Hexarc.Borsh 1.3.1

Borsh in .NET

Hexarc.Borsh is .NET implementation of the Binary Object Representation Serializer for Hashing format.

Features:

• 100% C# library
• Zero dependencies
• Ready for Blazor WebAssembly

Getting started

Install the package with the NuGet CLI:

dotnet add package Hexarc.Borsh

Reference the Hexarc.Borsh namespace in your code:

using Hexarc.Borsh;

Serialize and deserialize .NET objects via the BorshSerializer class:

[BorshObject]
public class Point
{
    [BorshPropertyOrder(0)]
    public Int32 X { get; init; }
    
    [BorshPropertyOrder(1)]
    public Int32 Y { get; init; }
    
    [BorshPropertyOrder(2)]
    public Int32 Z { get; init; }
}

var point = new Point() { X = 5, Y = 10, Z = 20 };

var raw = BorshSerializer.Serialize(point);
var restored = BorshSerializer.Deserialize<Point>(raw);

Features

These types can be serialized by default:

• Byte, SByte, Boolean, Int16, UInt16, Int32, UInt32, Int64, UInt64
• Single, Double, Half
• Nullable<T>
• Enum
• String
• DateTime
• ValueTuple
• Arrays as T[]
• List<T>
• HashSet<T>
• Dictionary<TKey, TValue>
• Hexarc.Borsh.Option<T>
• POCO like user defined classes

Object serialization

Serializable types must be annotated with the BorshObject attribute. The BorshIgnore attribute can be used to exclude properties from serialization.

[BorshObject]
public class Point
{
    [BorshPropertyOrder(0)]
    public Int32 X { get; init; }
    
    [BorshPropertyOrder(1)]
    public Int32 Y { get; init; }
    
    [BorshPropertyOrder(2)]
    public Int32 Z { get; init; }
    
    // This property will be exluded from serialization.
    [BorshIgnore]
    public String? Memo { get; init; }
}

var raw = BorshSerializer.Serialize(new Point { X = 1, Y = 2, Z = 3 });

Records serialization:

[BorshObject]
public sealed record Rect(
    [property: BorshPropertyOrder(0)] Int32 Width,
    [property: BorshPropertyOrder(1)] Int32 Height
);

var rect = new Rect(10, 20);
var raw = BorshSerializer.Serialize(rect);

Nullable reference type serialization

Another important notice that Borsh is mostly designed to support the Rust type system. So null reference values are not supported in .NET implementation. Please use the special BorshOptional attribute or Hexarc.Borsh.Option<T> type.

Property annotation example:

[BorshObject]
public class PersonDetails
{
    [BorshPropertyOrder(0)]
    [BorshOptional]
    public String? FirstName { get; init; }

    [BorshPropertyOrder(1)]
    [BorshOptional]
    public String? LastName { get; init; }
}

In case you need to serialize a top level nullable reference type object:

String? input = Console.ReadLine();

var raw = BorshSerializer.Serialize(Option<String>.Create(input));
var restored = BorshSerializer.Deserialize<Option<String>>(raw);

Fixed array type serialization

The BorshFixedArray attribute allows to serialize fixed array types according to the BORSH specification:

[BorshObject]
public class Data
{
    [BorshPropertyOrder(0)]
    [BorshFixedArray(3)]
    public Int32[] Numbers { get; init; } = default!;
}

var data = new Data { Numbers = new[] { 1, 2, 3 } };
var raw = BorshSerializer.Serialize(data);

Union type serialization

The BorshUnion attribute allows to serialize union types:

[BorshUnion(0, typeof(Circle))]
[BorshUnion(1, typeof(Square))]
[BorshObject]
public abstract class Figure {}

[BorshObject]
public sealed class Circle : Figure
{
    [BorshPropertyOrder(0)]
    public Int32 Radius { get; init; }
}

[BorshObject]
public sealed class Square : Figure
{
    [BorshPropertyOrder(0)]
    public Int32 SideSize { get; init; }
}

Figure square = new Square { SideSize = 1 };
var raw = BorshSerializer.Serialize(square);

Acknowledgments

Built with JetBrains tools for Open Source projects.

License

MIT © Hexarc Software and its contributors