10.8.1 Serialization format

Each supported value is translated to a distinct prefix character, followed by the necessary data.

  • null: n
  • Int: z for zero, or i followed by the integer display (e.g. i456)

  • Float:

    • NaN: k
    • negative infinity: m
    • positive infinity: p
    • finite floats: d followed by the float display (e.g. d1.45e-8)
  • Bool: t for true, f for false
  • String: y followed by the url encoded string length, then : and the url encoded string (e.g. y10:hi%20there for "hi there".
  • name-value pairs: a serialized string representing the name followed by the serialized value
  • structure: o followed by the list of name-value pairs and terminated by g (e.g. oy1:xi2y1:kng for {x:2, k:null})
  • List: l followed by the list of serialized items, followed by h (e.g. lnnh for a list of two null values)
  • Array: a followed by the list of serialized items, followed by h. For multiple consecutive null values, u followed by the number of null values is used (e.g. ai1i2u4i7ni9h for [1,2,null,null,null,null,7,null,9])
  • Date: v followed by the date itself (e.g. v2010-01-01 12:45:10)
  • haxe.ds.StringMap: b followed by the name-value pairs, followed by h (e.g. by1:xi2y1:knh for {"x" => 2, "k" => null})
  • haxe.ds.IntMap: q followed by the key-value pairs, followed by h. Each key is represented as :<int> (e.g. q:4n:5i45:6i7h for {4 => null, 5 => 45, 6 => 7})
  • haxe.ds.ObjectMap: M followed by serialized value pairs representing the key and value, followed by h
  • haxe.io.Bytes: s followed by the length of the base64 encoded bytes, then : and the byte representation using the codes A-Za-z0-9% (e.g. s3:AAA for 2 bytes equal to 0, and s10:SGVsbG8gIQ for haxe.io.Bytes.ofString("Hello !"))
  • exception: x followed by the exception value
  • class instance: c followed by the serialized class name, followed by the name-value pairs of the fields, followed by g (e.g. cy5:Pointy1:xzy1:yzg for new Point(0, 0) (having two integer fields x and y)
  • enum instance (by name): w followed by the serialized enum name, followed by the serialized constructor name, followed by :, followed by the number of arguments, followed by the argument values (e.g. wy3:Fooy1:A:0 for Foo.A (with no arguments), wy3:Fooy1:B:2i4n for Foo.B(4,null))
  • enum instance (by index): j followed by the serialized enum name, followed by :, followed by the constructor index (starting from 0), followed by :, followed by the number of arguments, followed by the argument values (e.g. jy3:Foo:0:0 for Foo.A (with no arguments), jy3:Foo:1:2i4n for Foo.B(4,null))

  • cache references:

    • String: R followed by the corresponding index in the string cache (e.g. R456)
    • class, enum or structure r followed by the corresponding index in the object cache (e.g. r42)

  • custom: C followed by the class name, followed by the custom serialized data, followed by g

    Cached elements and enum constructors are indexed from zero.