vbo-reader

A TypeScript library for parsing VBOX (.vbo) data files. This package provides a simple and type-safe way to read and parse VBOX data files, commonly used in automotive testing and data logging.

Installation

npm install vbo-reader

Features

• Full TypeScript support with type definitions
• Parse VBO file headers and data
• Convert coordinates to decimal degrees
• Parse lap timing information with start/finish coordinates
• Handle raw data mode for preserving original string values
• Support for both synchronous and asynchronous file reading
• Comprehensive error handling
• Zero dependencies

Usage

Basic Usage

import { VBOReader } from 'vbo-reader';

// Parse from file (async)
const data = await VBOReader.parseFile('path/to/file.vbo');

// Parse from file (sync)
const data = VBOReader.parseFileSync('path/to/file.vbo');

// Parse from string
const content = `File created on 31/07/2006 at 09:55:20
[header]
...
[data]
137 162235.40 +03119.09973 +00058.49277 000.140 321.85 +00152.58 +000.000 00000
`;
const data = VBOReader.parse(content);

// Access parsed data
console.log(data.header.creationDate);
console.log(data.header.vboxInfo);
console.log(data.data[0]); // First data row

Parser Options

const options = {
  // Convert lat/long to decimal degrees (default: true)
  convertCoordinates: true,
  
  // Return raw string data instead of parsed numbers (default: false)
  rawData: false
};

const data = VBOReader.parse(content, options);

Working with Data

// Header information
interface VBOHeader {
  creationDate: Date;
  vboxInfo: {
    version: string;
    gpsType: string;
    serialNumber: string;
    cfVersion: string;
    logRate: number;
    softwareVersion?: string;
  };
  columnNames: string[];
  channelUnits?: string[];
  comments: string[];
  securityCode?: string;
  lapTiming?: LapTimingPoint[]; // Lap timing information
}

// Lap timing point structure
interface LapTimingPoint {
  label: string;
  startCoordinates: {
    latitude: string;
    longitude: string;
  };
  endCoordinates: {
    latitude: string;
    longitude: string;
  };
  description?: string;
}

// Data row structure
interface VBODataRow {
  satellites: {
    count: number;
    hasDGPS: boolean;
    brakeTrigger: boolean;
  };
  time: string;
  latitude: number;
  longitude: number;
  velocity: number | string;
  heading: number | string;
  height: number | string;
  verticalVelocity: number | string;
  triggerEventTime: number | string;
  [key: string]: any; // Additional input channels
}

Error Handling

import { VBOReader, VBOParserError } from 'vbo-reader';

try {
  const data = await VBOReader.parseFile('path/to/file.vbo');
} catch (error) {
  if (error instanceof VBOParserError) {
    console.error('VBO parsing error:', error.message);
    console.error('Section:', error.section); // 'header' or 'data'
  } else {
    console.error('Unknown error:', error);
  }
}

File Format

The VBO file format consists of two main sections:

1. Header Section:

   • File creation timestamp
   • VBOX information (version, GPS type, serial number)
   • Column definitions
   • Channel units
   • Comments and metadata

2. Data Section:

   • Space-delimited data rows
   • Each row contains values corresponding to the defined columns
   • Special formatting for coordinates and satellite information

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

License

MIT