Protocol Buffers Binary Messages Editor

Links

Program Description

The ProtobufEditor edits file containing a single Protocol Buffers message or a file containing multiple delimited Protocol Buffers messages. The ProtobufEditor uses the proto definition file to format the message in a meaningful way.

Functions included

  • Viewing / Editing a message
  • Editor includes a “proto search” which will try and find the proto-definition for a protocaol buffers data file
  • Comparing Messages

Limitations currently include

  • Unknown Fields (i.e. Fields not defined in the Proto File) are not visible.

How it works

The project wraps Protocol Buffers objects as RecordEditor objects then calls the RecordEditor to do the actual editing. It is a member of a family of Editors that use a common RecordEditor core:

  • RecordEditor for Fixed width, csv/tsv, Cobol, Mainframe files
  • CobolEditor Distributed with the RecordEditor for Editing files using a Cobol Copybook or a Xml File description
  • AvroEditor For Avro Binary Files.
  • reCsvEditor for editing basic Csv Files

Requirements

  • Java 6 (may work with Java 5 not tested though)
  • Protocol Buffers 2.5.0 Installed (Earlier / later versions may work).
  • Protocol Buffers protoc program must be on the standard path setup.

Sample Screens

Message File Open screen

Open Screen

Main Tree Display

Open Screen

Single Message View

Open Screen

Table Display

Open Screen

Notes

Version

  • 0.95c Add’s support for Protocol Buffers extensions. It is available for download from [https://sourceforge.net/projects/protobufeditor/files/ProtoBufEditor/Test_Releases/]

  • 0.92 Changes include

    • Change to use Protocol Buffers 2.5.0
    • All screens for a File are now displayed as Tabs rather than as separate screens.
      The tabs can be undocked (and redocked) if required.
    • Added Child screen option to List Screens
    • Added Hints dialogue
    • Enhanced HTML Export, option to open exported file with default programs
    • Highlight change fields in compare
    • Minor GUI changes
    • Enhanced Help menu (can open Manual / Forums etc).
    • Problem fixes including Paste Prior issue, 64 Mb exceeded issue (there are
      likely to be problems with big files though)

  • 0.88 Changes include

    • New “Proto Search” function. This new option will try and find the proto definition file for “Protocol Buffers Data File”.
    • Enhanced Html export + option to Open exported files using the default application
    • Enhanced filter - can use And / Or’s + new starts-with operator
    • Find new Starts-With operator
    • Many minor Gui changes + Enhanced Help Menu
    • CSV / Xml Editor can now use a Cobol Copybook to edit a Single record Fixed Width File

  • 0.85 This is a “cleanup” release with only problem fix’s and minor changes made. Changes include:

    • Many minor GUI changes mostly related to Windows and Nimbus Laf, but Ctrl-A +
      several other keys are now supported
    • Change Look and feel back to Native on Windows
    • Changes to find function to fix some issues
    • Inclusion of a Csv Editor (essentially ReCsvEditor) in the package. The Csv Editor
      can also view / update existing Xml files.

  • 0.80.6 Based on RecordEditor 0.80.6 and Protocol Buffers 2.4.1

    • Rewritten
      • Separate Save As option
      • When selecting a specific export option, only the relavent panel is displayed
      • Can now view / edit Csv, Xml and Fixed export files directly in the Protocol Buffers Editor.
      • Velocity 1.7 is now used and supplied as standard. You can use Velocity to export files.
      • Can export via a Script (Jython, JRuby etc, but you must su7pply the appropriate jar file).
    • New option to control the size of the screen when the editor starts

  • 0.69h Based on latest RecordEditor

    • Fix’s problem with display code on insert
    • support for Exporting with Velocity template

  • 0.69g Based on user requests /

    • Support for import in proto’s
    • Support
      • Delimited File with the first message describing the following message
      • Single field with the first field describing the message.
    • New option to display proto definition of file being edited (View >>>> Show Proto Definition)
    • Can now specify the protoc command + extra options (Edit >>> Edit Startup options >>> Protobuf)
      Allows the use of non standard protoc or the addition of extra import directories