The Slice compiler (slicec)

slicec is the compiler for Slice, the Interface Definition Language (IDL) used by IceRPC.

This crate provides two targets — a binary and a library — both named slicec.

slicec binary

The slicec binary is a command-line tool that takes Slice files, parses them into a typed Abstract Syntax Tree (AST), validates them, and then encodes them using the Slice encoding so other tools can consume it.

Code generation is performed by generator plugins: external executables that are passed with --generator (or -G) on the command line. slicec spawns each generator as a subprocess, sends the Slice-encoded AST over its stdin, and waits for a response over its stdout. This response consists of generated files (which slicec will then write to the appropriate location) and diagnostics (which are collected and reported by slicec at the end).

Installation

To install the slicec binary from crates.io, run:

cargo install slicec

Usage

To see the full list of options and flags supported by slicec, run slicec --help.

# Parse and validate one Slice file, and run two code-generator plugins over the result.
slicec hello.slice --generator /path/to/my/generator --generator my_other_generator

# Parses and validates 'project/hello.slice' and any reference files in './references'.
# Code-generator plugins only generate code for non-reference files.
slicec project/hello.slice -R ./references --generator /path/to/my/generator

# Validate and parse Slice files without generating any code.
slicec hello.slice goodbye.slice -R ./reference-files

If you have the source code checked out locally, you can also run the binary using cargo:

# Run `slicec` directly from source.
cargo run -- hello.slice --generator /path/to/my/generator

slicec library

The slicec library contains all the logic for parsing input into typed definitions stored in a single AST. It:

• Parses Slice definitions from on-disk files or in-memory strings.
• Validates definitions and reports findings through structured diagnostics.
• Exposes APIs for traversing and searching through the AST and definitions within it.

Using slicec in a Cargo Project:

Add slicec as a dependency to your project's Cargo.toml file:

[dependencies]

slicec = "0.4"

Example

use slicec::compile_from_strings;
use slicec::grammar::Enum;

let source = "
    module Example

    enum Color {
        Hex(color: string)
        Rgb(red: uint8, green: uint8, blue: uint8, tag(1) alpha: uint8?)
        Hsl(hue: int32, saturation: float32, lightness: float32)
    }
";

// Compile the Slice definitions. `None` means "use the default compiler options".
let compilation_state = compile_from_strings(&[source], None);

// Make sure no diagnostics were reported.
assert!(!compilation_state.diagnostics.has_errors());
// Inspect the contents of the resulting AST.
let color_enum = compilation_state.ast.find_element::<Enum>("Example::Color").unwrap();

Building

This crate is part of the slicec workspace. Commands should be run from the repository root:

# Build with the default features.
cargo build -p slicec

# Run the tests.
cargo test -p slicec

License

'slicec' is licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0.