Array Object

ArrayObject is a self-describing binary format for arrays of integers, floating-point numbers, complex numbers, and strings. It is designed for efficient object storage, database integration, and single-file use.

ArrayObject is part of the dbgbb project.

Features

• Self-describing data that can inflate into typed variables.
• Simple, uniform arrays: no nested structures, tuples, or dataset names.
• Generic integer and float types abstract away type size differences.
• Automatic compression via variable-length encoding and dictionary coding for strings, minimizing storage size.
• Seamless conversions to and from Vec<_>, [T; N], ndarray, and nalgebra.

Usage Examples

Encoding and Decoding

use array_object::*;

fn main() {
    // Convert data into binary
    let original = vec![1u32, 2, 3, 4];
    let obj: ArrayObject = original.clone().try_into().unwrap();
    let packed = obj.pack(); // Converts data into Vec<u8>

    // Restore data
    let unpacked = ArrayObject::unpack(packed).unwrap();
    let inflated: Vec<u32> = unpacked.try_into().unwrap();
    assert_eq!(original, inflated);
}

File Operations with Macros

use array_object::*;

fn main() {
    // Save to a file
    let original = vec![1f64, 2.2, -1.1, 5.6];
    export_obj!("testdata.bin", original.clone()); // Overwrites if file exists

    // Load from a file
    let restored: Vec<f64> = import_obj!("testdata.bin"); // Type annotation required
    assert_eq!(original, restored);
}

Crate Features