Foobar2000:Development:Overview: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 10:52, 8 September 2023

What is a component

A foobar2000 component is a Windows Dynamic Link Library (DLL), or a Mac OS bundle with "component" extension, extending the functionality of the foobar2000 application.

A foobar2000 component implements one or more entrypoint services and interacts with services provided by foobar2000 core or other components.

Each component has a single exported DLL function, foobar2000_get_interface(), called on startup to initialize and discover entrypoint services of your component. This function is generated automatically by the foobar2000_component_client module. Do not implement it yourself.

foobar2000 components are made using foobar2000 SDK and Microsoft Visual Studio or Xcode.

Packaging a component

Components are delivered to the user in form of fb2k-component file.

In old 32-bit foobar2000, this was originally a renamed zip of a component DLL.

In modern foobar2000, fb2k-component archive can contain multiple subdiretories with payloads for different processor architectures or operating systems.

If your component requires additional files, include them in the zip; foobar2000 will extract them to the folder containing your component DLL upon installation.

Different architectures

Delivering as straightforward zip-of-a-DLL still works, but that leaves it up to the user to download the correct binary.

To support multiple CPU architectures with one package, put files meant for legacy x86 foobar2000 in top level and create subdirectories named after the architectures, with files that are specialized for those architectures.

For an example, x64 foobar2000 will extract whole component archive, then overwrite files in root with those in x64 subfolder:

foo_sample.dll   <= this is for legacy x86 foobar2000
x64\foo_sample.dll   <= for x64 and arm64ec
arm64ec\foo_sample.dll   <= arm64ec foobar2000 will prefer this over x64 if provided
mac\foo_sample.component  <=  Mac OS bundle

Components packaged this way will let foobar2000 choose the right thing to load.

The components site now accepts such components and detects supported CPU architectures by listing zip contents.

Windows ARM support

foobar2000 for ARM is built in ARM64EC (Emulation Compatible) mode.

Because ARM64 Windows is still a niche platform, we cannot expect every developer to compile and test ARM64 components. foobar2000 for ARM64 is capable of seamlessly loading x64 components and transparently running them side by side with native components.

For non-performance-critical components, emulation of verified working x64 code is more than good enough, likely better than running untested ARM64 code if the developer has no means to test it.

Getting a component listed on foobar2000.org/components

Register a forum account and contact Peter with info about your component.

@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 == What is a component ==
-A foobar2000 component is a Windows Dynamic Link Library (DLL) extending the functionality of the foobar2000 application.
+A foobar2000 component is a Windows Dynamic Link Library (DLL), or a Mac OS bundle with "component" extension, extending the functionality of the foobar2000 application.
 A foobar2000 component implements one or more entrypoint services and interacts with services provided by foobar2000 core or other components.
-Each component has a single exported DLL function, <code>foobar2000_get_interface()</code>, called on startup to initialize and discover entrypoint services your component. This function is generated automatically by the foobar2000_component_client module. Do not implement it yourself.
+Each component has a single exported DLL function, <code>foobar2000_get_interface()</code>, called on startup to initialize and discover entrypoint services of your component. This function is generated automatically by the foobar2000_component_client module. Do not implement it yourself.
+foobar2000 components are made using [https://www.foobar2000.org/SDK foobar2000 SDK] and [https://visualstudio.microsoft.com Microsoft Visual Studio] or [https://developer.apple.com/xcode Xcode].
+See also: [[Foobar2000:Development:Visual_Studio_Compatibility|Visual Studio Compatibility]], [[Foobar2000:Development:SDK Contents|SDK Contents]].
 == Packaging a component ==
@@ Line 13: / Line 17: @@
 Components are delivered to the user in form of fb2k-component file.
-This is simply a renamed zip of your DLL.
+In old 32-bit foobar2000, this was originally a renamed zip of a component DLL.
-If your component requires additional files, include them in the zip; foobar2000 will extract them to the folder containing your DLL upon installation.
-== Getting a component listed on foobar2000.org/components ==
+In modern foobar2000, fb2k-component archive can contain multiple subdiretories with payloads for different processor architectures or operating systems.
-Register a forum account and contact [https://hydrogenaud.io/index.php?action=profile;u=84 Peter] with info about your component.
+If your component requires additional files, include them in the zip; foobar2000 will extract them to the folder containing your component DLL upon installation.
-== Services ==
+=== Different architectures ===
-A service type is an interface class, deriving directly or indirectly from service_base class. A service type class must not have any data members; it can only provide virtual methods (to be overridden by service implementation), helper non-virtual methods built around virtual methods, static helper methods, and constants / enums. Each service interface class must have a static class_guid member, used for identification when enumerating services or querying for supported functionality. A service type declaration should declare a class with public virtual/helper/static methods, and use <code>FB2K_MAKE_SERVICE_INTERFACE() / FB2K_MAKE_SERVICE_INTERFACE_ENTRYPOINT()</code> macro to implement standard service behaviors for the class; additionally, class_guid needs to be defined outside class declaration (e.g. <code>const GUID someclass::class_guid = {….};</code> ). Note that most of components will not declare their own service types, they will only implement existing ones declared in the SDK.
+Delivering as straightforward zip-of-a-DLL still works, but that leaves it up to the user to download the correct binary.
-A service implementation is a class derived from relevant service type class, implementing virtual methods declared by service type class. Note that service implementation class does not implement virtual methods declared by service_base; those are implemented automatically.
+To support multiple CPU architectures with one package, put files meant for legacy x86 foobar2000 in top level and create subdirectories named after the architectures, with files that are specialized for those architectures.
-You cannot directly instantiate a service implementation object because it's still missing virtual methods of service_base.
+For an example, x64 foobar2000 will extract whole component archive, then overwrite files in root with those in x64 subfolder:
 <pre>
-class myworker : public threaded_process_callback { /* threaded_process_callback methods overridden here */ };
+foo_sample.dll   <= this is for legacy x86 foobar2000
-auto obj = new myworker; // error
+x64\foo_sample.dll   <= for x64 and arm64ec
-auto obj = fb2k::service_new<myworker>(); // good
+arm64ec\foo_sample.dll   <= arm64ec foobar2000 will prefer this over x64 if provided
-service_ptr_t<myworker> obj = new service_impl_t<myworker>; // longer equivalent of fb2k::service_new<>, commonly used in older code, not auto-friendly
+mac\foo_sample.component  <=  Mac OS bundle
 </pre>
-fb2k::service_new<> takes care of implementing common methods (service_base) needed by all services and returns an autopointer object that manages reference counting for you.
+Components packaged this way will let foobar2000 choose the right thing to load.
-Note that service_base methods:
+The components site now accepts such components and detects supported CPU architectures by listing zip contents.
-* <code>service_add_ref()</code>
-* <code>service_release()</code>
-* <code>service_query()</code>
-... are only intended for autopointer classes and should never be called directly in your code.
-See also: [[Foobar2000:Development:Auto Pointers|Auto Pointers]]
+=== Windows ARM support ===
+foobar2000 for ARM is built in ARM64EC (Emulation Compatible) mode.
-== Entrypoint services ==
+Because ARM64 Windows is still a niche platform, we cannot expect every developer to compile and test ARM64 components. foobar2000 for ARM64 is capable of seamlessly loading x64 components and transparently running them side by side with native components.
-An entrypoint service type is a special case of a service type that can be registered using service_factory templates, and then accessed from any point of service system (excluding DLL startup/shutdown code, such as code inside static object constructors/destructors). An entrypoint service type class must directly derive from service_base.
-Registered entrypoint services can be accessed using:
+For non-performance-critical components, emulation of verified working x64 code is more than good enough, likely better than running untested ARM64 code if the developer has no means to test it.
-* For services types with variable number of implementations registered:
+See also: [[Foobar2000:Foobar2000 for ARM]]
-* <code>enumerate()</code> static methods of the service class>
-<pre>
-for( auto ptr : someclass::enumerate() ) { /* do stuff with ptr */ }
-</pre>
-* Or, <code>service_enum_t<></code>, commonly used in older code:
-<pre>
-service_enum_t<someclass> e; service_ptr_t<someclass> ptr; while(e.next(ptr)) ptr->dosomething();
-</pre>
-* For services types with a single always-present implementation registered - such as core services like playlist_manager - using someclass::get(), e.g.:
-<pre>
-auto api = someclass::get(); api->dosomething(); api->dosomethingelse();
-</pre>
-Using per-service-type defined static helper functions, e.g. <code>someclass::g_dosomething()</code> - those use relevant service enumeration methods internally.
+== Getting a component listed on foobar2000.org/components ==
-An entrypoint service type must use <code>FB2K_MAKE_SERVICE_INTERFACE_ENTRYPOINT()</code> macro to implement standard entrypoint service behaviors, as opposed to all other service types that use <code>FB2K_MAKE_SERVICE_INTERFACE()</code> macro instead.
-You can register your own entrypoint service implementations using <code>FB2K_SERVICE_FACTORY()</code> macro. It creates a static instance of your object and makes it available for everyone else to enumerate and access.
+Register a forum account and contact [https://hydrogenaud.io/index.php?action=profile;u=84 Peter] with info about your component.
-Some services need to be registered differently, see documentation of individual services for details.
-A typical entrypoint service implementation looks like this:
-<pre>
-class myinitquit : public initquit {
-public:
-	void on_init() override {};
-	void on_quit() override {};
-};
-FB2K_SERVICE_FACTORY(myinitquit);
-</pre>
-== Exception use ==
-Most of API functions use C++ exceptions to signal failure conditions. All used exception classes must derive from <code>std::exception</code>; this design allows various instances of code to use single <code>catch()</code> line to obtain human-readable description of the problem to display.
-Additionally, special subclasses of exceptions are defined for use in specific conditions, such as <code>exception_io</code> for I/O failures. As a result, you must provide an exception handler whenever you invoke any kind of I/O code that may fail, unless in specific case calling context already handles exceptions (e.g. input implementation code - any exceptions should be forwarded to calling context, since exceptions are a part of input API).
-Implementations of global callback services such as <code>playlist_callback</code>, <code>playback_callback</code> or <code>library_callback</code> must not throw unhandled exceptions; behaviors in case they do are undefined (app termination is to be expected).
-== Storing configuration ==
-In order to create your entries in the foobar2000 configuration files, you must instantiate some objects that derive from <code>cfg_var</code> class. Those can be either predefined classes (<code>cfg_int</code>, <code>cfg_string</code>, etc) or your own classes implementing relevant methods.
-Each <code>cfg_var</code> instance has a GUID assigned, to identify its configuration file entry. The GUID is passed to its constructor (which implementations must take care of, typically by providing a constructor that takes a GUID and forwards it to <code>cfg_var</code> constructor).
-Note that <code>cfg_var</code> objects can only be instantiated statically (either directly as static objects, or as members of other static objects).
-It is encouraged to create your own configuration files in foobar2000 profile for more complex data to allow easy import / export / backup.
 == Further reading ==
@@ Line 101: / Line 58: @@
 * [[Foobar2000:Development:Auto Pointers|Auto Pointers]]
 * [[Foobar2000:Development:Debugging|Debugging]]
+* [[Foobar2000:Development:Exceptions|Exceptions]]
 * [[Foobar2000:Development:Global Callbacks|Global Callbacks: tracking foobar2000 lifetime events]]
+* [[Foobar2000:Development:SDK Contents|SDK Contents]]
+* [[Foobar2000:Development:Services|Services]]
+* [[Foobar2000:Development:Storing Configuration|Storing Configuration]]
 * [[Foobar2000:Development:Threads|Threads]]
+* [[Foobar2000:Development:Visual_Studio_Compatibility|Visual Studio Compatibility]]