Implementation:Alibaba MNN FlatBuffers Minireflect Header

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

Overview

Lightweight reflection API for iterating over FlatBuffer fields without the full reflection schema.

Description

minireflect.h provides a minimal reflection mechanism that allows traversal of FlatBuffer data using compact type tables generated alongside normal accessors. Unlike the full reflection API, mini-reflection does not require a binary schema and adds very little code size. It enables generic operations such as printing FlatBuffers as text, comparing objects field-by-field, and performing schema-independent transformations.

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/include/flatbuffers/minireflect.h
• Lines: 1-386

Signature

struct TypeTable;
struct TypeFunction;
void IterateObject(const uint8_t *obj, const TypeTable *type_table,
                   IterationVisitor *visitor);
std::string FlatBufferToString(const uint8_t *buffer,
                               const TypeTable *type_table);

Import

#include "flatbuffers/minireflect.h"

I/O Contract

Input	Output
Serialized FlatBuffer bytes + TypeTable	Visitor callbacks for each field, or text representation

Usage Examples

#include "flatbuffers/minireflect.h"

// Assuming MonsterTypeTable() is generated
auto buffer = GetBufferPointer();
std::string text = flatbuffers::FlatBufferToString(
    buffer, MonsterTypeTable());
// text contains a human-readable dump of the buffer

Related Pages

• Environment:Alibaba_MNN_CPU_Build_Environment