xref: /sqlite-3.40.0/ext/wasm/api/README.md (revision d92c652a)
1# sqlite3-api.js And Friends
2
3This is the README for the files `sqlite3-*.js` and
4`sqlite3-wasm.c`. This collection of files is used to build a
5single-file distribution of the sqlite3 WASM API. It is broken into
6multiple JS files because:
7
81. To facilitate including or excluding certain components for
9   specific use cases. e.g. by removing `sqlite3-api-oo1.js` if the
10   OO#1 API is not needed.
11
122. To facilitate modularizing the pieces for use in different WASM
13   build environments. e.g. the files `post-js-*.js` are for use with
14   Emscripten's `--post-js` feature, and nowhere else.
15
163. Certain components must be in their own standalone files in order
17   to be loaded as JS Workers.
18
19Note that the structure described here is the current state of things,
20not necessarily the "final" state.
21
22The overall idea is that the following files get concatenated
23together, in the listed order, the resulting file is loaded by a
24browser client:
25
26- `sqlite3-api-prologue.js`\
27  Contains the initial bootstrap setup of the sqlite3 API
28  objects. This is exposed as a function, rather than objects, so that
29  the next step can pass in a config object which abstracts away parts
30  of the WASM environment, to facilitate plugging it in to arbitrary
31  WASM toolchains.
32- `../common/whwasmutil.js`\
33  A semi-third-party collection of JS/WASM utility code intended to
34  replace much of the Emscripten glue. The sqlite3 APIs internally use
35  these APIs instead of their Emscripten counterparts, in order to be
36  more portable to arbitrary WASM toolchains. This API is
37  configurable, in principle, for use with arbitrary WASM
38  toolchains. It is "semi-third-party" in that it was created in order
39  to support this tree but is standalone and maintained together
40  with...
41- `../jaccwabyt/jaccwabyt.js`\
42  Another semi-third-party API which creates bindings between JS
43  and C structs, such that changes to the struct state from either JS
44  or C are visible to the other end of the connection. This is also an
45  independent spinoff project, conceived for the sqlite3 project but
46  maintained separately.
47- `sqlite3-api-glue.js`\
48  Invokes functionality exposed by the previous two files to
49  flesh out low-level parts of `sqlite3-api-prologue.js`. Most of
50  these pieces related to the `sqlite3.capi.wasm` object.
51- `sqlite3-api-oo1.js`\
52  Provides a high-level object-oriented wrapper to the lower-level C
53  API, colloquially known as OO API #1. Its API is similar to other
54  high-level sqlite3 JS wrappers and should feel relatively familiar
55  to anyone familiar with such APIs. That said, it is not a "required
56  component" and can be elided from builds which do not want it.
57- `sqlite3-api-worker1.js`\
58  A Worker-thread-based API which uses OO API #1 to provide an
59  interface to a database which can be driven from the main Window
60  thread via the Worker message-passing interface. Like OO API #1,
61  this is an optional component, offering one of any number of
62  potential implementations for such an API.
63    - `../sqlite3-worker1.js`\
64      Is not part of the amalgamated sources and is intended to be
65      loaded by a client Worker thread. It loads the sqlite3 module
66      and runs the Worker #1 API which is implemented in
67      `sqlite3-api-worker1.js`.
68    - `../sqlite3-worker1-promiser.js`\
69      Is likewise not part of the amalgamated sources and provides
70      a Promise-based interface into the Worker #1 API. This is
71      a far user-friendlier way to interface with databases running
72      in a Worker thread.
73- `sqlite3-api-opfs.js`\
74  is an sqlite3 VFS implementation which supports Google Chrome's
75  Origin-Private FileSystem (OPFS) as a storage layer to provide
76  persistent storage for database files in a browser. It requires...
77    - `../sqlite3-opfs-async-proxy.js`\
78      is the asynchronous backend part of the OPFS proxy. It speaks
79      directly to the (async) OPFS API and channels those results back
80      to its synchronous counterpart. This file, because it must be
81      started in its own Worker, is not part of the amalgamation.
82- **`api/sqlite3-api-cleanup.js`**\
83  The previous files do not immediately extend the library. Instead
84  they add callback functions to be called during its
85  bootstrapping. Some also temporarily create global objects in order
86  to communicate their state to the files which follow them. This file
87  cleans up any dangling globals and runs the API bootstrapping
88  process, which is what finally executes the initialization code
89  installed by the previous files. As of this writing, this code
90  ensures that the previous files leave no more than a single global
91  symbol installed. When adapting the API for non-Emscripten
92  toolchains, this "should" be the only file where changes are needed.
93
94The build process glues those files together, resulting in
95`sqlite3-api.js`, which is everything except for the `post-js-*.js`
96files, and `sqlite3.js`, which is the Emscripten-generated amalgamated
97output and includes the `post-js-*.js` parts, as well as the
98Emscripten-provided module loading pieces.
99
100The non-JS outlier file is `sqlite3-wasm.c`: it is a proxy for
101`sqlite3.c` which `#include`'s that file and adds a couple more
102WASM-specific helper functions, at least one of which requires access
103to private/static `sqlite3.c` internals. `sqlite3.wasm` is compiled
104from this file rather than `sqlite3.c`.
105
106The following files are part of the build process but are injected
107into the build-generated `sqlite3.js` along with `sqlite3-api.js`.
108
109- `extern-pre-js.js`\
110  Emscripten-specific header for Emscripten's `--extern-pre-js`
111  flag. As of this writing, that file is only used for experimentation
112  purposes and holds no code relevant to the production deliverables.
113- `pre-js.js`\
114  Emscripten-specific header for Emscripten's `--pre-js` flag. This
115  file is intended as a place to override certain Emscripten behavior
116  before it starts up, but corner-case Emscripten bugs keep that from
117  being a reality.
118- `post-js-header.js`\
119  Emscripten-specific header for the `--post-js` input. It opens up
120  a lexical scope by starting a post-run handler for Emscripten.
121- `post-js-footer.js`\
122  Emscripten-specific footer for the `--post-js` input. This closes
123  off the lexical scope opened by `post-js-header.js`.
124- `extern-post-js.js`\
125  Emscripten-specific header for Emscripten's `--extern-post-js`
126  flag. This file overwrites the Emscripten-installed
127  `sqlite3InitModule()` function with one which, after the module is
128  loaded, also initializes the asynchronous parts of the sqlite3
129  module. For example, the OPFS VFS support.
130