Crate can_tools 

can_tools

Utility crate for working with automotive CAN data in Rust.

Highlights

• DBC parser: load CAN databases from .dbc files.
• ASC trace parser: read .asc logs and build a CanLog with frames, messages and signals.
• Decoupled model:
  • CanFrame: timing + channel + direction + pointer to MessageLog.
  • MessageLog: identifier, name, payload, comment and the list of signal indices.
  • SignalLog: aggregated time-series for a single decoded signal with values: Vec<[f64; 2]> where each pair is [timestamp, value] in seconds.
• Helpers like resolve_message_signals and convenience conversion via SignalLog::value_text_at.

Example

Parse a DBC, then an ASC trace and walk the first frame and its signals:

use can_tools::{dbc, asc, CanLog, CanFrame, resolve_message_signals};
use std::collections::HashMap;

// Load a DBC (optional but recommended to decode signals)
let db = dbc::parse::from_file("path/to/file.dbc")?;

// Parse a `.asc` trace; pass a map of channel→Database if you have more than one DB
let mut log = CanLog::default();
let mut last_by_id_ch: HashMap<String, usize> = HashMap::new();
let mut chart_by_key: HashMap<String, usize> = HashMap::new();
let mut dbs = HashMap::new();
dbs.insert(1u8, db);
asc::parse::from_file("path/to/file.asc", &dbs)?;

// Read first frame
let frame: &CanFrame = &log.can_frames[0];
let msg = &log.messages[frame.message];
println!("id={} name={} len={}", msg.id, msg.name, msg.byte_length);

// Iterate signals of that message and get value at the frame timestamp
for sig in resolve_message_signals(&log, frame.message) {
    if let Some((v, txt)) = sig.value_text_at(frame.timestamp as f64) {
        println!("{} = {} ({})", sig.name, v, txt);
    }
}

Data Model

┌───────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Database                              │
│───────────────────────────────────────│
│ version: String                       │
│ bit_timing: String                    │
│ nodes: Vec<Node>                      │
│ messages: Vec<Message>                │
└───────────────────────┬───────────────┘
                        │
                        ▼
┌───────────────────────────────────────┐
│ MessageDB                             │
│───────────────────────────────────────│
│ id: u64                               │
│ id_hex: String                        │
│ name: String                          │
│ byte_length: u16                      │
│ sender_nodes: Vec<Node>               │
│ signals: Vec<Signal>                  │
└───────────────────────┬───────────────┘
                        │
                        ▼
┌───────────────────────────────────────┐
│ SignalDB                              │
│───────────────────────────────────────│
│ name: String                          │
│ bit_start: usize                      │
│ bit_length: usize                     │
│ endian: usize                         │
│ sign: usize                           │
│ factor: f64                           │
│ offset: f64                           │
│ min: f64                              │
│ max: f64                              │
│ unit_of_measurement: String           │
│ receiver_nodes: Vec<Node>             │
│ value_table: HashMap<i32, String>     │
└───────────────────────────────────────┘

(Node: represents a CAN ECU, as sender or receiver.)

When to Use

Use can_tools when you need to:

• Read .dbc or .arxml CAN databases in Rust
• Read .asc CAN trace files in Rust
• Inspect messages, signals, and value tables

Related Standards

• DBC and ARXML formats are de-facto standards for describing CAN messages/signals
• ASC format is commonly used to store CAN traces
• Compatible with tools like Vector CANdb++, CANalyzer, or open-source alternatives

License

Licensed under the MIT License.

Modules

arxml

arxml

asc

asc

dbc

dbc

Structs

AbsoluteTime

Represents an absolute, timezone-unaware timestamp.

CanFrame

A single row from the log with timing/channel and a pointer to its MessageLog.

CanLog

In-memory representation of a parsed CAN trace.

Database

In-memory representation of a CAN database (DBC/ARXML).

MessageDB

CAN message defined in the database (DBC/ARXML).

MessageLog

Metadata and payload carried by a CanFrame.

NodeDB

Node/ECU defined in the database.

SignalDB

Definition of a signal within a CAN message (DBC).

SignalLog

Aggregated time-series for a decoded signal.

Functions

resolve_message_signals

Yields the SignalLogs referenced by the MessageLog at msg_idx.