Switch the existing Message struct with a protocol buffer Message struct
check error return when extracting the field's value array
Add GetFieldValue helper function and additional unit tests
Remove tmp work files
Map the old JSON field format into the protocol buffer format

The JSON map is flattened into a series of name/value pairs to conform with
the protocol buffer array of attributes.  The dot notation in the name represents
the flattened hierarchy i.e., "item.name"
Add a Protobuf decoder
Add protobuf encoders, decoders, and TCP transport
Remove bytes import
Merge branch 'features/protocol-buffers' into features/serial

Conflicts:
	pipeline/pipeline_runner.go