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Diffstat (limited to 'chrome/browser/sync/internal_api/README')
| -rw-r--r-- | chrome/browser/sync/internal_api/README | 32 |
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diff --git a/chrome/browser/sync/internal_api/README b/chrome/browser/sync/internal_api/README new file mode 100644 index 0000000..32987bb --- /dev/null +++ b/chrome/browser/sync/internal_api/README @@ -0,0 +1,32 @@ +This file defines the "sync API", an interface to the syncer +backend that exposes (1) the core functionality of maintaining a consistent +local snapshot of a hierarchical object set; (2) a means to transactionally +access and modify those objects; (3) a means to control client/server +synchronization tasks, namely: pushing local object modifications to a +server, pulling nonlocal object modifications from a server to this client, +and resolving conflicts that may arise between the two; and (4) an +abstraction of some external functionality that is to be provided by the +host environment. + +This interface is used as the entry point into the syncer backend +when the backend is compiled as a library and embedded in another +application. A goal for this interface layer is to depend on very few +external types, so that an application can use the sync backend +without introducing a dependency on specific types. A non-goal is to +have binary compatibility across versions or compilers; this allows the +interface to use C++ classes. An application wishing to use the sync API +should ideally compile the syncer backend and this API as part of the +application's own build, to avoid e.g. mismatches in calling convention, +structure padding, or name mangling that could arise if there were a +compiler mismatch. + +The schema of the objects in the sync domain is based on the model, which +is essentially a hierarchy of items and folders similar to a filesystem, +but with a few important differences. The sync API contains fields +such as URL to easily allow the embedding application to store web +browser bookmarks. Also, the sync API allows duplicate titles in a parent. +Consequently, it does not support looking up an object by title +and parent, since such a lookup is not uniquely determined. Lastly, +unlike a filesystem model, objects in the Sync API model have a strict +ordering within a parent; the position is manipulable by callers, and +children of a node can be enumerated in the order of their position. |
