docs/reference/fidl/language/versioning.md - fuchsia - Git at Google

 # FIDL versioning

 This document describes how to use FIDL's API versioning features. For a more
 technical specification, see [RFC-0083: FIDL versioning][rfc-0083].

 ## Motivation

 FIDL versioning lets you change a FIDL library over time while keeping the
 ability to generate bindings for older versions of the library. There are a
 number of ways you could do this manually:

 * Store `.fidl` files in a `v1/` directory. To make a change, copy `v1/` to
   `v2/` and change files there. To generate bindings for the older version,
   use the `v1/` library instead of `v2/`.

 * Store `.fidl` files in a git repository and make changes in commits. To
   generate bindings for an older version, check out an older revision of the
   repository.

 The first solution is tedious and creates a lot of duplication. The second
 solution doesn't work well in a large repository that contains many things
 besides that specific FIDL library, such as the main Fuchsia repository.

 FIDL versioning accomplishes the same thing, but without these shortcomings.
 When making a change, you use the `@available` attribute to describe when (i.e.
 at which version) the change occurs. To generate bindings for an older version,
 you pass the `--available` flag to fidlc and specify an older version.

 There are two important things to keep in mind with FIDL versioning:

 * It affects **API only**. Versions exist only at compile time, and have no
   impact on runtime behavior.

 * It can represent **any syntactically valid change**. Just because you can
   represent a change with versioning doesn't mean that change is safe to make.

 ## Concepts

 The unit of versioning is a group of libraries, called a **platform**. By
 convention, libraries are named starting with the platform name. For example,
 the libraries `fuchsia.mem` and `fuchsia.web` belong to the `fuchsia` platform.

 Each platform has a linear **version** history. A version is an integer from 1
 to 2^63-1 (inclusive), or one of the special versions `HEAD` and `LEGACY`. The
 `HEAD` version is used for the latest unstable changes. The `LEGACY` version is
 like `HEAD`, but it also includes [legacy elements](#legacy).

 All FIDL libraries are versioned. There is no need to support "unversioned
 libraries" because they would behave identically to libraries added at `HEAD`.
 The defaults are designed so that you can ignore versioning if you aren't using
 it: a library with no `@available` attribute is implicitly added at `HEAD`, and
 fidlc compiles libraries at `HEAD` by default.

 ## Command line

 The FIDL compiler accepts the `--available` flag to specify platform versions.
 For example, assuming `example.fidl` defines a library in the `fuchsia` platform
 with no dependencies, you can compile it at version 8 as follows:

 ```posix-terminal
 fidlc --available fuchsia:8 --out example.json --files example.fidl
 ```

 No matter what version you select, fidlc always validates all possible versions.
 For example, the above command can report an error even if the error only occurs
 in version 5.

 If a library `A` has a dependency on a library `B` from a different platform,
 you can specify versions for both platforms using the `--available` flag twice.
 However, `A` must be compatible across its entire version history with the fixed
 version chosen for `B`.

 ## Syntax

 The `@available` attribute is allowed on any [FIDL element][element]. It takes
 the following arguments:

 Argument     | Type      | Note
 ------------ | --------- | -------------------------
 `platform`   | `string`  | Only allowed on `library`
 `added`      | `uint64`  | Integer or `HEAD`
 `deprecated` | `uint64`  | Integer or `HEAD`
 `removed`    | `uint64`  | Integer or `HEAD`
 `note`       | `string`  | Goes with `deprecated`
 `legacy`     | `boolean` | Goes with `removed`

 All arguments are optional, but at least one must be provided. Argument values
 must be literals, not references to `const` declarations. The `added`,
 `deprecated`, `removed`, and `legacy` arguments [inherit](#inheritance) from the
 parent element by default. They must respect `added <= deprecated < removed`.
 For example:

 ```fidl
 {% includecode gerrit_repo="fuchsia/fuchsia" gerrit_path="examples/fidl/fuchsia.examples.docs/versioning.test.fidl" region_tag="arguments" %}
 ```

 If `@available` is used anywhere in a library, it must also appear on the
 library declaration. For single-file libraries, this is straightforward. For
 libraries with two or more `.fidl` files, only one file can have its library
 declaration annotated. (The library is logically considered a single [element]
 with attributes merged from each file, so annotating more than one file results
 in a duplicate attribute error.) The FIDL style guide [recommends][overview]
 creating a file named `overview.fidl` for this purpose.

 On the library declaration, the `@available` attribute requires the `added`
 argument and allows the `platform` argument. If the `platform` is omitted, it
 defaults to the first component of the library name. For example:

 ```fidl
 {% includecode gerrit_repo="fuchsia/fuchsia" gerrit_path="examples/fidl/fuchsia.examples.docs/versioning.test.fidl" region_tag="library" %}
 ```

 ## Inheritance {#inheritance}

 The arguments to `@available` flow from the library declaration to top-level
 declarations, and from each top-level declaration to its members. For example,
 if a table is added at version 5, there is no need to repeat this annotation on
 its members because they could not exist prior to the table itself. Here is a
 more complicated example of inheritance:

 ```fidl
 {% includecode gerrit_repo="fuchsia/fuchsia" gerrit_path="examples/fidl/fuchsia.examples.docs/versioning.test.fidl" region_tag="inheritance" %}
 ```

 ## Deprecation

 Deprecation is used to indicate that an element will be removed in the future.
 When you deprecate an element, you should add a `# Deprecation` section to the
 doc comment with a detailed explanation, and a `note` argument to the
 `@available` attribute with a brief instruction. For example:

 ```fidl
 {% includecode gerrit_repo="fuchsia/fuchsia" gerrit_path="examples/fidl/fuchsia.examples.docs/versioning.test.fidl" region_tag="deprecation" %}
 ```

 As of May 2022 deprecation has no impact in bindings. However, the FIDL team
 [plans][deprecation-bug] to make it emit deprecation annotations in target
 languages. For instance, the example above could produce `#[deprecated = "use
 Replacement"]` in the Rust bindings.

 ## Legacy {#legacy}

 When removing an element, you can use `legacy=true` to keep it in the `LEGACY`
 version. This lets you preserve ABI for clients targeting API levels before its
 removal, since the Fuchsia system image is built against `LEGACY` FIDL bindings.
 For example:

 ```fidl
 {% includecode gerrit_repo="fuchsia/fuchsia" gerrit_path="examples/fidl/fuchsia.examples.docs/versioning.test.fidl" region_tag="legacy" %}
 ```

 Here, `LegacyMethod` does not appear in bindings at version 6 or higher nor at
 `HEAD`, but it gets added back in the `LEGACY` version.

 For more information on legacy support, see [RFC-0083: FIDL
 versioning][rfc-0083-legacy].

 ## References

 There are a variety of ways one FIDL element can reference another. For example:

 ```fidl
 {% includecode gerrit_repo="fuchsia/fuchsia" gerrit_path="examples/fidl/fuchsia.examples.docs/versioning.test.fidl" region_tag="references" %}
 ```

 When referencing elements, you must respect the `@available` attributes. For
 example, the following code is invalid because `A` exists from version 1 onward,
 but it tries to reference `B` which only exists at version 2:

 ```fidl
 // Does not compile!

 @available(added=1)
 const A bool = B;

 @available(added=2, removed=3)
 const B bool = true;
 ```

 Similarly, it is invalid for a non-deprecated element to reference a deprecated
 element. For example, the following code is invalid at version 1 because `A`
 references `B`, but `B` is deprecated while `A` is not.

 ```fidl
 // Does not compile!

 @available(deprecated=2)
 const A bool = B;

 @available(deprecated=1)
 const B bool = true;
 ```

 ## Swapping

 Some parts of the FIDL language do not support attributes. For example, you
 cannot place the `@available` attribute directly on an enum's `strict` modifier.
 However, FIDL versioning can still represent this kind of change using a
 technique called _swapping_. Instead of changing the enum, you duplicate it,
 simultaneously removing the old copy and adding the new one. For example:

 ```fidl
 {% includecode gerrit_repo="fuchsia/fuchsia" gerrit_path="examples/fidl/fuchsia.examples.docs/versioning.test.fidl" region_tag="swapping" %}
 ```

 Taken to the extreme, swapping makes it possible to decompose a versioned
 library into a series of snapshots for each version. For example, given the
 protocol shown [earlier](#inheritance):

 ```fidl
 {% includecode gerrit_repo="fuchsia/fuchsia" gerrit_path="examples/fidl/fuchsia.examples.docs/versioning.test.fidl" region_tag="inheritance" %}
 ```

 We can decompose it by swapping the protocol at every version:

 ```fidl
 {% includecode gerrit_repo="fuchsia/fuchsia" gerrit_path="examples/fidl/fuchsia.examples.docs/versioning_decomposed.test.fidl" region_tag="decomposed" %}
 ```

 [rfc-0083]: /docs/contribute/governance/rfcs/0083_fidl_versioning.md
 [rfc-0083-legacy]: /docs/contribute/governance/rfcs/0083_fidl_versioning.md#legacy
 [element]: /docs/contribute/governance/rfcs/0083_fidl_versioning.md#terminology
 [overview]: /docs/development/languages/fidl/guides/style.md#library-overview
 [deprecation-bug]: https://bugs.fuchsia.dev/p/fuchsia/issues/detail?id=7692
	# FIDL versioning

	This document describes how to use FIDL's API versioning features. For a more
	technical specification, see [RFC-0083: FIDL versioning][rfc-0083].

	## Motivation

	FIDL versioning lets you change a FIDL library over time while keeping the
	ability to generate bindings for older versions of the library. There are a
	number of ways you could do this manually:

	* Store `.fidl` files in a `v1/` directory. To make a change, copy `v1/` to
	`v2/` and change files there. To generate bindings for the older version,
	use the `v1/` library instead of `v2/`.

	* Store `.fidl` files in a git repository and make changes in commits. To
	generate bindings for an older version, check out an older revision of the
	repository.

	The first solution is tedious and creates a lot of duplication. The second
	solution doesn't work well in a large repository that contains many things
	besides that specific FIDL library, such as the main Fuchsia repository.

	FIDL versioning accomplishes the same thing, but without these shortcomings.
	When making a change, you use the `@available` attribute to describe when (i.e.
	at which version) the change occurs. To generate bindings for an older version,
	you pass the `--available` flag to fidlc and specify an older version.

	There are two important things to keep in mind with FIDL versioning:

	* It affects API only. Versions exist only at compile time, and have no
	impact on runtime behavior.

	* It can represent any syntactically valid change. Just because you can
	represent a change with versioning doesn't mean that change is safe to make.

	## Concepts

	The unit of versioning is a group of libraries, called a platform. By
	convention, libraries are named starting with the platform name. For example,
	the libraries `fuchsia.mem` and `fuchsia.web` belong to the `fuchsia` platform.

	Each platform has a linear version history. A version is an integer from 1
	to 2^63-1 (inclusive), or one of the special versions `HEAD` and `LEGACY`. The
	`HEAD` version is used for the latest unstable changes. The `LEGACY` version is
	like `HEAD`, but it also includes [legacy elements](#legacy).

	All FIDL libraries are versioned. There is no need to support "unversioned
	libraries" because they would behave identically to libraries added at `HEAD`.
	The defaults are designed so that you can ignore versioning if you aren't using
	it: a library with no `@available` attribute is implicitly added at `HEAD`, and
	fidlc compiles libraries at `HEAD` by default.

	## Command line

	The FIDL compiler accepts the `--available` flag to specify platform versions.
	For example, assuming `example.fidl` defines a library in the `fuchsia` platform
	with no dependencies, you can compile it at version 8 as follows:

	```posix-terminal
	fidlc --available fuchsia:8 --out example.json --files example.fidl
	```

	No matter what version you select, fidlc always validates all possible versions.
	For example, the above command can report an error even if the error only occurs
	in version 5.

	If a library `A` has a dependency on a library `B` from a different platform,
	you can specify versions for both platforms using the `--available` flag twice.
	However, `A` must be compatible across its entire version history with the fixed
	version chosen for `B`.

	## Syntax

	The `@available` attribute is allowed on any [FIDL element][element]. It takes
	the following arguments:

	Argument \| Type \| Note
	------------ \| --------- \| -------------------------
	`platform` \| `string` \| Only allowed on `library`
	`added` \| `uint64` \| Integer or `HEAD`
	`deprecated` \| `uint64` \| Integer or `HEAD`
	`removed` \| `uint64` \| Integer or `HEAD`
	`note` \| `string` \| Goes with `deprecated`
	`legacy` \| `boolean` \| Goes with `removed`

	All arguments are optional, but at least one must be provided. Argument values
	must be literals, not references to `const` declarations. The `added`,
	`deprecated`, `removed`, and `legacy` arguments [inherit](#inheritance) from the
	parent element by default. They must respect `added <= deprecated < removed`.
	For example:

	```fidl
	{% includecode gerrit_repo="fuchsia/fuchsia" gerrit_path="examples/fidl/fuchsia.examples.docs/versioning.test.fidl" region_tag="arguments" %}
	```

	If `@available` is used anywhere in a library, it must also appear on the
	library declaration. For single-file libraries, this is straightforward. For
	libraries with two or more `.fidl` files, only one file can have its library
	declaration annotated. (The library is logically considered a single [element]
	with attributes merged from each file, so annotating more than one file results
	in a duplicate attribute error.) The FIDL style guide [recommends][overview]
	creating a file named `overview.fidl` for this purpose.

	On the library declaration, the `@available` attribute requires the `added`
	argument and allows the `platform` argument. If the `platform` is omitted, it
	defaults to the first component of the library name. For example:

	```fidl
	{% includecode gerrit_repo="fuchsia/fuchsia" gerrit_path="examples/fidl/fuchsia.examples.docs/versioning.test.fidl" region_tag="library" %}
	```

	## Inheritance {#inheritance}

	The arguments to `@available` flow from the library declaration to top-level
	declarations, and from each top-level declaration to its members. For example,
	if a table is added at version 5, there is no need to repeat this annotation on
	its members because they could not exist prior to the table itself. Here is a
	more complicated example of inheritance:

	```fidl
	{% includecode gerrit_repo="fuchsia/fuchsia" gerrit_path="examples/fidl/fuchsia.examples.docs/versioning.test.fidl" region_tag="inheritance" %}
	```

	## Deprecation

	Deprecation is used to indicate that an element will be removed in the future.
	When you deprecate an element, you should add a `# Deprecation` section to the
	doc comment with a detailed explanation, and a `note` argument to the
	`@available` attribute with a brief instruction. For example:

	```fidl
	{% includecode gerrit_repo="fuchsia/fuchsia" gerrit_path="examples/fidl/fuchsia.examples.docs/versioning.test.fidl" region_tag="deprecation" %}
	```

	As of May 2022 deprecation has no impact in bindings. However, the FIDL team
	[plans][deprecation-bug] to make it emit deprecation annotations in target
	languages. For instance, the example above could produce `#[deprecated = "use
	Replacement"]` in the Rust bindings.

	## Legacy {#legacy}

	When removing an element, you can use `legacy=true` to keep it in the `LEGACY`
	version. This lets you preserve ABI for clients targeting API levels before its
	removal, since the Fuchsia system image is built against `LEGACY` FIDL bindings.
	For example:

	```fidl
	{% includecode gerrit_repo="fuchsia/fuchsia" gerrit_path="examples/fidl/fuchsia.examples.docs/versioning.test.fidl" region_tag="legacy" %}
	```

	Here, `LegacyMethod` does not appear in bindings at version 6 or higher nor at
	`HEAD`, but it gets added back in the `LEGACY` version.

	For more information on legacy support, see [RFC-0083: FIDL
	versioning][rfc-0083-legacy].

	## References

	There are a variety of ways one FIDL element can reference another. For example:

	```fidl
	{% includecode gerrit_repo="fuchsia/fuchsia" gerrit_path="examples/fidl/fuchsia.examples.docs/versioning.test.fidl" region_tag="references" %}
	```

	When referencing elements, you must respect the `@available` attributes. For
	example, the following code is invalid because `A` exists from version 1 onward,
	but it tries to reference `B` which only exists at version 2:

	```fidl
	// Does not compile!

	@available(added=1)
	const A bool = B;

	@available(added=2, removed=3)
	const B bool = true;
	```

	Similarly, it is invalid for a non-deprecated element to reference a deprecated
	element. For example, the following code is invalid at version 1 because `A`
	references `B`, but `B` is deprecated while `A` is not.

	```fidl
	// Does not compile!

	@available(deprecated=2)
	const A bool = B;

	@available(deprecated=1)
	const B bool = true;
	```

	## Swapping

	Some parts of the FIDL language do not support attributes. For example, you
	cannot place the `@available` attribute directly on an enum's `strict` modifier.
	However, FIDL versioning can still represent this kind of change using a
	technique called _swapping_. Instead of changing the enum, you duplicate it,
	simultaneously removing the old copy and adding the new one. For example:

	```fidl
	{% includecode gerrit_repo="fuchsia/fuchsia" gerrit_path="examples/fidl/fuchsia.examples.docs/versioning.test.fidl" region_tag="swapping" %}
	```

	Taken to the extreme, swapping makes it possible to decompose a versioned
	library into a series of snapshots for each version. For example, given the
	protocol shown [earlier](#inheritance):

	```fidl
	{% includecode gerrit_repo="fuchsia/fuchsia" gerrit_path="examples/fidl/fuchsia.examples.docs/versioning.test.fidl" region_tag="inheritance" %}
	```

	We can decompose it by swapping the protocol at every version:

	```fidl
	{% includecode gerrit_repo="fuchsia/fuchsia" gerrit_path="examples/fidl/fuchsia.examples.docs/versioning_decomposed.test.fidl" region_tag="decomposed" %}
	```

	[rfc-0083]: /docs/contribute/governance/rfcs/0083_fidl_versioning.md
	[rfc-0083-legacy]: /docs/contribute/governance/rfcs/0083_fidl_versioning.md#legacy
	[element]: /docs/contribute/governance/rfcs/0083_fidl_versioning.md#terminology
	[overview]: /docs/development/languages/fidl/guides/style.md#library-overview
	[deprecation-bug]: https://bugs.fuchsia.dev/p/fuchsia/issues/detail?id=7692