Binary Data Format

Links

• Overview
• Data Types
• Creating an object
• Arrays
• Named lists
• Example BDF program

Overview

Binary Data Format (or BDF) is designed to store data in a tag-like binary structure, like Notch's NBT format, but also open source and free like JSON. The format is fast and allows multiple data types, it uses 32-bit integers, so BDF files can be fast and work well on 32-bit systems, but have a maximum size of 2 GB. BDF allows human readable serialization to see what is going on for debugging purposes, but it currently can't parse the result to an object.

Data Types

• Boolean
• Integer
• Long
• Short
• Byte
• Double
• Float
• String
• Array
• Named List
• Empty

Creating an object

You will need to create a new object to store any data, use a BdfObject instance. You can input serialized data into BdfObject via a BdfDatabase.

// New BDF object
BdfObject bdf = new BdfObject();

// Get an integer
int v = bdf.getInteger();

// Set an integer
bdf.setInteger(5);

// Get the type of variable of the object
int type = bdf.getType();

// Compare the type with a type from BdfTypes
if(type == BdfTypes.INTEGER)
{

}

// Serialize the BDF object
byte[] data = bdf.serialize().getBytes();



// Load another BDF object with the serialized bytes
BdfObject bdf2 = new BdfObject(new BdfDatabase(data));

A BdfFileManager instance can be used in the same way as a BdfObject, but it also needs a String parameter for the path of the file. The file can be written with BdfFileManager.saveDatabase(). A BdfFileManager is an instance of BdfObject, a BdfFileManager can be casted to a BdfObject.

// Open a file
BdfFileManager bdf = new BdfFileManager("file.bdf");

// Save the database
bdf.saveDatabase();

// The file can be casted to a BdfObject
BdfObject bdf2 = (BdfObject) bdf;

// Bdf
System.out.println(bdf instanceof BdfObject); // true

Arrays

Arrays can be used to store lists of information, they hold BdfObject. The array is called with new BdfArray(). It can hold information, get the size of the array with BdfArray.size(), remove elements with BdfArray.remove(index), set indexes with BdfArray.set(index, BdfObject), and add elements with BdfArray.add(BdfObject). Arrays also have support for Iterators and are an instance of Iterable.

// New BDF Object
BdfObject bdf = new BdfObject();

// New BDF Array
BdfArray array = new BdfArray();

// Size
int size = array.size();

// Remove
array.remove(3); // Could be any number

// Set - Could be any number with any object
array.set(4, BdfObject.with("A String"));

// Add - Could be any object
array.add(BdfObject.with(53));

// Set the array to the bdf object
bdf.setArray(array);

// Iterate over an array
for(BdfObject o : array)
{

}

Named lists

Named lists can be used to store data under strings, to be used like variables in a program. A named list can be created with new BdfNamedList() and it has the ability to set with BdfNamedList.set(String, BdfObject), remove with BdfNamedList.remove(String), and check for a key with BdfNamedList.contains(String). It also has features to get all the keys with BdfNamedList.getKeys(). Named lists also have Iterator support and are an instance of Iterable.

// New bdf named list
BdfNamedList list = new BdfNamedList();

// Set an element with a value
list.set("key1", BdfObject.with(5));

// Get an elements value
int v = list.get("key1").getInteger();

// Check if an element exists
boolean has_key = list.contains("key1");

// Get the lists keys
String[] keys = list.getKeys();

// Iterate over the lists keys
for(String key : list)
{

}

Example BDF program

// Create a new BdfObject instance
BdfObject bdf = new BdfObject();

// Create a named list
BdfNamedList bdf_nl = new BdfNamedList();

// Add some variables to the named list
bdf_nl.set("boolean", BdfObject.with(true));
bdf_nl.set("an_int", BdfObject.with((int)53));
bdf_nl.set("double", new BdfObject().setDouble(632.5));

// Output some checks on BdfNamedList
System.out.println(bdf_nl.contains("an_int")); // true
System.out.println(bdf_nl.contains("this_dosn't_exist")); // false

// Create an array
BdfArray bdf_array = new BdfArray();

// Add some values to the array
bdf_array.add(BdfObject.with("Hello, World!"));
bdf_array.add(BdfObject.with(1234567890L));
bdf_array.set(1, BdfObject.with((short)432));

// Output the size of the array
System.out.println(bdf_array.size()); // 2

// Output the type of the 2nd item in the array, value types are in BdfTypes
System.out.println(bdf_array.get(1).getType()); // 3 (BdfTypes.SHORT)

// Save the array to the named list
bdf_nl.set("array", BdfObject.with(bdf_array));

// Set the named list to the bdf object
bdf.setNamedList(bdf_nl);

// Serialize the data
byte[] bdf_data = bdf.serialize().getBytes();



// Load the serialized data
BdfObject bdf2 = new BdfObject(new BdfDatabase(bdf_data));

// Show the human readable serialized data
System.out.println(bdf2.serializeHumanReadable()); // {"boolean": true, "an_int": 53I, "double": 632.5D, "array": ["Hello, World!", 432S]}

// Show the value of the boolean in the named list
System.out.println(bdf2.getNamedList().get("boolean").getBoolean()); // true

// Show the value of item 0 in the array
System.out.println(bdf2.getNamedList().get("array").getArray().get(0).getString());	// Hello, World!

// Check if the double exists
System.out.println(bdf2.getNamedList().contains("double")); // true

// Remove the double from the named list
bdf2.getNamedList().remove("double");

// Check if the double exists
System.out.println(bdf2.getNamedList().contains("double")); // false