DBus Binding Generator Ada

Generates convenient and high-level Ada bindings for arbitrary D_Bus specifications.

The tool generates Ada packages corresponding to D_Bus interfaces and outputs them to stdout. Use gnatstub and gnatpp to clean up the generated code as desired.

Run the tool with no arguments to see its help page.

Building

Build using Nix: nix build or GPRBuild: gprbuild (from the project root)

Installing is currently only supported via Nix flakes. Dependencies are canonically listed in nix/default.nix. For a manual install, be sure to set "PREFIX" to the install prefix.

Development

nix develop

This provides several debugging and development tools as well.

TODO

Generate a list of objects Generated_Objects. Rename the server package to Generated_Registration These objects are canonical and defined in the XML spec along with their interfaces.

Limitations

On POSIX systems, the number of file descriptors that a process can have open at once is typically limited. Exceeding this limit will raise Constraint_Error upon attempting to receive a call from a D_Bus method / signal that takes file descriptors.

Subdirectories

supportlib/ : A support library for Object-Oriented D\_Bus
src/        : Source code for the binder
share/      : Introspect schema location
examples/   : Example code for the client and server bindings
specs/      : Some sample D_Bus specifications from real applications.
tests/      : Test scripts for the binder and generated bindings.
nix/, gpr/  : Build system implementation details

Dev Tools

./format.sh format the binding generator code using gnatpp

Supported Annotations

Annotation	Values	Meaning
org.freedesktop.DBus.Deprecated	true, false	Emits pragma Obsolescent for the entity in question.
org.freedesktop.DBus.Method.NoReply	true, false	Suppresses producing or waiting for a reply for a method call
org.freedesktop.DBus.Property.EmitsChangedSignal	true, invalidates, const, false	Controls whether PropertiesChanged is emitted when a property is modified*

* If a property with invalidates is modified, PropertiesChanged signals will not contain the new value. const and false are treated identically.

Licence

This code is GPL-licensed, except that the DBus support library D\_Bus.Support is licensed the same as D_Bus/Ada (GPL with GNAT Linking Exception).