Reading protobuf Message file in Python

Question

I have a pb file abc.pb file.

I need to read the file by retaining its format i.e. dont want to convert pb file to string and then again reconverting it.

Currently I m trying options with

    with open(data, "rb") as file_handle:
        data = file_handle.read()

But this converts that into bytes. How to read them as Message. Can someone please help?

Can you specify what you want to do with it? Is this a trained model in pb format or something else? — Yana
– Yana, Commented Jan 6, 2023 at 12:11

DazWilkin · Accepted Answer · 2023-01-06 19:47:07Z

2

Protobuf is a binary encoding and -- generally -- you'll use a schema (types) to decode messages.

Protobuf types are described in proto files and compiled (using protoc) into langauge-specific stubs that can be used to encode|decode messages.

There are ways to decode binary files without a schema but it's more challenging.

So:

Either: See whether you can obtain the Python stubs for the pb file you're trying to decode

Or: If you have proto files, use protoc (see example above) to generate the Python stubs

Or: Use a tool like's Marc's (above) or some other library that will decode encoded arbitary messages for you.

answered Jan 6, 2023 at 19:47

DazWilkin

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