* Adding optional binary option to a2s_rules function
* Adding "u" prefix to expected string value to keep legacy Python compatibility
* Setting upper limit on protobuf version to keep legacy Python compatibility because protobuf version 3.18 dropped 2.7 support
* Adding docs for new a2s_rules optional binary argument
* Correcting return type for a2s_rules function
* Setting upper limit on protobuf version to keep legacy Python compatibility because protobuf version 3.18 dropped 2.7 support
* Lifting protobuf upper version limit for Python 3, per PR comment
* Removing duplicate binary check, per PR comment
* Lifting protobuf upper version limit for Python 3, per PR comment