.\" -*- nroff -*-
.TH ovsdb\-idlc 1 "November 2009" "Open vSwitch" "Open vSwitch Manual"
.ds PN ovsdb\-idlc
.
.SH NAME
ovsdb\-idlc \- Open vSwitch IDL (Interface Definition Language) compiler
.
.SH SYNOPSIS
\fBovsdb\-idlc \fBvalidate\fI schema\fR
.br
\fBovsdb\-idlc \fBovsdb\-schema\fI schema\fR
.br
\fBovsdb\-idlc \fBc\-idl\-header\fI schema\fR
.br
\fBovsdb\-idlc \fBc\-idl\-source\fI schema\fR
.br
\fBovsdb\-idlc --help\fR
.br
\fBovsdb\-idlc --version\fR
.
.SH DESCRIPTION
The \fBovsdb\-idlc\fR program is a command-line tool for translating
Open vSwitch database interface definition language (IDL) schemas into
other formats.  It is used while building Open vSwitch, not at
installation or configuration time.  Thus, it is not normally
installed as part of Open vSwitch.
.
.PP
The \fIschema\fR files used as \fBovsdb\-idlc\fR input have the same
format as the OVSDB schemas, specified in the OVSDB specification,
with a few additions:
.
.IP "\fB//\fR comments"
Lines that begin with \fB//\fR (two forward slashes) are ignored and
thus can be used for comments.
.
.IP "\fB""\fBidlPrefix\fR"" member of <database-schema>"
This member, which is required, specifies a string that is prefixed to
top-level names in C bindings.  It should probably end in an
underscore.
.
.IP "\fB""\fBidlHeader\fR"" member of <database-schema>"
This member, which is required, specifies the name of the IDL header.
It will be output on an \fB#include\fR line in the source file
generated by the C bindings.  It should include the bracketing
\fB""\fR or \fB<>\fR.
.
.IP "\fB""\fBkeyRefTable\fR"" member of <type>"
A <type> whose \fBkey\fR is \fB"uuid"\fR may have an additional member
named \fB"keyRefTable"\fR, whose value is a table name.  This
expresses the constraint that keys of the given <type> are UUIDs that
reference rows in the named table.  This allows the IDL to supply a
structure pointer in place of a raw UUID in its marshalled version of
the given type.
.
.IP "\fB""valueRefTable""\fR member of <type>"
Analogous to \fB"keyRefTable"\fR in meaning and effect, except that it
applies to the \fB"value"\fR member of the <type>.
.SS "Commands"
.
.IP "\fBvalidate\fI schema\fR"
Reads \fIschema\fR and checks its format, without producing any output.
.
.IP "\fBovsdb\-schema\fI schema\fR"
Reads \fIschema\fR and prints it on standard output with the parts
that are not part of the OVSDB schema specification stripped out.
.
.IP "\fBc\-idl\-header\fI schema\fR"
Reads \fIschema\fR and prints on standard output a C header file that
defines a structure for each table defined by the schema.
.
.IP "\fBc\-idl\-source\fI schema\fR"
Reads \fIschema\fR and prints on standard output a C source file that
implements C bindings for the database defined by the schema.
.
.SS "Options"
.so lib/common.man
.
.SH "BUGS"
\fBovsdb\-idlc\fR is more lenient about the format of OVSDB schemas
than other OVSDB tools, so the \fBovsdb\-schema\fR command may output
schemas that other programs refuse to read.
.
.SH "SEE ALSO"
The OVSDB specification.