md.shortguid 2.0.1

Short Guid

PM> NuGet\Install-Package md.shortguid

A V4 GUID represented in the form of a short(er), base64-encoded, url-safe, string.
With the option to replace version, and variant data for custom flags.

By default .net's Guid.NewGuid(), creates a Version "4", and Variant "DCE 1.1, ISO/IEC 11578:1996" UUID.
ShortGuid replaces these constant values with custom ones, allowing users to set flags in these locations.

A standard Guid has 36 characters: 2249d2d9-e29a-4c7c-9505-256760d13fad.
A ShortGuid has 22 characters: 2dJJIprifEyVBSVnYNE_rQ.

Guids, and ShortGuids can be converted to one another without any data loss.
ShortGuids are url safe.

Short Guid

var sg1 = new ShortGuid(); // Creates a new ShortGuid, generating a new Guid. 
var sg2 = new ShortGuid(Guid.NewGuid()); // Creates a ShortGuid, from an existing Guid.
var sg3 = ShortGuid.NewGuid(); // Same as the empty constructor, aligns with Guid's api.

Short Guid With Flags

// Int32 type flags, in the range of 0 - 63 (inclusive), allows for 64 unique values.
var flags = 63;
var sg1 = new ShortGuid(flags);

// As an alternative, enums can be used with up to 64 unique fields.
public enum Values
{
    A = 0,
    B = 1,
    ...
    Y = 62,
    Z = 63
}
var valueFlags = Values.Z;
var sg2 = new ShortGuid<Values>(valueFlags);

// You could use a flags enum with up to 7 combined values.
[Flags]
public enum Flags
{
    A = 0,
    B = 1,
    C = 2,
    D = 4,
    E = 8,
    F = 16,
    G = 32
}
var combinedFlags = Flags.A | Flags.B | Flags.C | Flags.D | Flags.E | Flags.F | Flags.G;
var sg3 = new ShortGuid<Flags>(combinedFlags);

Converting between Guids and Short Guids

// This example uses the provided extension methods, but it can be done though the ShortGuid type as well. 

Guid guidIn = Guid.NewGuid(); // e.g. "6a54c832-f9c5-4fc5-bdd2-c546fb513499".
int flagsIn = 42;

// Guid to ShortGuid:
string shortGuid = guidIn.ToShortGuid(flagsIn); // e.g. "MshUasX5xa_90sVG_1E0mQ".

// ShortGuid to Guid:
var (guidOut, flagsOut) = shortGuid.ToGuid();

// ShortGuid contains both the original guid, and flags data; while being 2/3 of the size (when comparing the string formats).
Assert.Equal(guidIn, guidOut);
Assert.Equal(flagsIn, flagsOut);

Version 7 Guid

All the same functionality as the Version 4 Guid, along with the ability to extract the datetime component.

var state = 42;
var now = DateTimeOffset.UtcNow;

var shortGuid1 = ShortGuid.CreateVersion7(now, state); // Create V7 Guid with params.
var shortGuid2 = ShortGuid.CreateVersion7(shortGuid1.Value); // Reconstruct the ShortGuid from the value: "AxSfASdL2KOIsU99dR4SbQ".

(Guid guid, int flags, DateTimeOffset? timestamp, string value) = shortGuid2; // Extract the components from a ShortGuid.
// guid: 019f1403-4b27-73d8-88b1-4f7d751e126d
// flags: 42
// timestamp: 29/06/2026 3:33:08 PM +00:00
// value: AxSfASdL2KOIsU99dR4SbQ

var areEqual = shortGuid1.Guid == shortGuid2.Guid; // True.
areEqual = shortGuid1.Flags == shortGuid2.Flags; // True.
areEqual = shortGuid1.Timestamp == shortGuid2.Timestamp; // True.
areEqual = shortGuid1.Value == shortGuid2.Value; // True.
areEqual = shortGuid1 == shortGuid2; // True.

Credits

• Icon made by Vitaly Gorbachev from Flaticon
• Guid Diagram Example from uuidtools.

Changelog

1.0.0

• ShortGuid type, with the options of using a plain V4 GUID, or one with custom flags.

2.0.0

• Updated framework to dotnet 10.
• Added support for V7 Guids.

2.0.1

• Added datetime extraction from V7 guids.