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[linux-block.git] / Documentation / devicetree / writing-schema.md
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1# Writing DeviceTree Bindings in json-schema
2
3Devicetree bindings are written using json-schema vocabulary. Schema files are
4written in a JSON compatible subset of YAML. YAML is used instead of JSON as it
5considered more human readable and has some advantages such as allowing
6comments (Prefixed with '#').
7
8## Schema Contents
9
10Each schema doc is a structured json-schema which is defined by a set of
11top-level properties. Generally, there is one binding defined per file. The
12top-level json-schema properties used are:
13
14- __$id__ - A json-schema unique identifier string. The string must be a valid
15URI typically containing the binding's filename and path. For DT schema, it must
16begin with "http://devicetree.org/schemas/". The URL is used in constructing
17references to other files specified in schema "$ref" properties. A $ref values
18with a leading '/' will have the hostname prepended. A $ref value a relative
19path or filename only will be prepended with the hostname and path components
20of the current schema file's '$id' value. A URL is used even for local files,
21but there may not actually be files present at those locations.
22
23- __$schema__ - Indicates the meta-schema the schema file adheres to.
24
25- __title__ - A one line description on the contents of the binding schema.
26
27- __maintainers__ - A DT specific property. Contains a list of email address(es)
28for maintainers of this binding.
29
30- __description__ - Optional. A multi-line text block containing any detailed
31information about this binding. It should contain things such as what the block
32or device does, standards the device conforms to, and links to datasheets for
33more information.
34
35- __select__ - Optional. A json-schema used to match nodes for applying the
36schema. By default without 'select', nodes are matched against their possible
37compatible string values or node name. Most bindings should not need select.
38
39- __allOf__ - Optional. A list of other schemas to include. This is used to
40include other schemas the binding conforms to. This may be schemas for a
41particular class of devices such as I2C or SPI controllers.
42
43- __properties__ - A set of sub-schema defining all the DT properties for the
44binding. The exact schema syntax depends on whether properties are known,
45common properties (e.g. 'interrupts') or are binding/vendor specific properties.
46
47 A property can also define a child DT node with child properties defined
48under it.
49
50 For more details on properties sections, see 'Property Schema' section.
51
52- __patternProperties__ - Optional. Similar to 'properties', but names are regex.
53
54- __required__ - A list of DT properties from the 'properties' section that
55must always be present.
56
57- __examples__ - Optional. A list of one or more DTS hunks implementing the
58binding. Note: YAML doesn't allow leading tabs, so spaces must be used instead.
59
60Unless noted otherwise, all properties are required.
61
62## Property Schema
63
64The 'properties' section of the schema contains all the DT properties for a
65binding. Each property contains a set of constraints using json-schema
66vocabulary for that property. The properties schemas are what is used for
67validation of DT files.
68
69For common properties, only additional constraints not covered by the common
70binding schema need to be defined such as how many values are valid or what
71possible values are valid.
72
73Vendor specific properties will typically need more detailed schema. With the
74exception of boolean properties, they should have a reference to a type in
75schemas/types.yaml. A "description" property is always required.
76
77The Devicetree schemas don't exactly match the YAML encoded DT data produced by
78dtc. They are simplified to make them more compact and avoid a bunch of
79boilerplate. The tools process the schema files to produce the final schema for
80validation. There are currently 2 transformations the tools perform.
81
82The default for arrays in json-schema is they are variable sized and allow more
83entries than explicitly defined. This can be restricted by defining 'minItems',
84'maxItems', and 'additionalItems'. However, for DeviceTree Schemas, a fixed
85size is desired in most cases, so these properties are added based on the
86number of entries in an 'items' list.
87
88The YAML Devicetree format also makes all string values an array and scalar
89values a matrix (in order to define groupings) even when only a single value
90is present. Single entries in schemas are fixed up to match this encoding.
91
92## Testing
93
94### Dependencies
95
96The DT schema project must be installed in order to validate the DT schema
97binding documents and validate DTS files using the DT schema. The DT schema
98project can be installed with pip:
99
100`pip3 install git+https://github.com/robherring/yaml-bindings.git@master`
101
102dtc must also be built with YAML output support enabled. This requires that
103libyaml and its headers be installed on the host system.
104
105### Running checks
106
107The DT schema binding documents must be validated using the meta-schema (the
108schema for the schema) to ensure they are both valid json-schema and valid
109binding schema. All of the DT binding documents can be validated using the
110`dt_binding_check` target:
111
112`make dt_binding_check`
113
114In order to perform validation of DT source files, use the `dtbs_check` target:
115
116`make dtbs_check`
117
118This will first run the `dt_binding_check` which generates the processed schema.
119
120It is also possible to run checks with a single schema file by setting the
121'DT_SCHEMA_FILES' variable to a specific schema file.
122
123`make dtbs_check DT_SCHEMA_FILES=Documentation/devicetree/bindings/trivial-devices.yaml`
124
125
126## json-schema Resources
127
128[JSON-Schema Specifications](http://json-schema.org/)
129
130[Using JSON Schema Book](http://usingjsonschema.com/)