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protocol-buffersprotobuf-cprotobuf-java

Way to Reference Arbitrary Field in Protobuf Message

I'm looking for a string representation of arbitrary fields inside protocol buffer messages. Is there any library that implements this? I've looked at using field masks, however they don't have a strong support for repeated fields.

Solution

  • Protocol buffer message and field descriptors provide field access by name. This allows you to find a particular field using a path and to erase it, if that's what you are asking for (if not, I'd recommend to expand the question to include an example for what you'd like to do).

    One corresponding Java method is getDescriptorForType (the return type is a message descriptor, where you'll find field descriptors).

    There is a similar descriptor API for C++ (in Java, you could theoretically also use reflection).

    This API is not available in light mode.