DataScript- A Specification and Scripting Language for Binary Data

Abstract

DataScript is a language to describe and manipulate binary data formats as types. DataScript consists of two components: a constraint-based specification language that uses DataScript types to describe the physical layout of data and a language binding that provides a simple programming interface to script binary data. A DataScript compiler generates Java libraries that are linked with DataScript scripts.

DataScript specifications can be used to describe formats in a programmatic way, eliminating the vagaries and ambiguities often associated with prosaic format descriptions. The libraries generated by the DataScript compiler free the programmer from the tedious task of coding input and output routines. More importantly, they assure correctness and safety by validating both the input read and the output generated. We show examples that demonstrate that DataScript is simple, yet powerful enough to describe many commonly used formats. Similar to how scripting languages such as Perl allow the manipulation of text files, the libraries generated by the DataScript compiler can be used to quickly write scripts that safely manipulate binary files.