cobs

1.2.2 verified Mon Apr 27 auth: no python

Consistent Overhead Byte Stuffing (COBS) implementation for Python. Encodes arbitrary binary data into a form that removes any occurrence of a specific delimiter byte (typically 0x00), with minimal overhead. Current version 1.2.2 supports Python >=3.6. Development is stable with infrequent releases.

pip install cobs

Common errors

error AttributeError: module 'cobs' has no attribute 'encode' ↓

cause Imported cobs package instead of cobs.cobs submodule.

fix

Change to 'import cobs.cobs as cobs' or 'from cobs import cobs'

error ValueError: decoded data contains unexpected zero byte ↓

cause Encoded data includes a delimiter byte (0x00) that is not the final byte, or the decoder was given raw data.

fix

Ensure you pass properly COBS-encoded data. Use cobs.encode() to encode before transmission.

error cobs.decode() returns empty bytes when input contains only a trailing zero ↓

cause A single 0x00 byte decodes to an empty byte string (valid COBS). This might be unexpected.

fix

Check for empty decoded output if protocol expects non-empty data.

Warnings

deprecated COBSR (reducing overhead variant) module cobs.cobsr is less tested and may have edge cases. ↓

fix Use cobs.cobs for compatibility unless you specifically need reduced overhead.

gotcha The encode() function does NOT add a trailing delimiter byte. You must add it yourself if your protocol expects it. ↓

fix encoded = cobs.encode(data) + b'\x00'

gotcha The decode() function expects the encoded data to NOT contain the delimiter byte (except possibly the final byte). Incorrectly encoded data may raise ValueError. ↓

fix Ensure your encoded data does not include delimiter bytes (except the optional trailing delimiter).

Imports

cobs
wrong
```
import cobs
```
correct
```
import cobs.cobs as cobs
```
cobs package has submodules; 'import cobs' only imports the package, not the cobs.encode/decode functions.
cobsr
wrong
```
from cobs import cobsr
```
correct
```
import cobs.cobsr as cobsr
```
cobsr is a submodule; use 'cobs.cobsr' for clarity.

Quickstart

Encode and decode data using COBS. The delimiter byte (0x00) is removed from the encoded output.

import cobs.cobs as cobs

data = b'\x00\x01\x02\x00\x03'
encoded = cobs.encode(data)
print('Encoded:', list(encoded))

decoded = cobs.decode(encoded)
print('Decoded:', list(decoded))