data-classes

data-classes provides a single, ergonomic attribute macro #[data] that simplifies common boilerplate for plain data structs and enums.

The #[data] macro is the primary feature of this crate. It acts as a concise, configurable shortcut for deriving common traits, controlling ABI/layout, and generating small helper methods (like new and Default). It can also opt in to integrations such as serde, rkyv, and bytemuck behind feature flags.

Overview

• Purpose: Reduce repetitive derive and small impl boilerplate for simple data types.
• Primary interface: the attribute macro #[data(...)] placed on structs or enums.
• Behavior: depending on attributes and crate feature flags, #[data] will add #[repr(...)], #[derive(...)], and optionally generate impl blocks (e.g. Default, new, Display).

Key features

• Automatic derives: Debug, Clone, PartialEq, Eq, PartialOrd, Ord, Hash are derived by default.
• Layout control: add repr options such as raw (C), packed, transparent, or integer-backed u8/u16/... via the macro.
• Default handling: #[data(default)] either derives Default or generates a custom Default impl when field-level defaults are present.
• Constructor generation: #[data(new)] creates a pub fn new(...) -> Self for structs with named fields; #[data(new(default))] generates new() delegating to Default.
• Display helpers: #[data(display(...))] supports debug, comma, semicolon, and space variants to quickly implement Display.
• Deref helpers: #[deref] / #[deref(mut)] on a field generate Deref / DerefMut to that field.
• Validation helpers: #[data(validate)] generates validate(), with field checks from #[check = ...].
• Accessor helpers: #[get], #[get(mut)], #[set], #[with], or #[access(...)] generate getters/setters and chainable builders.
• Optional integrations (behind features): serde support, rkyv support (with additional per-attribute options), and bytemuck support (pod, zeroable).

Supported attributes

You can combine multiple options inside the #[data(...)] attribute. Examples of supported options include:

• raw — apply #[repr(C)].
• packed — apply #[repr(packed)].
• transparent — apply #[repr(transparent)].
• u8, u16, u32, u64, usize, i8, i16, i32, i64, isize — use a specific integer repr.
• default — derive or implement Default (field-level defaults may produce a custom Default).
• copy — derive Copy.
• serde — (requires serde feature) derive Serialize and Deserialize.
• rkyv(...) — (requires rkyv feature) enables rkyv derives and accepts sub-options like no-cmp and omit-bounds.
• pod, zeroable — (require bytemuck feature) derive bytemuck::Pod / bytemuck::Zeroable and may adjust repr as needed.
• display(debug) — implement Display by formatting with {:?}.
• display(comma|semicolon|space) — implement Display by joining struct fields with ,, ;, or space respectively.
• new and new(default) — generate new constructors. Field-level new_value and defaults are supported for more fine-grained constructor generation.
• validate — generate a validate() method (see #[check = ...]).

Field-level attributes (named structs):

• #[default = expr] — set a field default (used by #[data(default)] / #[default]).
• #[new = expr] / #[new = _] — set a field initializer for new.
• #[deref] / #[deref(mut)] — select the deref target.
• #[check = expr] — attach a boolean check used by validate, set, and with.
• #[get] / #[get(mut)] — generate get_xxx() and get_xxx_mut().
• #[set] — generate set_xxx(value).
• #[with] — generate with_xxx(value) -> Self.
• #[access] — shorthand for get + set.
• #[access(get,set,with)] / #[access(get(mut))] — explicit accessor selection.

Examples

Use only the default derives.

For example:

#[data]
pub struct Color {
    r: u8,
    g: u8,
    b: u8,
}

Will expand to:

#[derive(Debug, Clone, PartialEq, Eq, PartialOrd, Ord, Hash)]
pub struct Color {
    r: u8,
    g: u8,
    b: u8,
}

Add more options to generate additional code.

For example:

#[data(new, default, serde, rkyv(cmp), pod)]
pub struct Color {
    r: u8,
    g: u8,
    b: u8,
}

Will expand to:

#[repr(C)]
#[derive(Debug, Clone, PartialEq, Eq, PartialOrd, Ord, Hash, Default, rkyv::Archive, rkyv::Serialize, rkyv::Deserialize, serde::Serialize, serde::Deserialize, bytemuck::Pod, bytemuck::Zeroable, Copy)]
#[rkyv(derive(Debug, PartialEq, Eq, PartialOrd, Ord, Hash), compare(PartialEq, PartialOrd))]
pub struct Color {
    r: u8,
    g: u8,
    b: u8,
}
impl Color {
    pub fn new(r: u8, g: u8, b: u8) -> Self {
        Self { r, g, b }
    }
}

Accessor and validation helpers:

#[data(validate)]
struct User {
    #[check = name.len() > 0]
    name: String,
    #[check = *age >= 18]
    age: u8,
}

#[data]
struct Settings {
    #[get]
    name: String,
    #[access(get(mut), set, with)]
    #[check = tag.len() < 8]
    tag: String,
}