FreeBSD/Linux Kernel Cross Reference
sys/contrib/device-tree/Bindings/writing-schema.rst

     .. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
     
     Writing Devicetree Bindings in json-schema
     ==========================================
     
     Devicetree bindings are written using json-schema vocabulary. Schema files are
     written in a JSON-compatible subset of YAML. YAML is used instead of JSON as it
     is considered more human readable and has some advantages such as allowing
     comments (Prefixed with '#').
    
    Also see :ref:`example-schema`.
    
    Schema Contents
    ---------------
    
    Each schema doc is a structured json-schema which is defined by a set of
    top-level properties. Generally, there is one binding defined per file. The
    top-level json-schema properties used are:
    
    $id
      A json-schema unique identifier string. The string must be a valid
      URI typically containing the binding's filename and path. For DT schema, it must
      begin with "http://devicetree.org/schemas/". The URL is used in constructing
      references to other files specified in schema "$ref" properties. A $ref value
      with a leading '/' will have the hostname prepended. A $ref value with only a
      relative path or filename will be prepended with the hostname and path
      components of the current schema file's '$id' value. A URL is used even for
      local files, but there may not actually be files present at those locations.
    
    $schema
      Indicates the meta-schema the schema file adheres to.
    
    title
      A one-line description on the contents of the binding schema.
    
    maintainers
      A DT specific property. Contains a list of email address(es)
      for maintainers of this binding.
    
    description
      Optional. A multi-line text block containing any detailed
      information about this binding. It should contain things such as what the block
      or device does, standards the device conforms to, and links to datasheets for
      more information.
    
    select
      Optional. A json-schema used to match nodes for applying the
      schema. By default, without 'select', nodes are matched against their possible
      compatible-string values or node name. Most bindings should not need select.
    
    allOf
      Optional. A list of other schemas to include. This is used to
      include other schemas the binding conforms to. This may be schemas for a
      particular class of devices such as I2C or SPI controllers.
    
    properties
      A set of sub-schema defining all the DT properties for the
      binding. The exact schema syntax depends on whether properties are known,
      common properties (e.g. 'interrupts') or are binding/vendor-specific
      properties.
    
    A property can also define a child DT node with child properties defined
    under it.
    
    For more details on properties sections, see 'Property Schema' section.
    
    patternProperties
      Optional. Similar to 'properties', but names are regex.
    
    required
      A list of DT properties from the 'properties' section that
      must always be present.
    
    examples
      Optional. A list of one or more DTS hunks implementing the
      binding. Note: YAML doesn't allow leading tabs, so spaces must be used instead.
    
    Unless noted otherwise, all properties are required.
    
    Property Schema
    ---------------
    
    The 'properties' section of the schema contains all the DT properties for a
    binding. Each property contains a set of constraints using json-schema
    vocabulary for that property. The properties schemas are what are used for
    validation of DT files.
    
    For common properties, only additional constraints not covered by the common,
    binding schema need to be defined such as how many values are valid or what
    possible values are valid.
    
    Vendor-specific properties will typically need more detailed schema. With the
    exception of boolean properties, they should have a reference to a type in
    schemas/types.yaml. A "description" property is always required.
    
    The Devicetree schemas don't exactly match the YAML-encoded DT data produced by
    dtc. They are simplified to make them more compact and avoid a bunch of
    boilerplate. The tools process the schema files to produce the final schema for
    validation. There are currently 2 transformations the tools perform.
   
   The default for arrays in json-schema is they are variable-sized and allow more
   entries than explicitly defined. This can be restricted by defining 'minItems',
   'maxItems', and 'additionalItems'. However, for DeviceTree Schemas, a fixed
   size is desired in most cases, so these properties are added based on the
   number of entries in an 'items' list.
   
   The YAML Devicetree format also makes all string values an array and scalar
   values a matrix (in order to define groupings) even when only a single value
   is present. Single entries in schemas are fixed up to match this encoding.
   
   Coding style
   ------------
   
   Use YAML coding style (two-space indentation). For DTS examples in the schema,
   preferred is four-space indentation.
   
   Testing
   -------
   
   Dependencies
   ~~~~~~~~~~~~
   
   The DT schema project must be installed in order to validate the DT schema
   binding documents and validate DTS files using the DT schema. The DT schema
   project can be installed with pip::
   
       pip3 install dtschema
   
   Note that 'dtschema' installation requires 'swig' and Python development files
   installed first. On Debian/Ubuntu systems::
   
       apt install swig python3-dev
   
   Several executables (dt-doc-validate, dt-mk-schema, dt-validate) will be
   installed. Ensure they are in your PATH (~/.local/bin by default).
   
   Recommended is also to install yamllint (used by dtschema when present).
   
   Running checks
   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
   
   The DT schema binding documents must be validated using the meta-schema (the
   schema for the schema) to ensure they are both valid json-schema and valid
   binding schema. All of the DT binding documents can be validated using the
   ``dt_binding_check`` target::
   
       make dt_binding_check
   
   In order to perform validation of DT source files, use the ``dtbs_check`` target::
   
       make dtbs_check
   
   Note that ``dtbs_check`` will skip any binding schema files with errors. It is
   necessary to use ``dt_binding_check`` to get all the validation errors in the
   binding schema files.
   
   It is possible to run both in a single command::
   
       make dt_binding_check dtbs_check
   
   It is also possible to run checks with a subset of matching schema files by
   setting the ``DT_SCHEMA_FILES`` variable to a specific schema file or pattern.
   
   ::
   
       make dt_binding_check DT_SCHEMA_FILES=trivial-devices.yaml
       make dt_binding_check DT_SCHEMA_FILES=/gpio/
       make dtbs_check DT_SCHEMA_FILES=trivial-devices.yaml
   
   
   json-schema Resources
   ---------------------
   
   
   `JSON-Schema Specifications <http://json-schema.org/>`_
   
   `Using JSON Schema Book <http://usingjsonschema.com/>`_
   
   .. _example-schema:
   
   Annotated Example Schema
   ------------------------
   
   Also available as a separate file: :download:`example-schema.yaml`
   
   .. literalinclude:: example-schema.yaml

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