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// Copyright (c) The Diem Core Contributors // SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0 #![forbid(unsafe_code)] //! # Binary Canonical Serialization (BCS) //! //! BCS (formerly "Libra Canonical Serialization" or LCS) is a serialization format developed //! in the context of the [Diem](https://diem.com) blockchain. //! //! BCS was designed with the following main goals in mind: //! * provide good performance and concise (binary) representations; //! * support a rich set of data types commonly used in Rust; //! * enforce canonical serialization, meaning that every value of a given type should have //! a single valid representation. //! //! BCS also aims to mitigate the consequence of malicious inputs by enforcing well-defined limits //! on large or nested containers during (de)serialization. //! //! ## Rust Implementation //! //! This crate provides a Rust implementation of BCS as an encoding format for the [Serde library](https://serde.rs). //! As such, this implementation covers most data types supported by Serde -- including user-defined structs, //! tagged variants (Rust enums), tuples, and maps -- excluding floats, single unicode characters (char), and sets. //! //! BCS is also available in other programming languages, thanks to the separate project [serde-reflection](https://github.com/novifinancial/serde-reflection). //! //! ## Application to Cryptography //! //! The BCS format guarantees canonical serialization, meaning that for any given data type, there //! is a one-to-one correspondance between in-memory values and valid byte representations. //! //! In the context of a cryptographic application, canonical serialization has several benefits: //! * It provides a natural and reliable way to associate in-memory values to cryptographic hashes. //! * It allows the signature of a message to be defined equivalently as the signature of the serialized bytes or as the signature of the in-memory value. //! //! Note that BCS ensures canonical serialization for each data type separately. The data type of a serialized value //! must be enforced by the application itself. This requirement is typically fulfilled //! using unique hash seeds for each data type. (See [Diem's cryptographic library](https://github.com/diem/diem/blob/master/crypto/crypto/src/hash.rs) for an example.) //! //! ## Backwards Compatibility //! //! By design, BCS does not provide implicit versioning or backwards/forwards compatibility, therefore //! applications must carefully plan in advance for adhoc extension points: //! * Enums may be used for explicit versioning and backward compatibility (e.g. extensible query interfaces). //! * In some cases, data fields of type `Vec<u8>` may also be added to allow (future) unknown payloads //! in serialized form. //! //! ## Detailed Specifications //! //! BCS supports the following data types: //! //! * Booleans //! * Signed 8-bit, 16-bit, 32-bit, 64-bit, and 128-bit integers //! * Unsigned 8-bit, 16-bit, 32-bit, 64-bit, and 128-bit integers //! * Option //! * Unit (an empty value) //! * Fixed and variable length sequences //! * UTF-8 Encoded Strings //! * Tuples //! * Structures (aka "structs") //! * Externally tagged enumerations (aka "enums") //! * Maps //! //! BCS is not a self-describing format. As such, in order to deserialize a message, one must //! know the message type and layout ahead of time. //! //! Unless specified, all numbers are stored in little endian, two's complement format. //! //! ### Recursion and Depth of BCS Data //! //! Recursive data-structures (e.g. trees) are allowed. However, because of the possibility of stack //! overflow during (de)serialization, the *container depth* of any valid BCS data cannot exceed the constant //! `MAX_CONTAINER_DEPTH`. Formally, we define *container depth* as the number of structs and enums traversed //! during (de)serialization. //! //! This definition aims to minimize the number of operations while ensuring that //! (de)serialization of a known BCS format cannot cause arbitrarily large stack allocations. //! //! As an example, if `v1` and `v2` are values of depth `n1` and `n2`, //! * a struct value `Foo { v1, v2 }` has depth `1 + max(n1, n2)`; //! * an enum value `E::Foo { v1, v2 }` has depth `1 + max(n1, n2)`; //! * a pair `(v1, v2)` has depth `max(n1, n2)`; //! * the value `Some(v1)` has depth `n1`. //! //! All string and integer values have depths `0`. //! //! ### Booleans and Integers //! //! |Type |Original data |Hex representation |Serialized bytes | //! |--- |--- |--- |--- | //! |Boolean |True / False |0x01 / 0x00 |01 / 00 | //! |8-bit signed integer |-1 |0xFF |FF | //! |8-bit unsigned integer |1 |0x01 |01 | //! |16-bit signed integer |-4660 |0xEDCC |CC ED | //! |16-bit unsigned integer |4660 |0x1234 |34 12 | //! |32-bit signed integer |-305419896 |0xEDCBA988 |88 A9 CB ED | //! |32-bit unsigned integer |305419896 |0x12345678 |78 56 34 12 | //! |64-bit signed integer |-1311768467750121216 |0xEDCBA98754321100 |00 11 32 54 87 A9 CB ED | //! |64-bit unsigned integer |1311768467750121216 |0x12345678ABCDEF00 |00 EF CD AB 78 56 34 12 | //! //! ### ULEB128-Encoded Integers //! //! The BCS format also uses the [ULEB128 encoding](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LEB128) internally //! to represent unsigned 32-bit integers in two cases where small values are usually expected: //! (1) lengths of variable-length sequences and (2) tags of enum values (see the corresponding //! sections below). //! //! |Type |Original data |Hex representation |Serialized bytes | //! |--- |--- |--- |--- | //! |ULEB128-encoded u32-integer|2^0 = 1 |0x00000001 |01 | //! | |2^7 = 128 |0x00000080 |80 01 | //! | |2^14 = 16384 |0x00004000 |80 80 01 | //! | |2^21 = 2097152 |0x00200000 |80 80 80 01 | //! | |2^28 = 268435456 |0x10000000 |80 80 80 80 01 | //! | |9487 |0x0000250f |8f 4a | //! //! In general, a ULEB128 encoding consists of a little-endian sequence of base-128 (7-bit) //! digits. Each digit is completed into a byte by setting the highest bit to 1, except for the //! last (highest-significance) digit whose highest bit is set to 0. //! //! In BCS, the result of decoding ULEB128 bytes is required to fit into a 32-bit unsigned //! integer and be in canonical form. For instance, the following values are rejected: //! * 80 80 80 80 80 01 (2^36) is too large. //! * 80 80 80 80 10 (2^33) is too large. //! * 80 00 is not a minimal encoding of 0. //! //! ### Optional Data //! //! Optional or nullable data either exists in its full representation or does not. BCS represents //! this as a single byte representing the presence `0x01` or absence `0x00` of data. If the data //! is present then the serialized form of that data follows. For example: //! //! ```rust //! # use bcs::{Result, to_bytes}; //! # fn main() -> Result<()> { //! let some_data: Option<u8> = Some(8); //! assert_eq!(to_bytes(&some_data)?, vec![1, 8]); //! //! let no_data: Option<u8> = None; //! assert_eq!(to_bytes(&no_data)?, vec![0]); //! # Ok(())} //! ``` //! //! ### Fixed and Variable Length Sequences //! //! Sequences can be made of up of any BCS supported types (even complex structures) but all //! elements in the sequence must be of the same type. If the length of a sequence is fixed and //! well known then BCS represents this as just the concatenation of the serialized form of each //! individual element in the sequence. If the length of the sequence can be variable, then the //! serialized sequence is length prefixed with a ULEB128-encoded unsigned integer indicating //! the number of elements in the sequence. All variable length sequences must be //! `MAX_SEQUENCE_LENGTH` elements long or less. //! //! ```rust //! # use bcs::{Result, to_bytes}; //! # fn main() -> Result<()> { //! let fixed: [u16; 3] = [1, 2, 3]; //! assert_eq!(to_bytes(&fixed)?, vec![1, 0, 2, 0, 3, 0]); //! //! let variable: Vec<u16> = vec![1, 2]; //! assert_eq!(to_bytes(&variable)?, vec![2, 1, 0, 2, 0]); //! //! let large_variable_length: Vec<()> = vec![(); 9_487]; //! assert_eq!(to_bytes(&large_variable_length)?, vec![0x8f, 0x4a]); //! # Ok(())} //! ``` //! //! ### Strings //! //! Only valid UTF-8 Strings are supported. BCS serializes such strings as a variable length byte //! sequence, i.e. length prefixed with a ULEB128-encoded unsigned integer followed by the byte //! representation of the string. //! //! ```rust //! # use bcs::{Result, to_bytes}; //! # fn main() -> Result<()> { //! // Note that this string has 10 characters but has a byte length of 24 //! let utf8_str = "çå∞≠¢õß∂ƒ∫"; //! let expecting = vec![ //! 24, 0xc3, 0xa7, 0xc3, 0xa5, 0xe2, 0x88, 0x9e, 0xe2, 0x89, 0xa0, 0xc2, //! 0xa2, 0xc3, 0xb5, 0xc3, 0x9f, 0xe2, 0x88, 0x82, 0xc6, 0x92, 0xe2, 0x88, 0xab, //! ]; //! assert_eq!(to_bytes(&utf8_str)?, expecting); //! # Ok(())} //! ``` //! //! ### Tuples //! //! Tuples are typed composition of objects: `(Type0, Type1)` //! //! Tuples are considered a fixed length sequence where each element in the sequence can be a //! different type supported by BCS. Each element of a tuple is serialized in the order it is //! defined within the tuple, i.e. [tuple.0, tuple.2]. //! //! ```rust //! # use bcs::{Result, to_bytes}; //! # fn main() -> Result<()> { //! let tuple = (-1i8, "diem"); //! let expecting = vec![0xFF, 4, b'd', b'i', b'e', b'm']; //! assert_eq!(to_bytes(&tuple)?, expecting); //! # Ok(())} //! ``` //! //! //! ### Structures //! //! Structures are fixed length sequences consisting of fields with potentially different types. //! Each field within a struct is serialized in the order specified by the canonical structure //! definition. Structs can exist within other structs and as such, BCS recurses into each struct //! and serializes them in order. There are no labels in the serialized format, the struct ordering //! defines the organization within the serialization stream. //! //! ```rust //! # use bcs::{Result, to_bytes}; //! # use serde::Serialize; //! # fn main() -> Result<()> { //! #[derive(Serialize)] //! struct MyStruct { //! boolean: bool, //! bytes: Vec<u8>, //! label: String, //! } //! //! #[derive(Serialize)] //! struct Wrapper { //! inner: MyStruct, //! name: String, //! } //! //! let s = MyStruct { //! boolean: true, //! bytes: vec![0xC0, 0xDE], //! label: "a".to_owned(), //! }; //! let s_bytes = to_bytes(&s)?; //! let mut expecting = vec![1, 2, 0xC0, 0xDE, 1, b'a']; //! assert_eq!(s_bytes, expecting); //! //! let w = Wrapper { //! inner: s, //! name: "b".to_owned(), //! }; //! let w_bytes = to_bytes(&w)?; //! assert!(w_bytes.starts_with(&s_bytes)); //! //! expecting.append(&mut vec![1, b'b']); //! assert_eq!(w_bytes, expecting); //! # Ok(())} //! ``` //! //! ### Externally Tagged Enumerations //! //! An enumeration is typically represented as a type that can take one of potentially many //! different variants. In BCS, each variant is mapped to a variant index, a ULEB128-encoded 32-bit unsigned //! integer, followed by serialized data if the type has an associated value. An //! associated type can be any BCS supported type. The variant index is determined based on the //! ordering of the variants in the canonical enum definition, where the first variant has an index //! of `0`, the second an index of `1`, etc. //! //! ```rust //! # use bcs::{Result, to_bytes}; //! # use serde::Serialize; //! # fn main() -> Result<()> { //! #[derive(Serialize)] //! enum E { //! Variant0(u16), //! Variant1(u8), //! Variant2(String), //! } //! //! let v0 = E::Variant0(8000); //! let v1 = E::Variant1(255); //! let v2 = E::Variant2("e".to_owned()); //! //! assert_eq!(to_bytes(&v0)?, vec![0, 0x40, 0x1F]); //! assert_eq!(to_bytes(&v1)?, vec![1, 0xFF]); //! assert_eq!(to_bytes(&v2)?, vec![2, 1, b'e']); //! # Ok(())} //! ``` //! //! If you need to serialize a C-style enum, you should use a primitive integer type. //! //! ### Maps (Key / Value Stores) //! //! Maps are represented as a variable-length, sorted sequence of (Key, Value) tuples. Keys must be //! unique and the tuples sorted by increasing lexicographical order on the BCS bytes of each key. //! The representation is otherwise similar to that of a variable-length sequence. In particular, //! it is preceded by the number of tuples, encoded in ULEB128. //! //! ```rust //! # use bcs::{Result, to_bytes}; //! # use std::collections::HashMap; //! # fn main() -> Result<()> { //! let mut map = HashMap::new(); //! map.insert(b'e', b'f'); //! map.insert(b'a', b'b'); //! map.insert(b'c', b'd'); //! //! let expecting = vec![(b'a', b'b'), (b'c', b'd'), (b'e', b'f')]; //! //! assert_eq!(to_bytes(&map)?, to_bytes(&expecting)?); //! # Ok(())} //! ``` mod de; mod error; mod ser; pub mod test_helpers; /// Variable length sequences in BCS are limited to max length of 2^31 - 1. pub const MAX_SEQUENCE_LENGTH: usize = (1 << 31) - 1; /// Maximal allowed depth of BCS data, counting only structs and enums. pub const MAX_CONTAINER_DEPTH: usize = 500; pub use de::{from_bytes, from_bytes_seed}; pub use error::{Error, Result}; pub use ser::{is_human_readable, serialize_into, serialized_size, to_bytes};