Examples

Let's try to encode a tuple of int and string.

extern crate rmp_serialize;
extern crate rustc_serialize;

use rustc_serialize::Encodable;
use rmp_serialize::Encoder;

fn main() {
    let val = (42u8, "the Answer");

    // The encoder borrows the bytearray buffer.
    let mut buf = [0u8; 13];

    val.encode(&mut Encoder::new(&mut &mut buf[..]));

    assert_eq!([0x92, 0x2a, 0xaa, 0x74, 0x68, 0x65, 0x20, 0x41, 0x6e, 0x73, 0x77, 0x65, 0x72], buf);
}

Now we have an encoded buffer, which we can decode the same way:

extern crate rmp_serialize;
extern crate rustc_serialize;

use rustc_serialize::Decodable;
use rmp_serialize::Decoder;

fn main() {
    let buf = [0x92, 0x2a, 0xaa, 0x74, 0x68, 0x65, 0x20, 0x41, 0x6e, 0x73, 0x77, 0x65, 0x72];

    let mut decoder = Decoder::new(&buf[..]);

    let res: (u8, String) = Decodable::decode(&mut decoder).unwrap();

    assert_eq!((42u8, "the Answer".to_string()), res);
}

RMP also allows to automatically serialize/deserialize custom structures using rustc_serialize reflection. To enable this feature, derive RustcEncodable and RustcDecodable attributes as shown in the following example:

extern crate rmp_serialize;
extern crate rustc_serialize;

use rustc_serialize::{Encodable, Decodable};
use rmp_serialize::{Encoder, Decoder};

#[derive(RustcEncodable, RustcDecodable, PartialEq, Debug)]
struct Custom {
    id: u32,
    key: String,
}

fn main() {
    let val = Custom { id: 42u32, key: "the Answer".to_string() };

    let mut buf = [0u8; 13];

    val.encode(&mut Encoder::new(&mut &mut buf[..]));

    assert_eq!([0x92, 0x2a, 0xaa, 0x74, 0x68, 0x65, 0x20, 0x41, 0x6e, 0x73, 0x77, 0x65, 0x72], buf);

    // Now try to unpack the buffer into the initial struct.
    let mut decoder = Decoder::new(&buf[..]);
    let res: Custom = Decodable::decode(&mut decoder).ok().unwrap();

    assert_eq!(val, res);
}

RMP - MessagePack for legacy rustc-serialize

This crate is deprecated. Use rmp-serde instead.