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API

All functions live on the module returned by require. Type tag constants are under Dynamo.Types for DefineSerInstanceSchema and advanced use.

Serialize​

Dynamo.Serialize(...: any) -> buffer
Dynamo.Serialize1(Value: any) -> buffer

Writes one or more values into a new buffer. Each value is prefixed with a type tag.

local packet = Dynamo.Serialize(player.UserId, character.HumanoidRootPart.CFrame)
local one = Dynamo.Serialize1("ready")

Serialize with offset​

Dynamo.SerializeWOffset(Offset: number, ...: any) -> buffer
Dynamo.Serialize1WOffset(Value: any, Offset: number) -> buffer

Same as serialize, but writing starts at Offset. The returned buffer has length equal to the final cursor (so it includes leading bytes reserved for a header). Leading bytes before Offset are zero-filled until you write them.

local bytes = Dynamo.Serialize1WOffset(payload, 2)
buffer.writeu8(bytes, 0, 1) -- version
buffer.writeu8(bytes, 1, 9) -- opcode

Deserialize​

Dynamo.Deserialize(Buf: buffer) -> ...any
Dynamo.Deserialize1(Buf: buffer) -> (any, number)

Deserialize reads from the start of the buffer until the end and returns every top-level value.

Deserialize1 reads a single top-level value and returns (value, nextOffset).

local a, b = Dynamo.Deserialize(packet)
local value, nextOffset = Dynamo.Deserialize1(one)

Deserialize with range / offset​

Dynamo.DeserializeRange(Buf: buffer, Start: number, End: number?) -> ...any
Dynamo.Deserialize1WOffset(Buf: buffer, Offset: number) -> (any, number)

DeserializeRange reads top-level values while Cursor < End (default end is buffer.len(Buf)).

Deserialize1WOffset starts at Offset and returns (value, nextOffset).

Push​

Dynamo.Push(Buf: buffer, Offset: number, ...: any) -> number
Dynamo.Push1(Buf: buffer, Offset: number, Value: any) -> number

Writes into an existing buffer starting at Offset and returns the cursor after the write. Useful for filling preallocated packets.

If a push errors mid-write, call Dynamo.Restore() so the internal scratch buffer is reset to the safe copy.

Scratch buffer size​

Dynamo.SetWriteBufferSize(Size: number)

Replaces the internal write scratch buffer (default 1,000,000 bytes). Copy of existing content up to the previous size is preserved when possible.

Runtime constants​

Dynamo.SetConstant(Constant: Constants, Value: any)

Tunes inference and wire layout. Name must be one of:

ConstantTypeDefaultEffect
SerInstanceSerializationbooleanfalsefalse → Instances use RefInstance; true → SerInstance (needs DefineSerInstanceSchema)
InstanceRefModestring"Normal""Normal" → u16 ref id; "Extended" → u24 ref id
UseQuaternionbooleantruetrue → QCframe (28b); false → matrix Cframe (48b)
DoMapComputebooleantrueWhen true, map length picks Map8 / Map / Map24; when false, maps default to Map
QuantizedScaleMinnumber0Lower bound for UDim/UDim2 scale quantization
QuantizedScaleMaxnumber1Upper bound for UDim/UDim2 scale quantization
Dynamo.SetConstant("UseQuaternion", false)
Dynamo.SetConstant("SerInstanceSerialization", true)
Dynamo.SetConstant("InstanceRefMode", "Extended")

Both ends of a session must use the same constants for buffers to round-trip correctly. Changing a constant does not rewrite already-encoded buffers.

Serializable instances​

Dynamo.DefineSerInstanceSchema(ClassName: string, Schema: { [string]: number })

This is slightly contradicting the library purpose (schemaless), but while developing the library, I could not find a better way to efficiently serialize instances, the main purpose of this design is to stay performant and let users choose which properties to serialize.

Registers a property schema for value-style instance serialization (SerInstance). Schema values are type tag ids from Dynamo.Types (for example Dynamo.Types.Vec, Dynamo.Types.Color).

Enable with Dynamo.SetConstant("SerInstanceSerialization", true). Up to 255 schemas may be registered. Property writers use the same Ser/Des paths as normal values (including type tags).

Instance references (RefInstance) do not use this API; they use the _VSID attribute maps maintained at module init (SerInstanceSerialization left false, the default).

Types table​

Dynamo.Types exposes numeric type tags (U8, Str8, Array, Vec, Cframe, QCframe, RefInstance, SerInstance, and the rest). This is only used for defining SerInstance schemas.