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protocol-buffers

Adding string arrays in protocol buffers

I want to add string array in protocol buffer message, which I am not able to do. I have written as below

repeated string data = 1[packed=true];

I got the below error:

[packed = true] can only be specified for repeated primitive fields.

I could able to do it for int arrays with same syntax. I am confused why the string is considered as non-primitive type. Can anyone help me please.? Thanks !!

Solution

  • Refer to the section "Specifying Field Rules" of the the Protobuf Documentation. Essentially, packing only makes sense for numeric fields.

    Preserving a quote for prosperity:

    For historical reasons, repeated fields of basic numeric types aren't encoded as efficiently as they could be. New code should use the special option [packed=true] to get a more efficient encoding.