Generated code output guide

This document outlines the approaches available for viewing generated FIDL bindings code. For general information about how FIDL definitions get converted to target language code, refer to the bindings reference.

The FIDL library fuchsia.io is used throughout as a running example. It is defined in //sdk/fidl/fuchsia.io.

Viewing generated code

This section shows how to directly access generated code files.

GN build

If you would like to look at the generated output for a specific target in the Fuchsia build, you can first build the target in question, then inspect the generated files in the build output. The instructions in this section assume that the target is defined using the standard fidl GN template, and that the build directory is set to the default path (out/default). fx status can be used to find the current build directory.

You can find most FIDL output in the GN build in the fidling toolchain. For fuchsia.io, the root of the output is out/default/fidling/gen/sdk/fidl/fuchsia.io. The rest of this document refers to this as the root directory. It is structured as follows:

  1. out/default/fidling/gen/sdk/fidl/fuchsia.io
  2. ├── fuchsia.io.fidl.json
  3. └── fuchsia.io
  4.    ├── fidl_fuchsia_io.rs
  5.    ├── fuchsia.io.fidl
  6.    │  └── impl.go
  7.    ├── c
  8.    │  └── fuchsia
  9.    │     └── io
  10.    │        └── c
  11.    │           ├── fidl.h
  12.    │           ├── fidl.client.c
  13.    │           └── fidl.server.c
  14.    ├── llcpp
  15.    │  └── fuchsia
  16.    │     └── io
  17.    │        └── llcpp
  18.    │           ├── fidl.h
  19.    │           ├── fidl.cc
  20.    │           └── fidl_test_base.h
  21.    └── hlcpp
  22.       └── fuchsia
  23.          └── io
  24.             └── cpp
  25.                ├── fidl.h
  26.                ├── fidl.cc
  27.                └── fidl_test_base.h

The exception is Dart code, which is generated in the dartlang toolchain. For fuchsia.io, the root of the Dart output is out/default/dartlang/gen/sdk/fidl/fuchsia.io. The rest of this document refers to this as the Dart root directory. It is structured as follows:

  1. out/default/dartlang/gen/sdk/fidl/fuchsia.io
  2. └── fuchsia.io_package
  3.    └── lib
  4.       ├── fidl_async.dart
  5.       └── fidl_test.dart

Many generated code paths seem to contain duplicate directory names, such as .../fuchsia.io/fuchsia.io/.... This occurs because FIDL libraries are usually defined in a directory named after the library, with a target named after the library. The first fuchsia.io comes from the directory, and the second comes from the GN target name.

JSON IR

The JSON IR is generated in the root directory as ${target_name}.fidl.json. For example, with fuchsia.io:

  1. out/default/fidling/gen/sdk/fidl/fuchsia.io/fuchsia.io.fidl.json

Rust {#rust}

The Rust bindings are generated in the root directory as ${target_name}/${rust_name}.rs, where ${rust_name} is derived from the library name by replacing dots with underscores. For example, with fuchsia.io:

  1. out/default/fidling/gen/sdk/fidl/fuchsia.io/fuchsia.io/fidl_fuchsia_io.rs

Go {#go}

The Go bindings are generated in the root directory as ${target_name}/${library_name}.fidl/impl.go. For example, with fuchsia.io:

  1. out/default/fidling/gen/sdk/fidl/fuchsia.io/fuchsia.io/fuchsia.io.fidl/impl.go

HLCPP, LLCPP, and C {#c-family}

The C family bindings are generated in subdirectories of the root directory following the pattern ${target_name}/${binding_flavor}/fuchsia/io. From there,

  • HLCPP outputs cpp/fidl.cc, cpp/fidl.h, and cpp/fidl_test_base.h.
  • LLCPP outputs llcpp/fidl.cc, llcpp/fidl.h, and llcpp/fidl_test_base.h.
  • C outputs c/fidl.client.c, c/fidl.server.c, and fidl.h.

For example, using fuchsia.io with the HLCPP bindings creates the following files:

  1. out/default/fidling/gen/sdk/fidl/fuchsia.io/fuchsia.io/hlcpp/fuchsia/io/cpp/fidl.cc
  2. out/default/fidling/gen/sdk/fidl/fuchsia.io/fuchsia.io/hlcpp/fuchsia/io/cpp/fidl.h
  3. out/default/fidling/gen/sdk/fidl/fuchsia.io/fuchsia.io/hlcpp/fuchsia/io/cpp/fidl_test_base.h

and using fuchsia.io with the LLCPP bindings creates the following files:

  1. out/default/fidling/gen/sdk/fidl/fuchsia.io/fuchsia.io/llcpp/fuchsia/io/llcpp/fidl.cc
  2. out/default/fidling/gen/sdk/fidl/fuchsia.io/fuchsia.io/llcpp/fuchsia/io/llcpp/fidl.h
  3. out/default/fidling/gen/sdk/fidl/fuchsia.io/fuchsia.io/llcpp/fuchsia/io/llcpp/fidl_test_base.h

Dart {#dart}

The Dart bindings are generating in the Dart root directory as ${target_name}/${library_name}_package. For example, with fuchsia.io:

  1. out/default/dartlang/gen/sdk/fidl/fuchsia.io/fuchsia.io_package

Within the package, lib/fidl_async.dart contains the bindings code. lib/fidl_test.dart contains utilities for testing.

Using fidlbolt

For ad hoc examples or existing FIDL files, another option is to use the fidlbolt tool. By pasting the desired FIDL content into fidlbolt, it is possible to view the output for each binding, as well as for the JSON IR. fidlbolt also supports viewing libraries defined in the SDK, e.g. library fuchsia.io;, as well as importing them, e.g. using fuchsia.io;.

Viewing generated documentation

Rust

Documentation for all Rust crates used in Fuchsia, included Rust bindings of FIDL libraries, is hosted online at fuchsia-docs.firebaseapp.com. You can generate offline documentation with fx rustdoc.