Drax

The invisible transport layer between bytes and processed frames.

Examples

Please see the examples directory for examples of how to use the project.

To execute an example you can run either cargo run -p <example> or just example <example>.

Future Plans

• Add derive macros to automatically derive the PacketComponent trait.
• Add documentation in README.md for creating custom packets.
• Add derive documentation in the README.md.
• Build documentation surrounding context building and using context with packets.

Packet Framing

Packet framing with Drax is not traditional. The packets are not sized then read into a buffer, but instead are read directly into the types which need to be built out. This allows for a more efficient and flexible system.

When you're sending a packet you're actually sending a "struct" or "enum" as the frame of the data. Since rust's type system provides a type framing system it makes sense to port from it.

Encryption and Compression

Encryption and compression are not currently supported by Drax.

It is a planned feature to add basic compression and encryption support.

When compression is enabled the framing will require a separate stage and header to determine the size of the compressed data.

Encryption will not require separate framing, this means compression will be a substantial addition to the work done during the decoding process.

Defining a Protocol

Defining a protocol is a sane first step to building a server/client pair. Including some sort of heartbeat system there should be a list of packets expected to be sent and received during different phases of the protocol.

The most common way to define a protocol is to use an enum with each variant representing a separate packet. Encoding and decoding a packet should be very simple, any additional manual logic should be written into a separate struct and referenced by the enum.