PIDL(1) Samba Documentation PIDL(1)NAMEpidl - An IDL compiler written in Perl
SYNOPSISpidl--help
pidl [--outputdir[=OUTNAME]] [--includedir DIR...] [--parse-idl-tree]
[--dump-idl-tree] [--dump-ndr-tree] [--header[=OUTPUT]]
[--python[=OUTPUT]] [--ndr-parser[=OUTPUT]] [--client] [--server]
[--warn-compat] [--quiet] [--verbose] [--template]
[--ws-parser[=OUTPUT]] [--diff] [--dump-idl] [--tdr-parser[=OUTPUT]]
[--samba3-ndr-client[=OUTPUT]] [--samba3-ndr-server[=OUTPUT]]
[--typelib=[OUTPUT]] [<idlfile>.idl]...
DESCRIPTIONpidl is an IDL compiler written in Perl that aims to be somewhat
compatible with the midl compiler. IDL is short for "Interface
Definition Language".
pidl can generate stubs for DCE/RPC server code, DCE/RPC client code
and Wireshark dissectors for DCE/RPC traffic.
IDL compilers like pidl take a description of an interface as their
input and use it to generate C (though support for other languages may
be added later) code that can use these interfaces, pretty print data
sent using these interfaces, or even generate Wireshark dissectors that
can parse data sent over the wire by these interfaces.
pidl takes IDL files in the same format as is used by midl, converts it
to a .pidl file (which contains pidl's internal representation of the
interface) and can then generate whatever output you need. .pidl files
should be used for debugging purposes only. Write your interface
definitions in .idl format.
The goal of pidl is to implement a IDL compiler that can be used while
developing the RPC subsystem in Samba (for both
marshalling/unmarshalling and debugging purposes).
OPTIONS--help
Show list of available options.
--version
Show pidl version
--outputdir OUTNAME
Write output files to the specified directory. Defaults to the
current directory.
--includedir DIR
Add DIR to the search path used by the preprocessor. This option
can be specified multiple times.
--parse-idl-tree
Read internal tree structure from input files rather than assuming
they contain IDL.
--dump-idl
Generate a new IDL file. File will be named OUTNAME.idl.
--header
Generate a C header file for the specified interface. Filename
defaults to OUTNAME.h.
--ndr-parser
Generate a C file and C header containing NDR parsers. The filename
for the parser defaults to ndr_OUTNAME.c. The header filename will
be the parser filename with the extension changed from .c to .h.
--tdr-parser
Generate a C file and C header containing TDR parsers. The filename
for the parser defaults to tdr_OUTNAME.c. The header filename will
be the parser filename with the extension changed from .c to .h.
--typelib
Write type information to the specified file.
--server
Generate boilerplate for the RPC server that implements the
interface. Filename defaults to ndr_OUTNAME_s.c.
--template
Generate stubs for a RPC server that implements the interface.
Output will be written to stdout.
--ws-parser
Generate an Wireshark dissector (in C) and header file. The
dissector filename defaults to packet-dcerpc-OUTNAME.c while the
header filename defaults to packet-dcerpc-OUTNAME.h.
Pidl will read additional data from an Wireshark conformance file
if present. Such a file should have the same location as the IDL
file but with the extension cnf rather than idl. See
Parse::Pidl::Wireshark::Conformance for details on the format of
this file.
--diff
Parse an IDL file, generate a new IDL file based on the internal
data structures and see if there are any differences with the
original IDL file. Useful for debugging pidl.
--dump-idl-tree
Tell pidl to dump the internal tree representation of an IDL file
the to disk. Useful for debugging pidl.
--dump-ndr-tree
Tell pidl to dump the internal NDR information tree it generated
from the IDL file to disk. Useful for debugging pidl.
--samba3-ndr-client
Generate client calls for Samba3, to be placed in rpc_client/.
Instead of calling out to the code in Samba3's rpc_parse/, this
will call out to Samba4's NDR code instead.
--samba3-ndr-server
Generate server calls for Samba3, to be placed in rpc_server/.
Instead of calling out to the code in Samba3's rpc_parse/, this
will call out to Samba4's NDR code instead.
IDL SYNTAX
IDL files are always preprocessed using the C preprocessor.
Pretty much everything in an interface (the interface itself,
functions, parameters) can have attributes (or properties whatever name
you give them). Attributes always prepend the element they apply to
and are surrounded by square brackets ([]). Multiple attributes are
separated by comma's; arguments to attributes are specified between
parentheses.
See the section COMPATIBILITY for the list of attributes that pidl
supports.
C-style comments can be used.
CONFORMANT ARRAYS
A conformant array is one with that ends in [*] or []. The strange
things about conformant arrays are that they can only appear as the
last element of a structure (unless there is a pointer to the
conformant array, of course) and the array size appears before the
structure itself on the wire.
So, in this example:
typedef struct {
long abc;
long count;
long foo;
[size_is(count)] long s[*];
} Struct1;
it appears like this:
[size_is] [abc] [count] [foo] [s...]
the first [size_is] field is the allocation size of the array, and
occurs before the array elements and even before the structure
alignment.
Note that size_is() can refer to a constant, but that doesn't change
the wire representation. It does not make the array a fixed array.
midl.exe would write the above array as the following C header:
typedef struct {
long abc;
long count;
long foo;
long s[1];
} Struct1;
pidl takes a different approach, and writes it like this:
typedef struct {
long abc;
long count;
long foo;
long *s;
} Struct1;
VARYING ARRAYS
A varying array looks like this:
typedef struct {
long abc;
long count;
long foo;
[size_is(count)] long *s;
} Struct1;
This will look like this on the wire:
[abc] [count] [foo] [PTR_s] [count] [s...]
FIXED ARRAYS
A fixed array looks like this:
typedef struct {
long s[10];
} Struct1;
The NDR representation looks just like 10 separate long declarations.
The array size is not encoded on the wire.
pidl also supports "inline" arrays, which are not part of the IDL/NDR
standard. These are declared like this:
typedef struct {
uint32 foo;
uint32 count;
uint32 bar;
long s[count];
} Struct1;
This appears like this:
[foo] [count] [bar] [s...]
Fixed arrays are an extension added to support some of the strange
embedded structures in security descriptors and spoolss.
This section is by no means complete. See the OpenGroup and MSDN
documentation for additional information.
COMPATIBILITY WITH MIDL
Missing features in pidl
The following MIDL features are not (yet) implemented in pidl or are
implemented with an incompatible interface:
· Asynchronous communication
· Typelibs (.tlb files)
· Datagram support (ncadg_*)
Supported attributes and statements
in, out, ref, length_is, switch_is, size_is, uuid, case, default,
string, unique, ptr, pointer_default, v1_enum, object, helpstring,
range, local, call_as, endpoint, switch_type, progid, coclass, iid_is,
represent_as, transmit_as, import, include, cpp_quote.
PIDL Specific properties
public
The [public] property on a structure or union is a pidl extension
that forces the generated pull/push functions to be non-static.
This allows you to declare types that can be used between modules.
If you don't specify [public] then pull/push functions for other
than top-level functions are declared static.
noprint
The [noprint] property is a pidl extension that allows you to
specify that pidl should not generate a ndr_print_*() function for
that structure or union. This is used when you wish to define your
own print function that prints a structure in a nicer manner. A
good example is the use of [noprint] on dom_sid, which allows the
pretty-printing of SIDs.
value
The [value(expression)] property is a pidl extension that allows
you to specify the value of a field when it is put on the wire.
This allows fields that always have a well-known value to be
automatically filled in, thus making the API more programmer
friendly. The expression can be any C expression.
relative
The [relative] property can be supplied on a pointer. When it is
used it declares the pointer as a spoolss style "relative" pointer,
which means it appears on the wire as an offset within the current
encapsulating structure. This is not part of normal IDL/NDR, but it
is a very useful extension as it avoids the manual encoding of many
complex structures.
subcontext(length)
Specifies that a size of length bytes should be read, followed by a
blob of that size, which will be parsed as NDR.
subcontext() is deprecated now, and should not be used in new code.
Instead, use represent_as() or transmit_as().
flag
Specify boolean options, mostly used for low-level NDR options.
Several options can be specified using the | character. Note that
flags are inherited by substructures!
nodiscriminant
The [nodiscriminant] property on a union means that the usual
uint16 discriminent field at the start of the union on the wire is
omitted. This is not normally allowed in IDL/NDR, but is used for
some spoolss structures.
charset(name)
Specify that the array or string uses the specified charset. If
this attribute is specified, pidl will take care of converting the
character data from this format to the host format. Commonly used
values are UCS2, DOS and UTF8.
Unsupported MIDL properties or statements
aggregatable, appobject, async_uuid, bindable, control, defaultbind,
defaultcollelem, defaultvalue, defaultvtable, dispinterface,
displaybind, dual, entry, first_is, helpcontext, helpfile,
helpstringcontext, helpstringdll, hidden, idl_module, idl_quote, id,
immediatebind, importlib, includelib, last_is, lcid, licensed, max_is,
module, ms_union, no_injected_text, nonbrowsable, noncreatable,
nonextensible, odl, oleautomation, optional, pragma, propget,
propputref, propput, readonly, requestedit, restricted, retval, source,
uidefault, usesgetlasterror, vararg, vi_progid, wire_marshal.
EXAMPLES
# Generating an Wireshark parser
$ ./pidl --ws-parser -- atsvc.idl
# Generating a TDR parser and header
$ ./pidl --tdr-parser --header -- regf.idl
# Generating a Samba3 client and server
$ ./pidl --samba3-ndr-client --samba3-ndr-server -- dfs.idl
# Generating a Samba4 NDR parser, client and server
$ ./pidl --ndr-parser --ndr-client --ndr-server -- samr.idl
SEE ALSO
<http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/rpc/rpc/field_attributes.asp>,
<http://wiki.wireshark.org/DCE/RPC>, <http://www.samba.org/>, yapp(1)LICENSEpidl is licensed under the GNU General Public License
<http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.
AUTHORpidl was written by Andrew Tridgell, Stefan Metzmacher, Tim Potter and
Jelmer Vernooij. The current maintainer is Jelmer Vernooij.
This manpage was written by Jelmer Vernooij, partially based on the
original pidl README by Andrew Tridgell.
perl v5.18.1 2013-06-13 PIDL(1)
