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doc: Add a guide to designing D-Bus APIs

Browse source 
This guide gives some pointers on how to write D-Bus APIs which are nice
to use.

It adds an optional dependency on Ducktype and yelp-build from
yelp-tools. These are used when available, but are not required unless
--enable-ducktype-docs is passed to configure. They are required for
uploading the docs, however.

Bug: https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=88994
Reviewed-by: Simon McVittie <simon.mcvittie@collabora.co.uk>
This commit is contained in:
Philip Withnall 2015-02-05 12:08:03 +00:00 • committed by Simon McVittie
parent 4453665b17
commit bd707406a4
4 changed files with 970 additions and 4 deletions
Show stats Download patch file Download diff file Expand all files Collapse all files

42
configure.ac
View file

@ -150,6 +150,10 @@ AC_ARG_ENABLE(asserts, AS_HELP_STRING([--enable-asserts],[include assertion chec
AC_ARG_ENABLE(checks, AS_HELP_STRING([--enable-checks],[include sanity checks on public API]),enable_checks=$enableval,enable_checks=yes)
AC_ARG_ENABLE(xml-docs, AS_HELP_STRING([--enable-xml-docs],[build XML documentation (requires xmlto)]),enable_xml_docs=$enableval,enable_xml_docs=auto)
AC_ARG_ENABLE(doxygen-docs, AS_HELP_STRING([--enable-doxygen-docs],[build DOXYGEN documentation (requires Doxygen)]),enable_doxygen_docs=$enableval,enable_doxygen_docs=auto)
AC_ARG_ENABLE([ducktype-docs],
AS_HELP_STRING([--enable-ducktype-docs],
[build Ducktype documentation (requires Ducktype)]),
[enable_ducktype_docs=$enableval], [enable_ducktype_docs=auto])
AC_ARG_ENABLE(abstract-sockets, AS_HELP_STRING([--enable-abstract-sockets],[use abstract socket namespace (linux only)]),enable_abstract_sockets=$enableval,enable_abstract_sockets=auto)
AC_ARG_ENABLE(selinux, AS_HELP_STRING([--enable-selinux],[build with SELinux support]),enable_selinux=$enableval,enable_selinux=auto)
AC_ARG_ENABLE(libaudit,AS_HELP_STRING([--enable-libaudit],[build audit daemon support for SELinux]),enable_libaudit=$enableval,enable_libaudit=auto)
@ -1421,6 +1425,36 @@ AC_MSG_RESULT($enable_doxygen_docs)
AC_CHECK_PROGS([XSLTPROC], [xsltproc])
AM_CONDITIONAL([DBUS_HAVE_XSLTPROC], [test "x$XSLTPROC" != "x"])
### Ducktype/Yelp documentation
AC_PATH_PROG([DUCKTYPE],[ducktype],[no])
AC_PATH_PROG([YELP_BUILD],[yelp-build],[no])
AC_MSG_CHECKING([whether to build Ducktype documentation])
AS_IF([test "$DUCKTYPE" = "no"],[have_ducktype=no],[have_ducktype=yes])
AS_IF([test "$YELP_BUILD" = "no"],[have_yelp_build=no],[have_yelp_build=yes])
AS_IF([test "$enable_ducktype_docs" = "auto"],[
AS_IF([test "$have_ducktype" = "no" || test "$have_yelp_build" = "no"],[
enable_ducktype_docs=no
],[
enable_ducktype_docs=yes
])
])
AS_IF([test "$enable_ducktype_docs" = "yes"],[
AS_IF([test "$have_ducktype" = "no"],[
AC_MSG_ERROR([Building Ducktype docs explicitly required, but ducktype not found])
])
AS_IF([test "$have_yelp_build" = "no"],[
AC_MSG_ERROR([Building Ducktype docs explicitly required, but yelp-build not found])
])
])
AM_CONDITIONAL([DBUS_DUCKTYPE_DOCS_ENABLED],[test "$enable_ducktype_docs" = "yes"])
AC_MSG_RESULT([$enable_ducktype_docs])
### XML Documentation
AC_PATH_PROG(XMLTO, xmlto, no)
@ -1451,7 +1485,8 @@ AM_CONDITIONAL(DBUS_XML_DOCS_ENABLED, test x$enable_xml_docs = xyes)
AC_MSG_RESULT($enable_xml_docs)
AM_CONDITIONAL(DBUS_CAN_UPLOAD_DOCS,
[test x$enable_doxygen_docs = xyes && test x$enable_xml_docs = xyes])
[test x$enable_doxygen_docs = xyes && test x$enable_xml_docs = xyes &&
test x$enable_ducktype_docs = xyes])
#### Have to go $localstatedir->$prefix/var->/usr/local/var
@ -1818,7 +1853,9 @@ echo "
32-bit int: ${DBUS_INT32_TYPE}
16-bit int: ${DBUS_INT16_TYPE}
Doxygen: ${DOXYGEN:-not found}
xmlto: ${XMLTO:-not found}"
xmlto: ${XMLTO:-not found}
ducktype: ${DUCKTYPE:-not found}
yelp-build: ${YELP_BUILD:-not found}"
echo "
Rebuilding generated files: ${USE_MAINTAINER_MODE}
@ -1838,6 +1875,7 @@ echo "
Building systemd support: ${have_systemd}
Building X11 code: ${have_x11}
Building Doxygen docs: ${enable_doxygen_docs}
Building Ducktype docs: ${enable_ducktype_docs}
Building XML docs: ${enable_xml_docs}
Building launchd support: ${have_launchd}
Init scripts style: ${with_init_scripts}

9
doc/.gitignore vendored
View file

@ -17,3 +17,12 @@ dbus-faq.html
dbus-docs
dbus-docs.tar.gz
doxygen.stamp
dbus-api-design.page
dbus-api-design.html
jquery.js
jquery.syntax.brush.html.js
jquery.syntax.core.js
jquery.syntax.js
jquery.syntax.layout.yelp.js
yelp.js
C.css

35
doc/Makefile.am
View file

@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ STATIC_DOCS = \
dbus-specification.xml \
dbus-test-plan.xml \
dbus-tutorial.xml \
dbus-api-design.duck \
dcop-howto.txt \
introspect.xsl \
$(DTDS)
@ -51,8 +52,24 @@ STATIC_HTML = \
diagram.svg \
$(NULL)
# Static HTML helper files generated by yelp-build.
YELP_STATIC_HTML = \
yelp.js \
C.css \
jquery.js \
jquery.syntax.js \
jquery.syntax.brush.html.js \
jquery.syntax.core.js \
jquery.syntax.layout.yelp.js \
$(NULL)
dist_html_DATA += $(STATIC_HTML)
# Content HTML files generated by yelp-build.
YELP_HTML = \
dbus-api-design.html \
$(NULL)
XMLTO_HTML = \
dbus-faq.html \
dbus-specification.html \
@ -85,6 +102,16 @@ dbus.devhelp: $(srcdir)/doxygen_to_devhelp.xsl doxygen.stamp
$(XSLTPROC) -o $@ $< api/xml/index.xml
endif
if DBUS_DUCKTYPE_DOCS_ENABLED
html_DATA += $(YELP_HTML) $(YELP_STATIC_HTML)
%.page: %.duck
$(DUCKTYPE) -o $@ $<
%.html: %.page
$(YELP_BUILD) html $<
$(YELP_STATIC_HTML): $(YELP_HTML)
endif
# this assumes CREATE_SUBDIRS isn't set to YES in Doxyfile
# (which it isn't currently)
install-data-local:: doxygen.stamp
@ -113,13 +140,15 @@ BONUS_FILES = \
$(top_srcdir)/COPYING \
$(top_srcdir)/ChangeLog
dbus-docs: $(STATIC_DOCS) $(MAN_XML_FILES) $(dist_doc_DATA) $(dist_html_DATA) $(MAN_HTML_FILES) $(BONUS_FILES) doxygen.stamp $(XMLTO_HTML)
dbus-docs: $(STATIC_DOCS) $(MAN_XML_FILES) $(dist_doc_DATA) $(dist_html_DATA) $(MAN_HTML_FILES) $(BONUS_FILES) doxygen.stamp $(XMLTO_HTML) $(YELP_HTML) $(YELP_STATIC_HTML)
$(AM_V_at)rm -rf $@ $@.tmp
$(AM_V_GEN)$(MKDIR_P) $@.tmp/api
$(AM_V_at)cd $(srcdir) && cp $(STATIC_DOCS) @abs_builddir@/$@.tmp
$(AM_V_at)cd $(srcdir) && cp $(dist_doc_DATA) @abs_builddir@/$@.tmp
$(AM_V_at)cd $(srcdir) && cp $(STATIC_HTML) @abs_builddir@/$@.tmp
$(AM_V_at)cp $(XMLTO_HTML) @abs_builddir@/$@.tmp
$(AM_V_at)cp $(YELP_HTML) @abs_builddir@/$@.tmp
$(AM_V_at)cp $(YELP_STATIC_HTML) @abs_builddir@/$@.tmp
$(AM_V_at)cp $(MAN_HTML_FILES) @abs_builddir@/$@.tmp
$(AM_V_at)cp $(MAN_XML_FILES) @abs_builddir@/$@.tmp
$(AM_V_at)cp $(BONUS_FILES) @abs_builddir@/$@.tmp
@ -143,7 +172,7 @@ maintainer-upload-docs: dbus-docs.tar.gz dbus-docs
else
maintainer-upload-docs:
@echo "Can't upload documentation! Re-run configure with"
@echo " --enable-doxygen-docs --enable-xml-docs"
@echo " --enable-doxygen-docs --enable-xml-docs --enable-ducktype-docs"
@echo "and ensure that man2html is installed."
@false
endif
@ -152,6 +181,8 @@ CLEANFILES = \
$(man1_MANS) \
$(MAN_XML_FILES) \
$(XMLTO_HTML) \
$(YELP_HTML) \
$(YELP_STATIC_HTML) \
$(NULL)
clean-local:

888
doc/dbus-api-design.duck Normal file
View file

@ -0,0 +1,888 @@
= D-Bus API Design Guidelines
@link[guide >index]
@credit[type="author copyright"]
@name Philip Withnall
@email philip.withnall@collabora.co.uk
@years 2015
@desc Guidelines for writing high quality D-Bus APIs
@revision[date=2015-02-05 status=draft]
[synopsis]
[title]
Summary
The most common use for D-Bus is in implementing a service which will be
consumed by multiple client programs, and hence all interfaces exported on the
bus form a public API. Designing a D-Bus API is like designing any other API:
there is a lot of flexibility, but there are design patterns to follow and
anti-patterns to avoid.
This guide aims to explain the best practices for writing D-Bus APIs. These
have been refined over several years of use of D-Bus in many projects.
Pointers will be given for implementing APIs using common D-Bus
libraries like
$link[>>https://developer.gnome.org/gio/stable/gdbus-convenience.html](GDBus),
but detailed implementation instructions are left to the libraries’
documentation. Note that you should $em(not) use dbus-glib to implement D-Bus
services as it is deprecated and unmaintained. Most services should also avoid
libdbus (dbus-1), which is a low-level library and is awkward to use
correctly: it is designed to be used via a language binding such as
$link[>>http://qt-project.org/doc/qt-4.8/qtdbus.html](QtDBus).
For documentation on D-Bus itself, see the
$link[>>http://dbus.freedesktop.org/doc/dbus-specification.html](D-Bus
specification).
[links section]
== APIs
[id="apis"]
A D-Bus API is a specification of one or more interfaces, which will be
implemented by objects exposed by a service on the bus. Typically an API is
designed as a set of $link[>#interface-files](interface files), and the
implementation of the service follows those files. Some projects, however,
choose to define the API in the code for the service, and to export XML
interface files from the running service
$link[>>http://dbus.freedesktop.org/doc/dbus-specification.html#standard-interfaces-introspectable](using
D-Bus introspection). Both are valid approaches.
For simplicity, this document uses the XML descriptions of D-Bus interfaces as
the canonical representation.
== Interface files
[id="interface-files"]
A D-Bus interface file is an XML file which describes one or more D-Bus
interfaces, and is the best way of describing a D-Bus API in a machine
readable way. The format is described in the
$link[>>http://dbus.freedesktop.org/doc/dbus-specification.html#introspection-format](D-Bus
specification), and is supported by tools such as $cmd(gdbus-codegen).
Interface files for public API should be installed to
$code($var($$(datadir$))/dbus-1/interfaces) so that other services can load
them. Private APIs should not be installed. There should be one file installed
per D-Bus interface, named after the interface, containing a single top-level
$code(<node>) element with a single $code(<interface>) beneath it. For example,
interface $code(com.example.MyService1.Manager) would be described by file
$file($var($$(datadir$))/dbus-1/interfaces/com.example.MyService1.Manager.xml):
[listing]
[title]
Example D-Bus Interface XML
[desc]
A brief example interface XML document.
[code mime="application/xml"]
<!DOCTYPE node PUBLIC
"-//freedesktop//DTD D-BUS Object Introspection 1.0//EN"
"http://www.freedesktop.org/standards/dbus/1.0/introspect.dtd" >
<node xmlns:doc="http://www.freedesktop.org/dbus/1.0/doc.dtd">
<interface name="com.example.MyService1.InterestingInterface">
<method name="AddContact">
<arg name="name" direction="in" type="s">
<doc:doc><doc:summary>Name of new contact</doc:summary></doc:doc>
</arg>
<arg name="email" direction="in" type="s">
<doc:doc><doc:summary>E-mail address of new contact</doc:summary></doc:doc>
</arg>
<arg name="id" direction="out" type="u">
<doc:doc><doc:summary>ID of newly added contact</doc:summary></doc:doc>
</arg>
<doc:doc>
<doc:description>
<doc:para>
Adds a new contact to the address book with their name and
e-mail address.
</doc:para>
</doc:description>
</doc:doc>
</method>
</interface>
</node>
If an interface defined by service A needs to be used by client B, client B
should declare a build time dependency on service A, and use the installed copy
of the interface file for any code generation it has to do. It should $em(not)
have a local copy of the interface, as that could then go out of sync with the
canonical copy in service A’s git repository.
== API versioning
[id="api-versioning"]
$link[>>http://ometer.com/parallel.html](Just like C APIs), D-Bus interfaces
should be designed to be usable in parallel with API-incompatible versions. This
is achieved by including a version number in each interface name, service name
and object path which is incremented on every backwards-incompatible change.
Version numbers should be included in all APIs from the first release, as that
means moving to a new version is as simple as incrementing the number, rather
than inserting a number everywhere, which takes more effort.
New API can be added to a D-Bus interface without incrementing the version
number, as such additions are still backwards-compatible. However, clients
should gracefully handle the $code(org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.UnknownMethod)
error reply from all D-Bus method calls if they want to run against older
versions of the service which don’t implement new methods. (This also prevents
use of generated bindings; any method which a client wants to gracefully fall
back from should be called using a generic D-Bus method invocation rather than
a specific generated binding.)
When API is broken, changed or removed, the service’s version number must be
bumped; for example, from $code(com.example.MyService1)
to $code(com.example.MyService2). If backwards compatibility is maintained in
the service by implementing both the old and new interfaces, the service can
own $em(both) well-known names and clients can use whichever they support.
As discussed in $link[>#annotations], new or deprecated APIs should be marked in
the interface XML using annotations.
Note, however, that supporting multiple interface versions simultaneously
requires that $em(object paths) are versioned as well, so objects $em(must not)
be put on the bus at the root path (‘/’). This is for technical reasons: signals
sent from a D-Bus service have the originating service name overwritten by its
unique name (e.g. $code(com.example.MyService2) is overwritten by $code(:1:15)).
If object paths are shared between objects implementing two versions of the
service’s interface, client programs cannot tell which object a signal has come
from. The solution is to include the version number in all object paths, for
example $code(/com/example/MyService1/Manager) instead of $code(/) or
$code(/com/example/MyService/Manager).
In summary, version numbers should be included in all service names, interface
names and object paths:
[list]
* $code(com.example.MyService1)
* $code(com.example.MyService1.InterestingInterface)
* $code(com.example.MyService1.OtherInterface)
* $code(/com/example/MyService1/Manager)
* $code(/com/example/MyService1/OtherObject)
== API design
[id="api-design"]
D-Bus API design is broadly the same as C API design, but there are a few
additional points to bear in mind which arise both from D-Bus’ features
(explicit errors, signals and properties), and from its implementation as an IPC
system.
D-Bus method calls are much more expensive than C function calls, typically
taking on the order of milliseconds to complete a round trip. Therefore, the
design should minimize the number of method calls needed to perform an
operation.
The type system is very expressive, especially compared to C’s, and APIs should
take full advantage of it.
Similarly, its support for signals and properties differentiates it from normal
C APIs, and well written D-Bus APIs make full use of these features where
appropriate. They can be coupled with standard interfaces defined in the D-Bus
specification to allow for consistent access to properties and objects in a
hierarchy.
=== Minimizing Round Trips
[id="round-trips"]
Each D-Bus method call is a round trip from a client program to a service and
back again, which is expensive — taking on the order of a millisecond. One of
the top priorities in D-Bus API design is to minimize the number of round trips
needed by clients. This can be achieved by a combination of providing specific
convenience APIs and designing APIs which operate on large data sets in a single
call, rather than requiring as many calls as elements in the data set.
Consider an address book API, $code(com.example.MyService1.AddressBook). It
might have an $code(AddContact(ss$) → (u$)) method to add a contact (taking name
and e-mail address parameters and returning a unique contact ID), and a
$code(RemoveContact(u$)) method to remove one by ID. In the normal case of
operating on single contacts in the address book, these calls are optimal.
However, if the user wants to import a list of contacts, or delete multiple
contacts simultaneously, one call has to be made per contact — this could take
a long time for large contact lists.
Instead of the $code(AddContact) and $code(RemoveContact) methods, the interface
could have an $code(UpdateContacts(a(ss$)au$) → (au$)) method, which takes an array
of structs containing the new contacts’ details, and an array of IDs of the
contacts to delete, and returns an array of IDs for the new contacts. This
reduces the number of round trips needed to one.
Adding convenience APIs to replace a series of common method calls with a single
method call specifically for that task is best done after the API has been
profiled and bottlenecks identified, otherwise it could lead to premature
optimization. One area where convenience methods can typically be added
is during initialization of a client, where multiple method calls are needed to
establish its state with the service.
=== Taking Advantage of the Type System
[id="type-system"]
D-Bus’ type system is similar to Python’s, but with a terser syntax which may be
unfamiliar to C developers. The key to using the type system effectively is
to expose as much structure in types as possible. In particular, sending
structured strings over D-Bus should be avoided, as they need to be built and
parsed; both are complex operations which are prone to bugs.
For APIs being used in constrained situations, enumerated values should be
transmitted as unsigned integers. For APIs which need to be extended by third
parties or which are used in more loosely coupled systems, enumerated values
should be strings in some defined format.
Transmitting values as integers means string parsing and matching can be
avoided, the messages are more compact, and typos can be more easily avoided by
developers (if, for example, C enums are used in the implementation).
Transmitting values as strings means additional values can be defined by third
parties without fear of conflicting over integer values; for instance by using
the same reverse-domain-name namespacing as D-Bus interfaces.
In both cases, the interface documentation should describe the meaning of each
value. It should state whether the type can be extended in future and, if so,
how the service and client should handle unrecognized values — typically by
considering them equal to an ‘unknown’ or ‘failure’ value. Conventionally, zero
is used as the ‘unknown’ value.
[example]
For example, instead of:
[code style="invalid" mime="application/xml"]
<!--
Status:
Status of the object.
Valid statuses: ‘unknown’, ‘ready’, ‘complete’.
-->
<property name="Status" type="s" access="read" />
Use:
[code style="valid" mime="application/xml"]
<!--
Status:
Status of the object.
Valid statuses: 0 = Unknown, 1 = Ready, 2 = Complete.
Unrecognized statuses should be considered equal to Unknown.
-->
<property name="Status" type="u" access="read" />
Similarly, enumerated values should be used instead of booleans, as they allow
extra values to be added in future, and there is no ambiguity about the sense of
the boolean value.
[example]
For example, instead of:
[code style="invalid" mime="application/xml"]
<!--
MoveAddressBook:
@direction: %TRUE to move it up in the list, %FALSE to move it down
Move this address book up or down in the user’s list of address books.
Higher address books have their contacts displayed first in search
results.
-->
<method name="MoveAddressBook">
<arg name="direction" type="b" direction="in" />
</method>
Be more explicit than a boolean:
[code style="valid" mime="application/xml"]
<!--
MoveAddressBook:
@direction: 0 = Move it up in the list, 1 = Move it down
Move this address book up or down in the user’s list of address books.
Higher address books have their contacts displayed first in search
results.
Unrecognized enum values for @direction will result in the address book
not moving.
-->
<method name="MoveAddressBook">
<arg name="direction" type="u" direction="in" />
</method>
Enumerated values should also be used instead of $em(human readable) strings,
which should not be sent over the bus if possible. The service and client could
be running in different locales, and hence interpret any human readable strings
differently, or present them to the user in the wrong language. Transmit an
enumerated value and convert it to a human readable string in the client.
In situations where a service has received a human readable string from
somewhere else, it should pass it on unmodified to the client, ideally with its
locale alongside. Passing human readable information to a client is better than
passing nothing.
[example]
For example, instead of:
[code style="invalid" mime="application/xml"]
<!--
ProgressNotification:
@progress_message: Human readable progress message string.
Emitted whenever significant progress is made with some example
operation. The @progress_message can be displayed in a UI dialogue to
please the user.
-->
<signal name="ProgressNotification">
<arg name="progress_message" type="s" />
</method>
The progress should be reported as an enumerated value:
[code style="valid" mime="application/xml"]
<!--
ProgressNotification:
@progress_state: 0 = Preparing, 1 = In progress, 2 = Finished
Emitted whenever significant progress is made with some example
operation. The @progress_state is typically converted to a human readable
string and presented to the user. Unrecognized @progress_state values
should be treated as state 1, in progress.
-->
<signal name="ProgressNotification">
<arg name="progress_state" type="u" />
</method>
D-Bus has none of the problems of signed versus unsigned integers which C has
(specifically, it does not do implicit sign conversion), so integer types should
always be chosen to be an appropriate size and signedness for the data they
could possibly contain. Typically, unsigned values are more frequently needed
than signed values.
Structures can be used almost anywhere in a D-Bus type, and arrays of structures
are particularly useful. Structures should be used wherever data fields are
related. Note, however, that structures are not extensible in future, so always
consider $link[>#extensibility].
[example]
For example, instead of several identically-indexed arrays containing
different properties of the same set of items:
[code style="invalid" mime="application/xml"]
<!--
AddContacts:
@names: Array of contact names to add.
@emails: Corresponding array of contact e-mail addresses.
@ids: Returned array of the IDs of the new contacts. This will be the
same length as @names.
Add zero or more contacts to the address book, using their names and
e-mail addresses. @names and @emails must be the same length.
-->
<method name="AddContacts">
<arg name="names" type="as" direction="in" />
<arg name="emails" type="as" direction="in" />
<arg name="ids" type="au" direction="out" />
</method>
The arrays can be combined into a single array of structures:
[code style="invalid" mime="application/xml"]
<!--
AddContacts:
@details: Array of (contact name, contact e-mail address) to add.
@ids: Returned array of the IDs of the new contacts. This will be the
same length as @details.
Add zero or more contacts to the address book, using their names and
e-mail addresses.
-->
<method name="AddContacts">
<arg name="details" type="a(ss)" direction="in" />
<arg name="ids" type="au" direction="out" />
</method>
Note that D-Bus arrays are automatically transmitted with their length, so there
is no need to null-terminate them or encode their length separately.
[comment]
FIXME: Mention maybe types and the extended kdbus/GVariant type system once
that’s stable and round-trip-ability is no longer a concern.
=== Extensibility
[id="extensibility"]
Some D-Bus APIs have very well-defined use cases, and will never need extension.
Others are used in more loosely coupled systems which may change over time, and
hence should be designed to be extensible from the beginning without the need
to break API in future. This is a trade off between having a more complex API,
and being able to easily extend it in future.
The key tool for extensibility in D-Bus is $code(a{sv}), the dictionary mapping
strings to variants. If well-defined namespaced strings are used as the
dictionary keys, arbitrary D-Bus peers can add whatever information they need
into the dictionary. Any other peer which understands it can query and retrieve
the information; other peers will ignore it.
The canonical example of an extensible API using $code(a{sv}) is
$link[>>http://telepathy.freedesktop.org/spec/](Telepathy). It uses $code(a{sv})
values as the final element in structures to allow them to be extended in
future.
A secondary tool is the use of flag fields in method calls. The set of accepted
flags is entirely under the control of the interface designer and, as with
enumerated types, can be extended in future without breaking API. Adding more
flags allows the functionality of the method call to be tweaked.
=== Using Signals, Properties and Errors
[id="using-the-features"]
D-Bus method calls are explicitly asynchronous due to the latency inherent in
IPC. This means that peers should not block on receiving a reply from a method
call; they should schedule other work (in a main loop) and handle the reply when
it is received. Even though method replies may take a while, the caller is
$em(guaranteed) to receive exactly one reply eventually. This reply could be the
return value from the method, an error from the method, or an error from the
D-Bus daemon indicating the service failed in some way (e.g. due to crashing).
Because of this, service implementations should be careful to always reply
exactly once to each method call. Replying at the end of a long-running
operation is correct — the client will patiently wait until the operation has
finished and the reply is received.
Note that D-Bus client bindings may implement synthetic timeouts of several
tens of seconds, unless explicitly disabled for a call. For very long-running
operations, you should disable the client bindings’ timeout and make it clear
in the client’s UI that the application has not frozen and is simply running a
long operation.
An anti-pattern to avoid in this situation is to start a long-running operation
when a method call is received, then to never reply to the method call and
instead notify the client of completion of the operation via a signal. This
approach is incorrect as signal emissions do not have a one-to-one relationship
with method calls — the signal could theoretically be emitted multiple times, or
never, which the client would not be able to handle.
Similarly, use a D-Bus error reply to signify failure of an operation triggered
by a method call, rather than using a custom error code in the method’s
reply. This means that a reply always indicates success, and an error always
indicates failure — rather than a reply indicating either depending on its
parameters, and having to return dummy values in the other parameters. Using
D-Bus error replies also means such failures can be highlighted in debugging
tools, simplifying debugging.
Clients should handle all possible standard and documented D-Bus errors for each
method call. IPC inherently has more potential failures than normal C function
calls, and clients should be prepared to handle all of them gracefully.
=== Using Standard Interfaces
[id="standard-interfaces"]
Use standard D-Bus interfaces where possible.
==== Properties
[id="interface-properties"]
The D-Bus specification defines the
$link[>>http://dbus.freedesktop.org/doc/dbus-specification.html#standard-interfaces-properties]($code(org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties))
interface, which should be used by all objects to notify clients of changes
to their property values, with the $code(PropertiesChanged) signal. This signal
eliminates the need for individual $code($var(PropertyName)Changed) signals, and
allows multiple properties to be notified in a single signal emission, reducing
IPC round trips. Similarly, the $code(Get) and $code(Set) methods can be used to
manipulate properties on an object, eliminating redundant
$code(Get$var(PropertyName)) and $code(Set$var(PropertyName)) methods.
[example]
For example, consider an object implementing an interface
$code(com.example.MyService1.SomeInterface) with methods:
[list]
* $code(GetName($) → (s$))
* $code(SetName(s$) → ($))
* $code(GetStatus($) → (u$))
* $code(RunOperation(ss$) → (u$))
and signals:
[list]
* $code(NameChanged(u$))
* $code(StatusChanged(u$))
The interface could be cut down to a single method:
[list]
* $code(RunOperation(ss$) → (u$))
The object could then implement the $code(org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties)
interface and define properties:
[list]
* $code(Name) of type $code(s), read–write
* $code(Status) of type $code(u), read-only
The $code(NameChanged) and $code(StatusChanged) signals would be replaced by
$code(org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties.PropertiesChanged).
==== Object Manager
[id="interface-object-manager"]
The specification also defines the
$link[>>http://dbus.freedesktop.org/doc/dbus-specification.html#standard-interfaces-objectmanager]($code(org.freedesktop.DBus.ObjectManager))
interface, which should be used whenever a service needs to expose a variable
number of objects of the same class in a flat or tree-like structure, and
clients are expected to be interested in most or all of the objects. For
example, this could be used by an address book service which exposes multiple
address books, each as a separate object. The $code(GetManagedObjects) method
allows the full object tree to be queried, returning all the objects’ properties
too, eliminating the need for further IPC round trips to query the properties.
If clients are not expected to be interested in most of the exposed objects,
$code(ObjectManager) should $em(not) be used, as it will send all of the objects
to each client anyway, wasting bus bandwidth. A file manager, therefore, should
not expose the entire file system hierarchy using $code(ObjectManager).
[example]
For example, consider an object implementing an interface
$code(com.example.MyService1.AddressBookManager) with methods:
[list]
* $code(GetAddressBooks($) → (ao$))
and signals:
[list]
* $code(AddressBookAdded(o$))
* $code(AddressBookRemoved(o$))
If the manager object is at path
$code(/com/example/MyService1/AddressBookManager), each address book is a
child object, e.g.
$code(/com/example/MyService1/AddressBookManager/SomeAddressBook).
The interface could be eliminated, and the
$code(org.freedesktop.DBus.ObjectManager) interface implemented on the manager
object instead.
Calls to $code(GetAddressBooks) would become calls to $code(GetManagedObjects)
and emissions of the $code(AddressBookAdded) and $code(AddressBookRemoved)
signals would become emissions of $code(InterfacesAdded) and
$code(InterfacesRemoved).
=== Naming Conventions
[id="naming-conventions"]
All D-Bus names, from service names through to method parameters, follow a set
of conventions. Following these conventions makes APIs more natural to use and
consistent with all other services on the system.
Services use reverse-domain-name notation, based on the domain name of the
project providing the service (all in lower case), plus a unique name for the
service (in camel case).
[example]
For example, version 2 of an address book application called $code(ContactDex)
provided by a software vendor whose website is $code(chocolateteapot.com)
would use service name $code(com.chocolateteapot.ContactDex2).
Almost all names use camel case with no underscores, as in the examples below.
Method and signal parameters are an exception, using
$code(lowercase_with_underscores). Type information is never encoded in the
parameter name (i.e. $em(not)
$link[>>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungarian_notation](Hungarian notation)).
[example]
[terms]
- Service Name
* $code(com.example.MyService1)
- Interface Name
* $code(com.example.MyService1.SomeInterface)
- Object Path (Root Object)
* $code(/com/example/MyService1)
- Object Path (Child Object)
* $code(/com/example/MyService1/SomeChild)
- Object Path (Grandchild Object)
* $code(/com/example/MyService1/AnotherChild/Grandchild1)
- Method Name
* $code(com.example.MyService1.SomeInterface.MethodName)
- Signal Name
* $code(com.example.MyService1.SomeInterface.SignalName)
- Property Name
* $code(com.example.MyService1.SomeInterface.PropertyName)
See also: $link[>#api-versioning].
== Code generation
[id="code-generation"]
Rather than manually implementing both the server and client sides of a D-Bus
interface, it is often easier to write the interface XML description and use a
tool such as
$link[>>https://developer.gnome.org/gio/stable/gdbus-codegen.html]($cmd(gdbus-codegen))
to generate type-safe C APIs, then build the implementation using those. This
avoids the tedious and error-prone process of writing code to build and read
D-Bus parameter variants for each method call.
Use of code generators is beyond the scope of this guide; for more information,
see the
$link[>>https://developer.gnome.org/gio/stable/gdbus-codegen.html]($cmd(gdbus-codegen)
manual).
== Annotations
[id="annotations"]
Annotations may be added to the interface XML to expose metadata on the API
which can be used by documentation or code generation tools to modify their
output. Some standard annotations are given in the
$link[>>http://dbus.freedesktop.org/doc/dbus-specification.html#introspection-format](D-Bus
specification), but further annotations may be defined by specific tools.
For example, $cmd(gdbus-codegen) defines several useful annotations, listed on
its man page.
The following annotations are the most useful:
[terms]
- $code(org.freedesktop.DBus.Deprecated)
* Mark a symbol as deprecated. This should be used whenever the API is changed,
specifying the version introducing the deprecation, the reason for
deprecation, and a replacement symbol to use.
- $code(org.gtk.GDBus.Since)
* Mark a symbol as having been added to the API after the initial release. This
should include the version the symbol was first added in.
- $code(org.gtk.GDBus.C.Name) and $code(org.freedesktop.DBus.GLib.CSymbol)
* Both used interchangeably to hint at a C function name to use when generating
code for a symbol. Use of this annotation can make generated bindings a lot
more pleasant to use.
- $code(org.freedesktop.DBus.Property.EmitsChangedSignal)
* Indicate whether a property is expected to emit change signals. This can
affect code generation, but is also useful documentation, as client programs
then know when to expect property change notifications and when they have to
requery.
== Documentation
[id="documentation"]
Also just like C APIs, D-Bus APIs must be documented. There are several methods
for documenting the interfaces, methods, properties and signals in a D-Bus
interface XML file, each unfortunately with their own downsides. You should
choose the method which best matches the tooling and workflow you are using.
=== XML Comments
XML comments containing documentation in the
$link[>>https://developer.gnome.org/gtk-doc-manual/stable/documenting_syntax.html.en](gtk-doc
format) is the recommended format for use with
$link[>>https://developer.gnome.org/gio/stable/gdbus-codegen.html]($cmd(gdbus-codegen)).
Using $cmd(gdbus-codegen), these comments can be extracted, converted to DocBook
format and included in the project’s API manual. For example:
[listing]
[title]
Documentation Comments in D-Bus Interface XML
[desc]
Example gtk-doc–style documentation comments in the introspection XML for
the $code(org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties) interface.
[code mime="application/xml"]
<!--
org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties:
@short_description: Standard property getter/setter interface
Interface for all objects which expose properties on the bus, allowing
those properties to be got, set, and signals emitted to notify of changes
to the property values.
-->
<interface name="org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties">
<!--
Get:
@interface_name: Name of the interface the property is defined on.
@property_name: Name of the property to get.
@value: Property value, wrapped in a variant.
Retrieves the value of the property at @property_name on
@interface_name on this object. If @interface_name is an empty string,
all interfaces will be searched for @property_name; if multiple
properties match, the result is undefined.
If @interface_name or @property_name do not exist, a
#org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.InvalidArgs error is returned.
-->
<method name="Get">
<arg type="s" name="interface_name" direction="in"/>
<arg type="s" name="property_name" direction="in"/>
<arg type="v" name="value" direction="out"/>
</method>
<!--
PropertiesChanged:
@interface_name: Name of the interface the properties changed on.
@changed_properties: Map of property name to updated value for the
changed properties.
@invalidated_properties: List of names of other properties which have
changed, but whose updated values are not notified.
Emitted when one or more properties change values on @interface_name.
A property may be listed in @changed_properties or
@invalidated_properties depending on whether the service wants to
broadcast the property’s new value. If a value is large or infrequently
used, the service might not want to broadcast it, and will wait for
clients to request it instead.
-->
<signal name="PropertiesChanged">
<arg type="s" name="interface_name"/>
<arg type="a{sv}" name="changed_properties"/>
<arg type="as" name="invalidated_properties"/>
</signal>
</interface>
[comment]
FIXME: This is only present to fix
$link[>>https://github.com/projectmallard/mallard-ducktype/issues/2].
=== XML Annotations
Documentation can also be added as annotation elements in the XML. This format
is also supported by $cmd(gdbus-codegen), but gtk-doc comments are preferred.
For example:
[listing]
[title]
Documentation Annotations in D-Bus Interface XML
[desc]
Example GDBus documentation annotations in the introspection XML for
the $code(org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties) interface.
[code mime="application/xml"]
<interface name="org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties">
<annotation name="org.gtk.GDBus.DocString" value="Interface for all
objects which expose properties on the bus, allowing those properties to
be got, set, and signals emitted to notify of changes to the property
values."/>
<annotation name="org.gtk.GDBus.DocString.Short"
value="Standard property getter/setter interface"/>
<method name="Get">
<annotation name="org.gtk.GDBus.DocString" value="Retrieves the value of
the property at @property_name on @interface_name on this object. If
@interface_name is an empty string, all interfaces will be searched
for @property_name; if multiple properties match, the result is
undefined.
If @interface_name or @property_name do not exist, a
#org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.InvalidArgs error is returned."/>
<arg type="s" name="interface_name" direction="in">
<annotation name="org.gtk.GDBus.DocString"
value="Name of the interface the property is defined on."/>
</arg>
<arg type="s" name="property_name" direction="in">
<annotation name="org.gtk.GDBus.DocString"
value="Name of the property to get."/>
</arg>
<arg type="v" name="value" direction="out">
<annotation name="org.gtk.GDBus.DocString"
value="Property value, wrapped in a variant."/>
</arg>
</method>
<signal name="PropertiesChanged">
<annotation name="org.gtk.GDBus.DocString" value="Emitted when one or
more properties change values on @interface_name. A property may be
listed in @changed_properties or @invalidated_properties depending on
whether the service wants to broadcast the property’s new value. If a
value is large or infrequently used, the service might not want to
broadcast it, and will wait for clients to request it instead."/>
<arg type="s" name="interface_name">
<annotation name="org.gtk.GDBus.DocString"
value="Name of the interface the properties changed on."/>
</arg>
<arg type="a{sv}" name="changed_properties">
<annotation name="org.gtk.GDBus.DocString"
value="Map of property name to updated value for the changed
properties."/>
</arg>
<arg type="as" name="invalidated_properties">
<annotation name="org.gtk.GDBus.DocString"
value="List of names of other properties which have changed, but
whose updated values are not notified."/>
</arg>
</signal>
</interface>
[comment]
FIXME: This is only present to fix
$link[>>https://github.com/projectmallard/mallard-ducktype/issues/2].
== Service files
[id="service-files"]
Each D-Bus service must install a $file(.service) file describing its service
name and the command to run to start the service. This allows for service
activation (see the
$link[>>http://dbus.freedesktop.org/doc/dbus-specification.html#message-bus-starting-services](D-Bus
specification)).
Service files must be named after the service’s well-known name, for example
file $file(com.example.MyService1.service) for well-known name
$code(com.example.MyService1). Files must be installed in
$file($var($$(datadir$))/dbus-1/services) for the session bus and
$file($var($$(datadir$))/dbus-1/system-services) for the system bus. Note, however,
that services on the system bus almost always need a
$link[>#security-policies](security policy) as well.
== Security Policies
[id="security-policies"]
At a high level, the D-Bus security model is:
[list]
* There is a system bus, and zero or more session buses.
* Any process may connect to the system bus. The system bus limits which can own
names or send method calls, and only processes running as privileged users can
receive unicast messages not addressed to them. Every process may receive
broadcasts.
* Each session bus has an owner (a user). Only its owner may connect; on
general-purpose Linux, a session bus is not treated as a privilege boundary,
so there is no further privilege separation between processes on it.
Full coverage of securing D-Bus services is beyond the scope of this guide,
however there are some steps which you can take when designing an API to ease
security policy implementation.
D-Bus security policies are written as XML files in
$file($var($$(sysconfdir$)/dbus-1/system.d)) and
$file($var($$(sysconfdir$)/dbus-1/session.d)) and use an allow/deny model, where
each message (method call, signal emission, etc.) can be allowed or denied
according to the sum of all policy rules which match it. Each $code(<allow>) or
$code(<deny>) rule in the policy should have the $code(own),
$code(send_destination) or $code(receive_sender) attribute set.
When designing an API, bear in mind the need to write and install such a
security policy, and consider splitting up methods or providing more restricted
versions which accept constrained parameters, so that they can be exposed with
less restrictive security policies if needed by less trusted clients.
Secondly, the default D-Bus security policy for the system bus is restrictive
enough to allow sensitive data, such as passwords, to be safely sent over the
bus in unicast messages (including unicast signals); so there is no need to
complicate APIs by implementing extra security. Note, however, that sensitive
data must $em(not) be sent in broadcast signals, as they can be seen by all
peers on the bus. The default policy for the session bus is not restrictive, but
it is typically not a security boundary.
== Debugging
[id="debugging"]
Debugging services running on D-Bus can be tricky, especially if they are
launched via service activation and hence in an environment out of your control.
Three main tools are available: D-Bus Monitor, Bustle and D-Feet.
=== D-Bus Monitor
[id="dbus-monitor"]
$link[>>http://dbus.freedesktop.org/doc/dbus-monitor.1.html]($cmd(dbus-monitor))
is a core D-Bus tool, and allows eavesdropping on the session or system bus,
printing all messages it sees. The messages may be filtered using a standard
$link[>>http://dbus.freedesktop.org/doc/dbus-specification.html#message-bus-routing-match-rules](D-Bus
match rule) to make the stream more manageable.
Previous versions of D-Bus have required the security policy for the system bus
to be manually relaxed to allow eavesdropping on all messages. This meant that
debugging it was difficult and insecure. The latest versions of D-Bus add
support for monitor-only connections for the root user, which means that
$cmd(dbus-monitor) can be run as root to painlessly monitor all messages on the
system bus without modifying its security policy.
=== Bustle
[id="bustle"]
$link[>>http://willthompson.co.uk/bustle/](Bustle) is a graphical version of
$cmd(dbus-monitor), with a UI focused on profiling D-Bus performance by plotting
messages on a timeline. It is ideal for finding bottlenecks in IPC performance
between a service and client.
=== D-Feet
[id="d-feet"]
$link[>>https://wiki.gnome.org/Apps/DFeet](D-Feet) is an introspection tool for
D-Bus, which displays all peers on the bus graphically, with their objects,
interfaces, methods, signals and properties listed for examination. It is useful
for debugging all kinds of issues related to presence of services on the bus
and the objects they expose.