XB Library 1.0

The XB Library is an effort to implement a library for manipulation with universal file format that would match the requirements of so called Binary XML (a superset of features required by Efficient XML Interchange). The XB data format allows fast and compact, yet still robust enough, serialization of trees of any arbitrary data.

As fast and easy it is for user to work with XML documents it should be for computer and programmer to work with XB documents.

The XB Library classes:

Document level

xb::document - a base document class that contains header and list of nodes
xb::file - an interface to XB document stored in physical file

Nodes tree classes

xb::node - represents a node in the XB document tree
xb::value - represents a node value, its type and codec
xb::element - universal raw binary data storage
xb::compact - extensible intermediate step that determines the most compact representation of data
xb::extend - extensible intermediate step for converting binary data back to C++ variable
xb::codec - abstract interface required to implement binary data compression or encryption

Parser functions

xb::alias - abstract interface used to implement parsing and serialization for various resources
xb::parser::raw - general algorithms for reading from and writing to XB alias and const_alias objects
xb::parser::vsn - encoder and decoder of variable-size integral numbers
xb::parser::element - serializer and parser of XB elements

Library internals

xb::type - implementation of XB values type identification that allows safer casts
xb::node_type - the type definition and list of predefined values
xb::size_type - is used through the library for size and length variables

Installation and use

The installation consists of placing the /xb directory into your "include" directory so the header files can be included like this: #include <xb/xb_xxx.hpp>.
You should always include one of the forwarding header files which are "document", "file" and "node", for example #include <xb/file>, as the library structure and header files and their names can change in future.

To compile program that use XB library, you will need to include relevant .cpp file into compilation of your project (makefile, project, solution, etc...). It will be also useful to compile the XB library files into a static libray (.a, .lib, ...) and then link your program against this library.

Portability

This version was not tested outside of MinGW yet, but no major problems expected.

Author & Copyright

The XB Library is provided 'as-is', without any express or implied warranty. In no event will the author be held liable for any damages arising from the use of this software. Permission is granted to anyone to use this software for any purpose, including commercial applications, and to alter it and redistribute it freely, subject to the following restrictions:

The origin of this software must not be misrepresented; you must not claim that you wrote the original software. If you use this software in a product, an acknowledgment in the product documentation would be appreciated but is not required.
Altered source versions must be plainly marked as such, and must not be misrepresented as being the original software.
This notice may not be removed or altered from any source distribution.

Jan Ringoš, Tringi@Mx-3.cz