Terraform Provider BaseXform

Overview

terraform-provider-basexform is a Terraform provider that allows for encoding and decoding strings in arbitrary numerical bases, with special handling for leading zeros. This provider is particularly useful for transforming numeric strings to more compact formats in various base systems.

Features

• Encoding: Convert strings to a specified base.
• Decoding: Convert strings back from a specified base to their original format.
• Leading Zero Preservation: Maintains leading zeros in the original string.

Usage

To use this provider, add the following to your Terraform configuration:

resource "basexform_encode" "example" {
  input = "123456789012"
  base  = 36 # Base can be any integer from 2 to 62
}

output "encoded_value" {
  value = basexform_encode.example.encoded
}

Recommendations

The choice of the base in encoding significantly impacts the length of the resulting encoded string. A higher base leads to a more compact representation of the original string, as it uses a wider range of characters to represent the same amount of data. Here's an expanded table including expected length reductions and typical uses:

Base	Character Set	Expected Length Reduction	Typical Use
2	0, 1	Very Low	Binary data, low-level computing
8	0-7	Low	Octal number system in computing
10	0-9	None	Standard decimal system
16	0-9, A-F	Moderate	Hexadecimal, widely used in computing
32	A-Z, 2-7	High	Data encoding like Base32
36	0-9, A-Z	Higher	Compact alphanumeric data without casing
62	0-9, A-Z, a-z	Highest	Highly compact data, full case sensitivity

Note: The 'Expected Length Reduction' is relative to the original string's length. Higher bases generally offer more significant compression, making them suitable for scenarios where space efficiency is important. It's important to note, however, that the extent of reduction depends on the input string's nature. For instance, a string with many repeated characters might not see as significant a reduction

Examples

Example usage of the basexform_encode and basexform_decode resources:

resource "basexform_encode" "example" {
  input = "123456789012"
  base  = 36
}

output "encoded_value" {
  value = basexform_encode.example.encoded
}

resource "basexform_decode" "example" {
  input = basexform_encode.example.encoded
  base  = 36
}

output "decoded_value" {
  value = basexform_decode.example.decoded
}

See more examples in the examples directory.

Installation

Clone the repository and build the provider:

git clone https://github.com/rickardl/terraform-provider-basexform.git
cd terraform-provider-basexform
go build

Building the Provider

To build the provider, run go build in the root directory.

Testing

Run go test in the root directory to execute the provider's tests.

Installing the Provider

Using Your Locally Built Terraform Provider BaseXform

Option 1: Default Plugins Directory Place the provider binary in ~/.terraform.d/plugins (macOS/Linux) or C:\Users\[username]\.terraform.d\plugins (Windows).

chmod +x terraform-provider-basexform
# Depending on your OS, the following command may differ
cp terraform-provider-basexform ~/.terraform.d/plugins/github.com/rickardl/basexform/0.1.0/darwin_amd64/terraform-provider-basexform

Option 2: Custom Plugins Directory Set the TERRAFORM_PLUGIN_DIRS environment variable to your custom directory:

export TERRAFORM_PLUGIN_DIRS="/path/to/plugins"

Detailed Configuration Options

• input: A string representing the value you wish to encode or decode. For encoding, this should be a numeric string (e.g., "12345"). It's essential to ensure the string is valid in base10 format if it's going to be encoded.
• base: An integer defining the numerical base to which the string will be converted. The valid range for this parameter is 2 to 62, encompassing binary (base 2), octal (base 8), decimal (base 10), hexadecimal (base 16), and other alphanumeric systems (up to base 62). The choice of base depends on your specific encoding needs.

Contributing

Contributions to this provider are welcome! Please submit pull requests or issues to the GitHub repository.

License

Distributed under the MIT License.