# Buffertools
=============
This library provides a `Buffer` and `Parser` class to make dealing with binary data in PHP easier.
`Templates` extend this by offering a read/write interface for larger serialized structures.
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## Requirements:
* PHP 5.6+
* Composer
* ext-gmp
## Installation
You can install this library via Composer: `composer require bitwasp/buffertools`
## Examples
Buffer's are immutable classes to store binary data.
BufferHex will convert the provided data to binary, as will BufferInt.
Buffer's main methods are:
- getBinary()
- getHex()
- getInt()
Parser will read Buffers.
Parser's main methods are:
- readBytes()
- getArray()
- getVarInt()
- getString()
- writeBytes()
In most cases, the interface offered by Parser should not be used directly.
Instead, Templates expose read/write access to larger serialized structures.
### Using Parser to read binary data
```php
use BitWasp\Buffertools\Buffer;
use BitWasp\Buffertools\Parser;
// Parsers read Buffers
$buffer = new Buffer('abc');
$parser = new Parser($buffer);
// Call readBytes to unpack the data
/** @var Buffer[] $set */
$set = [
$parser->readBytes(1),
$parser->readBytes(1),
$parser->readBytes(1)
];
foreach ($set as $item) {
echo $item->getBinary() . PHP_EOL;
}
```
### Using Templates
```php
use BitWasp\Buffertools\Buffer;
use BitWasp\Buffertools\Parser;
use BitWasp\Buffertools\TemplateFactory;
$structure = (object) [
'hash' => hash('sha256', 'abc'),
'message_id' => 9123,
'message' => "Hi there! What's up?"
];
// Templates are read/write
$template = (new TemplateFactory)
->bytestring(32)
->uint32()
->varstring()
->getTemplate();
// Write the structure
$binary = $template->write([
Buffer::hex($structure->hash),
$structure->message_id,
new Buffer($structure->message)
]);
echo $binary->getHex() . "\n";
// Use the template to read resulting Buffer
$parsed = $template->parse(new Parser($binary));
$p = (object) [
'hash' => $parsed[0]->getHex(),
'message_id' => $parsed[1],
'message' => $parsed[2]->getBinary()
];
print_r($p);
```