Library with utilities for working with Type-Length-Value structures.
This simple examples defines a zero-copy type with its discriminator.
```rust use { borsh::{BorshSerialize, BorshDeserialize}, bytemuck::{Pod, Zeroable}, spltypelength_value::{ discriminator::{Discriminator, TlvDiscriminator}, state::{TlvState, TlvStateBorrowed, TlvStateMut} }, };
struct MyPodValue { data: [u8; 32], } impl TlvDiscriminator for MyPodValue { // Give it a unique discriminator, can also be generated using a hash function const TLV_DISCRIMINATOR: Discriminator = Discriminator::new([1; Discriminator::LENGTH]); }
struct MyOtherPodValue {
data: u8,
}
// Give this type a non-derivable implementation of Default to write some data
impl Default for MyOtherPodValue {
fn default() -> Self {
Self {
data: 10,
}
}
}
impl TlvDiscriminator for MyOtherPodValue {
// Some other unique discriminator
const TLV_DISCRIMINATOR: Discriminator = Discriminator::new([2; Discriminator::LENGTH]);
}
// Account will have two sets of get_base_len() (8-byte discriminator and 4-byte length),
// and enough room for a MyPodValue and a MyOtherPodValue
let accountsize = TlvState::getbaselen() + std::mem::sizeof::
// Buffer likely comes from a Solana solana_program::account_info::AccountInfo,
// but this example just uses a vector.
let mut buffer = vec![0; account_size];
// Unpack the base buffer as a TLV structure let mut state = TlvStateMut::unpack(&mut buffer).unwrap();
// Init and write default value
let value = state.init_value::
// Init and write another default value
let othervalue = state.initvalue::
// Later on, to work with it again
let value = state.getvaluemut::
// Or fetch it from an immutable buffer
let state = TlvStateBorrowed::unpack(&buffer).unwrap();
let value = state.get_value::
The Solana blockchain exposes slabs of bytes to on-chain programs, allowing program writers to intepret these bytes and change them however they wish. Currently, programs interpet account bytes as being only of one type. For example, an token mint account is only ever a token mint, an AMM pool account is only ever an AMM pool, a token metadata account can only hold token metadata, etc.
In a world of interfaces, a program will likely implement multiple interfaces. As a concrete and important example, imagine a token program where mints hold their own metadata. This means that a single account can be both a mint and metadata.
To allow easy implementation of multiple interfaces, accounts must be able to hold multiple different types within one opaque slab of bytes. The type-length-value scheme facilitates this exact case.
This library allows for holding multiple disparate types within the same account by encoding the type, then length, then value.
The type is an 8-byte Discriminator, which can be set to anything.
The length is a little-endian u32.
The value is a slab of length bytes that can be used however a program desires.
When searching through the buffer for a particular type, the library looks at
the first 8-byte discriminator. If it's all zeroes, this means it's uninitialized.
If not, it reads the next 4-byte length. If the discriminator matches, it returns
the next length bytes. If not, it jumps ahead length bytes and reads the
next 8-byte discriminator.
The initial example works using the bytemuck crate for zero-copy serialization
and deserialization. It's possible to use Borsh by activating the borsh feature.
```rust use { borsh::{BorshDeserialize, BorshSerialize}, spltypelength_value::state::{TlvState, TlvStateMut}, };
struct MyBorsh { data: String, // variable length type } impl TlvDiscriminator for MyBorsh { const TLVDISCRIMINATOR: Discriminator = Discriminator::new([5; Discriminator::LENGTH]); } let initialdata = "This is a pretty cool test!"; // Allocate exactly the right size for the string, can go bigger if desired let tlvsize = 4 + initialdata.len(); let accountsize = TlvState::getbaselen() + tlvsize;
// Buffer likely comes from a Solana solana_program::account_info::AccountInfo,
// but this example just uses a vector.
let mut buffer = vec![0; account_size];
let mut state = TlvStateMut::unpack(&mut buffer).unwrap();
// No need to hold onto the bytes since we'll serialize back into the right place
let _ = state.allocate::