flexible but simplified API.

Example

pub mod gen {
    //! Auto-generated code module!
    include!(concat!(env!("OUT_DIR"), "/mod.rs"));
}

use gen::addessbook_capnp::*;

let mut message = recapn::message::Message::global();
let mut builder = message.builder();
let mut addressbook = builder.by_ref().init_struct_root::<AddressBook>();

let mut people = addressbook.people().init(2);

let mut alice = people.at(0).get();
alice.id().set(123);
alice.name().set(text!("Alice"));
alice.email().set(text!("alice@example.com"));
alice.employment().school().set(text!("MIT"));

let mut alice_phones = alice.phones().init(1);
let mut phone = alice_phones.at(0).get();
phone.number().set(text!("555-1212"));
phone.r#type().set(person::phone_number::Type::Mobile);

let mut bob = people.at(1).get();
bob.id().set(456);
bob.name().set(text!("Bob"));
bob.email().set(text!("bob@example.com"));
bob.employment().unemployed().set();

let mut bob_phones = bob.phones().init(2);

let mut home = bob_phones.at(0).get();
home.number().set(text!("555-4567"));
home.r#type().set(person::phone_number::Type::Home);

let mut work = bob_phones.at(1).get();
work.number().set(text!("555-7654"));
work.r#type().set(person::phone_number::Type::Work);

recapn::io::write_message_packed(target, &builder.segments()).unwrap();

Getting started

Add recapn to your crate dependencies.

Code is generated using recapnc, the capnpc compiler plugin. This can be done with either a build.rs script or by manually invoking capnp with a compiled version of the plugin. Generated code automatically includes a module that properly includes all generated modules so you don't have to manually include each generated file.

With build.rs

Add recapnc to your crate build dependencies.

This example assumes you're putting all your schemas in a schemas directory alongside your src in the form:

project/
  - schemas/
  - src/
  - build.rs
  - Cargo.toml

fn main() {
    // Tell cargo to rerun the build script if our schemas change.
    println!("cargo::rerun-if-changed=schemas");

    recapnc::CapnpCommand::new()
        .src_prefix("schemas")
        .file("schemas/addressbook.capnp")
        .write_to_out_dir();
}

This generated code can be imported using include! from anywhere in the module tree, there is no dependence on the module being imported from a specific location.

pub mod gen {
    include!(concat!(env!("OUT_DIR"), "/mod.rs"));
}

And that's it! You're now ready to use recapn.

Using recapn

Building a message

All Cap'n Proto usage starts with a message which contains the root structure. In recapn you'll generally use the Message type for this purpose. Message is parameterized over an allocator that determines how segments of words are allocated in the message. You can provide your own allocator by supplying a type that implements the recapn::alloc::Alloc trait. The alloc module provides a few allocator utilities for building flexible allocators. These can be mixed and matched to build your own allocator types!

The default recommended allocator is a Growing<Global> allocator which is provided via the Message::global function. If you know your message is really small, you can also use stack allocated scratch space with the default allocator by using Message::with_scratch:

let mut space = recapn::alloc::space::<16>();
let mut message = Message::with_scratch(&mut space);

Messages will not allocate until you create a builder for the message. They can also be sent and shared between threads as long as the underlying allocator is Send.

Now you need to build your message. Message::builder creates a recapn::message::Builder that provides factory functions for setting up the message. The standard way to set up the message is with init_struct_root.

let mut builder = message.builder();
let mut addressbook = builder.by_ref().init_struct_root::<AddressBook>();

All of the factory functions consume the builder. You can use Builder::by_ref to make sure the builder isn't consumed. This is useful if you're immediately going to get the segments of the message via Builder::segments.

Generated structs

As you may have noticed, generated structs look a little bit peculiar...

#[derive(Clone)]
pub struct AddressBook<T = _p::Family>(T);

They're all generic! recapn does not generate separate structs for readers and builders. Instead, all types are wrappers for StructReader and StructBuilder.

But what about naming the types? You'd think you might have to use AddressBook<StructReader<'a>> but the library provides alternative aliases recapn::ReaderOf and recapn::BuilderOf that can be used in the form ReaderOf<'a, AddressBook> or BuilderOf<'a, AddressBook>.

Each struct also has a corresponding module in named snake_case with Reader and Builder type aliases. This module also contains all the nested types contained within the struct's scope.

Accessing fields

Unlike other Cap'n Proto libraries, fields in recapn only have one accessor per field. This accessor uses the field's name and is the same for readers and builders. The returned value from the accessor gives you the available options for reading or building the field.

Reading a simple data field like an Int32 or Bool will return the value itself.

struct Foo {
    bar @0 :Int32;
    baz @1 :Bool;
}

assert_eq!(foo.bar(), 5);
assert_eq!(foo.baz(), false);

While building a data field will give get() and set() functions.

foo.bar().set(10);
foo.baz().set(true);

assert_eq!(foo.bar().get(), 10);
assert_eq!(foo.baz().get(), true);

Pointer fields (structs, lists, capabilities, text, data, etc) are more complicated, but that's just because there's more options available to use! Pointers can be null, but they can also be invalid, so other libraries expose two accessors: has_field() which returns a bool indicating if the field is set and get_field() which returns the field value wrapped in a Result to indicate any errors that occur. This leaves a lot to be desired, so recapn doesn't use this approach.

Instead, there are 6 base pointer read accessors:

• ptr() which returns the field as AnyPtr. Useful in some edge cases.
• is_null() which returns whether the field is null.
• get() which returns the set value or the field default if the field is null or invalid.
• get_option() which returns the set value or None if the field is null or invalid.
• try_get() which returns the set value or the default if null. If the field is invalid, it returns an Err.
• try_get_option() which returns the set value, an Err if invalid, or None if the field is null.

Different fields may have different accessors, so explore what's available! Choose the accessor that works for your use-case. If you're confident your data is correct you can use infallible accessors like foo.bar().get(). If you want validation use accessors that can return validation errors like foo.bar().try_get().

Serializing your message

Now you have a message. You want to send it somewhere! recapn::message::Builder provides a function segments to get the MessageSegments of your Message! You can pass these segments to recapn::io::write_message to serialize the message to a Writeable value. This includes a stream table, allowing you to read the message even if the message contains multiple segments.

Want to customize how you write messages? Everything about serialization is exposed through recapn::io::stream so you can make your own stream table for writing to your own streams!

Packing support is exposed through recapn::io::write_message_packed. Packing primitives can be used in your own streams by using the recapn::io::packing module.

let mut builder = message.builder();
let mut addressbook = builder.by_ref().init_struct_root::<AddressBook>();

/* doing stuff */

let mut buf = Vec::new();
recapn::io::write_message(&mut buf, builder.segments())?;

Deserializing messages

Message reading functions are similarly found in recapn::io. To read from a std::io::Read instance, use read_from_stream. To read from a packed stream, use read_packed_from_stream. Construct a recapn::message::Reader using the message and start reading using Reader::read_as_struct.

let message = recapn::io::read_from_stream(buf.as_slice(), Default::default())?;
let reader = recapn::message::Reader::new(&message);
let addressbook = reader.read_as_struct::<AddressBook>();

And that's the basics of using recapn! Currently, this library only supports the basics but over time we hope to support more features and reach feature parity with the existing Rust and C++ implementations.