Nim/doc/idetools.rst

.. default-role:: code

================================
  Nim IDE Integration Guide
================================

:Author: Britney Spears
:Version: |nimversion|

.. contents::


.. raw:: html
  <blockquote><p>
  "yes, I'm the creator" -- Araq, 2013-07-26 19:28:32.
  </p></blockquote>

Note: this is mostly outdated, see instead `nimsuggest <nimsuggest.html>`_

Nim differs from many other compilers in that it is really fast,
and being so fast makes it suited to provide external queries for
text editors about the source code being written. Through the
`idetools` command of `the compiler <nimc.html>`_, any IDE
can query a `.nim` source file and obtain useful information like
definition of symbols or suggestions for completion.

This document will guide you through the available options. If you
want to look at practical examples of idetools support you can look
at the test files found in the `Test suite`_ or `various editor
integrations <https://github.com/Araq/Nim/wiki/Editor-Support>`_
already available.


Idetools invocation
===================

Specifying the location of the query
------------------------------------

All of the available idetools commands require you to specify a
query location through the `--track` or `--trackDirty` switches.
The general idetools invocations are::

    nim idetools --track:FILE,LINE,COL <switches> proj.nim

Or::

    nim idetools --trackDirty:DIRTY_FILE,FILE,LINE,COL <switches> proj.nim

`proj.nim`
    This is the main *project* filename. Most of the time you will
    pass in the same as **FILE**, but for bigger projects this is
    the file which is used as main entry point for the program, the
    one which users compile to generate a final binary.

`<switches>`
    This would be any of the other idetools available options, like
    `--def` or `--suggest` explained in the following sections.

`COL`
    An integer with the column you are going to query. For the
    compiler columns start at zero, so the first column will be
    **0** and the last in an 80 column terminal will be **79**.

`LINE`
    An integer with the line you are going to query. For the compiler
    lines start at **1**.

`FILE`
    The file you want to perform the query on. Usually you will
    pass in the same value as **proj.nim**.

`DIRTY_FILE`
    The **FILE** parameter is enough for static analysis, but IDEs
    tend to have *unsaved buffers* where the user may still be in
    the middle of typing a line. In such situations the IDE can
    save the current contents to a temporary file and then use the
    `--trackDirty` switch.

    Dirty files are likely to contain errors and they are usually
    compiled partially only to the point needed to service the
    idetool request. The compiler discriminates them to ensure that
    **a)** they won't be cached and **b)** they won't invalidate
    the cached contents of the original module.

    The other reason is that the dirty file can appear anywhere on
    disk (e.g. in tmpfs), but it must be treated as having a path
    matching the original module when it comes to usage of relative
    paths, etc. Queries, however, will refer to the dirty module
    name in their answers instead of the normal filename.


Definitions
-----------

The `--def` idetools switch performs a query about the definition
of a specific symbol. If available, idetools will answer with the
type, source file, line/column information and other accessory data
if available like a docstring. With this information an IDE can
provide the typical *Jump to definition* where a user puts the
cursor on a symbol or uses the mouse to select it and is redirected
to the place where the symbol is located.

Since Nim is implemented in Nim, one of the nice things of
this feature is that any user with an IDE supporting it can quickly
jump around the standard library implementation and see exactly
what a proc does, learning about the language and seeing real life
examples of how to write/implement specific features.

Idetools will always answer with a single definition or none if it
can't find any valid symbol matching the position of the query.


Suggestions
-----------

The `--suggest` idetools switch performs a query about possible
completion symbols at some point in the file. IDEs can easily provide
an autocompletion feature where the IDE scans the current file (and
related ones, if it knows about the language being edited and follows
includes/imports) and when the user starts typing something a
completion box with different options appears.

However such features are not context sensitive and work simply on
string matching, which can be problematic in Nim especially due
to the case insensitiveness of the language (plus underscores as
separators!).

The typical usage scenario for this option is to call it after the
user has typed the dot character for `the object oriented call
syntax <tut2.html#object-oriented-programming-method-call-syntax>`_.
Idetools will try to return the suggestions sorted first by scope
(from innermost to outermost) and then by item name.


Invocation context
------------------

The `--context` idetools switch is very similar to the suggestions
switch, but instead of being used after the user has typed a dot
character, this one is meant to be used after the user has typed
an opening brace to start typing parameters.


Symbol usages
-------------

The `--usages` idetools switch lists all usages of the symbol at
a position. IDEs can use this to find all the places in the file
where the symbol is used and offer the user to rename it in all
places at the same time. Again, a pure string based search and
replace may catch symbols out of the scope of a function/loop.

For this kind of query the IDE will most likely ignore all the
type/signature info provided by idetools and concentrate on the
filename, line and column position of the multiple returned answers.


Expression evaluation
---------------------

This feature is still under development. In the future it will allow
an IDE to evaluate an expression in the context of the currently
running/debugged user project.


Compiler as a service (CAAS)
============================

The occasional use of idetools is acceptable for things like
definitions, where the user puts the cursor on a symbol or double
clicks it and after a second or two the IDE displays where that
symbol is defined. Such latencies would be terrible for features
like symbol suggestion, plus why wait at all if we can avoid it?

The idetools command can be run as a compiler service (CAAS),
where you first launch the compiler and it will stay online as a
server, accepting queries in a telnet like fashion. The advantage
of staying on is that for many queries the compiler can cache the
results of the compilation, and subsequent queries should be fast
in the millisecond range, thus being responsive enough for IDEs.

If you want to start the server using stdin/stdout as communication
you need to type::

    nim serve --server.type:stdin proj.nim

If you want to start the server using tcp and a port, you need to type::

    nim serve --server.type:tcp --server.port:6000 \
      --server.address:hostname proj.nim

In both cases the server will start up and await further commands.
The syntax of the commands you can now send to the server is
practically the same as running the nim compiler on the commandline,
you only need to remove the name of the compiler since you are
already talking to it. The server will answer with as many lines
of text it thinks necessary plus an empty line to indicate the end
of the answer.

You can find examples of client/server communication in the idetools
tests found in the `Test suite`_.


Parsing idetools output
=======================

Idetools outputs is always returned on single lines separated by
tab characters (``\t``). The values of each column are:

1. Three characters indicating the type of returned answer (e.g.
   def for definition, `sug` for suggestion, etc).
2. Type of the symbol. This can be `skProc`, `skLet`, and just
   about any of the enums defined in the module `compiler/ast.nim`.
3. Full qualified path of the symbol. If you are querying a symbol
   defined in the `proj.nim` file, this would have the form
   `proj.symbolName`.
4. Type/signature. For variables and enums this will contain the
   type of the symbol, for procs, methods and templates this will
   contain the full unique signature (e.g. `proc (File)`).
5. Full path to the file containing the symbol.
6. Line where the symbol is located in the file. Lines start to
   count at **1**.
7. Column where the symbol is located in the file. Columns start
   to count at **0**.
8. Docstring for the symbol if available or the empty string. To
   differentiate the docstring from end of answer in server mode,
   the docstring is always provided enclosed in double quotes, and
   if the docstring spans multiple lines, all following lines of the
   docstring will start with a blank space to align visually with
   the starting quote.

   Also, you won't find raw ``\n`` characters breaking the one
   answer per line format. Instead you will need to parse sequences
   in the form ``\xHH``, where *HH* is a hexadecimal value (e.g.
   newlines generate the sequence ``\x0A``).

The following sections define the expected output for each kind of
symbol for which idetools returns valid output.


skConst
-------

| **Third column**: module + [n scope nesting] + const name.
| **Fourth column**: the type of the const value.
| **Docstring**: always the empty string.

.. code-block:: nim
    const SOME_SEQUENCE = @[1, 2]
    --> col 2: $MODULE.SOME_SEQUENCE
        col 3: seq[int]
        col 7: ""


skEnumField
-----------

| **Third column**: module + [n scope nesting] + enum type + enum field name.
| **Fourth column**: enum type grouping other enum fields.
| **Docstring**: always the empty string.

.. code-block:: nim
    Open(filename, fmWrite)
    --> col 2: system.FileMode.fmWrite
        col 3: FileMode
        col 7: ""


skForVar
--------

| **Third column**: module + [n scope nesting] + var name.
| **Fourth column**: type of the var.
| **Docstring**: always the empty string.

.. code-block:: nim
    proc looper(filename = "tests.nim") =
      for letter in filename:
        echo letter
    --> col 2: $MODULE.looper.letter
        col 3: char
        col 7: ""


skIterator, skClosureIterator
-----------------------------

The fourth column will be the empty string if the iterator is being
defined, since at that point in the file the parser hasn't processed
the full line yet. The signature will be returned complete in
posterior instances of the iterator.

| **Third column**: module + [n scope nesting] + iterator name.
| **Fourth column**: signature of the iterator including return type.
| **Docstring**: docstring if available.

.. code-block:: nim
    let
      text = "some text"
      letters = toSeq(runes(text))
    --> col 2: unicode.runes
        col 3: iterator (string): Rune
        col 7: "iterates over any unicode character of the string `s`."


skLabel
-------

| **Third column**: module + [n scope nesting] + name.
| **Fourth column**: always the empty string.
| **Docstring**: always the empty string.

.. code-block:: nim
    proc test(text: string) =
      var found = -1
      block loops:
    --> col 2: $MODULE.test.loops
        col 3: ""
        col 7: ""


skLet
-----

| **Third column**: module + [n scope nesting] + let name.
| **Fourth column**: the type of the let variable.
| **Docstring**: always the empty string.

.. code-block:: nim
    let
      text = "some text"
    --> col 2: $MODULE.text
        col 3: string
        col 7: ""


skMacro
-------

The fourth column will be the empty string if the macro is being
defined, since at that point in the file the parser hasn't processed
the full line yet. The signature will be returned complete in
posterior instances of the macro.

| **Third column**: module + [n scope nesting] + macro name.
| **Fourth column**: signature of the macro including return type.
| **Docstring**: docstring if available.

.. code-block:: nim
    proc testMacro() =
      expect(EArithmetic):
    --> col 2: idetools_api.expect
        col 3: proc (varargs[expr], stmt): stmt
        col 7: ""


skMethod
--------

The fourth column will be the empty string if the method is being
defined, since at that point in the file the parser hasn't processed
the full line yet. The signature will be returned complete in
posterior instances of the method.

Methods imply `dynamic dispatch
<tut2.html#object-oriented-programming-dynamic-dispatch>`_ and
idetools performs a static analysis on the code. For this reason
idetools may not return the definition of the correct method you
are querying because it may be impossible to know until the code
is executed. It will try to return the method which covers the most
possible cases (i.e. for variations of different classes in a
hierarchy it will prefer methods using the base class).

While at the language level a method is differentiated from others
by the parameters and return value, the signature of the method
returned by idetools returns also the pragmas for the method.

Note that at the moment the word `proc` is returned for the
signature of the found method instead of the expected `method`.
This may change in the future.

| **Third column**: module + [n scope nesting] + method name.
| **Fourth column**: signature of the method including return type.
| **Docstring**: docstring if available.

.. code-block:: nim
    method eval(e: PExpr): int = quit "to override!"
    method eval(e: PLiteral): int = e.x
    method eval(e: PPlusExpr): int = eval(e.a) + eval(e.b)
    echo eval(newPlus(newPlus(newLit(1), newLit(2)), newLit(4)))
    --> col 2: $MODULE.eval
        col 3: proc (PPlusExpr): int
        col 7: ""


skParam
-------

| **Third column**: module + [n scope nesting] + param name.
| **Fourth column**: the type of the parameter.
| **Docstring**: always the empty string.

.. code-block:: nim
    proc reader(filename = "tests.nim") =
      let text = readFile(filename)
    --> col 2: $MODULE.reader.filename
        col 3: string
        col 7: ""


skProc
------

The fourth column will be the empty string if the proc is being
defined, since at that point in the file the parser hasn't processed
the full line yet. The signature will be returned complete in
posterior instances of the proc.

While at the language level a proc is differentiated from others
by the parameters and return value, the signature of the proc
returned by idetools returns also the pragmas for the proc.

| **Third column**: module + [n scope nesting] + proc name.
| **Fourth column**: signature of the proc including return type.
| **Docstring**: docstring if available.

.. code-block:: nim
    open(filename, fmWrite)
    --> col 2: system.Open
        col 3: proc (var File, string, FileMode, int): bool
        col 7:
    "Opens a file named `filename` with given `mode`.

     Default mode is readonly. Returns true iff the file could be opened.
     This throws no exception if the file could not be opened."


skResult
--------

| **Third column**: module + [n scope nesting] + result.
| **Fourth column**: the type of the result.
| **Docstring**: always the empty string.

.. code-block:: nim
    proc getRandomValue() : int =
      return 4
    --> col 2: $MODULE.getRandomValue.result
        col 3: int
        col 7: ""


skTemplate
----------

The fourth column will be the empty string if the template is being
defined, since at that point in the file the parser hasn't processed
the full line yet. The signature will be returned complete in
posterior instances of the template.

| **Third column**: module + [n scope nesting] + template name.
| **Fourth column**: signature of the template including return type.
| **Docstring**: docstring if available.

.. code-block:: nim
    let
      text = "some text"
      letters = toSeq(runes(text))
    --> col 2: sequtils.toSeq
        col 3: proc (expr): expr
        col 7:
    "Transforms any iterator into a sequence.

     Example:

     .. code-block:: nim
       let
         numeric = @[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]
         odd_numbers = toSeq(filter(numeric) do (x: int) -> bool:
           if x mod 2 == 1:
             result = true)
       assert odd_numbers == @[1, 3, 5, 7, 9]"


skType
------

| **Third column**: module + [n scope nesting] + type name.
| **Fourth column**: the type.
| **Docstring**: always the empty string.

.. code-block:: nim
    proc writeTempFile() =
      var output: File
    --> col 2: system.File
        col 3: File
        col 7: ""


skVar
-----

| **Third column**: module + [n scope nesting] + var name.
| **Fourth column**: the type of the var.
| **Docstring**: always the empty string.

.. code-block:: nim
    proc writeTempFile() =
      var output: File
      output.open("/tmp/somefile", fmWrite)
      output.write("test")
    --> col 2: $MODULE.writeTempFile.output
        col 3: File
        col 7: ""


Test suite
==========

To verify that idetools is working properly there are files in the
`tests/caas/` directory which provide unit testing. If you find
odd idetools behaviour and are able to reproduce it, you are welcome
to report it as a bug and add a test to the suite to avoid future
regressions.


Running the test suite
----------------------

At the moment idetools support is still in development so the test
suite is not integrated with the main test suite and you have to
run it manually. First you have to compile the tester::

	$ cd my/nim/checkout/tests
	$ nim c testament/caasdriver.nim

Running the `caasdriver` without parameters will attempt to process
all the test cases in all three operation modes. If a test succeeds
nothing will be printed and the process will exit with zero. If any
test fails, the specific line of the test preceding the failure
and the failure itself will be dumped to stdout, along with a final
indicator of the success state and operation mode. You can pass the
parameter `verbose` to force all output even on successful tests.

The normal operation mode is called `ProcRun` and it involves
starting a process for each command or query, similar to running
manually the Nim compiler from the commandline. The `CaasRun`
mode starts a server process to answer all queries. The `SymbolProcRun`
mode is used by compiler developers.  This means that running all
tests involves processing all `*.txt` files three times, which
can be quite time consuming.

If you don't want to run all the test case files you can pass any
substring as a parameter to `caasdriver`. Only files matching the
passed substring will be run. The filtering doesn't use any globbing
metacharacters, it's a plain match. For example, to run only
`*-compile*.txt` tests in verbose mode::

	./caasdriver verbose -compile


Test case file format
---------------------

All the `tests/caas/*.txt` files encode a session with the compiler:

* The first line indicates the main project file.

* Lines starting with `>` indicate a command to be sent to the
  compiler and the lines following a command include checks for
  expected or forbidden output (`!` for forbidden).

* If a line starts with `#` it will be ignored completely, so you
  can use that for comments.

* Since some cases are specific to either `ProcRun` or `CaasRun`
  modes, you can prefix a line with the mode and the line will be
  processed only in that mode.

* The rest of the line is treated as a `regular expression <re.html>`_,
  so be careful escaping metacharacters like parenthesis.

Before the line is processed as a regular expression, some basic
variables are searched for and replaced in the tests. The variables
which will be replaced are:

* **$TESTNIM**: filename specified in the first line of the script.
* **$MODULE**: like $TESTNIM but without extension, useful for
  expected output.

When adding a test case to the suite it is a good idea to write a
few comments about what the test is meant to verify.