AceSerializer-3.0

embeddable This library can be embedded into your addon as a mixin; list it when you create the addon and its methods become available directly on your addon object (via self).
Creating an addon object →

AceSerializer-3.0 can serialize any variable (except functions or userdata) into a string format that can be sent over the addon communication channel.

AceSerializer was designed to keep all data intact, especially very large numbers or floating point numbers, and table structures. The only caveat currently is, that multiple references to the same table will be send individually.

Usage

Mix it in when creating your addon object:

MyAddon = LibStub("AceAddon-3.0"):NewAddon("MyAddon", "AceSerializer-3.0")

Serialize any values into a string:

local MyVal1 = 23
local MyVal2 = "some text"
local MyVal3 = { "foo", 42, "bar" }

local serializedData = MyAddon:Serialize(MyVal1, MyVal2, MyVal3)

Deserialize. The first return is a success boolean; on success the original values follow, on failure an error message:

local success, v1, v2, v3 = MyAddon:Deserialize(serializedData)
if not success then
    -- handle error (v1 is the error message)
end

Combine with AceComm-3.0 to send structured data between clients.

API Reference

Embed

method#

AceSerializer:Embed(target)

Copies AceSerializer's methods onto target so you can call them on it directly. See The :Embed method.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
target	table		The target object to embed AceSerializer into.

Returns

Type	Description
table	The target object.

Serialize

method#

AceSerializer:Serialize(...)

Serialize the data passed into the function.

Takes a list of values (strings, numbers, booleans, nils, tables) and returns it in serialized form (a string). May throw errors on invalid data types.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
...	any		List of values to serialize (strings, numbers, booleans, nils, tables).

Returns

Type	Description
string	The data in its serialized form.

Deserialize

method#

AceSerializer:Deserialize(str)

Deserializes the data into its original values.

Accepts serialized data, ignoring all control characters and whitespace.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
str	string		The serialized data (from :Serialize).

Returns

Type	Description
boolean	success: true on success, false on failure.
any	...: On success, the deserialized list of values; on failure, the error message (string).

Example

local ok, value = self:Deserialize(payload)
if ok then
    -- use value
end