gstreamer/subprojects/gst-plugins-bad/sys/ipcpipeline/protocol.txt

This documents the protocol used to pass data over fds between ipcpipelinesrc
and ipcpipelinesink.

The protocol is used in both directions. However, some combinations do
not make sense (eg, a buffer going from ipcpipelinesrc to ipcpipelinesink).

The protocol consists of an arbitrary number of variable sized chunks
with a type. Each chunk has a request ID which can be used to match a
request with its reply (ack / query result).

Each chunk consists of:
 - a type (byte):
    1: ack
    2: query result
    3: buffer
    4: event
    5: sink message event
    6: query
    7: state change
    8: state lost
    9: message
   10: error/warning/info message
 - a request ID, 4 bytes, little endian
 - the payload size, 4 bytes, little endian
 - N bytes payload

Depending on the type, the payload can contain:

 - 1: ack
    result: 4 bytes, little endian
      interpreted as GstFlowReturn for buffers, boolean for events and
      GstStateChangeReturn for state changes
 - 2: query result
    result boolean: 1 byte
    query type: 4 bytes, little endian
    returned query string representation, NUL terminated
 - 3: buffer:
    pts: 8 bytes, little endian
    dts: 8 bytes, little endian
    duration: 8 bytes, little endian
    offset: 8 bytes, little endian
    offset end: 8 bytes, little endian
    flags: 8 bytes, little endian
    buffer size: 4 bytes, little endian
    data: contents of the buffer data, size specified in "buffer size"
    number of GstMeta: 4 bytes, little endian
      For each GstMeta:
        bytes: 4 bytes, little endian
          this is the number of bytes before the string representation
          at the end of this block, including the 4 bytes of itself
        flags: 4 bytes, little endian
        length of the GstMetaInfo::api name: 4 bytes, little endian
        GstMetaInfo::api name: string, NUL terminated
        GstMetaInfo::size: 8 bytes, little endian
        length of the string representation: 4 bytes, little endian
        string representation, NUL terminated
 - 4: event
    event type: 4 bytes, little endian
    sequence number: 4 bytes, little endian
    direction: 1 byte
      whether the event is going upstream (1) or downstream (0)
    string representation, NUL terminated
 - 5: sink message event
    message type: 4 bytes, little endian
    event sequence number: 4 bytes, little endian
    message sequence number: 4 bytes, little endian
    length: 4 bytes, little endian
    event structure name: length bytes, NUL terminated
    message structure string representation: remaining bytes, NUL terminated
 - 6: query
    query type: 4 bytes, little endian
    direction: 1 byte
      whether the query is going upstream (1) or downstream (0)
    string representation, NUL terminated
 - 7: state change
    GstStateChange: 4 bytes, little endian
 - 8: state lost
    no payload
 - 9: message
    message type: 4 bytes, little endian
    string representation, NUL terminated
 - 10: error/warning/info message
    message type (2 = error, 1 = warning, 0 = info): 1 byte
    error domain string length: 4 bytes, little endian
    string representation of the error domain, NUL terminated
    error code: 4 bytes, little endian
    length: 4 bytes, little endian
      if zero: no error message
      if non zero: As many bytes as this length: the error message, NUL terminated
    length: 4 bytes, little endian
      if zero: no extra message
      if non zero: As many bytes as this length: the error extra debug message, NUL terminated