Generic Binary Keyed Format (*.gbkf)

This format is a generic solution for reading and writing data in a binary mode. It is designed to reduce the data size between server and clients, and also to be simple of usage and flexible for adding on-top specifications.

Work in progress, the first version is not yet released.

Core Structure

Header ^{12 Bytes}

Keyed-Values 1

Keyed-Values 2

Keyed-Values n

The data must start with a header and be followed by an unlimited quantity of Keyed-Values.

Header

g ^{1 Byte}

b ^{1 Byte}

k ^{1 Byte}

f ^{1 Byte}

Version Nb ^{1 Byte}

Specification ID ^{3 Bytes}

Keys Nb ^{3 Bytes}

Keys Size ^{1 Byte}

gbkf: The four letters decoded in ASCII (1 byte each).
Version: The (gbkf) format version decoded as an unsigned integer of one byte. The maximum value is 255.
Specification ID: The definition number decoded as an unsigned integer of 3 bytes. The maximum value is 16,777,215.
Keys Size: The number of characters used to define the keys, decoded as an ASCII characters of 1 byte each. The maximum value is 255.
Keys Nb: The total number of keys in the file, decoded as an unsigned integer of 3 bytes. The maximum value is 16,777,215.

Keyed-Values

Key ^{1 to 255 Bytes}

Values Type ^{1 Byte}

Values Size ^{3 Bytes}

Values Nb ^{3 Bytes}

Value 1 ^{1 to 16,777,215 Bytes}

Value 2 ^{1 to 16,777,215 Bytes}

Value n ^{1 to 16,777,215 Bytes}

Key: The identifier of the values, decoded in ASCII (1 byte each) and with a constant size defined by the headers Keys Size.
Values Type: The type of the values, decoded as an unsigned integer of one byte.
Values Size: The number of bytes of each value, decoded as an unsigned integer of 3 bytes. The maximum size per value is then 16,777,215 bytes.
Values Nb: The number of values, decoded as an unsigned integer of 3 bytes. The maximum number of values per key, is then 16,777,215.