asn1c: Full working example of ASN.1 in C/C++

 in C / C++  tagged asn.1 / asn1 / asn1c / C++ by

The following project demonstrates a full working example of encoding and decoding ASN.1 structures using the asn1c compiler of http://lionet.info/asn1c/

In this project we assumed that we have to encode a set of geometric elements, including:

  • A rectangle that is composed by its height and its width
  • A rectangular cuboid that it is composed by a rectangle and a depth parameter
  • A list of rectangular cuboids that has no limit on how many elements to add to it
  • A list of rectangular cuboids that must have at least one element and at most three
  • We assume that all parameters should be positive integer values

[download id=”2470″]

Following is our ASN.1 syntax to describe the above elements:

Geometry.asn1

GeometryModule DEFINITIONS ::= BEGIN

Rectangle ::= SEQUENCE {
    height INTEGER (0..MAX),
    width INTEGER (0..MAX)
}

RectangularCuboid ::= SEQUENCE {
    depth INTEGER (0..MAX),
    rectangle Rectangle
}

UnlimitedRectangularCuboids ::= SEQUENCE OF RectangularCuboid

LimitedRectangularCuboids ::= SEQUENCE SIZE(1..3) OF RectangularCuboid

END

Inside the directory where our source is located, we created folder called geometryASN.
From that folder we executed the following command to generate the c code that is needed for our C/C++ source code to operate:

asn1c -fcompound-names -gen-PER ../Geometry.asn1

Following is our C source code that creates new ANS.1 elements, encodes them, decodes them and verifies that all limitations and constraints were met.

[download id=”2470″]

main.cpp

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//From the folder geometryASN, to convert the ASN1 to c execute the following
// asn1c -fcompound-names -gen-PER ../Geometry.asn1
#include <iostream>
#include "geometryASN/Rectangle.h"
#include "geometryASN/RectangularCuboid.h"
#include "geometryASN/LimitedRectangularCuboids.h"
#include "geometryASN/UnlimitedRectangularCuboids.h"
 
bool validate_constraints(asn_TYPE_descriptor_t *type_descriptor, const void *struct_ptr) {
 
  char error_buffer[128];
  size_t error_length = sizeof(error_buffer);
  const int return_value = asn_check_constraints(type_descriptor, struct_ptr, error_buffer, &error_length);
 
  if (return_value) {
    perror("asn_check_constraints() failed");
  }
  return (return_value == 0);
}
 
void *encode_and_decode_object(asn_TYPE_descriptor_t *type_descriptor, void *struct_ptr) {
 
  //First we validate that our object meets the expected constraints
  if (validate_constraints(type_descriptor, struct_ptr)) {
    void *buffer;
    asn_per_constraints_s *constraints = NULL;
    //Then, we encode the object to ASN.1 and assign the data to a buffer in memory
    const ssize_t ec = uper_encode_to_new_buffer(type_descriptor, constraints, struct_ptr, &buffer);
    if (ec == -1) {
      perror("uper_encode_to_new_buffer() failed");
    } else {
      //ASN.1 encoded object is not in the buffer variable and it is available for you to use.
      //Finally, since the encoding process went fine, we decode the data to verify with our own eyes that the process went smoothly
      void *decoded_object = 0;
      const asn_dec_rval_t rval = uper_decode(0, type_descriptor, &decoded_object, buffer, (size_t) ec, 0, 0);
      free(buffer);
      if (rval.code != RC_OK) {
        perror("uper_decode() failed");
        fprintf(stderr, "Broken encoding at byte %ld\n", rval.consumed);
      } else {
        return decoded_object;
      }
    }
  }
  return NULL;
}
 
int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
 
  //Scenario A: We test basic encoding and decoding on a Rectangle.
  {
    //First we create a rectangle and then we encode it
    Rectangle_t *rectangle = (Rectangle_t *) calloc(1, sizeof(Rectangle_t));
    if (rectangle == NULL) {
      perror("calloc() failed");
      exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
    }
    rectangle->height = 10;
    rectangle->width = 150;
 
    Rectangle_t *decoded_rectangle = (Rectangle_t *) encode_and_decode_object(&asn_DEF_Rectangle, rectangle);
 
    if (decoded_rectangle != NULL) {
      if (rectangle->height != decoded_rectangle->height || rectangle->width != decoded_rectangle->width) {
        perror("uper_decode() failed. Wrong values found after decoding");
        ASN_STRUCT_FREE(asn_DEF_Rectangle, rectangle);
        ASN_STRUCT_FREE(asn_DEF_Rectangle, decoded_rectangle);
        exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
      }
    }
    ASN_STRUCT_FREE(asn_DEF_Rectangle, rectangle);
    ASN_STRUCT_FREE(asn_DEF_Rectangle, decoded_rectangle);
  }
 
  //Scenario B: We test basic encoding and decoding on a Rectangle.
  //We will provide a value that is out of the constraints area to force the test to fail.
  {
    //First we create a rectangle and then we encode it
    Rectangle_t *rectangle = (Rectangle_t *) calloc(1, sizeof(Rectangle_t));
    if (rectangle == NULL) {
      perror("calloc() failed");
      exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
    }
    rectangle->height = -10;
    rectangle->width = 150;
 
    Rectangle_t *decoded_rectangle = (Rectangle_t *) encode_and_decode_object(&asn_DEF_Rectangle, rectangle);
 
    if (decoded_rectangle != NULL) {
      perror("This test should have failed due to the constaint on the range of the valid values.");
      ASN_STRUCT_FREE(asn_DEF_Rectangle, rectangle);
      ASN_STRUCT_FREE(asn_DEF_Rectangle, decoded_rectangle);
      exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
    }
    ASN_STRUCT_FREE(asn_DEF_Rectangle, rectangle);
  }
 
  //Scenario C: We test basic encoding and decoding on a Rectangular Cuboid.
  {
    //First we create a rectangular cuboid and then we encode it
    RectangularCuboid_t *rectangular_cuboid = (RectangularCuboid_t *) calloc(1, sizeof(RectangularCuboid_t));
    if (rectangular_cuboid == NULL) {
      perror("calloc() failed");
      exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
    }
    rectangular_cuboid->depth = 27;
    rectangular_cuboid->rectangle.height = 10;
    rectangular_cuboid->rectangle.width = 150;
 
    RectangularCuboid_t *decoded_rectangular_cuboid = (RectangularCuboid_t *) encode_and_decode_object(
        &asn_DEF_RectangularCuboid, rectangular_cuboid);
 
    if (decoded_rectangular_cuboid != NULL) {
      if (rectangular_cuboid->rectangle.height != decoded_rectangular_cuboid->rectangle.height
          || rectangular_cuboid->rectangle.width != decoded_rectangular_cuboid->rectangle.width
          || rectangular_cuboid->depth != decoded_rectangular_cuboid->depth) {
        perror("uper_decode() failed. Wrong values found after decoding");
        ASN_STRUCT_FREE(asn_DEF_RectangularCuboid, rectangular_cuboid);
        ASN_STRUCT_FREE(asn_DEF_RectangularCuboid, decoded_rectangular_cuboid);
        exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
      }
    }
    ASN_STRUCT_FREE(asn_DEF_RectangularCuboid, rectangular_cuboid);
    ASN_STRUCT_FREE(asn_DEF_RectangularCuboid, decoded_rectangular_cuboid);
  }
 
  //Scenario D: We will create an array of elements that has no limitation on its size.
  {
    UnlimitedRectangularCuboids_t *unlimited_rectangular_cuboids = (UnlimitedRectangularCuboids_t *) calloc(1,
                                                                                                            sizeof(UnlimitedRectangularCuboids_t));
    if (unlimited_rectangular_cuboids == NULL) {
      perror("calloc() failed");
      exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
    }
 
    int i;
    for (i = 0; i < 10; i++) {       RectangularCuboid_t *tmp_rectangular_cuboid = (RectangularCuboid_t *) calloc(1, sizeof(RectangularCuboid_t));       if (tmp_rectangular_cuboid == NULL) {         perror("calloc() failed");         exit(EXIT_FAILURE);       }       tmp_rectangular_cuboid->depth = i;
      tmp_rectangular_cuboid->rectangle.height = i * 11;
      tmp_rectangular_cuboid->rectangle.width = i * 101;
 
      const int result = asn_set_add(unlimited_rectangular_cuboids, tmp_rectangular_cuboid);
      if (result != 0) {
        perror("asn_set_add() failed");
        ASN_STRUCT_FREE(asn_DEF_UnlimitedRectangularCuboids, unlimited_rectangular_cuboids);
        exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
      }
    }
 
    UnlimitedRectangularCuboids_t *decoded_unlimited_rectangular_cuboids = (UnlimitedRectangularCuboids_t *) encode_and_decode_object(
        &asn_DEF_UnlimitedRectangularCuboids, unlimited_rectangular_cuboids);
 
    if (decoded_unlimited_rectangular_cuboids != NULL) {
      for (i = 0; i < decoded_unlimited_rectangular_cuboids->list.count; i++) {
        RectangularCuboid_t *tmp_rectangular_cuboid = decoded_unlimited_rectangular_cuboids->list.array[i];
        if (tmp_rectangular_cuboid->rectangle.height != i * 11
            || tmp_rectangular_cuboid->rectangle.width != i * 101
            || tmp_rectangular_cuboid->depth != i) {
          perror("uper_decode() failed. Wrong values found after decoding");
          ASN_STRUCT_FREE(asn_DEF_UnlimitedRectangularCuboids, unlimited_rectangular_cuboids);
          ASN_STRUCT_FREE(asn_DEF_UnlimitedRectangularCuboids, decoded_unlimited_rectangular_cuboids);
          exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
        }
      }
    }
    ASN_STRUCT_FREE(asn_DEF_UnlimitedRectangularCuboids, unlimited_rectangular_cuboids);
    ASN_STRUCT_FREE(asn_DEF_UnlimitedRectangularCuboids, decoded_unlimited_rectangular_cuboids);
  }
 
  //Scenario E: We will create an array of elements that has a limitation on how many elements it can accept.
  //We will add more elements than expected and we expect the encoding to fail.
  {
    LimitedRectangularCuboids_t *limited_rectangular_cuboids = (LimitedRectangularCuboids_t *) calloc(1,
                                                                                                      sizeof(LimitedRectangularCuboids_t));
    if (limited_rectangular_cuboids == NULL) {
      perror("calloc() failed");
      exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
    }
 
    int i;
    for (i = 0; i < 10; i++) {       RectangularCuboid_t *tmp_rectangular_cuboid = (RectangularCuboid_t *) calloc(1, sizeof(RectangularCuboid_t));       if (tmp_rectangular_cuboid == NULL) {         perror("calloc() failed");         exit(EXIT_FAILURE);       }       tmp_rectangular_cuboid->depth = i;
      tmp_rectangular_cuboid->rectangle.height = i * 11;
      tmp_rectangular_cuboid->rectangle.width = i * 101;
 
      const int result = asn_set_add(limited_rectangular_cuboids, tmp_rectangular_cuboid);
      if (result != 0) {
        perror("asn_set_add() failed");
        ASN_STRUCT_FREE(asn_DEF_LimitedRectangularCuboids, limited_rectangular_cuboids);
        exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
      }
    }
 
    LimitedRectangularCuboids_t *decoded_limited_rectangular_cuboids = (LimitedRectangularCuboids_t *) encode_and_decode_object(
        &asn_DEF_LimitedRectangularCuboids, limited_rectangular_cuboids);
 
    if (decoded_limited_rectangular_cuboids != NULL) {
      perror("This test should have failed due to limitation on the size of the list.");
      ASN_STRUCT_FREE(asn_DEF_LimitedRectangularCuboids, limited_rectangular_cuboids);
      ASN_STRUCT_FREE(asn_DEF_LimitedRectangularCuboids, decoded_limited_rectangular_cuboids);
      exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
    }
    ASN_STRUCT_FREE(asn_DEF_LimitedRectangularCuboids, limited_rectangular_cuboids);
  }
 
  printf ("All tests were successful\n");
  return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}

[download id=”2470″]

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