Protocol Buffers - enum

Overview

The enum data type is one of the composite datatypes of Protobuf. It translates to an enum in the languages that we use, for example, Java etc.

Continuing with our theater example from Protocol Buffers - String chapter, following is the syntax that we need to have to instruct Protobuf that we will be creating an enum −

theater.proto

syntax = "proto3";
package theater;
option java_package = "com.tutorialspoint.theater";

message Theater {
   enum PAYMENT_SYSTEM{
      CASH = 0;
      CREDIT_CARD = 1;
      DEBIT_CARD = 2;
      APP = 3;  
   }
   PAYMENT_SYSTEM payment = 7;
}

Now our message class contains an enum attribute. It also has a position which is what Protobuf uses while serialization and deserialization. Each attribute of a member needs to have a unique number assigned.

We define the enum and use it below as the data type along with "payment" attribute. Note that although we have defined enum inside the message class, it can also reside outside of it.

Creating Java Classes from Proto File

To use Protobuf, we will now have to use protoc binary to create the required classes from this ".proto" file. Let us see how to do that −

protoc  --java_out=. theater.proto

This will create a TheaterOuterClass.java class in com > tutorialspoint > theater folder in current directory. We're using this class in our application similar to as done in Protocol Buffers - Basic App chapter.

Using Java Classes created from Proto File

TheaterWriter.java

package com.tutorialspoint.theater;

import java.io.FileOutputStream;
import java.io.IOException;
import com.tutorialspoint.theater.TheaterOuterClass.Theater;
import com.tutorialspoint.theater.TheaterOuterClass.Theater.PAYMENT_SYSTEM;

public class TheaterWriter{
   public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {
      Theater theater = Theater.newBuilder()
         .setPayment(PAYMENT_SYSTEM.CREDIT_CARD)
         .build();
		
      String filename = "theater_protobuf_output";
      System.out.println("Saving theater information to file: " + filename);
		
      try(FileOutputStream output = new FileOutputStream(filename)){
         theater.writeTo(output);
      }
	    
      System.out.println("Saved theater information with following data to disk: \n" + theater);
   }
}

Next, we will have a reader to read the theater information −

TheaterReader.java

package com.tutorialspoint.theater;

import java.io.FileInputStream;
import java.io.FileOutputStream;
import java.io.IOException;
import com.tutorialspoint.greeting.Greeting.Greet;
import com.tutorialspoint.theater.TheaterOuterClass.Theater;
import com.tutorialspoint.theater.TheaterOuterClass.Theater.Builder;

public class TheaterReader{
   public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {
      Builder theaterBuilder = Theater.newBuilder();

      String filename = "theater_protobuf_output";
      System.out.println("Reading from file " + filename);
        
      try(FileInputStream input = new FileInputStream(filename)) {
         Theater theater = theaterBuilder.mergeFrom(input).build();
         System.out.println(theater.getPayment());
         System.out.println(theater);
      }
   }
}

Compile the project

Now that we have set up the reader and the writer, let us compile the project.

mvn clean install

Serialize the Java Object

Now, post compilation, let us execute the writer first −

> java -cp .\target\protobuf-tutorial-1.0.jar com.tutorialspoint.theater.TheaterWriter

Saving theater information to file: theater_protobuf_output
Saved theater information with following data to disk:
payment: CREDIT_CARD

Deserialize the Serialized Object

Now, let us execute the reader to read from the same file −

java -cp .\target\protobuf-tutorial-1.0.jar com.tutorialspoint.theater.TheaterReader

Reading from file theater_protobuf_output
CREDIT_CARD
payment: CREDIT_CARD

So, as we see, we are able to read the serialized enum by deserializing the binary data to Theater object. In the next chapter Protocol Buffers - repeated, we will look at the repeated, a composite type.