1*5dd36a3bSchristosAPI 2*5dd36a3bSchristos======= 3*5dd36a3bSchristos 4*5dd36a3bSchristosThe data API is centered around :type:`cbor_item_t`, a generic handle for any CBOR item. There are functions to 5*5dd36a3bSchristos 6*5dd36a3bSchristos - create items, 7*5dd36a3bSchristos - set items' data, 8*5dd36a3bSchristos - parse serialized data into items, 9*5dd36a3bSchristos - manage, move, and links item together. 10*5dd36a3bSchristos 11*5dd36a3bSchristosThe single most important thing to keep in mind is: :type:`cbor_item_t` **is an opaque type and should only be manipulated using the appropriate functions!** Think of it as an object. 12*5dd36a3bSchristos 13*5dd36a3bSchristosThe *libcbor* API closely follows the semantics outlined by `CBOR standard <http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc7049>`_. This part of the documentation provides a short overview of the CBOR constructs, as well as a general introduction to the *libcbor* API. Remaining reference can be found in the following files structured by data types. 14*5dd36a3bSchristos 15*5dd36a3bSchristosThe API is designed to allow both very tight control & flexibility and general convenience with sane defaults. [#]_ For example, client with very specific requirements (constrained environment, custom application protocol built on top of CBOR, etc.) may choose to take full control (and responsibility) of memory and data structures management by interacting directly with the decoder. Other clients might want to take control of specific aspects (streamed collections, hash maps storage), but leave other responsibilities to *libcbor*. More general clients might prefer to be abstracted away from all aforementioned details and only be presented complete data structures. 16*5dd36a3bSchristos 17*5dd36a3bSchristos 18*5dd36a3bSchristos*libcbor* provides 19*5dd36a3bSchristos - stateless encoders and decoders 20*5dd36a3bSchristos - encoding and decoding *drivers*, routines that coordinate encoding and decoding of complex structures 21*5dd36a3bSchristos - data structures to represent and transform CBOR structures 22*5dd36a3bSchristos - routines for building and manipulating these structures 23*5dd36a3bSchristos - utilities for inspection and debugging 24*5dd36a3bSchristos 25*5dd36a3bSchristos.. toctree:: 26*5dd36a3bSchristos 27*5dd36a3bSchristos api/item_types 28*5dd36a3bSchristos api/item_reference_counting 29*5dd36a3bSchristos api/decoding 30*5dd36a3bSchristos api/encoding 31*5dd36a3bSchristos api/type_0_1 32*5dd36a3bSchristos api/type_2 33*5dd36a3bSchristos api/type_3 34*5dd36a3bSchristos api/type_4 35*5dd36a3bSchristos api/type_5 36*5dd36a3bSchristos api/type_6 37*5dd36a3bSchristos api/type_7 38*5dd36a3bSchristos 39*5dd36a3bSchristos.. [#] http://softwareengineering.vazexqi.com/files/pattern.html 40