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author | Daniel Baumann <daniel.baumann@progress-linux.org> | 2024-04-07 19:33:14 +0000 |
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committer | Daniel Baumann <daniel.baumann@progress-linux.org> | 2024-04-07 19:33:14 +0000 |
commit | 36d22d82aa202bb199967e9512281e9a53db42c9 (patch) | |
tree | 105e8c98ddea1c1e4784a60a5a6410fa416be2de /toolkit/components/extensions/docs/schema.rst | |
parent | Initial commit. (diff) | |
download | firefox-esr-36d22d82aa202bb199967e9512281e9a53db42c9.tar.xz firefox-esr-36d22d82aa202bb199967e9512281e9a53db42c9.zip |
Adding upstream version 115.7.0esr.upstream/115.7.0esr
Signed-off-by: Daniel Baumann <daniel.baumann@progress-linux.org>
Diffstat (limited to 'toolkit/components/extensions/docs/schema.rst')
-rw-r--r-- | toolkit/components/extensions/docs/schema.rst | 145 |
1 files changed, 145 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/toolkit/components/extensions/docs/schema.rst b/toolkit/components/extensions/docs/schema.rst new file mode 100644 index 0000000000..b55e918588 --- /dev/null +++ b/toolkit/components/extensions/docs/schema.rst @@ -0,0 +1,145 @@ +API Schemas +=========== +Anything that a WebExtension API exposes to extensions via Javascript +is described by the API's schema. The format of API schemas uses some +of the same syntax as `JSON Schema <http://json-schema.org/>`_. +JSON Schema provides a way to specify constraints on JSON documents and +the same method is used by WebExtensions to specify constraints on, +for example, parameters passed to an API function. But the syntax for +describing functions, namespaces, etc. is all ad hoc. This section +describes that syntax. + +An individual API schema consists of structured descriptions of +items in one or more *namespaces* using a structure like this: + +.. code-block:: js + + [ + { + "namespace": "namespace1", + // declarations for namespace 1... + }, + { + "namespace": "namespace2", + // declarations for namespace 2... + }, + // other namespaces... + ] + +Most of the namespaces correspond to objects available to extensions +Javascript code under the ``browser`` global. For example, entries in the +namespace ``example`` are accessible to extension Javascript code as +properties on ``browser.example``. +The namespace ``"manifest"`` is handled specially, it describes the +structure of WebExtension manifests (i.e., ``manifest.json`` files). +Manifest schemas are explained in detail below. + +Declarations within a namespace look like: + +.. code-block:: js + + { + "namespace": "namespace1", + "types": [ + { /* type definition */ }, + ... + ], + "properties": { + "NAME": { /* property definition */ }, + ... + }, + "functions": [ + { /* function definition */ }, + ... + ], + "events": [ + { /* event definition */ }, + ... + ] + } + +The four types of objects that can be defined inside a namespace are: + +- **types**: A type is a re-usable schema fragment. A common use of types + is to define in one place an object with a particular set of typed fields + that is used in multiple places in an API. + +- **properties**: A property is a fixed Javascript value available to + extensions via Javascript. Note that the format for defining + properties in a schema is different from the format for types, functions, + and events. The next subsection describes creating properties in detail. + +- **functions** and **events**: + These entries create functions and events respectively, which are + usable from Javascript by extensions. Details on how to implement + them are later in this section. + +Implementing a fixed Javascript property +---------------------------------------- +A static property is made available to extensions via Javascript +entirely from the schema, using a fragment like this one: + +.. code-block:: js + + [ + "namespace": "myapi", + "properties": { + "SOME_PROPERTY": { + "value": 24, + "description": "Description of my property here." + } + } + ] + +If a WebExtension API with this fragment in its schema is loaded for +a particular extension context, that extension will be able to access +``browser.myapi.SOME_PROPERTY`` and read the fixed value 24. +The contents of ``value`` can be any JSON serializable object. + +Schema Items +------------ +Most definitions of individual items in a schema have a common format: + +.. code-block:: js + + { + "type": "SOME TYPE", + /* type-specific parameters... */ + } + +Type-specific parameters will be described in subsequent sections, +but there are some optional properties that can appear in many +different types of items in an API schema: + +- ``description``: This string-valued property serves as documentation + for anybody reading or editing the schema. + +- ``permissions``: This property is an array of strings. + If present, the item in which this property appears is only made + available to extensions that have all the permissions listed in the array. + +- ``unsupported``: This property must be a boolean. + If it is true, the item in which it appears is ignored. + By using this property, a schema can define how a particular API + is intended to work, before it is implemented. + +- ``deprecated``: This property must be a boolean. If it is true, + any uses of the item in which it appears will cause a warning to + be logged to the browser console, to indicate to extension authors + that they are using a feature that is deprecated or otherwise + not fully supported. + + +Describing constrained values +----------------------------- +There are many places where API schemas specify constraints on the type +and possibly contents of some JSON value (e.g., the manifest property +``name`` must be a string) or Javascript value (e.g., the first argument +to ``browser.tabs.get()`` must be a non-negative integer). +These items are defined using `JSON Schema <http://json-schema.org/>`_. +Specifically, these items are specified by using one of the following +values for the ``type`` property: ``boolean``, ``integer``, ``number``, +``string``, ``array``, ``object``, or ``any``. +Refer to the documentation and examples at the +`JSON Schema site <http://json-schema.org/>`_ for details on how these +items are defined in a schema. |