Implementation:Alibaba MNN FlatBuffers IDL Gen Text

Knowledge Sources	Alibaba_MNN FlatBuffers
Domains	Serialization, Code_Generation
Last Updated	2026-02-10 12:00 GMT

Overview

JSON text generator that converts binary FlatBuffer data back into human-readable JSON using the schema.

Description

idl_gen_text.cpp implements a text output generator that serializes binary FlatBuffer data into JSON format. Given a binary buffer and its corresponding parsed schema, it walks the FlatBuffer structure and emits formatted JSON with proper indentation. This is used by flatc for the --json output mode and is essential for debugging and inspecting binary FlatBuffer files.

Usage

Vendored dependency used internally by MNN for model serialization. Not directly imported by end users.

Code Reference

Source Location

• Repository: Alibaba_MNN
• File: 3rd_party/flatbuffers/src/idl_gen_text.cpp
• Lines: 1-310

Signature

namespace flatbuffers {
  bool GenerateText(const Parser &parser,
                    const void *flatbuf,
                    std::string *text);
  bool GenerateTextFile(const Parser &parser,
                        const std::string &path,
                        const std::string &file_name);
}

Import

#include "flatbuffers/idl.h"
// Text generation invoked via flatc or API

I/O Contract

Input	Output
Binary FlatBuffer data + parsed schema	JSON text string representing the buffer contents
Binary FlatBuffer file + schema	.json output file

Usage Examples

#include "flatbuffers/idl.h"

flatbuffers::Parser parser;
parser.Parse(schema_text);

std::string json;
flatbuffers::GenerateText(parser, flatbuf_data, &json);
// json now contains the human-readable representation

Related Pages

• Environment:Alibaba_MNN_CPU_Build_Environment