# `ucpack` [![docs.rs](https://img.shields.io/docsrs/ucpack?style=flat&label=docs.rs&color=%23B7410E)](https://docs.rs/ucpack)

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    <img style="width: 180px" align="right" src="./assets/alvik.webp" onerror="this.src='../../../assets/alvik.webp'" />
</div>

Rust implementation of the ucpack serialization format used in the Arduino Alvik using [serde](https://docs.rs/serde).

This crate does not implement the body API itself, but rather the binary protocol and format it uses
to encode its messages.

### The crate

This crate exposes a struct called `UcPack` which you can initialize to start encoding and decoding [serde](https://docs.rs/serde)
compatible data types and structures.

> [!WARNING]
> Not every type is compatible with ucpack. Namely any integer above 16 bits, lists and maps.

You can also `const` initialize `UcPack` and use it `const`-ly from anywhere if carrying state
isn't an option:
```rust
const packer: UcPack = UcPack::new(b'A', b'#');

fn main() {
    packer.serialize_slice(...); // ecc..
}
```

### The protocol
_NOTE: Table gently borrowed from ucpack's c++ repo_

A packet is managed as:

| index_byte           | message length | message                     | stop_byte            | crc8   |
|:--------------------:|:--------------:|:---------------------------:|:--------------------:|:------:|
| 1 byte (_default A_) | 1 byte         | N bytes from message length | 1 byte (_default #_) | 1 byte |

This crate, opposed to the c++ and micropython respectives, is agnostic
across the `message` content (referred to by the name `payload` in this crate).