cxxmbd

cxxmbd is a set of utilities for embedding and decoding files as binary. It consists of two parts: a command line application, and a header only decoding utility. These can be used in combination to include raw data in your c++ applications, and then decode them on a user's device. Gone is the era of using xxd to create arrays, it's time for c++ to shine!

Building the CLI

Building the embedder is very simple. All you have to do is create a file called cxxmbd.cpp on your IDE of choice, include cxxmbd.hpp, and then write the following:

int main(int argc, int* argv[]) {
  try {
    cxxmbd::handle_cl_args(argc, argv);
  }
  catch(std::exception& e) {
    std::cout << e.what() << "\n\n";
  }
}

If you are building cxxmbd with WinMain, instead write the following:

int WinMain(HINSTANCE hInstance, HINSTANCE hPrevInstance, LPSTR lpCmdLine, int nCmdShow) {
  try {
    cxxmbd::argument_splitter args { lpCmdLine };
    cxxmbd::handle_cl_args(args);
  }
  catch(std::exception& e) {
    std::cout << e.what() << "\n\n";
  }
}

You can then get started on embedding your files!

Using the CLI

To embed a file, you must add an EMBED_POINT to the source file. You can then run this:

cxxmbd --embed <path-to-output> <path-to-source(s)>

You can also dump the data to a text file by running:

cxxmbd --dump <name> <path-to-source(s)>

Decoding the data

Your data will be embedded using the name(s) of the files you input. For example, if you embed the file example.txt, struct<N> example {...}; will be created. With this, you can now decode your files.

To decode a struct, all you need to do is include mbddecoder.hpp and then write:

cxxmbd::decode_embed(example);

This will create a new file in the program's current directory. You can also supply a custom path to create the file in.

Notes

This program is in its very early stages, so if you encounter any bugs, be sure to let me know!