zidl — An OMG IDL Parser and Code Generator

A spec-compliant OMG IDL 4.2 parser and code generator written in Zig. zidl generates language bindings and type support (CDR serialization, TypeObject/TypeIdentifier) for all supported targets.

Goals

• Parse IDL 4.2 per OMG formal/18-01-05
• Generate correct output for (in priority order):
  • Zig — type definitions + CDR serialization + TypeObject/TypeIdentifier (primary target, implemented)
  • C — type definitions + serialization (embedded FFI and standalone use, implemented)
  • C++11 — type definitions + serialization (formal/25-03-03 v1.0, IDL4-native, implemented)
  • Java — type definitions + serialization (formal/21-08-01 v1.0, desktop/server only, implemented)
  • Python 3.10+ — planned
  • C# / .NET — planned
  • Rust — planned
• Generate DCPS abstract API from IDL for bootstrapping a Zig DDS runtime (--generate-interfaces)
• Extensible backend interface so new mappings can be added cleanly
• Hand-written recursive descent parser (no parser generator, no combinator library)
• Ship companion runtime packages (zidl-rt, zidl-xtypes, zidl-cdr)

Build

Requires Zig 0.16.0.

zig build                         # build the zidl binary (output: zig-out/bin/zidl)
zig build -Doptimize=ReleaseFast  # optimised release build

CLI Reference

Option	Purpose
<file> [<file>...]	Input IDL file(s)
-o <dir>	Output directory
-b <backend>	Target language (c, cpp, java, zig)
-I <dir>	Preprocessor include path (repeatable)
-D <MACRO>[=value]	Define preprocessor macro (repeatable)
-E	Preprocess only; emit expanded IDL
--default-extensibility <final|appendable|mutable>	Default extensibility (spec default: final)
--no-typesupport	Suppress CDR serialization output
--no-typeobject-support	Suppress TypeObject/TypeIdentifier output (all backends)
--generate-interfaces	Emit DDS API binding layer for IDL interface declarations
--split-files	One file per type instead of single output file
--single-file	Single monolithic output file (default)
--type-prefix <pfx>	Prefix prepended to all generated type names (all backends)
--profile <full|xrce>	full (default) or xrce (XCDR1+@final+bounded only)
--c-header-guard-prefix <pfx>	Include guard prefix (C, C++ backends)
--c-export-macro <macro>	DLL export macro for function declarations (C, C++ backends)
--c-pragma-once	#pragma once instead of #ifndef guards (C, C++ backends)
--c-extern-c	Wrap header in extern "C" {} (C backend)
--cpp-namespace <ns>	Wrap all output in an outer namespace (C++ backend)
--java-package <pkg>	Java package prefix (Java backend)
--java-jni-library <name>	System.loadLibrary() name for JNI bridge (Java backend)
--zig-pl-cdr	Generate PL_CDR functions for @mutable types (Zig backend)
--zig-version <0.16.0|0.15.1>	Output compatibility target (Zig backend)
--version / --help	Standard

Documentation

Full documentation, specification references, and a complete document index are in docs/overview.md.

Quick links:

• Zig backend · C backend · C++ backend · Java backend
• Testing guide · Feature inventory
• Architecture · DDS ecosystem