Reflection Library

This dynamic library is a collection of serialization tools written in C++ that utilize RTTR, the runtime reflection library. The goal is to make handling API structures a trivial matter.

The library's only dependency is against RTTR itself, however its extensions for dealing with messages from other libraries like JsonGlib require the presence of those libraries. If the library is not found in the environment, that feature is skipped.

This library's Tutorial covers several aspects of RTTR registration that are supported by the conversion logic in this library, however there are many other options and policies available. Please see that project's documentation for more information.

Building

meson setup builddir
meson compile -C builddir

Various options exit in the meson_options.txt. For example, enforcing the library builds with SocketIO-Client C++ message compatibility:

meson setup builddir -Dsocketio=true
meson compile -C builddir

Usage

Aside from depending against this library, one must declare C++ structures according to the RTTR documentation. Then separately, typically in an object file, one must register those types using the RTTR_PLUGIN_REGISTRATION macro. This allows for multiple registrations to occur in potentially several dynamic libraries.

NOTE: static libraries can be used, however only one location throughout the entire codebase may register those types using RTTR_REGISTER. The RTTR documentation makes a more vague statement about the use of these macros, however in testing, this previous statement is true. If you want to register types from multiple locations, the libraries must all be dynamic and RTTR_PLUGIN_REGISTRATION used.

This library includes a pair of headers at the top-level, declaration.h and registration.h, to help with organizing a codebase with the above concepts in mind. In your header file where you are declaring structures, classes, use declaration.h. When in an object file defining how RTTR should handle each object's members, the metadata, etc., use registration.h. Each header has title comments pertaining to the typical usage of RTTR in each respect.

Tutorial

This library includes a tutorial (see Tutorial). Configure the project for building the feature by setting the meson option: -Dtutorial=enabled. Then, follow the linked tutorial.

NOTE: this requires json-glib to also be available in the environment as its library includes a readily-available to string API for easier debugging.