path: root/lib/asn1/doc/src/asn1_spec.xmlsrc

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<chapter>
  <header>
    <copyright>
      <year>2003</year><year>2013</year>
      <holder>Ericsson AB. All Rights Reserved.</holder>
    </copyright>
    <legalnotice>
      The contents of this file are subject to the Erlang Public License,
      Version 1.1, (the "License"); you may not use this file except in
      compliance with the License. You should have received a copy of the
      Erlang Public License along with this software. If not, it can be
      retrieved online at http://www.erlang.org/.
    
      Software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS"
      basis, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See
      the License for the specific language governing rights and limitations
      under the License.
    
    </legalnotice>

    <title>Specialized Decodes</title>
    <prepared>EAB/UAB/UKH/KD Bertil Karlsson</prepared>
    <docno></docno>
    <date>2003-04-24</date>
    <rev>D</rev>
    <file>asn1_spec.xml</file>
  </header>
  <marker id="SpecializedDecodes"></marker>
  <p>When performance is of highest priority and you are interested in
    a limited part of the ASN.1 encoded message before deciding what
    to do with the rest of it, an option is to decode only this small
    part. The situation can be a server that has to decide the
    addressee of a message. The addressee can be interested in
    the entire message, but the server can be a bottleneck that you want
    to spare any unnecessary load.</p>
  <p> Instead of making two <em>complete decodes</em> (the normal case of
    decode), one in the server and one in the addressee, it is only
    necessary to make one <em>specialized decode</em>(in the server)
    and another complete decode(in the addressee). This section
    describes the following two specialized decodes, which support
    to solve this and similar problems:</p>
    <list type="bulleted">
      <item><em>Exclusive decode</em></item>
      <item><em>Selected decode</em></item>
    </list>
  <p>This functionality is only provided when using <c>BER</c>
  (option <c>ber</c>).</p>

  <section>
    <title>Exclusive Decode</title>
    <p>The basic idea with exclusive
      decode is to specify which parts of the message you want to
      exclude from being decoded. These parts remain encoded and are
      returned in the value structure as binaries. They can be decoded
      in turn by passing them to a certain <c>decode_part/2</c>
      function. The performance gain is high for large messages.
      You can do an exclusive decode and later one or more
      decodes of the parts, or a second complete decode instead of two or
      more complete decodes.
      </p>

    <section>
      <title>Procedure</title>
      <p>To perform an exclusive decode:
        </p>
      <list type="bulleted">
        <item><em>Step 1:</em> Decide the name of the function for the
	 exclusive decode.</item>
        <item><p><em>Step 2:</em> Include the following instructions in
	 a configuration file:</p>
	 <list type="bulleted">
	   <item>The name of the exclusive decode function</item>
	   <item>The name of the ASN.1 specification</item>
	   <item>A notation that tells which parts of the message
	   structure to be excluded from decode</item>
	   </list></item>
        <item><em>Step 3</em> Compile with the additional option
         <c>asn1config</c>. The compiler searches for a configuration
         file with the same name as the ASN.1 specification but with
         extension <c>.asn1config</c>. This configuration file is not
	 the same as used for compilation of a set of files. See Section
	 <seealso marker="#UndecodedPart">Writing an Exclusive Decode
	 Instruction.</seealso></item>
      </list>
    </section>

    <section>
      <title>User Interface</title>
      <p>The runtime user interface for exclusive decode consists of
        the following two functions:</p>
	<list type="bulleted">
	  <item>A function for an exclusive decode, whose name the user
	  decides in the configuration file</item>
	  <item>The compiler generates a <c>decode_part/2</c>
          function when exclusive decode is chosen. This function decodes
          the parts that were left undecoded during the exclusive
          decode.</item>
	</list>
      <p>Both functions are described in the following.</p>
      <p>If the exclusive decode function has, for example, the name
        <c>decode_exclusive</c> and an ASN.1 encoded message
        <c>Bin</c> is to be exclusive decoded, the call is as follows:</p>
      <pre>
{ok,Excl_Message} = 'MyModule':decode_exclusive(Bin)      </pre>
      <marker id="UndecodedPart"></marker>
      <p>The result <c>Excl_Message</c> has the same structure as a
        complete decode would have, except for the parts of the top type
        that were not decoded. The undecoded parts are on their places
        in the structure on format <c>{Type_Key,Undecoded_Value}</c>.
        </p>
      <p>Each undecoded part that is to be decoded must be fed into
        function <c>decode_part/2</c> as follows:</p>
      <pre>
{ok,Part_Message} = 'MyModule':decode_part(Type_Key,Undecoded_Value)</pre>
    </section>

    <section>
      <marker id="Exclusive Instruction"></marker>
      <title>Writing an Exclusive Decode Instruction</title>
      <p>This instruction is written in the configuration file
        in the following format:</p>
      <pre>
Exclusive_Decode_Instruction = {exclusive_decode,{Module_Name,Decode_Instructions}}.

Module_Name = atom()

Decode_Instructions = [Decode_Instruction]+

Decode_Instruction = {Exclusive_Decode_Function_Name,Type_List}

Exclusive_Decode_Function_Name = atom()

Type_List = [Top_Type,Element_List]

Element_List = [Element]+

Element = {Name,parts} |
          {Name,undecoded} |
          {Name,Element_List}

Top_Type = atom()

Name = atom()</pre>
      <p>The instruction must be a valid Erlang term ended by a dot.
        </p>
      <p>In <c>Type_List</c> the "path" from the top type to each
        undecoded subcomponents is described. The top type of the path is
        an atom, the name of it. The action on each component/type that
        follows is described by one of
        <c>{Name,parts}, {Name,undecoded}, {Name,Element_List}</c>.</p>
      <p>The use and effect of the actions are as follows:
        </p>
      <list type="bulleted">
        <item><c>{Name,undecoded}</c> - Tells that the element is left
         undecoded during the exclusive decode. The type of <c>Name</c>
         can be any ASN.1 type. The value of element <c>Name</c> is
         returned as a tuple (as mentioned in the previous section) in
         the value structure of the top type.</item>
        <item><c>{Name,parts}</c> - The type of <c>Name</c> can be one of
         <c>SEQUENCE OF</c> or <c>SET OF</c>. The action implies that
         the different components of <c>Name</c> are left undecoded. The
         value of <c>Name</c> is returned as a tuple (as mentioned in
         the previous section) where the second element is a list of
         binaries. This is because the representation of a <c>SEQUENCE OF</c>
         or a <c>SET OF</c> in Erlang is a list of its internal type. Any
         of the elements in this list or the entire list can be decoded by
         function <c>decode_part</c>.</item>
        <item><c>{Name,Element_List}</c> - This action is used when one or
         more of the subtypes of <c>Name</c> is exclusive decoded.</item>
      </list>
      <p><c>Name</c> in these actions can be a component name of a
        <c>SEQUENCE OF</c> or a <c>SET OF</c>, or a name of an alternative
         in a <c>CHOICE</c>.
        </p>
    </section>

    <section>
      <title>Example</title>
      <p>In this examples, the definitions from the following ASN.1
        specification are used:</p>
      <marker id="Asn1spec"></marker>
      <codeinclude file="Seq.asn" tag="" type="none"></codeinclude>
      <p>If <c>Button</c> is a top type and it is needed to exclude
        component <c>number</c> from decode, <c>Type_List</c> in the
        instruction in the configuration file is
        <c>['Button',[{number,undecoded}]]</c>. If you call the decode
        function <c>decode_Button_exclusive</c>, <c>Decode_Instruction</c> is
        <c>{decode_Button_exclusive,['Button',[{number,undecoded}]]}</c>.
        </p>
      <p>Another top type is <c>Window</c> whose subcomponent
        actions in type <c>Status</c> and the parts of component
        <c>buttonList</c> are to be left undecoded. For this type, the
        function is named <c>decode__Window_exclusive</c>. The complete
        <c>Exclusive_Decode_Instruction</c> configuration is as follows:</p>
      <codeinclude file="Seq.asn1config" tag="" type="none"></codeinclude>
      <p>The following figure shows the bytes of a <c>Window:status</c>
        message. The components <c>buttonList</c> and <c>actions</c> are
	excluded from decode. Only <c>state</c> and <c>enabled</c> are decoded
	when <c>decode__Window_exclusive</c> is called.</p>
      <p></p>
      <image file="exclusive_Win_But.gif">
        <icaption>Bytes of a Window:status Message</icaption>
      </image>
      <p></p>
      <p>Compiling <c>GUI.asn</c> including the configuration file is done
        as follows:</p>
      <pre>
unix> erlc -bber +asn1config GUI.asn

erlang> asn1ct:compile('GUI', [ber,asn1config]).</pre>
      <p>The module can be used as follows:</p>
      <pre>
1> Button_Msg = {'Button',123,true}.
{'Button',123,true}
2> {ok,Button_Bytes} = 'GUI':encode('Button',Button_Msg).
{ok,[&lt;&lt;48&gt;&gt;,
     [6],
     [&lt;&lt;128&gt;&gt;,
      [1],
      123],
     [&lt;&lt;129&gt;&gt;,
      [1],
      255]]}
3> {ok,Exclusive_Msg_Button} = 'GUI':decode_Button_exclusive(list_to_binary(Button_Bytes)).
{ok,{'Button',{'Button_number',&lt;&lt;28,1,123&gt;&gt;},
         true}}
4> 'GUI':decode_part('Button_number',&lt;&lt;128,1,123&gt;&gt;).
{ok,123}
5> Window_Msg = 
{'Window',{status,{'Status',35,
              [{'Button',3,true},
               {'Button',4,false},
               {'Button',5,true},
               {'Button',6,true},
               {'Button',7,false},
               {'Button',8,true},
               {'Button',9,true},
               {'Button',10,false},
               {'Button',11,true},
               {'Button',12,true},
               {'Button',13,false},
               {'Button',14,true}],
              false,
              {possibleActions,[{'Action',16,{'Button',17,true}}]}}}}. 
{'Window',{status,{'Status',35,
              [{'Button',3,true},
               {'Button',4,false},
               {'Button',5,true},
               {'Button',6,true},
               {'Button',7,false},
               {'Button',8,true},
               {'Button',9,true},
               {'Button',10,false},
               {'Button',11,true},
               {'Button',12,true},
               {'Button',13,false},
               {'Button',14,true}],
              false,
              {possibleActions,[{'Action',16,{'Button',17,true}}]}}}}
6> {ok,Window_Bytes}='GUI':encode('Window',Window_Msg).
{ok,[&lt;&lt;161&gt;&gt;,
     [127],
     [&lt;&lt;128&gt;&gt;, ...


8> {ok,{status,{'Status',Int,{Type_Key_SeqOf,Val_SEQOF},
BoolOpt,{Type_Key_Choice,Val_Choice}}}}=
'GUI':decode_Window_status_exclusive(list_to_binary(Window_Bytes)).
{ok,{status,{'Status',35,
        {'Status_buttonList',[&lt;&lt;48,6,128,1,3,129,1,255&gt;&gt;,
                              &lt;&lt;48,6,128,1,4,129,1,0&gt;&gt;,
                              &lt;&lt;48,6,128,1,5,129,1,255&gt;&gt;,
                              &lt;&lt;48,6,128,1,6,129,1,255&gt;&gt;,
                              &lt;&lt;48,6,128,1,7,129,1,0&gt;&gt;,
                              &lt;&lt;48,6,128,1,8,129,1,255&gt;&gt;,
                              &lt;&lt;48,6,128,1,9,129,1,255&gt;&gt;,
                              &lt;&lt;48,6,128,1,10,129,1,0&gt;&gt;,
                              &lt;&lt;48,6,128,1,11,129,1,255&gt;&gt;,
                              &lt;&lt;48,6,128,1,12,129,1,255&gt;&gt;,
                              &lt;&lt;48,6,128,1,13,129,1,0&gt;&gt;,
                              &lt;&lt;48,6,128,1,14,129,1,255&gt;&gt;]},
        false,
        {'Status_actions',
&lt;&lt;163,21,160,19,48,17,2,1,16,160,12,172,10,171,8,48,6,128,1,...&gt;&gt;}}}}
10> 'GUI':decode_part(Type_Key_SeqOf,Val_SEQOF).
{ok,[{'Button',3,true},
     {'Button',4,false},
     {'Button',5,true},
     {'Button',6,true},
     {'Button',7,false},
     {'Button',8,true},
     {'Button',9,true},
     {'Button',10,false},
     {'Button',11,true},
     {'Button',12,true},
     {'Button',13,false},
     {'Button',14,true}]}
11> 'GUI':decode_part(Type_Key_SeqOf,hd(Val_SEQOF)).
{ok,{'Button',3,true}}
12> 'GUI':decode_part(Type_Key_Choice,Val_Choice).  
{ok,{possibleActions,[{'Action',16,{'Button',17,true}}]}}</pre>
    </section>
  </section>

  <section>
    <title>Selective Decode</title>
    <p>This specialized decode decodes a subtype of a
      constructed value and is the fastest method to extract a
      subvalue. This decode is typically used when you want to
      inspect, for example, a version number, to be able to decide what
      to do with the entire value. The result is returned as
      <c>{ok,Value}</c> or <c>{error,Reason}</c>.
      </p>

    <section>
      <title>Procedure</title>
      <p>To perform a selective decode:
        </p>
      <list type="bulleted">
        <item><p><em>Step 1:</em> Include the following instructions in
	 the configuration file:</p>
         <list type="bulleted">
           <item>The name of the user function</item>
           <item>The name of the ASN.1 specification</item>
           <item>A notation that tells which part of the type to be
           decoded</item>
	 </list></item>
        <item><em>Step 2:</em> Compile with the additional option
         <c>asn1config</c>. The compiler searches for a configuration file
         with the same name as the ASN.1 specification, but with extension
         <c>.asn1config</c>. In the same file you can also provide
	 configuration specifications for exclusive decode.
         The generated Erlang module has the
         usual functionality for encode/decode preserved and the
         specialized decode functionality added. </item>
      </list>
    </section>

    <section>
      <title>User Interface</title>
      <p>The only new user interface function is the one provided by the
        user in the configuration file. The function is started by
        the <c>ModuleName:FunctionName</c> notation.
        </p>
      <p>For example, if the configuration file includes the specification
        <c>{selective_decode,{'ModuleName',[{selected_decode_Window,TypeList}]}}</c>
        do the selective decode by
        <c>{ok,Result}='ModuleName':selected_decode_Window(EncodedBinary).</c></p>
    </section>

    <section>
      <marker id="Selective Instruction"></marker>
      <title>Writing a Selective Decode Instruction</title>
      <p>One or more selective decode functions can be described in a
        configuration file. Use the following notation:</p>
      <pre>
Selective_Decode_Instruction = {selective_decode,{Module_Name,Decode_Instructions}}.

Module_Name = atom()

Decode_Instructions = [Decode_Instruction]+

Decode_Instruction = {Selective_Decode_Function_Name,Type_List}

Selective_Decode_Function_Name = atom()

Type_List = [Top_Type|Element_List]

Element_List = Name|List_Selector

Name = atom()

List_Selector = [integer()]</pre>
      <p>The instruction must be a valid Erlang term ended by a dot.
        </p>
      <list type="bulleted">
        <item><c>Module_Name</c> is the same as the name of the ASN.1
        specification, but without the extension.</item>
      <item><c>Decode_Instruction</c> is a tuple with your chosen
        function name and the components from the top type that leads
        to the single type you want to decode. Ensure to choose a name
        of your function that is not the same as any of the generated
        functions.</item>
      <item> The first element of <c>Type_List</c> is the top type of the
        encoded message. In <c>Element_List</c>, it is followed by
        each of the component names that leads to selected type.</item>
      <item>Each name in <c>Element_List</c> must be a constructed type
        except the last name, which can be any type.</item>
      <item><c>List_Selector</c> makes it possible to choose one of the
        encoded components in a a <c>SEQUENCE OF</c> or a <c>SET OF</c>.
        It is also possible to go further in that component and pick a
        subtype of that to decode. So, in the <c>Type_List</c>:
        <c>['Window',status,buttonList,[1],number]</c>, component
        <c>buttonList</c> must be of type <c>SEQUENCE OF</c> or
        <c>SET OF</c>.</item>
      </list>
      <p>In the example, component <c>number</c> of the first of the encoded
        elements in the <c>SEQUENCE OF</c> <c>buttonList</c> is selected.
        This applies on the ASN.1 specification in Section
        <seealso marker="#Asn1spec">Writing an Exclusive Decode
        Instruction</seealso>.
        </p>
    </section>

    <section>
      <title>Another Example</title>
      <p>In this example, the same ASN.1 specification as in Section
        <seealso marker="#Asn1spec">Writing an Exclusive Decode Instruction</seealso>
         is used. The following is a valid selective decode instruction:</p>
      <pre>
{selective_decode,
    {'GUI',
        [{selected_decode_Window1,
            ['Window',status,buttonList, 
             [1],
             number]},
 {selected_decode_Action,
     ['Action',handle,number]},
 {selected_decode_Window2,
     ['Window',
      status,
      actions,
      possibleActions,
      [1],
      handle,number]}]}}.</pre>
      <p>The first instruction,
        <c>{selected_decode_Window1,['Window',status,buttonList,[1],number]}</c>
        is described in the previous section.</p>
      <p> The second instruction,
        <c>{selected_decode_Action,['Action',handle,number]}</c>, takes
        component <c>number</c> in the <c>handle</c> component of type
        <c>Action</c>. If the value is
        <c>ValAction = {'Action',17,{'Button',4711,false}}</c>, the internal
        value 4711 is to be picked by <c>selected_decode_Action</c>. In an
        Erlang terminal it looks as follows:</p>
      <pre>
ValAction = {'Action',17,{'Button',4711,false}}.
{'Action',17,{'Button',4711,false}}
7> {ok,Bytes}='GUI':encode('Action',ValAction).
...
8> BinBytes = list_to_binary(Bytes).
&lt;&lt;48,18,2,1,17,160,13,172,11,171,9,48,7,128,2,18,103,129,1,0&gt;&gt;
9> 'GUI':selected_decode_Action(BinBytes).
{ok,4711}
10></pre>
      <p>The third instruction,
        <c>['Window',status,actions,possibleActions,[1],handle,number]</c>,
        works as follows:</p>
      <list type="bulleted">
        <item><em>Step 1:</em> Starts with type <c>Window</c>.</item>
        <item><em>Step 2:</em> Takes component <c>status</c> of <c>Window</c>
         that is of type <c>Status</c>.</item>
        <item><em>Step 3:</em> Takes <em>actions</em> of type
        <c>Status</c>.</item>
        <item><em>Step 4:</em> Takes <c>possibleActions</c> of the internally
         defined <c>CHOICE</c> type.</item>
        <item><em>Step 5:</em> Goes into the first component of
         <c>SEQUENCE OF</c> by <c>[1]</c>. That component is of type
         <c>Action</c>.</item>
        <item><em>Step 6:</em> Takes component <c>handle</c>.</item>
        <item><em>Step 7:</em> Takes component <c>number</c> of type
        <c>Button</c>.</item>
      </list>
      <p>The following figure shows which components are in <c>TypeList</c>
        <c>['Window',status,actions,possibleActions,[1],handle,number]</c>:</p>
      <p></p>
      <image file="selective_TypeList.gif">
        <icaption>Elements Specified in Configuration File for Selective Decode of a Subvalue in a Window Message</icaption>
      </image>
      <p>In the following figure, only the marked element is decoded by
        <c>selected_decode_Window2</c>:</p>
      <p></p>
      <image file="selective_Window2.gif">
        <icaption>Bytes of a Window:status Message</icaption>
      </image>
      <p>With the following example, you can examine that both
        <c>selected_decode_Window2</c> and
        <c>selected_decode_Window1</c> decodes the intended subvalue
        of value <c>Val</c>:</p>
      <pre>
1> Val = {'Window',{status,{'Status',12,
                    [{'Button',13,true},
                     {'Button',14,false},
                     {'Button',15,true},
                     {'Button',16,false}],
                    true,
                    {possibleActions,[{'Action',17,{'Button',18,false}},
                                      {'Action',19,{'Button',20,true}},
                                      {'Action',21,{'Button',22,false}}]}}}}
2> {ok,Bytes}='GUI':encode('Window',Val).
...
3> Bin = list_to_binary(Bytes).
&lt;&lt;161,101,128,1,12,161,32,48,6,128,1,13,129,1,255,48,6,128,1,14,129,1,0,48,6,128,1,15,129,...&gt;&gt;
4> 'GUI':selected_decode_Window1(Bin).
{ok,13}
5> 'GUI':selected_decode_Window2(Bin).
{ok,18}</pre>
      <p>Notice that the value fed into the selective decode
        functions must be a binary.
        </p>
    </section>
  </section>

  <section>
    <title>Performance</title>
    <p>To give an indication on the possible performance gain using
      the specialized decodes, some measures have been performed. The
      relative figures in the outcome between selective, exclusive, and
      complete decode (the normal case) depend on the structure of
      the type, the size of the message, and on what level the
      selective and exclusive decodes are specified.
      </p>

    <section>
      <title>ASN.1 Specifications, Messages, and Configuration</title>
      <p>The specifications <seealso marker="#Asn1spec">GUI</seealso> and
        <url href="http://www.itu.int/ITU-T/asn1/database/itu-t/h/h248/2002/MEDIA-GATEWAY-CONTROL.html">MEDIA-GATEWAY-CONTROL</url>
        were used in the test.
        </p>
      <p>For the <c>GUI</c> specification the configuration was as follows:</p>
      <pre>
{selective_decode,
  {'GUI',
    [{selected_decode_Window1,
         ['Window',
          status,buttonList,
          [1],
          number]},
     {selected_decode_Window2,
         ['Window',
          status,
          actions,
          possibleActions,
          [1],
          handle,number]}]}}.
     {exclusive_decode,
         {'GUI',
            [{decode_Window_status_exclusive,
                ['Window',
                 [{status,
                     [{buttonList,parts},
                      {actions,undecoded}]}]]}]}}.</pre>
      <p>The <c>MEDIA-GATEWAY-CONTROL</c> configuration was as follows:</p>
      <pre>
{exclusive_decode,
  {'MEDIA-GATEWAY-CONTROL',
    [{decode_MegacoMessage_exclusive,
        ['MegacoMessage',
         [{authHeader,undecoded},
          {mess,
             [{mId,undecoded},
              {messageBody,undecoded}]}]]}]}}.
{selective_decode,
  {'MEDIA-GATEWAY-CONTROL',
    [{decode_MegacoMessage_selective,
         ['MegacoMessage',mess,version]}]}}.</pre>
      <p>The corresponding values were as follows:</p>
      <pre>
{'Window',{status,{'Status',12,
              [{'Button',13,true},
               {'Button',14,false},
               {'Button',15,true},
               {'Button',16,false},
               {'Button',13,true},
               {'Button',14,false},
               {'Button',15,true},
               {'Button',16,false},
               {'Button',13,true},
               {'Button',14,false},
               {'Button',15,true},
               {'Button',16,false}],
              true,
              {possibleActions,
                 [{'Action',17,{'Button',18,false}},
                  {'Action',19,{'Button',20,true}},
                  {'Action',21,{'Button',22,false}},
                  {'Action',17,{'Button',18,false}},
                  {'Action',19,{'Button',20,true}},
                  {'Action',21,{'Button',22,false}},
                  {'Action',17,{'Button',18,false}},
                  {'Action',19,{'Button',20,true}},
                  {'Action',21,{'Button',22,false}},
                  {'Action',17,{'Button',18,false}},
                  {'Action',19,{'Button',20,true}},
                  {'Action',21,{'Button',22,false}},
                  {'Action',17,{'Button',18,false}},
                  {'Action',19,{'Button',20,true}},
                  {'Action',21,{'Button',22,false}},
                  {'Action',17,{'Button',18,false}},
                  {'Action',19,{'Button',20,true}},
                  {'Action',21,{'Button',22,false}}]}}}}


{'MegacoMessage',asn1_NOVALUE,
  {'Message',1,
    {ip4Address,
      {'IP4Address',[125,125,125,111],55555}},
  {transactions,
    [{transactionReply,
      {'TransactionReply',50007,asn1_NOVALUE,
       {actionReplies,
        [{'ActionReply',0,asn1_NOVALUE,asn1_NOVALUE,
          [{auditValueReply,{auditResult,{'AuditResult',
            {'TerminationID',[],[255,255,255]},
             [{mediaDescriptor,
               {'MediaDescriptor',asn1_NOVALUE,
                {multiStream,
                 [{'StreamDescriptor',1,
                   {'StreamParms',
                    {'LocalControlDescriptor',
                     sendRecv,
                     asn1_NOVALUE,
                     asn1_NOVALUE,
                     [{'PropertyParm',
                       [0,11,0,7],
                       [[52,48]],
                       asn1_NOVALUE}]},
                    {'LocalRemoteDescriptor',
                     [[{'PropertyParm',
                        [0,0,176,1],
                        [[48]],
                        asn1_NOVALUE},
                       {'PropertyParm',
                         [0,0,176,8],
                         [[73,78,32,73,80,52,32,49,50,53,46,49,
                           50,53,46,49,50,53,46,49,49,49]],
                         asn1_NOVALUE},
                       {'PropertyParm',
                         [0,0,176,15],
                         [[97,117,100,105,111,32,49,49,49,49,32,
                           82,84,80,47,65,86,80,32,32,52]],
                         asn1_NOVALUE},
                       {'PropertyParm',
                         [0,0,176,12],
                         [[112,116,105,109,101,58,51,48]],
                         asn1_NOVALUE}]]},
                    {'LocalRemoteDescriptor',
                     [[{'PropertyParm',
                         [0,0,176,1],
                         [[48]],
                         asn1_NOVALUE},
                       {'PropertyParm',
                         [0,0,176,8],
                         [[73,78,32,73,80,52,32,49,50,52,46,49,50,
                           52,46,49,50,52,46,50,50,50]],
                         asn1_NOVALUE},
                       {'PropertyParm',
                         [0,0,176,15],
                         [[97,117,100,105,111,32,50,50,50,50,32,82,
                           84,80,47,65,86,80,32,32,52]],
                         asn1_NOVALUE},
                       {'PropertyParm',
                         [0,0,176,12],
                         [[112,116,105,109,101,58,51,48]],
                         asn1_NOVALUE}]]}}}]}}},
              {packagesDescriptor,
               [{'PackagesItem',[0,11],1},
                {'PackagesItem',[0,11],1}]},
              {statisticsDescriptor,
               [{'StatisticsParameter',[0,12,0,4],[[49,50,48,48]]},
                {'StatisticsParameter',[0,11,0,2],[[54,50,51,48,48]]},
                {'StatisticsParameter',[0,12,0,5],[[55,48,48]]},
                {'StatisticsParameter',[0,11,0,3],[[52,53,49,48,48]]},
                {'StatisticsParameter',[0,12,0,6],[[48,46,50]]},
                {'StatisticsParameter',[0,12,0,7],[[50,48]]},
                {'StatisticsParameter',[0,12,0,8],[[52,48]]}]}]}}}]}]}}}]}}}</pre>
      <p>The size of the encoded values was 458 bytes for <c>GUI</c> and 464
        bytes for <c>MEDIA-GATEWAY-CONTROL</c>.
        </p>
    </section>

    <section>
      <title>Results</title>
      <p>The ASN.1 specifications in the test were compiled with options
        <c>ber_bin, optimize, driver</c> and <c>asn1config</c>. Omitting
        option <c>driver</c> gives
        higher values for <c>decode</c> and <c>decode_part</c>. These tests have
	not been rerun using NIFs, but are expected to perform about 5% better
	than the linked-in driver.
        </p>
      <p>The test program runs 10000 decodes on the value, resulting
        in an output with the elapsed time in microseconds for the
        total number of decodes.
        </p>
      <table>
        <row>
          <cell align="left" valign="top"><em>Function</em></cell>
          <cell align="left" valign="top"><em>Time</em> (microseconds)</cell>
          <cell align="left" valign="top"><em>Decode Type</em></cell>
          <cell align="left" valign="top"><em>ASN.1 Specification</em></cell>
          <cell align="left" valign="top"><em>% of Time versus Complete Decode</em></cell>
        </row>
        <row>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><c>decode_MegacoMessage_selective/1</c></cell>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><c>374045</c></cell>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><c>Selective</c></cell>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><c>MEDIA-GATEWAY-CONTROL</c></cell>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><em>8.3</em></cell>
        </row>
        <row>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><c>decode_MegacoMessage_exclusive/1</c></cell>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><c>621107</c></cell>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><c>Exclusive</c></cell>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><c>MEDIA-GATEWAY-CONTROL</c></cell>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><em>13.8</em></cell>
        </row>
        <row>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><c>decode/2</c></cell>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><c>4507457</c></cell>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><c>Complete</c></cell>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><c>MEDIA-GATEWAY-CONTROL</c></cell>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><em>100</em></cell>
        </row>
        <row>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><c>selected_decode_Window1/1</c></cell>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><c>449585</c></cell>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><c>Selective</c></cell>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><c>GUI</c></cell>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><em>7.6</em></cell>
        </row>
        <row>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><c>selected_decode_Window2/1</c></cell>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><c>890666</c></cell>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><c>Selective</c></cell>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><c>GUI</c></cell>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><em>15.1</em></cell>
        </row>
        <row>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><c>decode_Window_status_exclusive/1</c></cell>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><c>1251878</c></cell>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><c>Exclusive</c></cell>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><c>GUI</c></cell>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><em>21.3</em></cell>
        </row>
        <row>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><c>decode/2</c></cell>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><c>5889197</c></cell>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><c>Complete</c></cell>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><c>GUI</c></cell>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><em>100</em></cell>
        </row>
        <tcaption>Results of Complete, Exclusive, and Selective Decode</tcaption>
      </table>
      <p>It is also of interest to know the relation is between
        a complete decode, an exclusive decode followed by
        <c>decode_part</c> of the excluded parts, and a selective decode
        followed by a complete decode. Some situations can be compared to
        this simulation, for example, inspect a subvalue and later inspect
        the entire value. The following table shows figures from this
        test. The number of loops and the time unit are the same as in the
        previous test.
        </p>
      <table>
        <row>
          <cell align="left" valign="top"><em>Actions</em></cell>
          <cell align="left" valign="top"><em>Function</em>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</cell>
          <cell align="left" valign="top"><em>Time</em> (microseconds)</cell>
          <cell align="left" valign="top"><em>ASN.1 Specification</em></cell>
          <cell align="left" valign="top"><em>% of Time vs. Complete Decode</em></cell>
        </row>
        <row>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><c>Complete</c></cell>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><c>decode/2</c></cell>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><c>4507457</c></cell>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><c>MEDIA-GATEWAY-CONTROL</c></cell>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><em>100</em></cell>
        </row>
        <row>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><c>Selective and Complete</c></cell>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><c>decode_&shy;MegacoMessage_&shy;selective/1</c></cell>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><c>4881502</c></cell>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><c>MEDIA-GATEWAY-CONTROL</c></cell>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><em>108.3</em></cell>
        </row>
        <row>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><c>Exclusive and decode_part</c></cell>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><c>decode_&shy;MegacoMessage_&shy;exclusive/1</c></cell>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><c>5481034</c></cell>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><c>MEDIA-GATEWAY-CONTROL</c></cell>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><em>112.3</em></cell>
        </row>
        <row>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><c>Complete</c></cell>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><c>decode/2</c></cell>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><c>5889197</c></cell>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><c>GUI</c></cell>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><em>100</em></cell>
        </row>
        <row>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><c>Selective and Complete</c></cell>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><c>selected_&shy;decode_&shy;Window1/1</c></cell>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><c>6337636</c></cell>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><c>GUI</c></cell>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><em>107.6</em></cell>
        </row>
        <row>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><c>Selective and Complete</c></cell>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><c>selected_&shy;decode_&shy;Window2/1</c></cell>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><c>6795319</c></cell>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><c>GUI</c></cell>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><em>115.4</em></cell>
        </row>
        <row>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><c>Exclusive and decode_part</c></cell>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><c>decode_&shy;Window_&shy;status_&shy;exclusive/1</c></cell>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><c>6249200</c></cell>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><c>GUI</c></cell>
          <cell align="left" valign="middle"><em>106.1</em></cell>
        </row>
        <tcaption>Results of Complete, Exclusive + decode_part, and Selective + complete decodes</tcaption>
      </table>
      <p>Other ASN.1 types and values can differ much from these
        figures. It is therefore important that you, in every case where
        you intend to use either of these decodes, perform some tests
        that show if you will benefit your purpose.
        </p>
    </section>

    <section>
      <title>Final Remarks</title>
      <list type="bulleted">
      <item>The gain of using selective and exclusive decode instead of a
        complete decode is greater the bigger the value and the
        less deep in the structure you have to decode.</item>
      <item>Use selective decode instead of exclusive decode if you are
        interested in only a single subvalue.</item>
      <item>Exclusive decode followed by
        <c>decode_part</c> decodes is attractive if the parts are sent
        to different servers for decoding, or if you in some cases are not
        interested in all parts.</item>
      <item>The fastest selective decode is when the decoded type is a
        primitive type and not so deep in the structure of the top
        type. <c>selected_decode_Window2</c> decodes a high constructed
        value, which explains why this operation is relatively slow.</item>
      <item>It can vary from case to case which combination of
        selective/complete decode or exclusive/part decode is the fastest.</item>
      </list>
    </section>
  </section>
</chapter>