Add comments for messages

[pkess]

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.

I am using this library to analyze can traces in several formats. Sometimes i would like to add some comments to can messages that are then printed inside an output trace file. This is supported for example by the asc file format.

Describe the solution you'd like

The class Message should get an attribute comment by default (e.g. None by default)

Describe alternatives you've considered

right now i am using some hack to write to the file object inside the writer classes but this is quite unstable when the library changes

Additional context

I would like to implement this and add it to the reader and writer classes as well but first i would like to get some feedback on this feature request.

[j-c-cook]

Can you provide an example .asc file that contains comments for CAN messages? Which program are you using that supports comments in the .asc file format? Are there any other file formats that allow comments?

[pkess]

Hello @j-c-cook unfortunatelly i do not have any asc file that contains comments. But there is a knowledge base article at vector that says it is possible: https://support.vector.com/kb?id=kb_article_view&sysparm_article=KB0011536&sys_kb_id=b6d21110870d4550b9f233770cbb3523&spa=1 And it says the blf format is supporting comments as well

And the trc file format from peak at leas supports comments as separate lines (comment for a message can be added write after the message line for example): https://www.peak-system.com/produktcd/Pdf/English/PEAK_CAN_TRC_File_Format.pdf