The ASN1C compiler distribution contains command-line compiler executables as well as a graphical user interface (GUI) wizard that can aid in the specification of compiler options. This section describes how to run the command-line version; the next section describes the GUI.
To test if the compiler was successfully installed, enter
asn1c with no parameters as follows (note: if you have
not updated your PATH variable, you will need to enter the full
pathname):
asn1c
You should observe the following display (or something similar):
ASN1C Compiler, Version 6.8.x
Copyright (c) 1997-2015 Objective Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Usage: asn1c <filename> <options>
<filename> ASN.1 or XSD source filename(s). Multiple filenames
may be specified. * and ? wildcards are allowed.
language options:
-c generate C code
-c++ generate C++ code
-c++11 generate C++ code that uses C++11 features
-c# generate C# code
-java generate Java code
-cldc generate Java ME CLDC compatible code
-xsd [<filename>] generate XML schema definitions
encoding rule options:
-ber generate BER encode/decode functions
-cer generate CER encode/decode functions
-der generate DER encode/decode functions
-oer generate OER encode/decode functions
-mder generate MDER encode/decode functions
-per generate PER encode/decode functions
-uper generate unaligned PER encode/decode functions
-xer generate XER encode/decode functions
-xml generate XML encode/decode functions
-json generate JSON encode/decode functions
-3gl3 generate 3GPP layer 3 encode/decode functions
basic options:
-asn1 [<file>] generate pretty-printed ASN.1 source code
-asnstd <std> set standard to be used for parsing ASN.1
source file. Possible values - x208, x680, mixed
(default is x680)
-compact generate compact code
-compat <version> generate code compatible with previous
compiler version. <version> format is
x.x (for example, 5.3)
-config <file> specify configuration file
-depends compile main file and dependent IMPORT items
-events generate code to invoke SAX-like event handlers
-genTest [<filename>] generate sample test functions
-html generate HTML marked-up version of ASN.1
-I <directory> set import file directory
-lax do not generate constraint checks in code
-laxsyntax do not do a thorough ASN.1 syntax check
-list generate listing
-allow-ambig-tags allow ambiguous tags in input specifications
-noContaining do not generate inline type for CONTAINING <type>
-nodatestamp do not put date/time stamp in generated files
-nodecode do not generate decode functions
-noencode do not generate encode functions
-noIndefLen do not generate indefinite length tests
-noObjectTypes do not gen types for items embedded in info objects
-noOpenExt do not generate open extension elements
-notypes do not generate type definitions
-noxmlns do not generate XML namespaces for ASN.1 modules
-o <directory> set output file directory (also '-srcdir <dir>')
-libdir <directory> set output libraries directory
-bindir <directory> set output binary directory
-objdir <directory> set output object directory
-prjdir <directory> set the output project directory; this automatically
sets sane defaults for the library directory (lib),
binary directory (bin), source directory (src),
and object directory (obj)
-param <name>=<value> create types from param types using given value
-pdu <type> designate <type> to be a Protocol Data Unit (PDU)
(<type> may be "all" to select all type definitions)
-usepdu <type> specify a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) type for which
sample reader/writer programs and test code has to
be generated
-print [<filename>] generate print functions
-prtfmt details | bracetext format of output generated by print
-shortnames reduce the length of compiler generated names
-strict do strict checking of table constraint conformance
-syntaxcheck do syntax check only (no code generation)
-reader generate sample reader program
-trace add trace diag msgs to generated code
-[no]UniqueNames resolve name clashes by generating unique names
default=on, use -noUniqueNames to disable
-warnings output compiler warning messages
-writer generate sample writer program
C/C++ options:
-array use arrays for SEQUENCE OF/SET OF types
-arraySize <size> specify the size of the array variable
-compare [<filename>] generate comparison functions
-copy [<filename>] generate copy functions
-cppNs <namespace> add a C++ namespace to generated code (C++ only)
-dynamicArray use dynamic arrays for SEQUENCE OF/SET OF types
-linkedList use linked-lists for SEQUENCE OF/SET OF types
-hfile <filename> C or C++ header (.h) filename
(default is <ASN.1 Module Name>.h)
-cfile <filename> C or C++ source (.c or .cpp) filename
(default is <ASN.1 Module Name>.c)
-genBitMacros generate named bit set, clear, test macros
-genFree generate memory free functions for all types
-hdrGuardPfx <pfx> add prefix to header guard #defines in .h files
-maxcfiles generate separate file for each function
-maxlines <num> set limit of number of lines per source file
(default value is 50000)
-noBitStr32 do not use BitStr32 type for small bit strings
-noEnumConvert do not generate conversion functions for enumerated
items (BER/CER/DER/PER only)
-noInit do not generate initialization functions
-oh <directory> set output directory for header files
-perIndef add support for PER indefinite (fragmented) lengths
-perPadBitStrings pad bit strings that contain other types to octet
boundary
-prtToStrm [<filename>] generate print-to-stream functions
-hexStrFmt <hexAsciiDump | formattedHexDump | hexstring>
change the output format for hexadecimal strings
from the default (hexAsciiDump) to remove ASCII
output (formattedHexDump) or to use a single line
(hexstring)
-static generate static elements (not pointers)
-stream generate stream-based encode/decode functions
-strict-size strictly interpret size constraints
-table-unions generate union structures for table constraints
-use-enum-types use generated enum types in code instead of integers
C/C++ makefile/project options:
-genMake [<filename>] generate makefile to compile generated code
-genMakeDLL [<filename>] generate makefile to build DLL
-genMakeLib [<filename>] generate makefile to build static library
-make [<filename>] same as -genMake as described above.
-nmake [<filename>] generate Windows nmake file (same as -genMake -w32)
-vcproj [<version>] generate Visual Studio project files.
<version> is 2013, 2012, 2010 (default), 2008, 2005,
2003, vc6 (Windows only).
-builddll generate makefile/project to build DLL
-dll, -usedll generate makefile/project to use DLL's
-mt generate makefile/project to use multithreaded libs
-w32 generate code for Windows 32-bit O/S (default=GNU)
-w64 generate code for Windows 64-bit O/S (default=GNU)
Java options:
-compare generate comparison functions
-copy generate clone methods
-dirs output Java code to module name dirs
-genbuild generate build script
-genant generate ant build.xml script
-genjsources generate <modulename>.mk for list of java files
-getset generate get/set methods and protected member vars
-noevents disable generation of event handler code. Also
disables element tracking for error handling.
-pkgname <text> Java package name
-pkgpfx <text> Java package prefix
-tables generate table constraint functions
-genmetadata generate methods for accessing ASN.1 meta data
like value range constraints and optional elements
C# options:
-nspfx <text> C# namespace prefix
-namespace <text> C# namespace name
-dirs output C# code to module name dirs
-csfile <filename> generate one .cs file or one per module (*.cs)
-gencssources generate <modulename>.mk for list of C# files
-genMake generate makefile to build generated code
-tables generate table constraint functions
-vcproj [version] generate Visual Studio C# project files.
[version] is 2012, 2010 (default), 2008, 2005.
(Windows only)
-genmetadata generate methods for accessing ASN.1 meta data
like value range constraints and optional elements
XSD options:
-appinfo [<items>] generate appInfo for ASN.1 items
<items> can be tags, enum, and/or ext
ex: -appinfo tags,enum,ext
default = all if <items> not given
-attrs [<items>] generate non-native attributes for <items>
<items> is same as for -appinfo
-targetns [<namespace>] Specify target namespace
<namespace> is namespace URI, if not given
no target namespace declaration is added
-useAsn1Xsd reference types in asn1.xsd schema
license options:
-lickey <key> set license key value
To use the compiler, at a minimum, an ASN.1 or XSD source file must
be provided. The source file specification can be a full pathname or
only what is necessary to qualify the file. If directory information is
not provided, the user's current default directory is assumed. If a
file extension is not provided, the default extension ".asn" is
appended to the name. Multiple source filenames may be specified on the
command line to compile a set of files. The wildcard characters ‘*’ and
‘%’ are also allowed in source filenames (for example, the command
asn1c *.asncode> will compile all ASN.1 files in the
current working directory). It is also possible to provide a list
of source files by adding all file specifications to a text file,
one per line, and then providing the path to the text file prefixed
with an '@' character.
The source file(s) must contain ASN.1 productions that define ASN.1 types and/or value specifications. This file must strictly adhere to the syntax specified in ASN.1 standard ITU-T X.680. The -asnstd x208 command-line option should be used to parse files based on the 1990 ASN.1 standard (x.208) or that contain references to ROSE macro specifications.
The following table lists all of the command line options and what they are used for. The options are shown in alphabetical order. Note that the Java and C# options are not shown here. They are shown in their respective documents.
| Option | Argument | Description |
|---|---|---|
| -3gl3 | None | This option is used to generate code for encoding and decoding 3GPP Layer 3 messages. Support is primarily provided for Non-Access Stratum (NAS) message types as defined in 3GPP TS 24.007, 24.008 , and 24.301 (LTE-NAS). As of this release, only the C language is supported. |
| -allow-ambig-tags | None | This option suppresses the check that is done for ambiguous tags within a SEQUENCE or SET type within a specification. Special code is generated for the decoder that assigns values to ambiguous elements within a SET in much the same way as would be done if the elements were declared to be in a SEQUENCE. This option used to be called -noAmbigTag. |
| -appInfo | <items> |
This option only has meaning when generating an XML schema definitions (XSD) file using the -xsd option. It instructs the compiler to generate an XSD application information section (<appinfo>) for certain ASN.1-only items. The items are specified as a comma-delimited list. Valid values for items are tags, enum, and ext. <items> is an optional parameter. If it is not specified, it is assumed that application information should be produced for all three item classes: ASN.1 tags, ASN.1 enumerations, and extended elements. |
| -array | none |
This option specifies that an array type will be used for SEQUENCE OF/SET OF constructs. |
| -arraySize | <size> |
This option specifies the default size of static array variables. This will be overridden by the value of a SIZE constraint on the given type, if it exists. |
| -asn1 | <filename> | This option causes pretty-printed ASN.1 to be generated to the given file name or to stdout if no filename was given. Besides the obvious use of providing neatly formatted ASN.1 source code, the option is also useful for producing ASN.1 source code from XML schema document (XSD) files as well as producing trimmed specifications when <include> or <exclude> configuration directives are used. |
| -asnstd |
x208 |
This option selects the version of ASN.1 syntax to be parsed. ‘x680’ (the default) refers to modern ASN.1 as specified in the ITU-T X.680-X.690 series of standards. ‘x208’ refers to the now deprecated X.208 and X.209 standards. This syntax allowed the ANY construct as well as unnamed fields in SEQUENCE, SET, and CHOICE constructs. This option also allows for parsing and generation of code for ROSE OPERATION and ERROR macros and SNMP OBJECTTYPE macros. The ‘mixed’ option is used to specify a source file that contains modules with both X.208 and X.680 based syntax. |
| -attrs | <items> |
This option only has meaning when generating an XML schema definitions (XSD) file using the -xsd option. It instructs the compiler to generate non-native attributes for certain ASN.1-only items that cannot be expressed in XSD. The items are specified as a comma-delimited list. Valid values for items are tags, enum, and ext. <items> is an optional parameter. If it is not specified, it is assumed that application information should be produced for all three item classes: ASN.1 tags, ASN.1 enumerations, and extended elements. |
| -ber | None | This option is used to generate encode/decode functions that implement the Basic Encoding Rules (BER) as specified in the X.690 ASN.1 standard. |
| -bindir | <directory> | This option is used in conjunction with the -genMake option to specify the name of the binary executable directory to be added to the makefile. Linked executable programs will be output to this directory. |
| -bitMacros | None | This option is used to generate additional macros to set, clear, and test named bits in BIT STRING constructs. By default, only bit number constants are generated. Bit macros provide slightly better performance because mask values required to do the operations are computed at compile time rather than runtime. |
| -c | None | Generate C source code. |
| -c# or -csharp | None | Generate C# source code. See the ASN1C C# User’s Guide for more information and options for generating C# code. |
| -c++ or -cpp | None | Generate C++ source code. |
| -c++11 or -cpp11 | None | Generate code that uses C++11 features. This includes the use of std::string for character strings, std::list for lists, and std::array for static arrays. For more information, refer to the sections on type mappings for SEQUENCE OF and for character strings. See also the section on Considerations When Using C++ Standard Library features. |
| -cer | None | This option isued to generate encode/decode functions that implement the Canonical Encoding Rules (CER) as specified in the X.690 ASN.1 standard. |
| -cfile | [<filename>] | This option allows the specification of a C or C++ source (.c or .cpp) file to which all of the generated encode/decode functions will be written. If not specified, the default is to write to a series of .c or .cpp files based on the ASN.1 module name(s) of the documents being compiled. |
| -compact | None | This option is used to generate more compact code at the expense of some constraint and error checking. This is an optimization option that should be used after an application is thoroughly tested. |
| -compat | <versionNumber> |
Generate code compatible with an older version of ASN1C. The compiler will attempt to generate code more closely aligned with the given previous release of the compiler. <versionNumber> is specified as x.x (for example, -compat 5.2) |
| -config | <filename> | This option is used to specify the name of a file containing configuration information for the source file being parsed. A full discussion of the contents of a configuration file is provided in the Compiler Configuration File section. |
| -cppns | <namespace> | This option is used to add a C++ namespace name to generated C++ files. |
| -depends | None | This option is used to generate a full set of header and source files that contain only the productions in the main file being compiled and items those productions depend on from IMPORT files. |
| -der | None | This option is used to generate encode/decode functions that implement the Distinguished Encoding Rules (DER) as specified in the X.690 ASN.1 standard. |
| -dll | None | When used in conjunction with the -genMake command-line option, the generated makefile uses dynamically-linked libraries (DLLs in Windows, or .so files in UNIX) instead of statically-linked libraries. |
| -dynamicArray | none |
This option specifies that a dynamic array type is to be used for SEQUENCE OF/SET OF constructs. |
| -genbuild | None | This option is used to generate a build script when producing Java source code. The generated build script is either a batch file (Windows) or a shell script (UNIX). |
|
-genCompare |
[<filename>] |
This option allows the specification of a C or C++ source (.c or .cpp) file to which generated compare functions will be written. Compare functions allow two variables of a given ASN.1 type to be compared for equality. The <filename> argument to this option is optional. If not specified, the functions will be written to <modulename>Compare.c where <modulename> is the name of the module from the ASN.1 source file. |
|
-genCopy |
[<filename>] |
This option allows the specification of a C or C++ source (.c or .cpp) file to which generated copy functions will be written. Copy functions allow a copy to be made of an ASN1C generated variable. For C++, they cause copy constructors and assignment operators to be added to generated classes. The <filename> argument to this option is optional. If not specified, the functions will be written to <modulename>Copy.c where <modulename> is the name of the module from the ASN.1 source file. |
| -genFree | None | This option instructs the compiler to generate a memory free function for each ASN.1 production. Normally, memory is freed within ASN1C by using the rtxMemFree run-time function to free all memory at once that is held by a context. Generated free functions allow finer grained control over memory freeing by just allowing the memory held for specific objects to be freed. |
| -genMake | [<filename>] |
This option instructs the compiler to generate a portable makefile for compiling the generated C or C++ code. If used with the -w32 command-line option, a makefile that is compatible with the Microsoft Visual Studio nmake utility is generated; otherwise, a GNU-compatible makefile is generated. Note that the -nmake option may now be used instead of the -make -w32 combination to produce a Visual Studio makefile. |
| -genMakeDLL | [<filename>] | This option instructs the compiler to generate a portable makefile for compiling the generated C or C++ code into a Dynamic Link Library (DLL). |
| -genMakeLib | [<filename>] | This option instructs the compiler to generate a portable makefile for compiling the generated C or C++ code into a static library file. |
|
-genPrint |
[<filename>] |
This option allows the specification of a C or C++ source (.c or .cpp) file to which generated print functions will be written. Print functions are debug functions that allow the contents of generated type variables to be written to stdout. The <filename> argument to this option is optional. If not specified, the print functions will be written to <modulename>Print.c where <modulename> is the name of the module from the ASN.1 source file. |
| -genPrtToStr -prtToStr | [<filename>] |
This option allows the specification of a C or C++ source (.c or .cpp) file to which generated "print-to-string" functions will be written. "Print-to-string" functions are similar to print functions except that the output is written to a user-provided text buffer instead of stdout. This makes it possible for the use to display the results on different output devices (for example, in a text window). The <filename> argument to this option is optional. If not specified, the functions will be written to <modulename>Print.c where <modulename> is the name of the module from the ASN.1 source file. |
| -genPrtToStrm -prtToStrm | [<filename>] |
This option allows the specification of a C or C++ source (.c or .cpp) file to which generated "print-to-stream" functions will be written. "Print-to-stream" functions are similar to print functions except that the output is written to a user-provided stream instead of stdout. The stream is in the form of an output callback function that can be set within the run-time context making it possible to redirect output to any type of device. The <filename> argument to this option is optional. If not specified, the functions will be written to <modulename>Print.c where <modulename> is the name of the module from the ASN.1 source file. |
|
-genTables |
[<filename>] | This option is used to generate additional code for the handling of table constraints as defined in the X.682 standard. See the Generated Information Object Table Structures section for additional details on the type of code generated to support table constraints. Note: An alternaitve option for C/C++ is -table-unions which generates union structures for table constraints. These are generally easier to work with then the legacy void pointer approach used in this option. |
| -genTest | [<filename>] |
This option allows the specification of a C or C++ source (.c or .cpp) file to which generated "test" functions will be written. "Test" functions are used to populate an instance of a generated PDU type variable with random test data. This instance can then be used in an encode function call to test the encoder. Another advantage of these functions is that they can act as templates for writing your own population functions. The <filename> argument to this option is optional. If not specified, the functions will be written to <modulename>Test.c where <modulename> is the name of the module from the ASN.1 source file. |
| -hdrGuardPrefix | [<prefix>] | This option allows the specification of a prefix that will be used in the generated #defines that are added to header files to make sure they are only included once. |
| -hexStrFmt | hexAsciiDump |
Setting the hex string format allows users to
change how OCTET STRINGs and uninterpreted open types
are printed. The default behavior is to output a
formatted dump with hex and printable ASCII characters
side-by-side: this is the hexAsciiDump
option. formattedHexDump removes the ASCII
component, and hexstring removes
additional formatting, so that the hex content is
printed in a single string prefixed by 0x. |
| -hfile | [<filename>] | This option allows the specification of a header (.h) file to which all of the generated typedefs and function prototypes will be written. If not specified, the default is <modulename>.h where <modulename> is the name of the module from the ASN.1 source file. |
| -html | None | This option is used to generated HTML markup for every compiled ASN.1 file. This markup contains hyperlinks to all referenced items within the specifications. One HTML file is generated for each corresponding ASN.1 source file. |
| -I | <directory> | This option is used to specify a directory that the compiler will search for ASN.1 source files for IMPORT items. Multiple –I qualifiers can be used to specify multiple directories to search. It is also possible to provide a list of import directories by adding all directory specifications to a text file, one per line, and then providing the path to the text file prefixed with an '@' character (for example, -I @incdirs.txt). |
| -java | None | Generate Java source code. See the ASN1C Java User’s Guide for more information on Java code generation. |
| -json | None | This option is used to generate encode/decode functions for Javascript Object Notation (JSON). See our whitepaper Javascript Object Notation (JSON) Encoding Rules for more information. |
| -lax | None | This option instructs the compiler to not generate code to check constraints. When used in conjunction with the -compact option, it produces the smallest code base for a given ASN.1 specification. |
| -laxsyntax | None | This option instructs the compiler to not do a thorough syntax check when compiling a specification and to generate code even if the specification contains non-fatal syntax errors. Use of the code generated in this case can have unpredictable results; however, if a user knows that certain parts of a specification are not going to be used, this option can save time. |
| -libdir | <directory> | This option is used in conjunction with the -genMake option to specify the name of the library directory to be added to the makefile. |
| -lickey | <key-value> | This option is used to enter a license key value that was provided to the user to enable the compiler for either evaluation or permanent use. |
| -linkedList | none |
This option specifies that a linked-list type is to be used for SEQUENCE OF/SET OF constructs. |
| -list | None | Generate listing. This will dump the source code to the standard output device as it is parsed. This can be useful for finding parse errors. |
| -maxcfiles | None | Maximize number of generated C files. This option instructs the compiler to generate a separate .c file for each generated C function. In the case of C++, a separate .cpp file is generated for each control class, type, and C function. This is a space optimization option - it can lead to smaller executable sizes by allowing the linker to only link in the required program module object files. |
| -maxlines | <number> |
This option is used to specify the maximum number of lines per generated .c or .cpp file. If this number is exceeded, a new file is started with a "_n" suffix where "n" is a sequential number. The default value if not specified is 50,000 lines which will prevent the VC++ "Maximum line numbers exceeded" warning that is common when compiling large ASN.1 source files. Note that this number is approximate - the next file will not be started until this number is exceeded and the compilation unit that is currently being generated is complete. |
| -mder | None | This option is used to generate functions that implement the Medical Device Encoding Rules (MDER) as specified in the IEEE/ISO 11073 standard. |
| -mt | None | When used in conjunction with the -genMake command-line option, the generated makefile uses multi-threaded libraries. |
| -nmake | [<filename>] | This option instructs the compiler to generate a Visual Studio compatible makefile. It is equivalent to using the -genMake -w32 combination of command-line options. |
| -noContaining | None | This option suppresses the generation of inline code to support the CONTAINING keyword. Instead, a normal OCTET STRING or BIT STRING type is inserted as was done in previous ASN1C versions. |
| -nodecode | None | This option suppresses the generation of decode functions. |
| -noencode | None | This option suppresses the generation of encode functions. |
| -noIndefLen | None | This option instructs the compiler to omit indefinite length tests in generated decode functions. These tests result in the generation of a large amount of code. If it is known that an application only uses definite length encoding, this option can result in a much smaller code base size. |
| -noInit | None |
This option is used to suppress the generation of initialization functions. A variable of a generated structure can always be initialized by memset’ing the variable to zero. However, this is not usually the most efficient way to initialize a variable because if it contains large byte arrays, a significant amount of processing is required to set all bytes to zero (and they don’t need to be). Initialization functions provide a smart alternative to memset’ing in that only what needs to be set to zero actually is. Note that previous versions of ASN1C did not generate initialization functions by default. The -genInit switch has been deprecated in favor of -noInit. |
| -noEnumConvert | None |
This option suppresses the generation of utility functions in C and C++ that assist in converting enumerated values to strings and vice versa. XER and XML encodings are unaffected by this option, since conversions are necessary for encoding and decoding. |
| -noObjectTypes | None | This option suppresses the generation of application language types corresponding to ASN.1 types embedded within information object definitions. |
| -noOpenExt | None | This option suppresses addition of an open extension element (extElem1) in constructs that contain extensibility markers. The purpose of the element is to collect any unknown items in a message. If an application does not care about these unknown items, it can use this option to reduce the size of the generated code. |
| -notypes | None | This options suppresses the generation of type definitions. It is used in conjunction with the -events options to generate pure parser functions. |
| -noxmlns | None | This option suppresses the insertion of XML
namespace entries in generated XML documents. This
includes xmlns attributes and prefixed
names. |
| -nouniquenames | None |
This option suppresses the automatic generation of unique names to resolve name clashes in the generated code. Name clashes can occur, for example, if two modules are being compiled that contain a production with the same name. A unique name is generated by prepending the module name to one of the productions to form a name of the form <module>_<name>. Note that name collisions can also be manually resolved by using the typePrefix, enumPrefix, and valuePrefix configuration items (see the Compiler Configuration File section for more details). Previous versions of ASN1C did not generate unique names by default. The compiler option -uniquenames has been deprecated in favor of -nouniquenames. |
| -o | <directory> | This option is used to specify the name of a directory to which all of the generated files will be written. |
| -objdir | <directory> | This option is used in conjunction with the -genMake option to specify the name of the object file directory to be added to the makefile. Compiled object files will be output to this directory. |
| -prjdir | <directory> | This option is used to create an automatic project directory structure. If no other directories are specified on the command line, sane defaults are chosen for generated libraries (lib), binaries (bin), sources (src), and objects (obj). This may be useful for those who want a well-defined logical structure to their output without code generation and build artifacts in the top-level directory. |
| -oh | <directory> | This option is used to specify the name of a directory to which only the generated header files (*.h) will be written. |
| -oer | None | This option is used to generate encode/decode functions that implement the Octet Encoding Rules (OER) as specified in the NTCIP 1102:2004 standard. Currently only the C language is supported. |
| -param | <name>=<value> | This option is used to instantiate all parameterized types within the ASN.1 modules that are being compiled with the given parameter value. In this declaration, <name> refers to the dummy reference in a parameterized type definition and <value> refers to an actual value. |
| -pdu | <typeName> |
Designate given type name to be a "Protocol Definition Unit" (PDU) type. This will cause a C++ control class to be generated for the given type. By default, PDU types are determined to be types that are not referenced by any other types within a module. This option allows that behavior to be overridden. The "all" keyword may be specified for <typeName> to indicate that all productions within an ASN.1 module should be treated as PDU types. |
| -per | None | This option is used to generate encode/decode functions that implement the Packed Encoding Rules (PER) as specified in the ASN.1 standards. |
| -perindef | None | This option is used to generate encode/decode functions that implement the Packed Encoding Rules (PER) as specified in the ASN.1 standards including support for indefinite (fragmented) lengths. |
| -prtfmt |
bracetext |
Sets the print format for generated print functions. The details option causes a line-by-line display of all generated fields in a generated structure to be printed. The bracetext option causes a more concise printout showing only the relevant fields in a C-like brace format. As of release version 6.0, bractext is the default (details was the default or only option in previous versions). |
| -shortnames | None | Generate a shorter form of an element name for a deeply nested production. By default, all intermediate names are used to form names for elements in nested types. This can lead to very long names for deeply nested types. This option causes only the production name and the last element name to be used to form a generated type name. |
| -static | None | This has the same effect as specifying the global <storage> static </storage> configuration item. The compiler will insert static elements instead of pointer variables in some generated structures. |
| -stream | None |
This option is used to generate stream-based encoders/decoders instead of memory buffer based. This makes it possible to encode directly to or decode directly from a source or sink such as a file or socket. In the case of BER, it will also cause forward encoders to be generated which will use indefinite lengths for all constructed elements in a message. Note that stream and memory-buffer based encode/decode functions cannot be used/combined in any way. The two are mutually exclusive. If the -stream option is selected, then only stream-based run-time functions can be used with the generated code. |
| -strict | None |
This option is used to generate code for strict validation of table constraints. By default, generated code will not check for value field constraints. |
| -strict-size | None |
This option causes strict interpretation of size constraints to be enabled. This may result in the generation of more optimized code as unnecessary size variable holders are eliminated. For example, a declaration of OCTET STRING (SIZE(10)) will result in the generation of a 10 byte static array rather than a structure with a count field and array. |
| -syntaxcheck | None |
This option is used to do a syntax check of the ASN.1 source files only. No code is generated. |
| -table-unions | None | This option is used to generate union structures for table constraints in C/C++ instead of void pointers as is done when the -tables option is used. These are generally easier to use as they present all options in a user-friendly way. |
| -targetns | <namespace> |
This option only has meaning when generating an XML schema definitions (XSD) file using the -xsd option. It allows specification of a target namespace. <namespace> is a namespace URI; if it is not provided, no target namespace declaration is added to the generated XSD file. |
| -trace | None | This option is used to tell the compiler to add trace diagnostic messages to the generated code. These messages cause print statements to be added to the generated code to print entry and exit information into the generated functions. This is a debugging option that allows encode/decode problems to be isolated to a given production processing function. Once the code is debugged, this option should not be used as it adversely affects performance. |
| -uper | None | This option is used to specify the generation of code to support the unaligend variant of the Packed Encoding Rules (PER). This provides for slightly more compact code than the -per option because alignment checks are removed from the generated code. |
| -use-enum-types | None | This option is used to specify that generated enumerated types are to be used directly in the code as opposed to integer types. The advantages of integer types are a) they are of a known size, and b) they can store unknown identifiers that may be received for extensible enumerated types. However, the direct use of enumerated types makes it easier to inspect variables using the debugger in various IDE's. |
| -usepdu | <PDU type name> | This option is used to specify the name of the Protocol Data Unit (PDU) type to be used in generated reader and writer programs. |
| -vcproj |
|
This option is used to generate
Visual C++- or Visual Studio-compatible project files
to compile generated source code. This is a Windows-only
option. By passing one of the listed years, the compiler
will generate a project that links against libraries
provided for those versions of Visual Studio or Visual C++. For
example, specifying 2005 will generate a project that
links against libraries in the A custom build rule is generated that deletes the generated source files and then invokes ASN1C to regenerate them when a rebuild is done. Doing a clean operation will cause the generated source files to be deleted; a subsequent build will regenerate them. For Visual C++ 6.0 project files you can see this build rule by locating the first ASN.1 file under the Source Files for the project, right clicking it, choosing Settings... and then choosing the Custom Build tab. For Visual Studio 2005, 2008, 2010, and 2012 project files the procedure to see the custom rule is very similar to that for Visual C++ 6.0, except that you choose Properties when you right click on the first ASN.1 file, and then click on Custom Build Step or Custom Build Tool on the left. |
| -w32 | None | This option is used with makefile and/or Visual Studio project generation to indicate the generated file is to be used on a Windows 32-bit system. In the case of makefile generation, this will cause a makefile to be generated that is compatible with the Visual Studio nmake utility. |
| -w64 | None | This option is similar to the -w32 option documented above except that it specifies a Windows 64-bit system. |
| -warnings | None | Output information on compiler generated warnings. |
| -xer | None | This option is used to generate encode/decode functions that implement the XML Encoding Rules (XER) as specified in the X.693 ASN.1 standard. The -xsd option can be used in conjunction with this option to generate a schema describing the XML format. |
| -xml | None | This option is used to generate encode/decode functions that encode/ decode data in an XML format that is more closely aligned with World-Wide Web Consortium (W3C) XML schema. The -xsd option can be used in conjunction with this option to generate a schema describing the XML format. |
| -xsd | [<filename>] | This option is used to generate an equivalent XML Schema Definition (XSD) for each of the ASN.1 productions in the ASN.1 source file. The definitions are written to the given filename or to <modulename>.xsd if the filename argument is not provided. There are two supported mappings from ASN.1 to XSD, one corresponding to the -xml option and one corresponding to the -xer option. The default is to follow the -xml variant. If the -xer option is given, then that variant is followed. |