Flydent

A Rust port of the Python flydenity library for parsing aircraft registration callsigns and ICAO 24-bit identifiers.

Features

• Parse aircraft callsigns (e.g., "T6ABC" → Afghanistan)
• Parse ICAO 24-bit identifiers (e.g., "700123" → Afghanistan)
• Identify countries with ISO codes and descriptions
• Identify organizations (like ICAO, UN, etc.)
• Zero runtime overhead - CSV data is parsed at compile time using macros
• No external files required - all data is embedded in the binary
• Command-line interface compatible with the original Python version

Installation

cargo build --release

Usage

As a Library

use flydent::{Parser, EntityResult};

let parser = Parser::new();

// Parse a callsign
if let Some(result) = parser.parse_simple("T6ABC") {
    match result {
        EntityResult::Country { nation, iso2, iso3, description } => {
            println!("Country: {} ({}/{}) - {}", nation, iso2, iso3, description);
        }
        EntityResult::Organization { name, description } => {
            println!("Organization: {} - {}", name, description);
        }
    }
}

// Parse ICAO 24-bit identifier
if let Some(result) = parser.parse("700123", false, true) {
    println!("ICAO result: {:?}", result);
}

Command Line Interface

# Parse aircraft callsigns
./target/release/flydent T6ABC N123ABC 4Y123

# Parse ICAO 24-bit identifiers
./target/release/flydent --icao24bit 700123

# Show help
./target/release/flydent --help

Examples

$ ./target/release/flydent T6ABC
{"T6ABC":{"description":"general","iso2":"AF","iso3":"AFG","nation":"Afghanistan"}}

$ ./target/release/flydent 4Y123
{"4Y123":{"description":"general","name":"International Civil Aviation Organization"}}

$ ./target/release/flydent --icao24bit 700123
{"700123":{"description":"general","iso2":"AF","iso3":"AFG","nation":"Afghanistan"}}

Implementation Details

This Rust port uses compile-time macros to parse the CSV data files and generate efficient lookup structures:

• Compile-time CSV parsing: The CSV files are parsed at compile time using macros
• Static lookup tables: Hash maps are built once using once_cell::sync::Lazy
• Regex compilation: Regular expressions are compiled on-demand and cached
• Zero-copy parsing: String slices are used where possible to minimize allocations

The binary includes no external dependencies at runtime - all ITU data is embedded directly in the executable.

Compatibility

This implementation maintains full compatibility with the original Python flydenity library:

• Same input/output format
• Same parsing logic and priority handling
• Same regex patterns and matching behavior
• Compatible JSON output format

Performance

The Rust version offers significant performance improvements:

• Faster startup: No Python interpreter overhead
• Lower memory usage: Optimized data structures and zero-copy parsing
• Faster parsing: Native code execution and efficient hash lookups
• Smaller binary: Single executable with all data embedded

Testing

cargo test

The test suite includes:

• CSV parsing validation
• Callsign parsing accuracy
• ICAO 24-bit identifier parsing
• Compatibility verification with Python version outputs

Data Sources

Uses the same ITU (International Telecommunication Union) datasets as the original:

• processed_itu_countries_regex.csv - Country callsign patterns and ICAO ranges
• processed_itu_organizations_regex.csv - International organization patterns

License and Prior Art

This project maintains the same license as the original Flydenity project by Colleen Roller, from which this code was ported and data was copied.