Update of #45 (replace size_t with uint32_t for length encoding and add new option for aligned memory access)

CMakeLists.txt

@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ target_include_directories(alpaca INTERFACE
 
 
 if(ALPACA_BUILD_TESTS)
-  add_subdirectory(test)
+add_subdirectory(test)
 endif()
 
 if(ALPACA_BUILD_SAMPLES)

README.md

@@ -88,6 +88,7 @@ The source for the above example can be found [here](https://github.com/p-ranav/
      *    [Data Structure Versioning](#data-structure-versioning)
      *    [Integrity Checking with Checksums](#integrity-checking-with-checksums)
      *    [Macros to Exclude STL Data Structures](#macros-to-exclude-stl-data-structures)
+     *    [Aligned Memory Access](#aligned-memory-access)
 *    [Python Interoperability](#python-interoperability)
      *    [Usage](#usage)
      *    [Format String Specification](#format-string-specification)
@@ -1161,6 +1162,15 @@ int main() {
   auto bytes_written = serialize<options::fixed_length_encoding>(s, bytes);
 }
 ```
+### Aligned Memory Access
+
+The Alpaca library, by default, utilizes unaligned memory access, as this is permitted on the x86_64 architecture. 
+However, certain architectures, such as the Arm Cortex-M3, M4, and M33, require aligned memory access for 32-bit 
+and 64-bit data types.
+
+For architectures where aligned memory access is necessary, the Alpaca library includes the 
+```options::force_aligned_access``` option.
+When this option is enabled, the library will not perform unaligned accesses and will use ```memcpy``` instead.
 
 ## Python Interoperability
 

include/alpaca/detail/field_type.h

@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ enum class field_type : uint8_t {
   list,
   deque,
   filesystem_path,
-  bitset
+  bitset,
 };
 
 template <field_type value> constexpr uint8_t to_byte() {

include/alpaca/detail/from_bytes.h

@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 #include <alpaca/detail/options.h>
 #include <alpaca/detail/variable_length_encoding.h>
 #include <cstdint>
+#include <cstring>
 #include <fstream>
 #include <iostream>
 #include <system_error>
@@ -12,6 +13,21 @@ namespace alpaca {
 
 namespace detail {
 
+template <options O, typename T>
+void get_aligned(T& value, const uint8_t* bytes, size_t current_index)
+{
+  if (force_aligned_access<O>() &&
+      reinterpret_cast<uintptr_t>(bytes + current_index) % alignof(T) != 0)
+  {
+    // non-aligned access --> byte-byte copy
+    std::memcpy(&value, bytes + current_index, sizeof(T));
+  } else {
+    // aligned access, directly assign the value
+    value = *(reinterpret_cast<const T *>(bytes + current_index));
+  }
+}
+
+
 template <options O, typename Container>
 typename std::enable_if<!std::is_array_v<Container>, bool>::type
 from_bytes_crc32(uint32_t &value, Container &bytes, std::size_t &current_index,
@@ -21,7 +37,9 @@ from_bytes_crc32(uint32_t &value, Container &bytes, std::size_t &current_index,
   if (end_index < num_bytes_to_read) {
     return false;
   }
-  value = *(reinterpret_cast<const uint32_t *>(bytes.data() + current_index));
+
+  get_aligned<O>(value, &bytes[0], current_index);
+
   update_value_based_on_alpaca_endian_rules<O, uint32_t>(value);
   current_index += num_bytes_to_read;
   return true;
@@ -36,7 +54,9 @@ from_bytes_crc32(uint32_t &value, Container &bytes, std::size_t &current_index,
   if (end_index < num_bytes_to_read) {
     return false;
   }
-  value = *(reinterpret_cast<const uint32_t *>(bytes + current_index));
+
+  get_aligned<O>(value, &bytes[0], current_index);
+
   update_value_based_on_alpaca_endian_rules<O, uint32_t>(value);
   current_index += num_bytes_to_read;
   return true;
@@ -87,7 +107,8 @@ from_bytes(T &value, Container &bytes, std::size_t &current_index,
     /// TODO: report error
     return false;
   }
-  value = *(reinterpret_cast<const T *>(bytes.data() + current_index));
+
+  get_aligned<O>(value, &bytes[0], current_index);
   current_index += num_bytes_to_read;
   update_value_based_on_alpaca_endian_rules<O, T>(value);
   return true;
@@ -139,7 +160,8 @@ from_bytes(T &value, Container &bytes, std::size_t &current_index,
     /// TODO: report error
     return false;
   }
-  value = *(reinterpret_cast<const T *>(bytes + current_index));
+
+  get_aligned<O>(value, &bytes[0], current_index);
   current_index += num_bytes_to_read;
   update_value_based_on_alpaca_endian_rules<O, T>(value);
   return true;
@@ -194,7 +216,8 @@ from_bytes(T &value, Container &bytes, std::size_t &current_index,
   char value_bytes[num_bytes_to_read];
   bytes.read(&value_bytes[0], num_bytes_to_read);
   current_index += num_bytes_to_read;
-  value = *(reinterpret_cast<const T *>(value_bytes));
+  get_aligned<O>(value, (uint8_t*) &value_bytes[0], 0);
+
   update_value_based_on_alpaca_endian_rules<O, T>(value);
   return true;
 }
@@ -237,7 +260,7 @@ from_bytes(T &value, Container &bytes, std::size_t &current_index,
       /// TODO: report error
       return false;
     }
-    value = *(reinterpret_cast<const T *>(bytes.data() + current_index));
+    get_aligned<O>(value, &bytes[0], current_index);
     current_index += num_bytes_to_read;
   } else {
     value = decode_varint<T>(bytes, current_index);
@@ -286,7 +309,7 @@ from_bytes(T &value, Container &bytes, std::size_t &current_index,
       /// TODO: report error
       return false;
     }
-    value = *(reinterpret_cast<const T *>(bytes + current_index));
+    get_aligned<O>(value, &bytes[0], current_index);
     current_index += num_bytes_to_read;
   } else {
     value = decode_varint<T>(bytes, current_index);
@@ -338,7 +361,7 @@ from_bytes(T &value, Container &bytes, std::size_t &current_index,
     char value_bytes[num_bytes_to_read];
     bytes.read(&value_bytes[0], num_bytes_to_read);
     current_index += num_bytes_to_read;
-    value = *(reinterpret_cast<const T *>(value_bytes));
+    get_aligned<O>(value, (uint8_t*) &value_bytes[0], 0);
   } else {
     value = decode_varint<T>(bytes, current_index);
   }

include/alpaca/detail/options.h

@@ -8,7 +8,8 @@ enum class options {
   big_endian = 1,
   fixed_length_encoding = 2,
   with_version = 4,
-  with_checksum = 8
+  with_checksum = 8,
+  force_aligned_access = 16,
 };
 
 template <typename E> struct enable_bitmask_operators {
@@ -25,6 +26,9 @@ operator|(E lhs, E rhs) {
 
 namespace detail {
 
+using size_t_serialized_type = uint32_t;
+
+
 template <typename T, T value, T flag> constexpr bool enum_has_flag() {
   using underlying = typename std::underlying_type<T>::type;
   return (static_cast<underlying>(value) & static_cast<underlying>(flag)) ==
@@ -47,6 +51,11 @@ template <options O> constexpr bool with_version() {
 
 template <options O> constexpr bool with_checksum() {
   return enum_has_flag<options, O, options::with_checksum>();
+
+}
+
+template <options O> constexpr bool force_aligned_access() {
+  return enum_has_flag<options, O, options::force_aligned_access>();
 }
 
 } // namespace detail

include/alpaca/detail/to_bytes.h

@@ -47,12 +47,15 @@ to_bytes(T &bytes, std::size_t &byte_index, const U &original_value) {
 // encode as variable-length
 template <options O, typename T, typename U>
 typename std::enable_if<
-    std::is_same_v<U, uint32_t> || std::is_same_v<U, uint64_t> ||
-        std::is_same_v<U, int32_t> || std::is_same_v<U, long> || std::is_same_v<U, int64_t> ||
-        std::is_same_v<U, std::size_t>,
+     std::is_same_v<U, uint32_t> || std::is_same_v<U, uint64_t> ||
+     std::is_same_v<U, int32_t> || std::is_same_v<U, int64_t> ||
+     std::is_same_v<U, unsigned long> || std::is_same_v<U, long> ||
+     std::is_same_v<U, unsigned long long> || std::is_same_v<U, long long>,
     void>::type
 to_bytes(T &bytes, std::size_t &byte_index, const U &original_value) {
 
+  static_assert(!std::is_same_v<T, size_t>, "Unable to directly serialize size_t type");
+
   U value = original_value;
   update_value_based_on_alpaca_endian_rules<O, U>(value);
 

include/alpaca/detail/types/array.h

@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ typename std::enable_if<is_array_type<T>::value, void>::type type_info(
     std::vector<uint8_t> &typeids,
     std::unordered_map<std::string_view, std::size_t> &struct_visitor_map) {
   typeids.push_back(to_byte<field_type::array>());
-  typeids.push_back(std::tuple_size_v<T>);
+  typeids.push_back((size_t_serialized_type) std::tuple_size_v<T>);
   using value_type = typename T::value_type;
   type_info<value_type>(typeids, struct_visitor_map);
 }
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ void from_bytes_to_array(T &value, Container &bytes, std::size_t &current_index,
 
   using decayed_value_type = typename std::decay<typename T::value_type>::type;
 
-  constexpr auto size = std::tuple_size<T>::value;
+  constexpr auto size = (size_t_serialized_type) std::tuple_size<T>::value;
 
   if (size > end_index - current_index) {
     // size is greater than the number of bytes remaining
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ void from_bytes_to_array(T &value, Container &bytes, std::size_t &current_index,
   }
 
   // read `size` bytes and save to value
-  for (std::size_t i = 0; i < size; ++i) {
+  for (size_t_serialized_type i = 0; i < size; ++i) {
     decayed_value_type v{};
     from_bytes_router<O>(v, bytes, current_index, end_index, error_code);
     value[i] = v;

include/alpaca/detail/types/bitset.h

@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ template <options O, std::size_t N, typename Container>
 void to_bytes_from_bitset_type(const std::bitset<N> &input, Container &bytes,
                                std::size_t &byte_index) {
   // save bitset size
-  to_bytes_router<O, std::size_t>(input.size(), bytes, byte_index);
+  to_bytes_router<O, size_t_serialized_type>((size_t_serialized_type) input.size(), bytes, byte_index);
 
   // serialize the bitset itself into (bits/8 + 1) bytes
   int num_bytes = input.size() / 8 + 1;
@@ -63,8 +63,8 @@ bool from_bytes_to_bitset(std::bitset<N> &value, Container &bytes,
   }
 
   // current byte is the size of the vector
-  std::size_t size = 0;
-  detail::from_bytes<O, std::size_t>(size, bytes, current_index, end_index,
+  size_t_serialized_type size = 0;
+  detail::from_bytes<O, size_t_serialized_type>(size, bytes, current_index, end_index,
                                      error_code);
 
   if (size != N) {
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ bool from_bytes_to_bitset(std::bitset<N> &value, Container &bytes,
   // reset the value to 0
   value.reset();
 
-  for (std::size_t i = 0; i < num_serialized_bytes; ++i) {
+  for (size_t_serialized_type i = 0; i < num_serialized_bytes; ++i) {
     uint8_t byte{};
     from_bytes_router<O>(byte, bytes, current_index, end_index, error_code);
     if (error_code) {

include/alpaca/detail/types/deque.h

@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ template <options O, typename T, typename Container>
 void to_bytes_from_deque_type(const T &input, Container &bytes,
                               std::size_t &byte_index) {
   // save deque size
-  to_bytes_router<O, std::size_t>(input.size(), bytes, byte_index);
+  to_bytes_router<O, size_t_serialized_type>(input.size(), bytes, byte_index);
 
   // value of each element in deque
   for (const auto &v : input) {
@@ -57,8 +57,8 @@ bool from_bytes_to_deque(std::deque<T> &value, Container &bytes,
   }
 
   // current byte is the size of the vector
-  std::size_t size = 0;
-  detail::from_bytes<O, std::size_t>(size, bytes, current_index, end_index,
+  size_t_serialized_type size = 0;
+  detail::from_bytes<O, size_t_serialized_type>(size, bytes, current_index, end_index,
                                      error_code);
 
   if (size > end_index - current_index) {
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ bool from_bytes_to_deque(std::deque<T> &value, Container &bytes,
   }
 
   // read `size` bytes and save to value
-  for (std::size_t i = 0; i < size; ++i) {
+  for (size_t_serialized_type i = 0; i < size; ++i) {
     T v{};
     from_bytes_router<O>(v, bytes, current_index, end_index, error_code);
     if (error_code) {

include/alpaca/detail/types/filesystem_path.h

@@ -26,7 +26,8 @@ template <options O, typename Container>
 void to_bytes(Container &bytes, std::size_t &byte_index,
               const std::filesystem::path &input) {
   // save string length
-  to_bytes_router<O>(input.native().size(), bytes, byte_index);
+  to_bytes_router<O>((size_t_serialized_type)input.native().size(), bytes,
+                     byte_index);
 
   for (const auto &c : input.native()) {
     to_bytes<O>(bytes, byte_index, c);
@@ -35,8 +36,8 @@ void to_bytes(Container &bytes, std::size_t &byte_index,
 
 template <options O, typename Container>
 bool from_bytes(std::filesystem::path &value, Container &bytes,
-           std::size_t &current_index, std::size_t &end_index,
-           std::error_code &error_code) {
+                std::size_t &current_index, std::size_t &end_index,
+                std::error_code &error_code) {
 
   if (current_index >= end_index) {
     // end of input
@@ -45,9 +46,9 @@ bool from_bytes(std::filesystem::path &value, Container &bytes,
   }
 
   // current byte is the length of the string
-  std::size_t size = 0;
-  detail::from_bytes<O, std::size_t>(size, bytes, current_index, end_index,
-                                     error_code);
+  size_t_serialized_type size = 0;
+  detail::from_bytes<O, size_t_serialized_type>(size, bytes, current_index,
+                                                end_index, error_code);
 
   if (size > end_index - current_index) {
     // size is greater than the number of bytes remaining

include/alpaca/detail/types/list.h

@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ template <options O, typename T, typename Container>
 void to_bytes_from_list_type(const T &input, Container &bytes,
                              std::size_t &byte_index) {
   // save list size
-  to_bytes_router<O, std::size_t>(input.size(), bytes, byte_index);
+  to_bytes_router<O, size_t_serialized_type>(input.size(), bytes, byte_index);
 
   // value of each element in list
   for (const auto &v : input) {
@@ -57,8 +57,8 @@ bool from_bytes_to_list(std::list<T> &value, Container &bytes,
   }
 
   // current byte is the size of the vector
-  std::size_t size = 0;
-  detail::from_bytes<O, std::size_t>(size, bytes, current_index, end_index,
+  size_t_serialized_type size = 0;
+  detail::from_bytes<O, size_t_serialized_type>(size, bytes, current_index, end_index,
                                      error_code);
 
   if (size > end_index - current_index) {

include/alpaca/detail/types/map.h

@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ template <options O, typename T, typename Container>
 void to_bytes_from_map_type(const T &input, Container &bytes,
                             std::size_t &byte_index) {
   // save map size
-  to_bytes_router<O, std::size_t, Container>(input.size(), bytes, byte_index);
+  to_bytes_router<O, size_t_serialized_type, Container>((size_t_serialized_type) input.size(), bytes, byte_index);
 
   // save key,value pairs in map
   for (const auto &[key, value] : input) {
@@ -84,8 +84,8 @@ template <options O, typename T, typename Container>
 void from_bytes_to_map(T &map, Container &bytes, std::size_t &current_index,
                        std::size_t &end_index, std::error_code &error_code) {
   // current byte is the size of the map
-  std::size_t size = 0;
-  detail::from_bytes<O, std::size_t>(size, bytes, current_index, end_index,
+  size_t_serialized_type size = 0;
+  detail::from_bytes<O, size_t_serialized_type>(size, bytes, current_index, end_index,
                                      error_code);
 
   if (size > end_index - current_index) {

include/alpaca/detail/types/set.h

@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ template <options O, typename T, typename Container>
 void to_bytes_from_set_type(const T &input, Container &bytes,
                             std::size_t &byte_index) {
   // save set size
-  to_bytes_router<O, std::size_t, Container>(input.size(), bytes, byte_index);
+  to_bytes_router<O, size_t_serialized_type, Container>((size_t_serialized_type) input.size(), bytes, byte_index);
 
   // save values in set
   for (const auto &value : input) {
@@ -82,8 +82,8 @@ template <options O, typename T, typename Container>
 void from_bytes_to_set(T &set, Container &bytes, std::size_t &current_index,
                        std::size_t &end_index, std::error_code &error_code) {
   // current byte is the size of the set
-  std::size_t size = 0;
-  detail::from_bytes<O, std::size_t>(size, bytes, current_index, end_index,
+  size_t_serialized_type size = 0;
+  detail::from_bytes<O, size_t_serialized_type>(size, bytes, current_index, end_index,
                                      error_code);
 
   if (size > end_index - current_index) {