I read that protobuf has a type called "*bytes*" which can store arbitrary number of bytes and is the equivalent of "C++ string".
The reason why I don't prefer to use "bytes" is that it expects input as a C++ string i.e., boost IP will need to be converted to a string. Now my concern lies here : I want to perform serialize and send the encoded protobuf message over TCP socket. I want to ensure that the *encoded message size is as small as possible*. Currently, I am using the below .proto file : syntax = "proto2"; message profile { repeated *uint32* localEndpoint = 1; repeated *uint32* remoteEndpoint = 2; } In order to save boost IP in the protobuf message, I am first converting boost IP into byte-format array by using "boost::asio::ip::address_v4::to_bytes()". So for a v4 IP, resultant array size is 8. Then I am converting 1st 4 bytes from the resultant byte-array into one uint32_t number and then storing in "localEndpoint" field of the protobuf message. Likewise, I repeat for the next 4 bytes. I am taking 4 bytes at a time so as to utilize full 32 bits of the uint32. Hence for a v4 address, 2 occurrence of "localEndpoint" field is used. Similarly, for a v6 address, 4 occurrence of "localEndpoint" field is used. Please allow me to highlight that if I had used "bytes" here, my input string itself would have been of size 15 bytes for a v4 ip like 111.111.111.111 Using uint32 instead of "bytes" does save me some encoded-data-size but I am looking for a more efficient protobuf type requiring lesser number of bytes. Sorry for a long description but I wanted to explain my query in details. Please help me.. Thanks a lot in advance :) -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Protocol Buffers" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to protobuf+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to protobuf@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/protobuf. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.