AAM (Abstract Alias Mapping)

A robust and lightweight configuration parser for Rust that supports key-value pairs, recursive dependency resolution, file imports, and bidirectional lookups. Designed for applications that need flexible configuration files with references, aliases, and a modular structure.

Features

• Simple syntax: A key = value format that is easy to read and write.
• Import support: The @import directive lets you split configuration into multiple files.
• Comments support: Lines starting with # are treated as comments.
• Deep resolution (find_deep): Automatically resolves chains of references (e.g., A -> B -> C) to find the final value.
• Loop detection: Safely handles circular dependencies (e.g., A -> B -> A) without stack overflows.
• Bidirectional lookup (find_obj): Looks up a value by key, or performs a reverse lookup (finds a key by value) when the key is missing.
• Config builder (AAMBuilder): Programmatically generate and save .aam files.
• Configuration merging: Supports the + operator to combine two AAML instances.
• Typed errors: Detailed parsing and I/O error handling via AamlError.

Format

You can find documentation and examples for the format in the docs

Installation

Add the library to your Cargo.toml:

[dependencies]
aam-rs = "1.2.4"

Configuration syntax (.aam)

The format is line-based. Whitespace around keys and values is trimmed. Strings can be quoted.

# This is a comment
host = "localhost"
port = 8080

# Import other configuration files
@import database.aam
@import theme.aam

# You can define aliases for deep lookup
base_path = /var/www
current_path = base_path

# Circular references are handled safely
loop_a = loop_b
loop_b = loop_a

Usage guide

1) Parsing and loading

You can parse configuration from a string, load it from a file, or merge multiple sources. Errors are handled via AamlError.

use aaml::aaml::AAML;
use aaml::error::AamlError;

fn main() -> Result<(), AamlError> {
    // 1. Parse from string
    let content = "
        username = admin
        timeout = 30
    ";
    let config = AAML::parse(content)?;

    // 2. Load from file (supports @import directives)
    let file_config = AAML::load("config.aam")?;

    Ok(())
}

2) Merging configurations

Combine different AAML objects using the addition operator.

let mut config1 = AAML::parse("a = 1")?;
let config2 = AAML::parse("b = 2")?;

// Merge (config2 overwrites matching keys in config1)
config1 += config2;
// or: let config3 = config1 + config2;

3) Smart lookup (find_obj)

find_obj is a hybrid lookup method. It first tries to find a value by the given key. If the key does not exist, it searches for a key whose value matches the provided string.

let content = "
    # Key = Value
    app_mode = production
    debug    = false
";
let config = AAML::parse(content)?;

// Scenario A: Direct key lookup
let mode = config.find_obj("app_mode").unwrap();
assert_eq!(mode, "production");

// Scenario B: Reverse lookup
// "production" is not a key, so it looks for a key with value "production"
let key = config.find_obj("production").unwrap();
assert_eq!(key, "app_mode");

4) Deep recursive lookup (find_deep)

This is useful for aliasing. It follows values as keys until it reaches a value that is not present as a key, or until a loop is detected.

let content = "
    root = /usr/bin
    executable = root
    service = executable
";
let config = AAML::parse(content)?;

// Traces: "service" -> "executable" -> "root" -> "/usr/bin"
let final_val = config.find_deep("service").unwrap();
assert_eq!(final_val, "/usr/bin");

Handling loops: If the configuration contains a loop (e.g., a=b, b=a), find_deep returns the last unique value visited before the loop closes, preventing infinite recursion.

5) Building configurations (AAMBuilder)

Use AAMBuilder to generate configuration files programmatically.

use aam_rs::builder::{AAMBuilder, SchemaField};

let mut builder = AAMBuilder::new();
builder.comment("Server configuration")
       .type_alias("port_t", "i32")
       .schema("Server", [
           SchemaField::required("host",  "string"),
           SchemaField::required("port",  "port_t"),
           SchemaField::optional("debug", "bool"),
       ])
       .add_line("host", "127.0.0.1")
       .add_line("port", "8000");

// Save to file
builder.to_file("generated_config.aam");

// Or convert to string
println!("{}", builder);

6) Working with FoundValue

Lookup results are wrapped in a FoundValue struct. It implements Deref<Target=String> and Display, so you can use it like a regular &str or String. It also provides helper methods for in-place modification.

let config = AAML::parse("greeting = Hello World")?;
let mut value = config.find_obj("greeting").unwrap();

// Use as a string
println!("Original: {}", value); // Prints: Hello World

// Modify in-place using the helper method
value.remove(" World");
assert_eq!(value.as_str(), "Hello");

API reference

AAML

• parse(content: &str) -> Result<Self, AamlError>: Parses a string into an AAML map.
• load<P: AsRef<Path>>(file_path: P) -> Result<Self, AamlError>: Loads and parses a file, handling imports.
• merge_content(&mut self, content: &str) -> Result<(), AamlError>: Merges content into the current instance.
• merge_file<P: AsRef<Path>>(&mut self, path: P) -> Result<(), AamlError>: Reads a file and merges it.
• find_obj(&self, key: &str) -> Option<FoundValue>: Smart bidirectional lookup.
• find_deep(&self, key: &str) -> Option<FoundValue>: Recursive lookup with loop detection.
• find_key(&self, value: &str) -> Option<FoundValue>: Strict reverse lookup (find key by value).

AAMBuilder

• new() -> Self: Creates a new builder.
• add_line(key: &str, value: &str): Adds a key = value pair.
• comment(text: &str): Adds a # text comment line.
• schema(name: &str, fields: impl IntoIterator<Item = SchemaField>): Adds a @schema Name { ... } directive (inline).
• schema_multiline(name: &str, fields: impl IntoIterator<Item = SchemaField>): Adds a @schema Name { ... } directive (one field per line).
• derive(path: &str, schemas: impl IntoIterator<Item = impl AsRef<str>>): Adds a @derive path[::Schema...] directive.
• import(path: &str): Adds a @import path directive.
• type_alias(alias: &str, type_name: &str): Adds a @type alias = type_name directive.
• add_raw(raw_line: &str) (deprecated): Adds a raw line as-is. Prefer the typed methods above.
• to_file<P: AsRef<Path>>(&self, path: P): Writes the buffer to a file.

AamlError

• IoError: Wraps standard I/O errors.
• ParseError: Syntax errors (includes line number and details).
• NotFound: Key not found (internal use).

License

See the LICENSE file.

Full Documentation

Full API documentation is available at docs.rs/aaml or in main documentation of AAM.