toml11

toml11 is a feature-rich TOML language library for C++11/14/17/20.

It complies with the latest TOML language specification.
It passes all the standard TOML language test cases.
It supports new features merged into the upcoming TOML version (v1.1.0).
It provides clear error messages, including the location of the error.
It parses and retains comments, associating them with corresponding values.
It maintains formatting information such as hex integers and considers these during serialization.
It provides exception-less parse function.
It supports complex type conversions from TOML values.
It allows customization of the types stored in toml::value.
It provides some extensions not present in the TOML language standard.

Example

# example.toml
title = "an example toml file"
nums  = [3, 1, 4, 1, 5] # pi!

#include <toml.hpp>
#include <iostream>

int main()
{
    // select TOML version at runtime (optional)
    auto data = toml::parse("example.toml", toml::spec::v(1,1,0));

    // find a value with the specified type from a table
    std::string title = toml::find<std::string>(data, "title");

    // convert the whole array into STL-like container automatically
    std::vector<int> nums = toml::find<std::vector<int>>(data, "nums");

    // access with STL-like manner
    if( ! data.contains("foo"))
    {
        data["foo"] = "bar";
    }
    if(data.at("nums").is_array())
    {
        data["nums"].as_array().push_back(9);
    }

    // check comments
    assert(data.at("nums").comments().at(0) == "# pi!");

    // pass a fallback
    std::string name = toml::find_or<std::string>(data, "name", "not found");

    // serialization considering format info
    data.at("nums").as_array_fmt().fmt = toml::array_format::multiline;
    data.at("nums").as_array_fmt().indent_type = toml::indent_char::space;
    data.at("nums").as_array_fmt().body_indent = 2;

    std::cout << toml::format(data) << std::endl;

    return 0;
}

For more details, please refer to the documentation.

Integration

There are several ways to use toml11.

Here is a brief overview of each method. For more details, please refer to the documentation.

Single Include File

Copy single_include/toml.hpp to your preferred location and add it to your include path.

git submodule

By adding toml11 as a subdirectory using git submodule (or any other way), you can either add toml11/include to your include path or use add_subdirectory(toml11) in your CMake project.

CMake `FetchContent`

Using FetchContent, you can automatically download it.

include(FetchContent)
FetchContent_Declare(
  toml11
  GIT_REPOSITORY https://github.com/ToruNiina/toml11.git
  GIT_TAG        v4.1.0
)
FetchContent_MakeAvailable(toml11)

add_executable(main main.cpp)
target_link_libraries(main PRIVATE toml11::toml11)

CMake Package Manager (CPM)

After adding cpm to your project, you can use toml11 by doing:

include(cmake/CPM.cmake)

CPMAddPackage("gh:ToruNiina/toml11@4.2.0")

# OR

CPMAddPackage(
    NAME toml11
    GITHUB_REPOSITORY "ToruNiina/toml11"
    VERSION 4.2.0
    OPTIONS "TOML11_PRECOMPILE ON" # to pre-compile
    )

add_executable(main main.cpp)
target_link_libraries(main PUBLIC toml11::toml11)

Install Using CMake

You can install toml11 using CMake with the following steps:

$ git clone https://github.com/ToruNiina/toml11
$ cd toml11
$ git submodule update --init --recursive
$ cmake -B ./build/
$ cmake --build ./build/
$ cmake --install ./build/ --prefix /path/to/toml11

Precompile Library

By setting -DTOML11_PRECOMPILE=ON, you can precompile some of the library functions. In this case, the standard library features available will vary with the C++ version, and part of the interface will change. Therefore, you need to specify CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD.

$ cmake -B ./build/ -DTOML11_PRECOMPILE=ON -DCMAKE_CXX_STANDARD=11/14/17/20
$ cmake --build ./build/

When linking the library, use target_link_libraries in CMake

target_link_libraries(your_target PUBLIC toml11::toml11)

or pass -DTOML11_COMPILE_SOURCES to the compiler.

Building Example

To compile the examples in the examples/ directory, set -DTOML11_BUILD_EXAMPLES=ON.

$ cmake -B ./build/ -DTOML11_BUILD_EXAMPLES=ON
$ cmake --build ./build/

Building Tests

To compile unit tests, set -DTOML11_BUILD_TESTS=ON. Additionally, to compile the encoder and decoder for toml-test, set -DTOML11_BUILD_TOML_TESTS=ON.

$ cmake -B ./build/ -DTOML11_BUILD_EXAMPLES=ON
$ cmake --build ./build/

Features

Here is a brief overview of the features provided by toml11.

For more details, please refer to the documentation.

Parsing a File

To parse a file, use toml::parse.

The overall type of the file is always a table. However, since toml::value contains metadata such as comments and formatting information, toml::parse returns a toml::value rather than a toml::table.

const toml::value input = toml::parse("input.toml");

To parse a string directly, use toml::parse_str.

const toml::value input = toml::parse_str("a = 42");

When parsing string literals, you can use the ""_toml literal.

using namespace toml::literals::toml_literals;
const toml::value lit = "a = 42"_toml;

toml::parse, parse_str and _toml literal throw a toml::syntax_error exception in case of a syntax error.

The error message obtained with what() will look like this:

[error] bad integer: `_` must be surrounded by digits
 --> internal string at line 64 in file main.cpp
   |
 1 | a = 123__456
   |        ^-- invalid underscore
Hint: valid  : -42, 1_000, 1_2_3_4_5, 0xC0FFEE, 0b0010, 0o755
Hint: invalid: _42, 1__000, 0123

Error messages can also be colorized by calling toml::color::enable().

By using toml::try_parse, you can receive a toml::result<toml::value, std::vector<toml::error_info>> without throwing exceptions.

const auto input = toml::try_parse("input.toml");
if(input.is_ok())
{
    std::cout << input.unwrap().at("a").as_integer() << std::endl;
}

Additionally, toml11 allows easy and precise control over the version of the TOML language being used.

You can enable specific new features from TOML v1.1.0 while using TOML v1.0.0.

toml::spec s = toml::spec::v(1, 0, 0);
s.v1_1_0_allow_trailing_comma_in_inline_tables = true;

const toml::value input = toml::parse("input.toml");

Moreover, several language extensions not included in the TOML standard are available.

toml::spec s = toml::spec::v(1, 0, 0);
s.ext_hex_float  = true; // this allows hexadecimal floating-point numbers
s.ext_null_value = true; // this allows `key = null` value
s.ext_num_suffix = true; // this allows numeric suffixes like `100_msec`

For more detail and reference of each feature, please refer to the documentation.

finding a value

toml::value provides member functions for accessing values, such as at(), is_xxx(), and as_xxx().

const toml::value input = toml::parse("input.toml");
if(input.contains("a") && input.at("a").is_integer())
{
    std::cout << input.at("a").as_integer() << std::endl;
}

By using toml::find, you can perform type conversion and search simultaneously.

const toml::value input = toml::parse("input.toml");
std::cout << toml::find<int>(input, "a") << std::endl;

If type conversion or value lookup fails, a toml::type_error is thrown. The error message will look like this:

[error] toml::value::as_string(): bad_cast to string
 --> input.toml
   |
 1 | a = 123_456
   |     ^^^^^^^-- the actual type is integer

You can access nested tables or arrays of tables in the same way.

// [a]
// b = [
//   {c = 42},
//   {c = 54}
// ]
const toml::value input = toml::parse("input.toml");
std::cout << toml::find<int>(input, "a", "b", 1, "c") << std::endl;

Most STL containers and those with similar interfaces can be converted.

// array = [3,1,4,1,5]
const toml::value input = toml::parse("input.toml");

const auto a1 = toml::find<std::vector<int>>(input, "array");
const auto a2 = toml::find<std::array<int, 5>>(input, "array");
const auto a3 = toml::find<std::deque<int>>(input, "array");
const auto a4 = toml::find<boost::container::small_vector<int, 8>>(input, "array");

You can perform advanced type conversions on complex TOML values.

mixed_array = [
    42,
    3.14,
    {a = "foo", b = "bar"}
]

const toml::value input = toml::parse("input.toml");

const auto mixed = toml::find<
        std::tuple<int, double, std::map<std::string, std::string>>
    >(input, "mixed_array") << std::endl;

User-defined types can also be converted by using macros or defining some specific functions.

namespace extlib
{
struct foo
{
    int a;
    std::string b;
};
} // extlib
TOML11_DEFINE_CONVERSION_NON_INTRUSIVE(extlib::foo, a, b)

// ...

const auto input = R"(
  [foo]
  a = 42
  b = "bar"
)"_toml;
const extlib::foo f = toml::find<extlib::foo>(input, "foo");

Using toml::find_or, you can get a default value in case of failure.

const toml::value input = toml::parse("input.toml");
std::cout << toml::find_or(input, "a", 6*9) << std::endl;

For more details, please refer to the documentation.

comments

toml11 stores comments related to values within the value itself.

Comments related to a value include a series of comments written immediately before the value and any comments written after the value without a newline in between.

# This is a comment for a.
# This is also a comment for a.
a = 42 # This is also a comment for a.

# This is separated by a newline, so it is not a comment for b.

# This is a comment for b.
b = "foo"

These comments are stored in toml::value with an interface similar to std::vector<std::string>.

const toml::value input = toml::parse("input.toml");
std::cout << input.at("a").comments().size() << std::endl;
std::cout << input.at("a").comments().at(0) << std::endl;

For more details, please refer to the documentation.

error messages

One of the goals of toml11 is to provide clear and understandable error messages.

For parsing errors, you might see an error message like the following:

[error] bad integer: `_` must be surrounded by digits
 --> internal string at line 64 in file main.cpp
   |
 1 | a = 123__456
   |        ^-- invalid underscore
Hint: valid  : -42, 1_000, 1_2_3_4_5, 0xC0FFEE, 0b0010, 0o755
Hint: invalid: _42, 1__000, 0123

If you request a type different from the actual stored type, an error message like this will be displayed:

[error] toml::value::as_string(): bad_cast to string
 --> input.toml
   |
 1 | a = 123_456
   |     ^^^^^^^-- the actual type is integer

Such error messages can also be produced for user-specific algorithm that is not related to TOML syntax.

const toml::value& a = input.at("a");
if(a.as_integer() < 0)
{
    const toml::error_info err = toml::make_error_info(
            "positive integer is required",
            a, "but got negative value"
        );
    std::cerr << toml::format_error(err) << std::endl;
}

For more details, please refer to the documentation.

serialization

You can format a toml::value into a std::string using toml::format.

const toml::value input = toml::parse("input.toml");
std::cout << toml::format(input) << std::endl;

toml::format references the formatting information, allowing you to change the formatting method.

toml::value output(toml::table{ {"a", 0xDEADBEEF} });
output.at("a").as_integer_fmt().fmt = toml::integer_format::hex;
output.at("a").as_integer_fmt().spacer = 4; // position of `_`

std::cout << toml::format(input) << std::endl;
// a = 0xdead_beef

You can also specify the formatting for tables and arrays.

toml::value output(toml::table{
  {"array-of-tables", toml::array{}},
  {"subtable", toml::table{}},
});

auto& aot = output.at("array-of-tables");
aot.as_array_fmt().fmt = toml::array_format::multiline; // one element per line
aot.as_array_fmt().body_indent    = 4;
aot.as_array_fmt().closing_indent = 2;

toml::value v1(toml::table{ {"a", 42}, {"b", 3.14} });
v1.as_table_fmt().fmt = toml::table_format::oneline;
aot.push_back(std::move(v1));

toml::value v2(toml::table{ {"a", 42}, {"b", 3.14} });
v2.as_table_fmt().fmt = toml::table_format::oneline;
aot.push_back(std::move(v2));

output.at("subtable").as_table_fmt().fmt = toml::table_format::dotted;
output.at("subtable")["a"] = 42;
output.at("subtable")["b"] = 3.14;

std::cout << toml::format(output) << std::endl;
// subtable.b = 3.14
// subtable.a = 42
// array-of-tables = [
//     {b = 3.14, a = 42},
//     {b = 3.14, a = 42},
//   ]

These settings are read during parsing and will be maintained as long as the value type does not change when modified.

For details on possible formatting specifications, please refer to the documentation.

Configuring Types

Many types in toml::value, such as integer_type, array_type, table_type, etc, can be modified by changing the type_config type.

One commonly used example is an ordered_map that keeps the added order. toml11 provides atype_config that changes table_type to ordered_map as toml::ordered_type_config.

const toml::ordered_value input = toml::parse<toml::ordered_type_config>("input.toml");

Here, toml::ordered_value is an alias of toml::basic_value<toml::ordered_type_config>.

Note that, since toml::value uses std::unordered_map, once you convert it to toml::value, then the order of the values will be randomized.

For more details about how to implement type_config variant, please refer to the documentation.

Also, refer to the examples directory for complex use cases such as using multi-precision integers, changing containers, and normalizing Unicode. Use these examples as references for implementing such configurations.

Examples

The examples directory provides various implementation examples in addition to type configurations.

boost_container
- This example shows how to use boost::container containers for array_type and table_type.
boost_multiprecision
- This example demonstrates the use of boost::multiprecision multi-precision numeric types for integer_type and floating_type.
parse_file
- This example includes type conversion implementations, covering slightly more complex cases. The corresponding TOML file is included.
reflect
- This example shows self-type conversion using boost-ext/reflect for user-defined types.
unicode
- This example demonstrates normalizing Unicode strings when searching for keys using uni-algo.

Changes from v3

toml11 v4 introduces several breaking changes.

Efforts have been made to minimize the need for changes for those using simple functionality. However, if you were utilizing advanced features, some adjustments may be necessary.

Nevertheless, we believe that the added or streamlined features will provide enhanced convenience in return.

Breaking Changes

Changed branch from master to main.
Changed template arguments of toml::basic_value.
Removed toml::string and explicitly store formatting information of all the values.
Modified arguments of toml::format to accommodate formatting information.
Changed default arguments of toml::parse to take toml::spec for specifying TOML version information.
Updated the interface of toml::source_location to accommodate multiline regions.
Modified arguments of toml::format_error.
Renamed toml::format_underline to toml::format_location.
Unified control method of toml::color to toml::color::enable/disable().

Added features

Added toml::parse_str.
Added toml::try_parse.
Added support for parsing byte sequences.
Added formatting information to toml::value.
Changed to saving comments in toml::value by default.
Added single_include/toml.hpp.
Enabled to use as a precompiled library.

Contributors

I appreciate the help of the contributors who introduced the great feature to this library.

Guillaume Fraux (@Luthaf)
- Windows support and CI on Appvayor
- Intel Compiler support
Quentin Khan (@xaxousis)
- Found & Fixed a bug around ODR
- Improved error messages for invalid keys to show the location where the parser fails
Petr Beneš (@wbenny)
- Fixed warnings on MSVC
Ivan Shynkarenka (@chronoxor)
- Fixed Visual Studio 2019 warnings
- Fix compilation error in <filesystem> with MinGW
Khoi Dinh Trinh (@khoitd1997)
- Fixed warnings while type conversion
@KerstinKeller
- Added installation script to CMake
J.C. Moyer (@jcmoyer)
- Fixed an example code in the documentation
Jt Freeman (@blockparty-sh)
- Fixed feature test macro around localtime_s
- Suppress warnings in Debug mode
OGAWA Kenichi (@kenichiice)
- Suppress warnings on intel compiler
- Fix include path in README
Jordan Williams (@jwillikers)
- Fixed clang range-loop-analysis warnings
- Fixed feature test macro to suppress -Wundef
- Use cache variables in CMakeLists.txt
- Automate test set fetching, update and refactor CMakeLists.txt
Scott McCaskill
- Parse 9 digits (nanoseconds) of fractional seconds in a local_time
Shu Wang (@halfelf)
- fix "Finding a value in an array" example in README
@maass-tv and @SeverinLeonhardt
- Fix MSVC warning C4866
Mohammed Alyousef (@MoAlyousef)
- Made testing optional in CMake
Alex Merry (@amerry)
- Add missing include files
sneakypete81 (@sneakypete81)
- Fix typo in error message
Oliver Kahrmann (@founderio)
- Fix missing filename in error message if parsed file is empty
Karl Nilsson (@karl-nilsson)
- Fix many spelling errors
ohdarling88 (@ohdarling)
- Fix a bug in a constructor of serializer
estshorter (@estshorter)
- Fix MSVC warning C26478
Philip Top (@phlptp)
- Improve checking standard library feature availability check
Louis Marascio (@marascio)
- Fix free-nonheap-object warning
Axel Huebl (@ax3l)
- Make installation optional if the library is embedded
Ken Matsui (@ken-matsui)
- Support user-defined error message prefix
- Support dynamic color mode
- Support std::optional members for TOML11_DEFINE_CONVERSION_NON_INTRUSIVE
- Make thread_local for color_mode optional
Giel van Schijndel (@muggenhor)
- Remove needless copy in parse function
Lukáš Hrázký (@lukash)
- Add a parse(FILE *) interface and improve file-related error messages
spiderman idog (@spiderman-idog)
- Fix typo in README
Jajauma's GitHub (@Jajauma)
- Avoid possible lexer truncation warnings
Moritz Klammler (@ctcmkl)
- Many patches in (#200) including:
- Improve CMake scripts, build process, and test file handling
- Detect error when discard_comments is accessed
- And more.
Chris White (@cxw42)
- Fix address-sanitizer error when parsing literal strings having invalid UTF-8 characters
- Fix function name in error messages
offa (@offa)
- Update checkout action to v3
- Update Required CMake version
- Cleanup old CI settings
Sergey Vidyuk (@VestniK)
- Fix for case when vector iterator is raw pointer
Kfir Gollan (@kfirgollan)
- Add installation example with checkinstall and cmake
Martin Tournoij (@arp242)
- Escape control characters in keys
@DavidKorczynski
- Add fuzzing test based on ClusterFuzzLite
Esonhugh Skyworship (@Esonhugh)
- Fix function signature of strerror_r on macos
Alberto (@0X1A)
- Fix issues with CMake package configuration when used with vcpkg
Egor Pugin (@egorpugin)
- Fix incorrect operator<<() argument type that gives build error
Andreas Keller (@andreaskeller96)
- Fix not checking for \r\n when parsing line comments
萧迩珀 (@CDK6182CHR)
- Support template into_toml members
Pino Toscano (@pinotree)
- Suppress warnings by manually cast file size to std::streamsize
Jack W (@jackwil1)
- Fix typos in documentation template syntax

Licensing terms

This product is licensed under the terms of the MIT License.

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README.md

README.md

toml11

Example

Table of Contents

Integration

Single Include File

git submodule

CMake `FetchContent`

CMake Package Manager (CPM)

Install Using CMake

Precompile Library

Building Example

Building Tests

Features

Parsing a File

finding a value

comments

error messages

serialization

Configuring Types

Examples

Changes from v3

Breaking Changes

Added features

Contributors

Licensing terms

Files

README.md

Latest commit

History

README.md

File metadata and controls

toml11

Example

Table of Contents

Integration

Single Include File

git submodule

CMake FetchContent

CMake Package Manager (CPM)

Install Using CMake

Precompile Library

Building Example

Building Tests

Features

Parsing a File

finding a value

comments

error messages

serialization

Configuring Types

Examples

Changes from v3

Breaking Changes

Added features

Contributors

Licensing terms

CMake `FetchContent`