KRNLSTRING

KRNLSTRING is a Rust crate that provides safe abstractions for working with Windows Unicode strings (UNICODE_STRING). This crate is designed to be used in #![no_std] environments, making it suitable for drivers or other low-level programming where the Rust standard library cannot be used. It leverages the alloc crate for dynamic memory management without requiring the full standard library.

Features

• Safe wrapper for UNICODE_STRING that owns its buffer.
• Ensures the UTF-16 buffer remains valid as long as the OwnedUnicodeString instance exists.
• Provides conversion utilities to and from Rust strings (&str), as well as Windows string types (PCWSTR, PWSTR).
• Compatible with #![no_std] environments.
• Supports concatenation of OwnedUnicodeString instances and Rust strings using the Add trait.
• Enables comparison between OwnedUnicodeString instances using the PartialEq trait.

Usage Example

# extern crate alloc;
# use alloc::vec::Vec;
use krnlstring::OwnedUnicodeString;

let mut my_string = OwnedUnicodeString::from("Hello, world!");

println!("{}", my_string);

Performance

KRNLSTRING is optimized for minimal memory copying and efficient buffer management. The OwnedUnicodeString struct directly owns its UTF-16 buffer using a Vec<u16>, which reduces the need for unnecessary memory allocations and deallocations.

Unlike other implementations that might require converting the UTF-16 buffer to a Rust String for display, which would involve a memory copy, KRNLSTRING provides a zero-copy formatter. This formatter allows the OwnedUnicodeString to be formatted and displayed directly without converting the entire buffer to a String, thereby saving both memory and processing time.

Safety

Warning: This project is still in the learning and development phase. As a beginner in Rust and Windows kernel driver development, I created this project to learn and leverage open source. This code should not be used in production until it has been audited by experts.

The goal of this project is to learn and receive feedback from the open source community. Contributions are welcome, whether to improve the code, add new features, or enhance the documentation. I am open to all suggestions and discussions to improve this project.

Contributing

If you wish to contribute, please fork the repository and submit a pull request. All contributions, big or small, are welcome!