initial commit

Author: Trimatix

.gitignore

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+.vscode/*
+encoder.exe
+encoder.ilk
+encoder.obj
+encoder.pdb
+vc140.pdb
+open-vscode-workspace.bat

README.md

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+# jRLE
+## A Simple Run-Length Encoder
+Simple run-length encoder written in C++, written for an employment test.
+
+## How To Download And Use
+Download the latest release from [the releases tab](https://github.com/Trimatix/cpp-run-length-encoder/releases).
+
+To use, invoke jRLE.exe from the command line with the function as your first argument, and your file path as the second argument.
+- Function must be either `-e` for encoding, or `-d` for decoding.
+- File must have the extension ".txt" and use ASCII encoding.
+
+## Terminology
+### Tokens
+In this program, the term "token" refers to a description of a string containing one or more of a single character.
+Note: While unencoded and encoded tokens are generally distinguished, it is reasonable to encode an already encoded string. However, a string must be encoded at least once before it can be decoded.
+
++ An example of an unencoded token ("dToken"): aaa
++ An example of an encoded token ("eToken"): 3a
+
+### Encoding Format
+- For character sequences of length less than 9, the encoding is the character count followed by the character.
+
+E.g: "aaa" -> "3a"
+
+- For character sequences of length more than 9, the encoding is prefixed by a '#' character.
+
+E.g: "aaaaaaaaaa" -> "#10a"
+
+- For sequences of digit characters, the string is postfixed by a '#' character.
+
+E.g: "111" -> "31#"
+
+- For sequences of # characters, the string is postfixed by a '#' character.
+
+E.g: "###" -> "3##"
+
+### Long Sequences
+"Long sequence" refers to a string containing 10 or more of a single character.
+
++ An example of an unencoded long sequence: aaaaaaaaaa
++ An example of an encoded long sequence: #10a
+
+### #-Cases
+1. "#-case a" refers to the special case where a token is a long sequence
+2. "#-case b"                            where a token consists of '#' chars
+3. "#-case-c"                            where a token consists of a number
+
+#-case c is an issue, as the token must be separated from the next, lest the token be confused with the next one's char count.
+ 
+ Written by Jasper Law 2020
+ 
+ https://github.com/Trimatix/cpp-run-length-encoder