I have a .proto file from a third-party, developed for Protobuf 2.6.1, to
deserialize their data. I want to code my application to consume their data
in C#. So I was trying to use proto3 to compile their .proto file into C#.
But they have used some proto features that are not supported in proto3,
such as group. I modified the other places in their .proto that seemed
innocuous, like having a zero-element first in enums. If I could compile
their .proto file with proto3, then I would have hope I could deserialize
their data using C#.
But I suspect that changes I have to make to their .proto file--esp. the
"group" uses--will change the assumption about the wire format
As a result, if I can't compile the .proto file to C#, then I have to use
.NET Interop, if I want to write my app in C#. I have successfully compiled
their .proto file with proto2, so I have a C++ (unmanaged) DLL with their
proto schema in C++. But now I have to write a nasty wrapper, probably with
COM, to marshal their .proto C++ classes over to .NET. Their .proto schema
is not small, so writing a wrapper is not going to be fun.
Any suggestions are much appreciated!
On Saturday, May 21, 2016 at 6:22:00 AM UTC-7, Jon Skeet wrote:
>
> Groups are always skipped in the C# proto3 code... and the wire format is
> different to other messages anyway.
>
> Are you concerned about doing this *in general*, or do you have actual
> messages using groups that you want to parse in C#? As far as I'm aware,
> the advice has been to avoid using groups for several years now.
>
> Jon
>
> On Saturday, 21 May 2016 04:26:10 UTC+1, Scobe S. wrote:
>>
>> Given a .proto file used with proto2 to generate code to send messages,
>> is it feasible to use proto3 on the same .proto file to receive
>> messages--assuming I alter the .proto file to be proto3 compatible?
>>
>> In particular, if I fix the following (which currently are errors I get
>> when compiling the .proto file in proto3), then receiving messages should
>> work, right?
>>
>> Don't use "required" or "optional".
>> Make sure enums have a zero element as the first item.
>> Don't use explicit default values.
>> Do not use "group".
>> (These are the only errors I have.)
>>
>> The one I am having real doubts and questions about is getting rid of
>> "group". Using the example in the docs, I have to take something like this:
>>
>> message SearchResponse {
>> repeated group Result = 1 {
>> required string url = 2;
>> optional string title = 3;
>> repeated string snippets = 4;
>> }
>> }
>>
>>
>> and make it like this:
>>
>> message SearchResponse {
>> message Result {
>> required string url = 1;
>> optional string title = 2;
>> repeated string snippets = 3;
>> }
>> repeated Result result = 1;
>> }
>>
>>
>> But this may redefine what is expected in the data over the wire. So I
>> wonder what the best way is to replace "group" to be backward compatible.
>>
>> BTW, my goal is to generate C#. That's why I am using proto3.
>>
>> Thanks.
>> Scobe
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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