I'm new to both protocol buffers and C++, so this may be a basic question, but I haven't had any luck finding answers. Basically, I want the functionality of a dictionary defined in my .proto file like an enum. I'm using the protocol buffer to send data, and I want to define units and their respective names. An enum would allow me to define the units, but I don't know how to map the human-readable strings to that.
As an example of what I mean, the .proto file might look something like:
message DataPack {
// obviously not valid, but something like this
dict UnitType {
KmPerHour = "km/h";
MiPerHour = "mph";
}
required int id = 1;
repeated DataPoint pt = 2;
message DataPoint {
required int id = 1;
required int value = 2;
optional UnitType theunit = 3;
}
}
and then have something like to create / handle messages:
// construct
DataPack pack;
pack->set_id(123);
DataPack::DataPoint pt = pack.add_point();
pt->set_id(456);
pt->set_value(789);
pt->set_unit(DataPack::UnitType::KmPerHour);
// read values
DataPack::UnitType theunit = pt.unit();
cout << theunit.name << endl; // print "km/h"
I could just define an enum with the unit names and write a function to map them to strings on the receiving end, but it would make more sense to have them defined in the same spot, and that solution seems too complicated (at least, for someone who has lately been spoiled by the conveniences of Python). Is there an easier way to accomplish this?
You could use custom options to associate a string with each enum member:
https://developers.google.com/protocol-buffers/docs/proto#options
It would look like this in the .proto:
extend google.protobuf.FieldOptions {
optional string name = 12345;
}
enum UnitType {
KmPerHour = 1 [(name) = "km/h"];
MiPerHour = 2 [(name) = "mph"];
}
Beware, though, that some third-party protobuf libraries don't understand these options.
In proto3, it's:
extend google.protobuf.EnumValueOptions {
string name = 12345;
}
enum UnitType {
KM_PER_HOUR = 0 [(name) = "km/h"];
MI_PER_HOUR = 1 [(name) = "mph"];
}
and to access it in Java:
UnitType.KM_PER_HOUR.getValueDescriptor().getOptions().getExtension(MyOuterClass.name);
Related
I recently saw code for reading entire contents of an InputStream into a String in Kotlin, such as:
// input is of type InputStream
val baos = ByteArrayOutputStream()
input.use { it.copyTo(baos) }
val inputAsString = baos.toString()
And also:
val reader = BufferedReader(InputStreamReader(input))
try {
val results = StringBuilder()
while (true) {
val line = reader.readLine()
if (line == null) break
results.append(line)
}
val inputAsString = results.toString()
} finally {
reader.close()
}
And even this that looks smoother since it auto-closes the InputStream:
val inputString = BufferedReader(InputStreamReader(input)).useLines { lines ->
val results = StringBuilder()
lines.forEach { results.append(it) }
results.toString()
}
Or slight variation on that one:
val results = StringBuilder()
BufferedReader(InputStreamReader(input)).forEachLine { results.append(it) }
val resultsAsString = results.toString()
Then this functional fold thingy:
val inputString = input.bufferedReader().useLines { lines ->
lines.fold(StringBuilder()) { buff, line -> buff.append(line) }.toString()
}
Or a bad variation which doesn't close the InputStream:
val inputString = BufferedReader(InputStreamReader(input))
.lineSequence()
.fold(StringBuilder()) { buff, line -> buff.append(line) }
.toString()
But they are all clunky and I keep finding newer and different versions of the same... and some of them never even close the InputStream. What is a non-clunky (idiomatic) way to read the InputStream?
Note: this question is intentionally written and answered by the author (Self-Answered Questions), so that the idiomatic answers to commonly asked Kotlin topics are present in SO.
Kotlin has a specific extension just for this purpose.
The simplest:
val inputAsString = input.bufferedReader().use { it.readText() } // defaults to UTF-8
And in this example, you could decide between bufferedReader() or just reader(). The call to the function Closeable.use() will automatically close the input at the end of the lambda's execution.
Further reading:
If you do this type of thing a lot, you could write this as an extension function:
fun InputStream.readTextAndClose(charset: Charset = Charsets.UTF_8): String {
return this.bufferedReader(charset).use { it.readText() }
}
Which you could then call easily as:
val inputAsString = input.readTextAndClose() // defaults to UTF-8
On a side note, all Kotlin extension functions that require knowing the charset already default to UTF-8, so if you require a different encoding you need to adjust the code above in calls to include encoding for reader(charset) or bufferedReader(charset).
Warning: You might see examples that are shorter:
val inputAsString = input.reader().readText()
But these do not close the stream. Make sure you check the API documentation for all of the IO functions you use to be sure which ones close and which do not. Usually, if they include the word use (such as useLines() or use()) they close the stream after. An exception is that File.readText() differs from Reader.readText() in that the former does not leave anything open and the latter does indeed require an explicit close.
See also: Kotlin IO related extension functions
【Method 1 | Manually Close Stream】
private fun getFileText(uri: Uri):String {
val inputStream = contentResolver.openInputStream(uri)!!
val bytes = inputStream.readBytes() //see below
val text = String(bytes, StandardCharsets.UTF_8) //specify charset
inputStream.close()
return text
}
inputStream.readBytes() requires manually close the stream: https://kotlinlang.org/api/latest/jvm/stdlib/kotlin.io/java.io.-input-stream/read-bytes.html
【Method 2 | Automatically Close Stream】
private fun getFileText(uri: Uri): String {
return contentResolver.openInputStream(uri)!!.bufferedReader().use {it.readText() }
}
You can specify the charset inside bufferedReader(), default is UTF-8:
https://kotlinlang.org/api/latest/jvm/stdlib/kotlin.io/java.io.-input-stream/buffered-reader.html
bufferedReader() is an upgrade version of reader(), it is more versatile:
How exactly does bufferedReader() work in Kotlin?
use() can automatically close the stream when the block is done:
https://kotlinlang.org/api/latest/jvm/stdlib/kotlin.io/use.html
An example that reads contents of an InputStream to a String
import java.io.File
import java.io.InputStream
import java.nio.charset.Charset
fun main(args: Array<String>) {
val file = File("input"+File.separator+"contents.txt")
var ins:InputStream = file.inputStream()
var content = ins.readBytes().toString(Charset.defaultCharset())
println(content)
}
For Reference - Kotlin Read File
Quick solution works well when converting InputStream to string.
val convertedInputStream = String(inputStream.readAllBytes(), StandardCharsets.UTF_8)
AX allows arrays to be defined, but while fetching information through the .NET Business Connector, it shows as a single field. E.g: Dimension is set by:
axRec.setField("Dimension[1]","A");
axRec.setField("Dimension[2]","B");
axRec.setField("Dimension[3]","C");
// and so on...
How do I know how many fields "Dimension" have?
AX supports a compile time function dimOf to return the count, but that is not available from .Net!
To rescue comes the DictField class:
X++ code:
DictField df = new DictField(tablenum(CustTable), fieldnum(CustTable, AccountNum));
if (df)
{
print strfmt("The arraySize is %1.", df.arraySize());
}
You can make a X++ utility function, then call that:
static int arraySize(str tableName, str fieldName)
{
DictField df = new DictField(tableName2Id(tableName), fieldName2Id(tableName2Id(tableName), fieldName)));
return df ? df.arraySize() : -1;
}
Does Scala support something like dynamic properties? Example:
val dog = new Dynamic // Dynamic does not define 'name' nor 'speak'.
dog.name = "Rex" // New property.
dog.speak = { "woof" } // New method.
val cat = new Dynamic
cat.name = "Fluffy"
cat.speak = { "meow" }
val rock = new Dynamic
rock.name = "Topaz"
// rock doesn't speak.
def test(val animal: Any) = {
animal.name + " is telling " + animal.speak()
}
test(dog) // "Rex is telling woof"
test(cat) // "Fluffy is telling meow"
test(rock) // "Topaz is telling null"
What is the closest thing from it we can get in Scala? If there's something like "addProperty" which allows using the added property like an ordinary field, it would be sufficient.
I'm not interested in structural type declarations ("type safe duck typing"). What I really need is to add new properties and methods at runtime, so that the object can be used by a method/code that expects the added elements to exist.
Scala 2.9 will have a specially handled Dynamic trait that may be what you are looking for.
This blog has a big about it: http://squirrelsewer.blogspot.com/2011/02/scalas-upcoming-dynamic-capabilities.html
I would guess that in the invokeDynamic method you will need to check for "name_=", "speak_=", "name" and "speak", and you could store values in a private map.
I can not think of a reason to really need to add/create methods/properties dynamically at run-time unless dynamic identifiers are also allowed -and/or- a magical binding to an external dynamic source (JRuby or JSON are two good examples).
Otherwise the example posted can be implemented entirely using the existing static typing in Scala via "anonymous" types and structural typing. Anyway, not saying that "dynamic" wouldn't be convenient (and as 0__ pointed out, is coming -- feel free to "go edge" ;-).
Consider:
val dog = new {
val name = "Rex"
def speak = { "woof" }
}
val cat = new {
val name = "Fluffy"
def speak = { "meow" }
}
// Rock not shown here -- because it doesn't speak it won't compile
// with the following unless it stubs in. In both cases it's an error:
// the issue is when/where the error occurs.
def test(animal: { val name: String; def speak: String }) = {
animal.name + " is telling " + animal.speak
}
// However, we can take in the more general type { val name: String } and try to
// invoke the possibly non-existent property, albeit in a hackish sort of way.
// Unfortunately pattern matching does not work with structural types AFAIK :(
val rock = new {
val name = "Topaz"
}
def test2(animal: { val name: String }) = {
animal.name + " is telling " + (try {
animal.asInstanceOf[{ def speak: String }).speak
} catch { case _ => "{very silently}" })
}
test(dog)
test(cat)
// test(rock) -- no! will not compile (a good thing)
test2(dog)
test2(cat)
test2(rock)
However, this method can quickly get cumbersome (to "add" a new attribute one would need to create a new type and copy over the current data into it) and is partially exploiting the simplicity of the example code. That is, it's not practically possible to create true "open" objects this way; in the case for "open" data a Map of sorts is likely a better/feasible approach in the current Scala (2.8) implementation.
Happy coding.
First off, as #pst pointed out, your example can be entirely implemented using static typing, it doesn't require dynamic typing.
Secondly, if you want to program in a dynamically typed language, program in a dynamically typed language.
That being said, you can actually do something like that in Scala. Here is a simplistic example:
class Dict[V](args: (String, V)*) extends Dynamic {
import scala.collection.mutable.Map
private val backingStore = Map[String, V](args:_*)
def typed[T] = throw new UnsupportedOperationException()
def applyDynamic(name: String)(args: Any*) = {
val k = if (name.endsWith("_=")) name.dropRight(2) else name
if (name.endsWith("_=")) backingStore(k) = args.first.asInstanceOf[V]
backingStore.get(k)
}
override def toString() = "Dict(" + backingStore.mkString(", ") + ")"
}
object Dict {
def apply[V](args: (String, V)*) = new Dict(args:_*)
}
val t1 = Dict[Any]()
t1.bar_=("quux")
val t2 = new Dict("foo" -> "bar", "baz" -> "quux")
val t3 = Dict("foo" -> "bar", "baz" -> "quux")
t1.bar // => Some(quux)
t2.baz // => Some(quux)
t3.baz // => Some(quux)
As you can see, you were pretty close, actually. Your main mistake was that Dynamic is a trait, not a class, so you can't instantiate it, you have to mix it in. And you obviously have to actually define what you want it to do, i.e. implement typed and applyDynamic.
If you want your example to work, there are a couple of complications. In particular, you need something like a type-safe heterogenous map as a backing store. Also, there are some syntactic considerations. For example, foo.bar = baz is only translated into foo.bar_=(baz) if foo.bar_= exists, which it doesn't, because foo is a Dynamic object.
In the big picture I want to create a frame based application in Bada that has a single UI control - a label. So far so good, but I want it to display a number of my choosing and decrement it repeatedly every X seconds. The threading is fine (I think), but I can't pass the label pointer as a class variable.
//MyTask.h
//...
result Construct(Label* pLabel, int seconds);
//...
Label* pLabel;
//MyTask.cpp
//...
result
MyTask::Construct(Label* pLabel, int seconds) {
result r = E_SUCCESS;
r = Thread::Construct(THREAD_TYPE_EVENT_DRIVEN);
AppLog("I'm in da constructor");
this->pLabel = pLabel;
this->seconds = seconds;
return r;
}
//...
bool
Threading::OnAppInitializing(AppRegistry& appRegistry)
{
// ...
Label* pLabel = new Label();
pLabel = static_cast<Label*>(pForm->GetControl(L"IDC_LABEL1"));
MyTask* task = new MyTask();
task->Construct(&pLabel); // HERE IS THE ERROR no matching for Label**
task->Start();
// ...
}
The problem is that I have tried every possible combination of *, &, and just plain pLabel, known in Combinatorics...
It is not extremely important that I get this (it is just for training) but I am dying to understand how to solve the problem.
Have you tried:
task->Construct(pLabel, 0);
And by that I want to point out that you are missing the second parameter for MyTask::Construct.
No, I haven't. I don't know of a second parameter. But this problem is solved. If I declare a variable Object* __pVar, then the constructor should be Init(Object* pVar), and if I want to initialize an instance variable I should write
Object* pVar = new Object();
MyClass* mClass = new MyClass();
mClass->Construct(pVar);
I have a question about the Dynamics CRM 4.0 Webservice. I've been using it to get records from CRM into ASP.NET. After the request and the casting, the values of the columns (for instance for a contact) can be accessed through;
BusinessEntity be = getBusinessEntity(service, crmGuid, type, colnames);
contact tmp = (contact)be;
Response.Write("firstname: " + tmp.firstname + "<BR>");
Response.Write("lastname: " + tmp.lastname+ "<BR>");
I have an array of strings which identify which columns should be retrieved from CRM (colnames), for instance in this case {"firstname", "lastname"}.
But colnames can become quite big (and may not be hardcoded), so I don't want to go through them one by one. Is there a way to use something like
for(int i = 0; i < colnames.length; i++)
{
Response.write(colnames[i] + ": " + tmp.colnames[i] + "<BR>");
}
If I do this now I get an error that colnames is not a field of tmp.
Any ideas?
Not using BusinessEntity (unless you use reflection). DynamicEntity is enumerable by types deriving from Property. You'll have to do something like (I did this from memory, so might not compile)...
for(int i = 0; i < colnames.length; i++)
{
string colName = colnames[i];
foreach(Property prop in tmp)
{
if (prop.name != colName)
continue;
if (prop is StringProperty)
{
var strProp = prop as StringProperty;
Response.Write(String.Format("{0}: {1}<BR />", colName, strProp.Value));
}
else if (prop is LookupProperty)
{
...
}
... for each type deriving from Property
}
}
Reply to Note 1 (length):
Could you give me an example of what you're using. If you are only looking at the base types (Property) then you won't be able to see the value property - you'll need to convert to the appropriate type (StringProperty, etc).
In my example tmp is a DynamicEntity (it defines GetEnumerator which returns an array of Property). The other way to access the properties of a DynamicEntity is using the string indexer. For tmp:
string firstname = (string)tmp["firstname"];
Note that if you use this method, you get the Values (string, CrmNumber, Lookup) and not the whole property (StringProperty, CrmNumberProperty, etc).
Does that answer your question? Also, I recommend using the SDK assemblies and not the web references. They're much easier to use. The SDK download has a list of helper classes if you choose to use the web references, however. Search "Helper" in the SDK.