FlowDoc.Native 1.1.0

FlowDoc.Native

C# binding (via P/Invoke) for FlowDoc — a fast serialization format: indent-delimited key: value records, parsed by a shared Rust core.

using FlowdocNative;

var records = FlowdocNative.ParseFlow("""
Record
  id: 1
  name: Test
""");
// [{ "id": "1", "name": "Test" }]

Requires the platform-matching native library (libflowdoc_core.so/.dylib/flowdoc_core.dll) alongside the assembly — see the main repository for build instructions.

.flowb (binary)

SaveFlowb/LoadFlowb read and write .flowb, the MessagePack-encoded binary counterpart to .flow text — same List<Dictionary<string, string>> shape as ParseFlow/ParseFlowBinary, just encoded instead of key: value text. This path is pure C# (the MessagePack NuGet package) with no P/Invoke and no dependency on libflowdoc_core — it never touches the native library or the FFI memory-safety rules that apply to ParseFlow/ParseFlowBinary above.

using FlowdocNative;

var records = FlowdocNative.ParseFlow("""
Record
  id: 1
  name: Test
""");

FlowdocNative.SaveFlowb("data.flowb", records);
var loaded = FlowdocNative.LoadFlowb("data.flowb");
// loaded == records

.flowc (compact)

ParseFlowCompact/WriteFlowCompact read and write .flowc ("compact flow") — a denser text sibling of .flow: no Record header, no indentation, key:value (no space), blank line separates records. Same List<Dictionary<string, string>> shape as ParseFlow, and the same P/Invoke memory-safety rules apply (flowdoc_parse_compact/ flowdoc_write_compact are freed via flowdoc_free_string, same as flowdoc_parse). See docs/FORMAT_FLOWC.md in the main repository for the grammar.

using FlowdocNative;

var records = FlowdocNative.ParseFlowCompact("id:1\nname:Test\n\nid:2\nname:Test2");
// [{ "id": "1", "name": "Test" }, { "id": "2", "name": "Test2" }]

string flowc = FlowdocNative.WriteFlowCompact(records);
// "id:1\nname:Test\n\nid:2\nname:Test2"

Licensing (soft gate)

ParseFlow/ParseFlowBinary/ParseFlowCompact/etc. work identically whether or not a license key is configured — there is no Pro-exclusive capability gated by this yet. If FLOWDOC_LICENSE_KEY is set, this package validates it once per process, in the background (fired from License's static constructor, the first time anything touches that type), against FLOWDOC_LICENSE_SERVER + /api/licenses/validate (no default server — validation is skipped entirely if this isn't set too), and logs a warning on an invalid key or an unreachable server. Query the result yourself with:

using FlowdocNative;

LicenseStatus status = await License.GetStatusAsync();
// LicenseStatus { Checked = true, Valid = true | false | null, Error = string? }

Valid is null when there was nothing to check (no key configured) or nothing could be checked (no server configured, or unreachable) — see License.cs for the full behavior.

In production, set FLOWDOC_LICENSE_SERVER=https://license-admin.sendwavehub.tech/api (the trailing /api is required — see RELEASING.md's "Production license server" section for why). There is no default; validation is skipped entirely without it.

Activation

License.ActivateLicenseAsync(activatedBy, activationIp: null, metadata: null) is a separate, explicit call — unlike GetStatusAsync(), it never runs automatically, since it's a mutating call (it flips the license to "Activated" server-side, unlike /validate's read-only check). Call it once, e.g. on first run/install:

using FlowdocNative;

ActivateLicenseResult result = await License.ActivateLicenseAsync("install-script");
// ActivateLicenseResult { Success = true, Error = null, Message = ..., Tier = ...,
//   Seats = ..., ExpiresAt = ..., CustomerId = ..., SignedLicenseArtifact = ... }
// or, on failure: { Success = false, Error = string, ...other fields null }

See the main repository for the format specification, benchmarks, and the other six language bindings (Rust, Go, Python, Node.js, PHP, C++).