a2lfile

a2lfile

a2lfile is a library that allows you to read, modify and write a2l files.

Features

• full support for files using A2L version 1.7.1
• it is fast
• the layout and format of the input file is preserved. The intention is that after reading, modifying and then writing a file the resulting diff should be minimal
• easy access to application-specific data inside of IF_DATA blocks is provided through a macro that generates code based on an A2ML specification

What is an a2l file

A2l files are commonly used during the development and testing of automotive ECUs. The consumer of the a2l file typically performs online calibration over a protocol such as XCP and/or offline tuning by generating flashable parameter sets.

If you have never seen an a2l file then you are unlikely to need this library.

Tools

The program a2ltool is based on this library.

Documentation

A simple program based on the a2lfile library might look like this:

use a2lfile::*;

fn main() {
    let input_filename = &std::ffi::OsString::from("example.a2l");
    let mut logmsgs = Vec::<A2LError>::new();
    let mut a2l_file = a2lfile::load(
        input_filename,
        None,
        &mut logmsgs,
        false
    ).expect("could not load the file");
    for log_msg in logmsgs {
        println!("warning while loading the file: {}", log_msg);
    }

    // perform a consistency check
    let mut logmsgs = Vec::<String>::new();
    a2l_file.check(&mut logmsgs);
    for log_msg in logmsgs {
        println!("warning during consistency check: {}", log_msg);
    }

    for measurement in &a2l_file.project.module[0].measurement {
        // do something with the MEASUREMENT objects in the file
        println!("MEASUREMENT: {:#?}", measurement);
    }

    // create a new CHARACTERISTIC object
    let new_characteristic = Characteristic::new(
        "my_name".to_string(),
        "my extended description".to_string(),
        CharacteristicType::Value,
        0x12345678,
        "something.RECORD_LAYOUT".to_string(),
        0.0,
        "NO_COMPU_METHOD".to_string(),
        0.0,
        100.0
    );
    a2l_file.project.module[0].characteristic.push(new_characteristic);


    // update the sorting to find a suitable insertion point for the new characteristic - by default it will be placed at the end
    a2l_file.sort_new_items();

    // write the modified file
    a2l_file.write(
        &std::ffi::OsString::from("example_output.txt"),
        Some("modified by the demo program")
    ).expect("failed to write output");
}

Crate Features

All features are active by default. If "default-features = false" is set in Cargo.toml, then the following features can be enabled separately:

• check: perform a consistency check on the data
• cleanup: remove unused GROUPs, RECORD_LAYOUTs, COMPU_METHODs, COMPU_(V)TABs and UNITs
• ifdata_cleanup: remove any IF_DATA blocks that could not be parsed using either the specification provided during load or the specification in the A2ML block in the file
• merge: merge two a2l files on the MODULE level
• sort: sort the data in the a2l file

License

Licensed under either of

• Apache License, Version 2.0 (LICENSE-APACHE or http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0)
• MIT license (LICENSE-MIT or http://opensource.org/licenses/MIT)