Anatomy of a type spec #

A type spec consists of 2 main sections (fields and __proto) and some properties on the root.

name #

This property is deprecated. Fill in the same as you fill in on the property type for compatibility with some old generators.

type #

The type of the field without the package name. Write it in CamelCase with a capital letter at the beginning.

__proto #

The proto section defines some properties to generate the proto files.

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__proto:
    package: auth
    targetfile: auth.proto
    imports: []
    options:
        go_package: github.com/veith/doit-specs/dist/pb/auth;authpb
        java_multiple_files: "true"
        java_outer_classname: AuthProto
        java_package: com.furo.baseauth

Field package string #

This is the desired proto package name.

In proto this is optional, in specs this field is not optional

You can add an optional package specifier to a .proto file to prevent name clashes between protocol message types.

Learn more about packages in protobuf

Field targetfile string #

The name of the proto file. Multiple types can write to the same file, if they belong to the same package. The file will be generated in a folder according to the package.

A package company.groups with a protofile green.proto and a config target dist/proto will be generated to

dist/proto/company/groups/green.proto

Field imports []string #

Add imports by hand only if you do not work with Furo chain. Furo will check and fix imports for you.

This can be done with the command furo checkImports. Imports that can not be found would be reported.

Imports that are not needed anymore, are removed too.

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    imports:
        - google/type/date.proto
        - google/type/timeofday.proto

field options map<string, string> #

When needed, you can add options for your protos. This can be something like the following:

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    options:
        go_package: github.com/veith/doit-specs/dist/pb/auth;authpb
        java_multiple_files: "true"
        java_outer_classname: AuthProto
        java_package: com.furo.baseauth

Potential pitfall: The value of an option is a string, so write values which should have true as value like this:

java_multiple_files: "true"

When you write true not as string, the value will not work.

Fields map<string, Field> #

The most important part of a type spec are the fields. The fields section contains a map with fields. A field itself has the properties type, description, meta, constraints, __ui and __proto.

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    password:
        type: string
        description: The password.
        __proto:
            number: 1
            oneof: ""
        __ui: null
        meta:
            default: ""
            hint: ""
            label: auth.Credentials.password.label
            placeholder: xx.xx.xx.xx
            options:
                flags: []
                list: []
            readonly: false
            repeated: false
            typespecific: null
        constraints:
            required:
                is: "true"
                message: password is required

Field type string #

The type of the field. This should be one of the types that you have defined or installed.

Field description string #

It is a good practice to give a good description of the type. This description will go to the generated protos and other generates.

Field meta Meta #

In the meta field you can set additional information for field in your type. Only the field meta.repeated does impact the proto. The options that you set here are thought for the backend and the client. This properties are domain specific and can give instructions for generators, validators or displaying the field.

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 meta:
    default: "1234"
    hint: "look at the post-it on your monitor or below the keyboard"
    label: auth.Credentials.password.label
    placeholder: xx.xx.xx.xx
    options:
        flags: []
        list: []
    readonly: false
    repeated: false
    typespecific: null

default string #

The default value for the field when you create a new object. Keep in mind that this is a string and should be parsed by your implementation.

hint string #

This property gives you a hint message. On the furo client libs, this property goes through the translation engine first [optional]. The furo-data-xxx-input components will display this value below the field, when you focus it.

label string #

This property labels the field. On the furo client libs, this property goes through the translation engine first [optional]. The furo-data-xxx-input components will display this value as placeholder (as long the field is empty) and or label (as soon you have some value)

placeholder string #

This property labels the field. On the furo client libs, this property goes through the translation engine first [optional]. The furo-data-ui5-xxx components will display this value as placeholder (as long the field is empty).

options.flags []string #

options.list []Anything #

readonly bool #

Define the field as readonly. The furo client libs will not send this field on a request by default.

repeated bool #

Define the field as repeated. Keep in mind that not all combinations are possible. As an exapmle, if you set oneof in __proto, repeated must be set to false.

typespecific: Anything #

Deprecated

This is something like a extension point for fields in types. Use the extensionpoint on the field please.

Field constraints map<string, Constraint> #

Static constraints are defined on a per field basis. The client libs would use this information to mark the fields in a form which are not valid. This does not mean that you should not check the data on the server side.

Side note:

The constraint may be overwritten by a server response (with meta.fieldname.constraints:{...}).

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    constraints:
      required: #<-- constraint
        is: "true" #<-- value as string
        message: password is required #<-- message to write on constraint violation
      max:
        is: "100"
        message: not more then 100
      min:
        is: "10"
        message: at least 10
      step:
        is: "5"
        message: incrase by 5 only

You have to parse the is field according to your type when you want to use the spec directly. The client libs sets the constraints to the according input fields where they are expected as string. So nothing is to do there. If you write extended validators for the client, you have to parse the is value too.

Field __proto: Fieldproto #

Define the field id (proto number) and set a oneof group if needed.

The oneof property in detail

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    __proto:
        number: 1
        oneof: ""

Field __ui: Uiprops #

In this property you will define ui relevant attributes of a field. This information is used by some generators. The idea behind is that you can give hints for your generators.

The generator @furo/ui-builder use the component property to generate the input for the field with an explicit component, if this property is not set, it will look for the best matching input component. For a string i.e. a text input will be selected. In the example below we know that we have bigger texts and request a textarea to be used.

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  __ui: {
    component: furo-data-textarea-input
    flags: 
      - full
    no_init: false  

It depends on your generator what you have to fill in the properties. When your generator requires concrete component names, then you have to write it so. When your generator can handle your “intention” then a flag big or lot would be all you have to set.

The property no_init tells the generator to not build something for this input.