can_tools

Rust utilities for parsing and modeling automotive CAN databases and logs.

Updated 2025-08-22: uses SlotMap-backed arenas (stable keys), order-aware iteration, sorting helpers, and normalized lookups.

Features

DBC parsing → build an in-memory DatabaseDBC (nodes, messages, signals).
ASC parsing → parse Vector ASCII traces into a CanLog model.
ARXML parsing → extract CAN clusters into DatabaseARXML entries.
Stable keys via SlotMap → reorder presentation without invalidating references.
Order-aware iteration → iter_nodes/messages/signals() respect order vectors.
Sorting helpers → sort_nodes_by_name(), sort_messages_by_name(), sort_signals_by_name().
Fast lookups → get_message_by_id/_hex/_name, get_node_by_name, get_signal_by_name.
Signal decoding → compiled bit extraction with factor/offset and value tables.

This README documents the library API (no application/UI specifics).

Installation

Add to Cargo.toml:

[dependencies]
can_tools = "1.2.7"

Usage Overview

Parse a DBC

use can_tools::dbc;
use can_tools::dbc::types::database::DatabaseDBC;

let db: DatabaseDBC = dbc::parse::from_file("network.dbc")?;

Iterate in presentation order:

for n in db.iter_nodes() { println!("{}", n.name); }
for m in db.iter_messages() { println!("{} ({} bytes)", m.name, m.byte_length); }
for s in db.iter_signals() { println!("{}", s.name); }

Sort by name (ASCII case-insensitive):

let mut db = db;
db.sort_nodes_by_name();
db.sort_messages_by_name();
db.sort_signals_by_name();

Lookups:

let by_id = db.get_message_by_id(0x123);
let by_hex = db.get_message_by_id_hex("0x1A2B");
let by_name = db.get_message_by_name("EngineData");
let node = db.get_node_by_name("Gateway");
let sig = db.get_signal_by_name("VehicleSpeed");

Reset:

let mut db = db;
db.clear();

Notes on attributes:

Attribute definitions come from BA_DEF_* and defaults from BA_DEF_DEF_.
Assignments BA_ set values on DB/Node/Message/Signal.
ENUM assignments in BA_ use numeric indices into the declared enum list.

Parse an ASC trace

use std::collections::HashMap;
use can_tools::asc;
use can_tools::asc::types::canlog::{CanLog, resolve_message_signals};
use can_tools::dbc::types::database::DatabaseDBC;

// Optional: provide per-channel databases for enrichment
let mut dbs: HashMap<u8, DatabaseDBC> = HashMap::new();
dbs.insert(1, dbc::parse::from_file("network.dbc")?);

let log: CanLog = asc::parse::from_file("trace.asc", &dbs)?;

// Walk latest frame per (id,channel)
for idx in &log.last_id_chn_frame {
    if let Some(frame) = log.can_frames.get(*idx) {
        println!("ch{} @{} -> msg #{}", frame.channel, frame.timestamp, frame.message);
    }
}

// Resolve signals for a message index
for sig in resolve_message_signals(&log, 0) {
    println!("{} => {} {}", sig.name, sig.value, sig.unit);
}

Parse ARXML (CAN clusters)

use can_tools::arxml;
use can_tools::arxml::types::database::DatabaseARXML;

let clusters: Vec<DatabaseARXML> = arxml::parse_from_file("network.arxml")?;
for c in &clusters {
    println!("{} [{}] v{}", c.name, c.bustype.to_str(), c.version);
}

License

MIT

can_tools 1.2.12