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NAME
asn1ct - ASN.1 compiler and compile-time support functions
DESCRIPTION
The ASN.1 compiler takes an ASN.1 module as input and generates a corresponding Erlang module, which can
encode and decode the specified data types. Alternatively, the compiler takes a specification module
specifying all input modules, and generates a module with encode/decode functions. In addition, some
generic functions can be used during development of applications that handles ASN.1 data (encoded as BER
or PER).
Note:
By default in OTP 17, the representation of the BIT STRING and OCTET STRING types as Erlang terms were
changed. BIT STRING values are now Erlang bit strings and OCTET STRING values are binaries. Also, an
undecoded open type is now wrapped in an asn1_OPENTYPE tuple. For details, see BIT STRING, OCTET STRING,
and ASN.1 Information Objects in the User's Guide.
To revert to the old representation of the types, use option legacy_erlang_types.
Note:
In OTP R16, the options were simplified. The back end is chosen using one of the options ber, per, uper
or jer. Options optimize, nif, and driver options are no longer necessary (and the ASN.1 compiler
generates a warning if they are used). Options ber_bin, per_bin, and uper_bin options still work, but
generates a warning.
Another change in OTP R16 is that the generated function encode/2 always returns a binary. Function
encode/2 for the BER back end used to return an iolist.
EXPORTS
compile(Asn1module) -> ok | {error, Reason}
compile(Asn1module, Options) -> ok | {error, Reason}
Types:
Asn1module = atom() | string()
Options = [Option| OldOption]
Option = ber | per | uper | jer | der | compact_bit_string | legacy_bit_string |
legacy_erlang_types | noobj | {n2n, EnumTypeName} |{outdir, Dir} | {i, IncludeDir} | asn1config
| undec_rest | no_ok_wrapper | {macro_name_prefix, Prefix} | {record_name_prefix, Prefix} |
verbose | warnings_as_errors | deterministic
OldOption = ber | per
Reason = term()
Prefix = string()
Compiles the ASN.1 module Asn1module and generates an Erlang module Asn1module.erl with encode and
decode functions for the types defined in Asn1module. For each ASN.1 value defined in the module,
an Erlang function that returns the value in Erlang representation is generated.
If Asn1module is a filename without extension, first ".asn1" is assumed, then ".asn", and finally
".py" (to be compatible with the old ASN.1 compiler). Asn1module can be a full pathname (relative
or absolute) including filename with (or without) extension.
If it is needed to compile a set of ASN.1 modules into an Erlang file with encode/decode
functions, ensure to list all involved files in a configuration file. This configuration file must
have a double extension ".set.asn" (".asn" can alternatively be ".asn1" or ".py"). List the input
file names within quotation marks (""), one at each row in the file. If the input files are
File1.asn, File2.asn, and File3.asn, the configuration file must look as follows:
File1.asn
File2.asn
File3.asn
The output files in this case get their names from the configuration file. If the configuration
file is named SetOfFiles.set.asn, the names of the output files are SetOfFiles.hrl,
SetOfFiles.erl, and SetOfFiles.asn1db.
Sometimes in a system of ASN.1 modules, different default tag modes, for example, AUTOMATIC,
IMPLICIT, or EXPLICIT. The multi-file compilation resolves the default tagging as if the modules
were compiled separately.
Name collisions is another unwanted effect that can occur in multi file-compilation. The compiler
solves this problem in one of two ways:
* If the definitions are identical, the output module keeps only one definition with the
original name.
* If the definitions have the same name and differs in the definition, they are renamed. The new
names are the definition name and the original module name concatenated.
If a name collision occurs, the compiler reports a "NOTICE: ..." message that tells if a
definition was renamed, and the new name that must be used to encode/decode data.
Options is a list with options specific for the ASN.1 compiler and options that are applied to the
Erlang compiler. The latter are not recognized as ASN.1 specific. The available options are as
follows:
ber | per | uper | jer:
The encoding rule to be used. The supported encoding rules are Basic Encoding Rules (ber),
Packed Encoding Rules (per) aligned, PER unaligned (uper) and JSON Encoding Rules (jer). The
jer option can be used by itself to generate a module that only supports encoding/decoding to
JER or it can be used as a supplementary option to ber, per and uper. In the latter case a
module with for both the main encoding rules and JER will be generated. The exported functions
for JER will then be jer_encode(Type, Value) and jer_decode(Type, Bytes).
The jer encoding rules (ITU-T X.697) are experimental in OTP 22. There is support for a subset
of the X.697 standard, for example there is no support for:
* JER encoding instructions
* the REAL type
Also note that when using the jer encoding rules the generated module will get a dependency to
an external json component. The generated code is currently tested together with:
* jsx which currently is the default.
* jsone can be chosen instead of jsx by providing the option {d,jsone}.
If the encoding rule option is omitted, ber is the default.
The generated Erlang module always gets the same name as the ASN.1 module. Therefore, only one
encoding rule per ASN.1 module can be used at runtime.
der:
With this option the Distinguished Encoding Rules (der) is chosen. DER is regarded as a
specialized variant of the BER encoding rule. Therefore, this option only makes sense together
with option ber. This option sometimes adds sorting and value checks when encoding, which
implies a slower encoding. The decoding routines are the same as for ber.
maps:
This option changes the representation of the types SEQUENCE and SET to use maps (instead of
records). This option also suppresses the generation of .hrl files.
For details, see Section Map representation for SEQUENCE and SET in the User's Guide.
compact_bit_string:
The BIT STRING type is decoded to "compact notation". This option is not recommended for new
code. This option cannot be combined with the option maps.
For details, see Section BIT STRING in the User's Guide.
This option implies option legacy_erlang_types.
legacy_bit_string:
The BIT STRING type is decoded to the legacy format, that is, a list of zeroes and ones. This
option is not recommended for new code. This option cannot be combined with the option maps.
For details, see Section BIT STRING in the User's Guide
This option implies option legacy_erlang_types.
legacy_erlang_types:
Use the same Erlang types to represent BIT STRING and OCTET STRING as in OTP R16.
For details, see Section BIT STRING and Section OCTET STRING in the User's Guide.
This option is not recommended for new code. This option cannot be combined with the option
maps.
{n2n, EnumTypeName}:
Tells the compiler to generate functions for conversion between names (as atoms) and numbers
and conversely for the specified EnumTypeName. There can be multiple occurrences of this
option to specify several type names. The type names must be declared as ENUMERATIONS in the
ASN.1 specification.
If EnumTypeName does not exist in the ASN.1 specification, the compilation stops with an error
code.
The generated conversion functions are named name2num_EnumTypeName/1 and
num2name_EnumTypeName/1.
noobj:
Do not compile (that is, do not produce object code) the generated .erl file. If this option
is omitted, the generated Erlang module is compiled.
{i, IncludeDir}:
Adds IncludeDir to the search-path for .asn1db and ASN.1 source files. The compiler tries to
open an .asn1db file when a module imports definitions from another ASN.1 module. If no
.asn1db file is found, the ASN.1 source file is parsed. Several {i, IncludeDir} can be given.
{outdir, Dir}:
Specifies directory Dir where all generated files are to be placed. If this option is omitted,
the files are placed in the current directory.
asn1config:
When using one of the specialized decodes, exclusive or selective decode, instructions must be
given in a configuration file. Option asn1config enables specialized decodes and takes the
configuration file in concern. The configuration file has the same name as the ASN.1
specification, but with extension .asn1config.
For instructions for exclusive decode, see Section Exclusive Decode in the User's Guide.
For instructions for selective decode, see Section Selective Decode in the User's Guide.
undec_rest:
A buffer that holds a message, being decoded it can also have some following bytes. Those
following bytes can now be returned together with the decoded value. If an ASN.1 specification
is compiled with this option, a tuple {ok, Value, Rest} is returned. Rest can be a list or a
binary. Earlier versions of the compiler ignored those following bytes.
no_ok_wrapper:
With this option, the generated encode/2 and decode/2 functions do not wrap a successful
return value in an {ok,...} tuple. If any error occurs, an exception will be raised.
{macro_name_prefix, Prefix}:
All macro names generated by the compiler are prefixed with Prefix. This is useful when
multiple protocols that contain macros with identical names are included in a single module.
{record_name_prefix, Prefix}:
All record names generated by the compiler are prefixed with Prefix. This is useful when
multiple protocols that contain records with identical names are included in a single module.
verbose:
Causes more verbose information from the compiler describing what it is doing.
warnings_as_errors:
Causes warnings to be treated as errors.
deterministic:
Causes all non-deterministic options to be stripped from the -asn1_info() attribute.
Any more option that is applied is passed to the final step when the generated .erl file is
compiled.
The compiler generates the following files:
* Asn1module.hrl (if any SET or SEQUENCE is defined)
* Asn1module.erl - Erlang module with encode, decode, and value functions
* Asn1module.asn1db - Intermediate format used by the compiler when modules IMPORT definitions
from each other.
value(Module, Type) -> {ok, Value} | {error, Reason}
Types:
Module = Type = atom()
Value = term()
Reason = term()
Returns an Erlang term that is an example of a valid Erlang representation of a value of the ASN.1
type Type. The value is a random value and subsequent calls to this function will for most types
return different values.
Note:
Currently, the value function has many limitations. Essentially, it will mostly work for old
specifications based on the 1997 standard for ASN.1, but not for most modern-style applications.
Another limitation is that the value function may not work if options that change code generations
strategies such as the options macro_name_prefix and record_name_prefix have been used.
test(Module) -> ok | {error, Reason}
test(Module, Type | Options) -> ok | {error, Reason}
test(Module, Type, Value | Options) -> ok | {error, Reason}
Types:
Module = Type = atom()
Value = term()
Options = [{i, IncludeDir}]
Reason = term()
Performs a test of encode and decode of types in Module. The generated functions are called by
this function. This function is useful during test to secure that the generated encode and decode
functions as well as the general runtime support work as expected.
Note:
Currently, the test functions have many limitations. Essentially, they will mostly work for old
specifications based on the 1997 standard for ASN.1, but not for most modern-style applications.
Another limitation is that the test functions may not work if options that change code generations
strategies such as the options macro_name_prefix and record_name_prefix have been used.
* test/1 iterates over all types in Module.
* test/2 tests type Type with a random value.
* test/3 tests type Type with Value.
Schematically, the following occurs for each type in the module:
{ok, Value} = asn1ct:value(Module, Type),
{ok, Bytes} = Module:encode(Type, Value),
{ok, Value} = Module:decode(Type, Bytes).
The test functions use the *.asn1db files for all included modules. If they are located in a
different directory than the current working directory, use the include option to add paths. This
is only needed when automatically generating values. For static values using Value no options are
needed.
Ericsson AB asn1 5.0.21.1 asn1ct(3erl)