Add an example of handling doubles on AVR platform.

1 files changed, 22 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/example_avr_double/README.txt b/example_avr_double/README.txt
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+Some processors/compilers, such as AVR-GCC, do not support the double
+datatype. Instead, they have sizeof(double) == 4. Because protocol
+binary format uses the double encoding directly, this causes trouble
+if the protocol in .proto requires double fields.
+
+This directory contains a solution to this problem. It uses uint64_t
+to store the raw wire values, because its size is correct on all
+platforms. The file double_conversion.c provides functions that
+convert these values to/from floats, without relying on compiler
+support.
+
+To use this method, you need to make two modifications to your code:
+
+1) Change all 'double' fields into 'fixed64' in the .proto.
+
+2) Whenever writing to a 'double' field, use float_to_double().
+
+3) Whenever reading a 'double' field, use double_to_float().
+
+The conversion routines should be as accurate as the float datatype can
+be. Furthermore, they should handle all special values (NaN, inf, denormalized
+numbers) correctly. There are testcases in test_conversions.c.