Question 1

What is a .proto file?

Accepted Answer

A `.proto` file contains definitions for Protocol Buffers (protobuf). Protocol Buffers are Google's language-neutral, platform-neutral, extensible mechanism for serializing structured data – think XML, but smaller, faster, and simpler. You define how you want your data to be structured once, then you can use special generated source code to easily write and read your structured data to and from a variety of data streams and using a variety of languages.

Question 2

How do I use this viewer?

Accepted Answer

Click the "Open Local File" button to select a `.proto` file from your device. Its plain text content, which defines messages and services, will be displayed.

Question 3

Does this tool compile .proto files or generate code?

Accepted Answer

No, this viewer only displays the text content of the `.proto` file. It does not compile the definitions using `protoc` (the protocol buffer compiler) or generate any source code.

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View Any File - Protocol Buffers Definition Viewer

Protocol Buffers (.proto) Viewer FAQs