OSS ASN.1 Tools for C - GUI Overview
Introduction
This page contains a quick overview of the components of the OSS ASN.1 GUI.
Project Files
All files related to a project can be structured and managed within a project context. This includes ASN.1 syntax files, C/C++ source files, encoded binary files, binary files and text files. The project context is managed through a tree-structured project workspace. The tree consists of user defined folders, files and icons. File types are identified by their file extensions. All files with a ".asn" extension are automatically parsed and included into the module tree.
ASN-1EDGE Module Tree & PDU List
The Module Tree is a means of traversing the structured elements of ASN.1 modules, definitions and elements graphically. Element kinds are represented with icons and links or sub-element connections are represented with branches. The tree is traversable and provides a gateway to many of the functions provided by OSS ASN-1EDGE.
ASN-1EDGE Definition Browser
The definition browser is an extension to the module tree that displays extra information about elements. It includes columns for the type, constraints and description associated with the element. The description is extracted from comments that occur ahead of the element definition in the syntax file. Optional sub-elements of SEQUENCE and SET types are displayed in blue.
ASN-1EDGE Value Editor
The Value Editor provides a quick and easy-to-use interface for building up, editing and examining encoded ASN.1 structures. With a simple click in the edit box the user can enter a numerical or textual value, select enumerated, choice and Boolean values from a drop-down list, and import or export string and reference values. Some other features include copying and pasting, encoding/decoding sub-elements, modifying array elements and selecting and unselecting optional and default elements with check boxes.
Syntax Editor
The Syntax Editor is specifically designed for ASN.1 and supports ASN.1 syntax highlighting and navigation of the syntax via the Module Tree. It supports the keyboard commands, functions and configuration options found in most modern visual syntax editors used in other areas. The syntax editor is fully integrated with the OSS ASN.1 compiler and syntax checker. These features make this editor a wonderful assistant for anyone who needs to develop, maintain or read ASN.1 specifications.
ASN-1EDGE Code Wizard
The Code Wizard is only available with the ASN-1EDGE product. The OSS ASN.1/C compiler will create C structures from ASN.1 specifications. These structures are populated or evaluated by the client program and used by the tools to encode/decode information. Accessing the data within these structures can be a tedious task, especially with deeply nested structures. The Code Wizard provides a quick and easy way to simplify this task. The user selects a start point within the Module Tree and then generates “pointer definitions” for type references, “switch” statements for CHOICE, “for” loops for SEQUENCE OF/SET OF and the line of code necessary to access leaf elements. It is possible to configure the output code to different languages and to customize the format according to the structures generated by the OSS ASN.1 compiler.
ASN-1EDGE Hex Editor
A hexadecimal editor is included in ASN-1EDGE for editing encoded data, files, bit/octet strings and other types. It interfaces directly with the ASN-1EDGE Value Editor, making it easy to instantly decode data, view encoded data and edit values for structure components. It is only available with the ASN-1EDGE product.
Tools
The OSS ASN.1 GUI interfaces directly with the OSS ASN.1 Compiler and the OSS ASN.1 Syntax Checker. The output of these tools is displayed in the output window, where information, warning and error messages are highlighted. The output is also linked to the syntax editor so that highlighted messages can be navigated by double-clicking on them.
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