Implement an LLCPP FIDL client
Prerequisites
This tutorial builds on the [FIDL server][server-tut] tutorial. For the full set of FIDL tutorials, refer to the [overview][overview].
Overview
This tutorial implements a client for a FIDL protocol and runs it against the server created in the [previous tutorial][server-tut]. The client in this tutorial is asynchronous. There is an [alternate tutorial][sync-client] for synchronous clients.
If you want to write the code yourself, delete the following directories:
Create the component
Create a new component project at examples/fidl/llcpp/client:
- Add a
main()function toexamples/fidl/llcpp/client/main.cc:
- Declare a target for the client in
examples/fidl/llcpp/client/BUILD.gn:
{% includecode gerrit_repo="fuchsia/fuchsia" gerrit_path="examples/fidl/llcpp/client/BUILD.gn" region_tag="imports" %}
# Declare an executable for the client.
executable("bin") {
output_name = "fidl_echo_llcpp_client"
sources = [ "main.cc" ]
}
{% includecode gerrit_repo="fuchsia/fuchsia" gerrit_path="examples/fidl/llcpp/client/BUILD.gn" region_tag="rest" %}
- Add a component manifest in
examples/fidl/llcpp/client/meta/client.cml:
Note: The binary name in the manifest must match the output name of the
executable defined in the previous step.
{% includecode gerrit_repo="fuchsia/fuchsia" gerrit_path="examples/fidl/llcpp/client/meta/client.cml" region_tag="example_snippet" %}
- Once you have created your component, ensure that you can add it to the build configuration:
- Build the Fuchsia image:
Edit GN dependencies
- Add the following dependencies:
{% includecode gerrit_repo="fuchsia/fuchsia" gerrit_path="examples/fidl/llcpp/client/BUILD.gn" region_tag="deps" %}
- Then, include them in
main.cc:
```cpp {% includecode gerrit_repo="fuchsia/fuchsia" gerrit_path="examples/fidl/llcpp/client/main.cc" region_tag="includes" %}
These dependencies are explained in the [server tutorial][server-tut].
Connect to the server {#main}
The steps in this section explain how to add code to the main() function
that connects the client to the server and makes requests to it.
Initialize the event loop
As in the server, the code first sets up an async loop so that the client can listen for incoming responses from the server without blocking.
{% includecode gerrit_repo="fuchsia/fuchsia" gerrit_path="examples/fidl/llcpp/client/main.cc" region_tag="main" highlight="2,3,20,25,34,36,52,53,67" %}
The dispatcher is used to run two pieces of async code. It is first used to run
the EchoString method, and quits when the response is received. It is then run
after calling the SendString in order to listen for events, and quits when an
OnString event is received. The call to ResetQuit() in between these two
instances allows the client to reuse the loop.
Connect to the server
The client then connects to the service directory /svc, and uses it to connect
to the server.
{% includecode gerrit_repo="fuchsia/fuchsia" gerrit_path="examples/fidl/llcpp/client/main.cc" region_tag="main" highlight="5,6,7,8,9,11,12,13,14,15" %}
The service::OpenServiceRoot function initializes a channel, then passes the
server end to fdio_service_connect to connect to the /svc directory,
returning the client end wrapped in a zx::status result type. We should check
for the is_ok() value on the result to determine if any synchronous error
occurred.
Connecting to a protocol relative to the service directory is done by calling
fdio_service_connect_at, passing it the service directory, the name of the
service to connect to, as well as the channel that should get passed to the
server. The service::ConnectAt function wraps the low level fdio call,
providing the user with a typed client channel endpoint to the requested
protocol.
In parallel, the component manager will route the requested service name and
channel to the server component, where the [connect function][server-handler]
implemented in the server tutorial is called with these arguments, binding the
channel to the server implementation.
An important point to note here is that this code assumes that /svc already
contains an instance of the Echo protocol. This is not the case by default
because of the sandboxing provided by the component framework. A workaround will
be when running the example at the end of the tutorial.
Note: This pattern of making a request to connect the server end of the channel to a service, then immediately using the client end to communicate with the service is known as request pipelining. This topic is covered further in a separate [tutorial][pipelining-tut].
Initialize the client {#proxy}
In order to make Echo requests to the server, initialize a client using the
client end of the channel from the previous step, the loop dispatcher, as well
as an event handler delegate:
{% includecode gerrit_repo="fuchsia/fuchsia" gerrit_path="examples/fidl/llcpp/client/main.cc" region_tag="main" highlight="17,18,22,28,36,38,39" %}
The event handler delegate should be an object that implements the
fidl::AsyncEventHandler<Echo> virtual interface, which has methods
corresponding to the events offered by the protocol (see
[LLCPP event handlers][event-handlers]). In this case, a local class is defined
with a method corresponding to the OnString event. The handler prints the
string and quits the event loop. The class also overrides the on_fidl_error
method, which is called when the client encounters an error and is going to
teardown.
Send requests to the server
The code makes four requests to the server:
- An asynchronous
EchoStringcall taking a result callback. - An asynchronous
EchoStringcall taking a response callback. - A synchronous
EchoStringcall. - A one way
SendStringrequest (async vs sync is not relevant for this case because it is a fire and forget method).
The client object works by overriding the dereference operator to return a
[protocol specific client implementation][client-impl], allowing calls such as
client->EchoString().
Asynchronous call with result callback
The asynchronous method call requires the request parameters followed by a result callback, which is called either when the method succeeds or an error happens.
{% includecode gerrit_repo="fuchsia/fuchsia" gerrit_path="examples/fidl/llcpp/client/main.cc" region_tag="main" highlight="41,42,43,44,45,46,47,48,49,50,51" %}
Synchronous call
The client object also allows synchronous calls, which will block until the
response is received and return the response object. These may be selected
using the .sync() accessor. (e.g. client.sync()->EchoString()).
{% includecode gerrit_repo="fuchsia/fuchsia" gerrit_path="examples/fidl/llcpp/client/main.cc" region_tag="main" highlight="55,56,57" %}
In the synchronous case, a [result object][resultof] is returned, since the method call can fail. In the asynchronous or fire-and-forget case, a lightweight status object is returned, which communicates any synchronous errors.
Run the client
In order for the client and server to communicate using the Echo protocol,
component framework must route the fuchsia.examples.Echo capability from the
server to the client. For this tutorial, a [realm][glossary.realm] component is
provided to declare the appropriate capabilities and routes.
Note: You can explore the full source for the realm component at
//examples/fidl/echo-realm
-
Configure your build to include the provided package that includes the echo realm, server, and client:
-
Build the Fuchsia image:
-
Run the
echo_realmcomponent. This creates the client and server component instances and routes the capabilities: -
Start the
echo_clientinstance:
The server component starts when the client attempts to connect to the Echo
protocol. You should see output similar to the following in the device logs
(ffx log):
```none {:.devsite-disable-click-to-copy} [echo_server][][I] Running echo server [echo_server][][I] Incoming connection for fuchsia.examples.Echo [echo_client][][I] Got response (result callback): hello [echo_client][][I] Got response (response callback): hello [echo_client][][I] Got synchronous response: hello [echo_client][][I] Got event: hi
Terminate the realm component to stop execution and clean up the component
instances:
```posix-terminal
ffx component destroy /core/ffx-laboratory:echo_realm
glossary.realm /reference/fidl/bindings/llcpp-bindings.md event-handlers /reference/fidl/bindings/llcpp-bindings.md#resultof client-impl /development/languages/fidl/tutorials/llcpp/basics/server.md#server-handler server-tutsync-clientoverviewenvironmentpipelining-tut