1 # Properties
2
3 The UCX properties parser can be used to parse line-based key/value strings.
4
5 ## Supported Syntax
6
7 Key/value pairs must be line-based and separated by a single character delimiter.
8 The parser supports up to three different characters which introduce comments.
9 All characters starting with a comment character up to the end of the line are ignored.
10 Blank lines are also ignored.
11
12 An example properties file looks like this:
13
14 ```Ini
15 # Comment line at start of file
16 key1 = value1
17 key2 = value2
18 # next is a blank line and will be ignored
19
20 keys_are_trimmed = and_so_are_values # also a comment
21
22 key3 = value that \
23 is continued on the next line
24 ```
25
26 > Delimiter, line continuation character, and up to three comment characters
27 > can be configured with the `CxPropertiesConfig` structure (see below).
28
29 ## Basic Parsing
30
31 The following listing shows the properties-parser API.
32
33 > To simplify documentation, we introduce the pseudo-type `AnyStr` with the meaning that
34 > any UCX string and any C string are supported.
35 > The implementation is actually hidden behind a macro which uses `cx_strcast()` to guarantee compatibility.
36 {style="note"}
37
38 ```C
39 #include <cx/properties.h>
40
41 typedef struct cx_properties_config_s {
42 char delimiter;
43 char comment1;
44 char comment2;
45 char comment3;
46 char continuation;
47 } CxPropertiesConfig;
48
49 void cxPropertiesInit(CxProperties *prop, CxPropertiesConfig config);
50
51 void cxPropertiesInitDefault(CxProperties *prop);
52
53 void cxPropertiesDestroy(CxProperties *prop);
54
55 void cxPropertiesReset(CxProperties *prop);
56
57 int cxPropertiesFilln(CxProperties *prop,
58 const char *buf, size_t len);
59
60 int cxPropertiesFill(CxProperties *prop, AnyStr string);
61
62 CxPropertiesStatus cxPropertiesNext(CxProperties *prop,
63 cxstring *key, cxstring *value);
64
65 void cxPropertiesUseStack(CxProperties *prop,
66 char *buf, size_t capacity);
67
68 CxPropertiesStatus cxPropertiesLoad(CxPropertiesConfig config,
69 const CxAllocator *allocator,
70 AnyStr filename, CxMap *target);
71
72 CxPropertiesStatus cxPropertiesLoadDefault(
73 const CxAllocator *allocator,
74 AnyStr filename, CxMap *target);
75 ```
76
77 The first step is to initialize a `CxProperties` structure with a call to `cxPropertiesInit()` using the desired config.
78 The shorthand `cxPropertiesInitDefault()` creates a default configuration with the equals sign `'='` as delimiter
79 and the hash-symbol `'#'` as comment symbol (the other two comment symbols remain unused in the default config).
80 The line continuation symbol is set to `'\'`.
81 Note that leading spaces of a continuing line are ignored.
82
83 The actual parsing is an interleaving invocation of the `cxPropertiesFill()` (or `cxPropertiesFilln()`) and `cxPropertiesNext()` functions.
84 The `cxPropertiesFill()` function is a convenience function, that accepts UCX strings and normal zero-terminated C strings and behaves otherwise like `cxPropertiesFilln()`.
85
86 Filling the input buffer is cost-free if there is no data already in the input buffer.
87 In that case, the input buffer only stores the pointer to the original data without creating a copy.
88 Calling `cxPropertiesNext()` will return with `CX_PROPERTIES_NO_ERROR` (= zero) for each key/value-pair that is successfully parsed,
89 and stores the pointers and lengths for both the key and the value into the structures pointed to by the `key` and `value` arguments.
90
91 When all the data from the input buffer was successfully consumed, `cxPropertiesNext()` returns `CX_PROPERTIES_NO_DATA`.
92
93 > This is all still free of any copies and allocations.
94 > That means, the pointers in `key` and `value` after `cxPropertiesNext()` returns will point into the input buffer.
95 > If you intend to store the key and/or the value somewhere else, it is strongly recommended to create a copy with `cx_strdup()`,
96 > because you will otherwise soon end up with a dangling pointer.
97 > {style="note"}
98
99 If `cxPropertiesNext()` returns `CX_PROPERTIES_INCOMPLETE_DATA` it means that the input buffer is exhausted,
100 but the last line did not contain a full key/value pair.
101 In that case, you can call `cxPropertiesFill()` again to add more data and continue with `cxPropertiesNext()`.
102
103 Note that adding more data to a non-empty input buffer will lead to an allocation,
104 unless you specified some stack memory with `cxPropertiesUseStack()`.
105 The stack capacity must be large enough to contain the longest line in your data.
106 If the internal buffer is not large enough to contain a single line, it is extended.
107 If that is not possible for some reason, `cxPropertiesNext()` fails and returns `CX_PROPERTIES_BUFFER_ALLOC_FAILED`.
108
109 If you want to reuse a `CxProperties` structure with the same config, you can call `cxPropertiesReset()`, even if the last operation was a failure.
110 Otherwise, you should always call `cxPropertiesDestroy()` when you are done with the parser.
111
112 > It is strongly recommended to always call `cxPropertiesDestroy()` when you are done with the parser,
113 > even if you did not expect any allocations because you used `cxPropertiesUseStack()`.
114
115 All the above operations are combined in the function `cxPropertiesLoad()`,
116 which opens the file designated by the `filename` and loads all properties from that file into the specified `CxMap`.
117 The convenience macro `cxPropertiesLoadDefault()` uses the default parser configuration for this.
118 The target map must either store pointers of type `char*` or elements of type `cxmutstr`.
119 In either case, the specified `allocator` is used to allocate the memory for the value.
120 If the function encounters an error, all properties that have been added to the map so far stay in the map; there is no rollback.
121
122 > The stack buffers used by `cxPropertiesLoad()` can be changed when building UCX from sources
123 > by setting the `CX_PROPERTIES_LOAD_FILL_SIZE` and `CX_PROPERTIES_LOAD_BUF_SIZE` macros
124 > (see [](install.md#small-buffer-optimizations)).
125
126 ### List of Status Codes
127
128 Below is a full list of status codes for `cxPropertiesNext()` and `cxPropertiesLoad()`.
129
130 | Status Code | Meaning |
131 |-----------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
132 | CX_PROPERTIES_NO_ERROR | A key/value pair was found and returned. |
133 | CX_PROPERTIES_NO_DATA | The input buffer does not contain data. |
134 | CX_PROPERTIES_INCOMPLETE_DATA | The input ends unexpectedly. This can happen when the last line does not terminate with a line break, or when the input ends with a parsed key but no value. Use `cxPropertiesFill()` to add more data before retrying. |
135 | CX_PROPERTIES_NULL_INPUT | The input buffer was never initialized. Probably you forgot to call `cxPropertiesFill()` at least once. |
136 | CX_PROPERTIES_INVALID_EMPTY_KEY | Only white-spaces were found on the left hand-side of the delimiter. Keys must not be empty. |
137 | CX_PROPERTIES_INVALID_MISSING_DELIMITER | A line contains data, but no delimiter. |
138 | CX_PROPERTIES_BUFFER_ALLOC_FAILED | More internal buffer was needed, but could not be allocated. |
139 | CX_PROPERTIES_FILE_ERROR | A file operation failed (only for `cxPropertiesLoad()`). |
140
141 For `cxPropertiesLoad()` the status code `CX_PROPERTIES_NO_ERROR` means that at least one property was loaded into the map,
142 while `CX_PROPERTIES_NO_DATA` means that the file is syntactically fine but does not contain any properties.
143
144 <seealso>
145 <category ref="apidoc">
146 <a href="https://ucx.sourceforge.io/api/properties_8h.html">properties.h</a>
147 </category>
148 </seealso>
149