Protobuf.NET

A flexible Protocol Buffers serializer/deserializer for .NET that supports dynamic objects, dictionaries, and schema-aware deserialization.

Overview

Protobuf.NET provides a complete solution for working with Protocol Buffers in .NET environments. It allows you to:

• Parse and validate .proto files
• Serialize .NET objects to Protocol Buffers binary format
• Deserialize Protocol Buffers data in multiple flexible ways
  • As dynamic objects
  • As dictionaries
  • As schema-aware dynamic objects

To build the project from the command line, use:

dotnet build

Key Features

• Proto File Support: Parser and validator for .proto files
• Flexible Serialization: Easily serialize data on the fly
• Multiple Deserialization Options:
  • Dynamic objects
  • Dictionaries with type information
  • Schema-aware dynamics that use field names from your proto files

Usage Examples

Parsing and Validating Proto Files

var parser = new ProtoParser();
var validator = new ProtoValidator();

var protoFile = parser.ParseFile("product.proto");
validator.Validate(protoFile);

Serialization

Using ExpandoObject

dynamic product = new ExpandoObject();
product.product_name = (1, "T-Shirt");
product.available_quantities = (2, 1000);
product.images = (3, new List<string> { "https://example.com/image1.png" });

byte[] serializedData = ProtobufSerializer.Serialize(product);

Note: The value must always be a tuple where the first element indicates the field number.

Using Extension Message Builder

var product = ExpandoObjectExtensions.CreateMessage()
    .AddField("product_name", 1, "T-Shirt")
    .AddField("available_quantities", 2, 1000)
    .AddField("images", 3, new[] { "https://example.com/image1.png" });

byte[] serializedData = product.BuildAndSerialize();

Deserialization

As Dictionary

Keys are formatted as field_number(field_type) and arrays as field_number(field_type)[]

var deserialized = serializedProduct.DeserializeAsDictionary();

Console.WriteLine($"Product Name: {deserialized["1(string)"]}");
Console.WriteLine($"Available Quantities: {deserialized["2(int32)"]}");
Console.WriteLine($"Images:");
foreach (var image in (List<object?>)deserialized["3(string)[]"])
    Console.WriteLine($" - Image: {image}");

As Dynamic

Property names are formatted as fieldType_fieldNumber_(Array if any)

dynamic deserialized = serializedProduct.DeserializeAsDynamic();

Console.WriteLine($"Product Name: {deserialized.String_1}");
Console.WriteLine($"Available Quantities: {deserialized.Int32_2}");
Console.WriteLine($"Images:");
foreach (var image in (List<object?>)deserialized.String_3_Array)
    Console.WriteLine($" - Image: {image}");

As Schema-aware Dynamic

Uses original field names from the proto file definition

dynamic deserialized = serializedProduct.DeserializeWithSchema("product.proto", "Product");

Console.WriteLine($"Product Name: {deserialized.product_name}");
Console.WriteLine($"Available Quantities: {deserialized.available_quantities}");
Console.WriteLine($"Images:");
foreach (var image in deserialized.images)
    Console.WriteLine($" - Image: {image}");

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

License

Protobuf.NET is released under the MIT license.