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MessageSerializer

The MessageSerializer uses C# to serialize classes to an array of bytes and vice-versa while automatically calculating fields such as lengths and CRCs.

Strings

Strings are sent as their ASCII equivalents (currently no Unicode support) but can take a variety of forms

  • NULL terminated or not
  • Fixed length (NULLs being used for any bytes beyond what the length supports)
  • Variable length (based on length bytes)
  • Variable length with a maximum length

Here are some general rules

  • The Length property of MessageSerializedProperty should be set to make the string field a fixed length
  • If a string is shorter than the number of bytes it is allowed to occupy in a fixed length string field any remaining bytes will be NULLs.
  • When a string is longer than the length it is allowed to be in a fixed length string field, it will be truncated and will not be null-terminated
  • A string is variable length by default or can be be explicitly made variable length by using IsVariableLength = true of MessageSerializedProperty
  • If a string is to be variable length, then it should either be the only variable length field in the message or it should be part of a blob pair