Node-API#
Node-API (formerly N-API) is an API for building native Addons. It is
independent from the underlying JavaScript runtime (for example, V8) and is
maintained as part of Node.js itself. This API will be Application Binary
Interface (ABI) stable across versions of Node.js. It is intended to insulate
addons from changes in the underlying JavaScript engine and allow modules
compiled for one major version to run on later major versions of Node.js without
recompilation. The ABI Stability guide provides a more in-depth explanation.
Addons are built/packaged with the same approach/tools outlined in the section
titled C++ Addons. The only difference is the set of APIs that are used by
the native code. Instead of using the V8 or Native Abstractions for Node.js
APIs, the functions available in Node-API are used.
APIs exposed by Node-API are generally used to create and manipulate
JavaScript values. Concepts and operations generally map to ideas specified
in the ECMA-262 Language Specification. The APIs have the following
properties:
- All Node-API calls return a status code of type
napi_status
. This
status indicates whether the API call succeeded or failed.
- The API's return value is passed via an out parameter.
- All JavaScript values are abstracted behind an opaque type named
napi_value
.
- In case of an error status code, additional information can be obtained
using
napi_get_last_error_info
. More information can be found in the error
handling section Error handling.
Node-API is a C API that ensures ABI stability across Node.js versions
and different compiler levels. A C++ API can be easier to use.
To support using C++, the project maintains a
C++ wrapper module called node-addon-api
.
This wrapper provides an inlineable C++ API. Binaries built
with node-addon-api
will depend on the symbols for the Node-API C-based
functions exported by Node.js. node-addon-api
is a more
efficient way to write code that calls Node-API. Take, for example, the
following node-addon-api
code. The first section shows the
node-addon-api
code and the second section shows what actually gets
used in the addon.
Object obj = Object::New(env);
obj["foo"] = String::New(env, "bar");
napi_status status;
napi_value object, string;
status = napi_create_object(env, &object);
if (status != napi_ok) {
napi_throw_error(env, ...);
return;
}
status = napi_create_string_utf8(env, "bar", NAPI_AUTO_LENGTH, &string);
if (status != napi_ok) {
napi_throw_error(env, ...);
return;
}
status = napi_set_named_property(env, object, "foo", string);
if (status != napi_ok) {
napi_throw_error(env, ...);
return;
}
The end result is that the addon only uses the exported C APIs. As a result,
it still gets the benefits of the ABI stability provided by the C API.
When using node-addon-api
instead of the C APIs, start with the API docs
for node-addon-api
.
The Node-API Resource offers
an excellent orientation and tips for developers just getting started with
Node-API and node-addon-api
.
Implications of ABI stability#
Although Node-API provides an ABI stability guarantee, other parts of Node.js do
not, and any external libraries used from the addon may not. In particular,
none of the following APIs provide an ABI stability guarantee across major
versions:
-
the Node.js C++ APIs available via any of
#include <node.h>
#include <node_buffer.h>
#include <node_version.h>
#include <node_object_wrap.h>
-
the libuv APIs which are also included with Node.js and available via
#include <uv.h>
-
the V8 API available via
#include <v8.h>
Thus, for an addon to remain ABI-compatible across Node.js major versions, it
must use Node-API exclusively by restricting itself to using
#include <node_api.h>
and by checking, for all external libraries that it uses, that the external
library makes ABI stability guarantees similar to Node-API.
Building#
Unlike modules written in JavaScript, developing and deploying Node.js
native addons using Node-API requires an additional set of tools. Besides the
basic tools required to develop for Node.js, the native addon developer
requires a toolchain that can compile C and C++ code into a binary. In
addition, depending upon how the native addon is deployed, the user of
the native addon will also need to have a C/C++ toolchain installed.
For Linux developers, the necessary C/C++ toolchain packages are readily
available. GCC is widely used in the Node.js community to build and
test across a variety of platforms. For many developers, the LLVM
compiler infrastructure is also a good choice.
For Mac developers, Xcode offers all the required compiler tools.
However, it is not necessary to install the entire Xcode IDE. The following
command installs the necessary toolchain:
xcode-select --install
For Windows developers, Visual Studio offers all the required compiler
tools. However, it is not necessary to install the entire Visual Studio
IDE. The following command installs the necessary toolchain:
npm install --global windows-build-tools
The sections below describe the additional tools available for developing
and deploying Node.js native addons.
Build tools#
Both the tools listed here require that users of the native
addon have a C/C++ toolchain installed in order to successfully install
the native addon.
node-gyp#
node-gyp is a build system based on the gyp-next fork of
Google's GYP tool and comes bundled with npm. GYP, and therefore node-gyp,
requires that Python be installed.
Historically, node-gyp has been the tool of choice for building native
addons. It has widespread adoption and documentation. However, some
developers have run into limitations in node-gyp.
CMake.js#
CMake.js is an alternative build system based on CMake.
CMake.js is a good choice for projects that already use CMake or for
developers affected by limitations in node-gyp.
Uploading precompiled binaries#
The three tools listed here permit native addon developers and maintainers
to create and upload binaries to public or private servers. These tools are
typically integrated with CI/CD build systems like Travis CI and
AppVeyor to build and upload binaries for a variety of platforms and
architectures. These binaries are then available for download by users who
do not need to have a C/C++ toolchain installed.
node-pre-gyp#
node-pre-gyp is a tool based on node-gyp that adds the ability to
upload binaries to a server of the developer's choice. node-pre-gyp has
particularly good support for uploading binaries to Amazon S3.
prebuild#
prebuild is a tool that supports builds using either node-gyp or
CMake.js. Unlike node-pre-gyp which supports a variety of servers, prebuild
uploads binaries only to GitHub releases. prebuild is a good choice for
GitHub projects using CMake.js.
prebuildify#
prebuildify is a tool based on node-gyp. The advantage of prebuildify is
that the built binaries are bundled with the native addon when it's
uploaded to npm. The binaries are downloaded from npm and are immediately
available to the module user when the native addon is installed.
Usage#
In order to use the Node-API functions, include the file node_api.h
which
is located in the src directory in the node development tree:
#include <node_api.h>
This will opt into the default NAPI_VERSION
for the given release of Node.js.
In order to ensure compatibility with specific versions of Node-API, the version
can be specified explicitly when including the header:
#define NAPI_VERSION 3
#include <node_api.h>
This restricts the Node-API surface to just the functionality that was available
in the specified (and earlier) versions.
Some of the Node-API surface is experimental and requires explicit opt-in:
#define NAPI_EXPERIMENTAL
#include <node_api.h>
In this case the entire API surface, including any experimental APIs, will be
available to the module code.
Node-API version matrix#
Node-API versions are additive and versioned independently from Node.js.
Version 4 is an extension to version 3 in that it has all of the APIs
from version 3 with some additions. This means that it is not necessary
to recompile for new versions of Node.js which are
listed as supporting a later version.
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
v6.x |
|
|
v6.14.2* |
v8.x |
v8.6.0** |
v8.10.0* |
v8.11.2 |
v9.x |
v9.0.0* |
v9.3.0* |
v9.11.0* |
≥ v10.x |
all releases |
all releases |
all releases |
|
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
v10.x |
v10.16.0 |
v10.17.0 |
v10.20.0 |
v10.23.0 |
|
v11.x |
v11.8.0 |
|
|
|
|
v12.x |
v12.0.0 |
v12.11.0 |
v12.17.0 |
v12.19.0 |
v12.22.0 |
v13.x |
v13.0.0 |
v13.0.0 |
|
|
|
v14.x |
v14.0.0 |
v14.0.0 |
v14.0.0 |
v14.12.0 |
v14.17.0 |
v15.x |
v15.0.0 |
v15.0.0 |
v15.0.0 |
v15.0.0 |
v15.12.0 |
v16.x |
v16.0.0 |
v16.0.0 |
v16.0.0 |
v16.0.0 |
v16.0.0 |
* Node-API was experimental.
** Node.js 8.0.0 included Node-API as experimental. It was released as
Node-API version 1 but continued to evolve until Node.js 8.6.0. The API is
different in versions prior to Node.js 8.6.0. We recommend Node-API version 3 or
later.
Each API documented for Node-API will have a header named added in:
, and APIs
which are stable will have the additional header Node-API version:
.
APIs are directly usable when using a Node.js version which supports
the Node-API version shown in Node-API version:
or higher.
When using a Node.js version that does not support the
Node-API version:
listed or if there is no Node-API version:
listed,
then the API will only be available if
#define NAPI_EXPERIMENTAL
precedes the inclusion of node_api.h
or js_native_api.h
. If an API appears not to be available on
a version of Node.js which is later than the one shown in added in:
then
this is most likely the reason for the apparent absence.
The Node-APIs associated strictly with accessing ECMAScript features from native
code can be found separately in js_native_api.h
and js_native_api_types.h
.
The APIs defined in these headers are included in node_api.h
and
node_api_types.h
. The headers are structured in this way in order to allow
implementations of Node-API outside of Node.js. For those implementations the
Node.js specific APIs may not be applicable.
The Node.js-specific parts of an addon can be separated from the code that
exposes the actual functionality to the JavaScript environment so that the
latter may be used with multiple implementations of Node-API. In the example
below, addon.c
and addon.h
refer only to js_native_api.h
. This ensures
that addon.c
can be reused to compile against either the Node.js
implementation of Node-API or any implementation of Node-API outside of Node.js.
addon_node.c
is a separate file that contains the Node.js specific entry point
to the addon and which instantiates the addon by calling into addon.c
when the
addon is loaded into a Node.js environment.
#ifndef _ADDON_H_
#define _ADDON_H_
#include <js_native_api.h>
napi_value create_addon(napi_env env);
#endif
#include "addon.h"
#define NAPI_CALL(env, call) \
do { \
napi_status status = (call); \
if (status != napi_ok) { \
const napi_extended_error_info* error_info = NULL; \
napi_get_last_error_info((env), &error_info); \
const char* err_message = error_info->error_message; \
bool is_pending; \
napi_is_exception_pending((env), &is_pending); \
if (!is_pending) { \
const char* message = (err_message == NULL) \
? "empty error message" \
: err_message; \
napi_throw_error((env), NULL, message); \
return NULL; \
} \
} \
} while(0)
static napi_value
DoSomethingUseful(napi_env env, napi_callback_info info) {
return NULL;
}
napi_value create_addon(napi_env env) {
napi_value result;
NAPI_CALL(env, napi_create_object(env, &result));
napi_value exported_function;
NAPI_CALL(env, napi_create_function(env,
"doSomethingUseful",
NAPI_AUTO_LENGTH,
DoSomethingUseful,
NULL,
&exported_function));
NAPI_CALL(env, napi_set_named_property(env,
result,
"doSomethingUseful",
exported_function));
return result;
}
#include <node_api.h>
#include "addon.h"
NAPI_MODULE_INIT() {
return create_addon(env);
}
Environment life cycle APIs#
Section 8.7 of the ECMAScript Language Specification defines the concept
of an "Agent" as a self-contained environment in which JavaScript code runs.
Multiple such Agents may be started and terminated either concurrently or in
sequence by the process.
A Node.js environment corresponds to an ECMAScript Agent. In the main process,
an environment is created at startup, and additional environments can be created
on separate threads to serve as worker threads. When Node.js is embedded in
another application, the main thread of the application may also construct and
destroy a Node.js environment multiple times during the life cycle of the
application process such that each Node.js environment created by the
application may, in turn, during its life cycle create and destroy additional
environments as worker threads.
From the perspective of a native addon this means that the bindings it provides
may be called multiple times, from multiple contexts, and even concurrently from
multiple threads.
Native addons may need to allocate global state which they use during
their entire life cycle such that the state must be unique to each instance of
the addon.
To this end, Node-API provides a way to allocate data such that its life cycle
is tied to the life cycle of the Agent.
napi_set_instance_data
#
Added in: v12.8.0, v10.20.0
N-API version: 6
napi_status napi_set_instance_data(napi_env env,
void* data,
napi_finalize finalize_cb,
void* finalize_hint);
[in] env
: The environment that the Node-API call is invoked under.
[in] data
: The data item to make available to bindings of this instance.
[in] finalize_cb
: The function to call when the environment is being torn
down. The function receives data
so that it might free it.
napi_finalize
provides more details.
[in] finalize_hint
: Optional hint to pass to the finalize callback during
collection.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API associates data
with the currently running Agent. data
can later
be retrieved using napi_get_instance_data()
. Any existing data associated with
the currently running Agent which was set by means of a previous call to
napi_set_instance_data()
will be overwritten. If a finalize_cb
was provided
by the previous call, it will not be called.
napi_get_instance_data
#
Added in: v12.8.0, v10.20.0
N-API version: 6
napi_status napi_get_instance_data(napi_env env,
void** data);
[in] env
: The environment that the Node-API call is invoked under.
[out] data
: The data item that was previously associated with the currently
running Agent by a call to napi_set_instance_data()
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API retrieves data that was previously associated with the currently
running Agent via napi_set_instance_data()
. If no data is set, the call will
succeed and data
will be set to NULL
.
Basic Node-API data types#
Node-API exposes the following fundamental datatypes as abstractions that are
consumed by the various APIs. These APIs should be treated as opaque,
introspectable only with other Node-API calls.
napi_status
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
Integral status code indicating the success or failure of a Node-API call.
Currently, the following status codes are supported.
typedef enum {
napi_ok,
napi_invalid_arg,
napi_object_expected,
napi_string_expected,
napi_name_expected,
napi_function_expected,
napi_number_expected,
napi_boolean_expected,
napi_array_expected,
napi_generic_failure,
napi_pending_exception,
napi_cancelled,
napi_escape_called_twice,
napi_handle_scope_mismatch,
napi_callback_scope_mismatch,
napi_queue_full,
napi_closing,
napi_bigint_expected,
napi_date_expected,
napi_arraybuffer_expected,
napi_detachable_arraybuffer_expected,
napi_would_deadlock,
napi_no_external_buffers_allowed
} napi_status;
If additional information is required upon an API returning a failed status,
it can be obtained by calling napi_get_last_error_info
.
napi_extended_error_info
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
typedef struct {
const char* error_message;
void* engine_reserved;
uint32_t engine_error_code;
napi_status error_code;
} napi_extended_error_info;
error_message
: UTF8-encoded string containing a VM-neutral description of
the error.
engine_reserved
: Reserved for VM-specific error details. This is currently
not implemented for any VM.
engine_error_code
: VM-specific error code. This is currently
not implemented for any VM.
error_code
: The Node-API status code that originated with the last error.
See the Error handling section for additional information.
napi_env
#
napi_env
is used to represent a context that the underlying Node-API
implementation can use to persist VM-specific state. This structure is passed
to native functions when they're invoked, and it must be passed back when
making Node-API calls. Specifically, the same napi_env
that was passed in when
the initial native function was called must be passed to any subsequent
nested Node-API calls. Caching the napi_env
for the purpose of general reuse,
and passing the napi_env
between instances of the same addon running on
different Worker
threads is not allowed. The napi_env
becomes invalid
when an instance of a native addon is unloaded. Notification of this event is
delivered through the callbacks given to napi_add_env_cleanup_hook
and
napi_set_instance_data
.
napi_value
#
This is an opaque pointer that is used to represent a JavaScript value.
napi_threadsafe_function
#
Added in: v10.6.0
N-API version: 4
This is an opaque pointer that represents a JavaScript function which can be
called asynchronously from multiple threads via
napi_call_threadsafe_function()
.
napi_threadsafe_function_release_mode
#
Added in: v10.6.0
N-API version: 4
A value to be given to napi_release_threadsafe_function()
to indicate whether
the thread-safe function is to be closed immediately (napi_tsfn_abort
) or
merely released (napi_tsfn_release
) and thus available for subsequent use via
napi_acquire_threadsafe_function()
and napi_call_threadsafe_function()
.
typedef enum {
napi_tsfn_release,
napi_tsfn_abort
} napi_threadsafe_function_release_mode;
napi_threadsafe_function_call_mode
#
Added in: v10.6.0
N-API version: 4
A value to be given to napi_call_threadsafe_function()
to indicate whether
the call should block whenever the queue associated with the thread-safe
function is full.
typedef enum {
napi_tsfn_nonblocking,
napi_tsfn_blocking
} napi_threadsafe_function_call_mode;
Node-API memory management types#
napi_handle_scope
#
This is an abstraction used to control and modify the lifetime of objects
created within a particular scope. In general, Node-API values are created
within the context of a handle scope. When a native method is called from
JavaScript, a default handle scope will exist. If the user does not explicitly
create a new handle scope, Node-API values will be created in the default handle
scope. For any invocations of code outside the execution of a native method
(for instance, during a libuv callback invocation), the module is required to
create a scope before invoking any functions that can result in the creation
of JavaScript values.
Handle scopes are created using napi_open_handle_scope
and are destroyed
using napi_close_handle_scope
. Closing the scope can indicate to the GC
that all napi_value
s created during the lifetime of the handle scope are no
longer referenced from the current stack frame.
For more details, review the Object lifetime management.
napi_escapable_handle_scope
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
Escapable handle scopes are a special type of handle scope to return values
created within a particular handle scope to a parent scope.
napi_ref
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
This is the abstraction to use to reference a napi_value
. This allows for
users to manage the lifetimes of JavaScript values, including defining their
minimum lifetimes explicitly.
For more details, review the Object lifetime management.
napi_type_tag
#
Added in: v14.8.0, v12.19.0
N-API version: 8
A 128-bit value stored as two unsigned 64-bit integers. It serves as a UUID
with which JavaScript objects can be "tagged" in order to ensure that they are
of a certain type. This is a stronger check than napi_instanceof
, because
the latter can report a false positive if the object's prototype has been
manipulated. Type-tagging is most useful in conjunction with napi_wrap
because it ensures that the pointer retrieved from a wrapped object can be
safely cast to the native type corresponding to the type tag that had been
previously applied to the JavaScript object.
typedef struct {
uint64_t lower;
uint64_t upper;
} napi_type_tag;
napi_async_cleanup_hook_handle
#
Added in: v14.10.0, v12.19.0
An opaque value returned by napi_add_async_cleanup_hook
. It must be passed
to napi_remove_async_cleanup_hook
when the chain of asynchronous cleanup
events completes.
Node-API callback types#
napi_callback_info
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
Opaque datatype that is passed to a callback function. It can be used for
getting additional information about the context in which the callback was
invoked.
napi_callback
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
Function pointer type for user-provided native functions which are to be
exposed to JavaScript via Node-API. Callback functions should satisfy the
following signature:
typedef napi_value (*napi_callback)(napi_env, napi_callback_info);
Unless for reasons discussed in Object Lifetime Management, creating a
handle and/or callback scope inside a napi_callback
is not necessary.
napi_finalize
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
Function pointer type for add-on provided functions that allow the user to be
notified when externally-owned data is ready to be cleaned up because the
object with which it was associated with, has been garbage-collected. The user
must provide a function satisfying the following signature which would get
called upon the object's collection. Currently, napi_finalize
can be used for
finding out when objects that have external data are collected.
typedef void (*napi_finalize)(napi_env env,
void* finalize_data,
void* finalize_hint);
Unless for reasons discussed in Object Lifetime Management, creating a
handle and/or callback scope inside the function body is not necessary.
napi_async_execute_callback
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
Function pointer used with functions that support asynchronous
operations. Callback functions must satisfy the following signature:
typedef void (*napi_async_execute_callback)(napi_env env, void* data);
Implementations of this function must avoid making Node-API calls that execute
JavaScript or interact with JavaScript objects. Node-API calls should be in the
napi_async_complete_callback
instead. Do not use the napi_env
parameter as
it will likely result in execution of JavaScript.
napi_async_complete_callback
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
Function pointer used with functions that support asynchronous
operations. Callback functions must satisfy the following signature:
typedef void (*napi_async_complete_callback)(napi_env env,
napi_status status,
void* data);
Unless for reasons discussed in Object Lifetime Management, creating a
handle and/or callback scope inside the function body is not necessary.
napi_threadsafe_function_call_js
#
Added in: v10.6.0
N-API version: 4
Function pointer used with asynchronous thread-safe function calls. The callback
will be called on the main thread. Its purpose is to use a data item arriving
via the queue from one of the secondary threads to construct the parameters
necessary for a call into JavaScript, usually via napi_call_function
, and then
make the call into JavaScript.
The data arriving from the secondary thread via the queue is given in the data
parameter and the JavaScript function to call is given in the js_callback
parameter.
Node-API sets up the environment prior to calling this callback, so it is
sufficient to call the JavaScript function via napi_call_function
rather than
via napi_make_callback
.
Callback functions must satisfy the following signature:
typedef void (*napi_threadsafe_function_call_js)(napi_env env,
napi_value js_callback,
void* context,
void* data);
[in] env
: The environment to use for API calls, or NULL
if the thread-safe
function is being torn down and data
may need to be freed.
[in] js_callback
: The JavaScript function to call, or NULL
if the
thread-safe function is being torn down and data
may need to be freed. It
may also be NULL
if the thread-safe function was created without
js_callback
.
[in] context
: The optional data with which the thread-safe function was
created.
[in] data
: Data created by the secondary thread. It is the responsibility of
the callback to convert this native data to JavaScript values (with Node-API
functions) that can be passed as parameters when js_callback
is invoked.
This pointer is managed entirely by the threads and this callback. Thus this
callback should free the data.
Unless for reasons discussed in Object Lifetime Management, creating a
handle and/or callback scope inside the function body is not necessary.
napi_async_cleanup_hook
#
Added in: v14.10.0, v12.19.0
Function pointer used with napi_add_async_cleanup_hook
. It will be called
when the environment is being torn down.
Callback functions must satisfy the following signature:
typedef void (*napi_async_cleanup_hook)(napi_async_cleanup_hook_handle handle,
void* data);
The body of the function should initiate the asynchronous cleanup actions at the
end of which handle
must be passed in a call to
napi_remove_async_cleanup_hook
.
Error handling#
Node-API uses both return values and JavaScript exceptions for error handling.
The following sections explain the approach for each case.
Return values#
All of the Node-API functions share the same error handling pattern. The
return type of all API functions is napi_status
.
The return value will be napi_ok
if the request was successful and
no uncaught JavaScript exception was thrown. If an error occurred AND
an exception was thrown, the napi_status
value for the error
will be returned. If an exception was thrown, and no error occurred,
napi_pending_exception
will be returned.
In cases where a return value other than napi_ok
or
napi_pending_exception
is returned, napi_is_exception_pending
must be called to check if an exception is pending.
See the section on exceptions for more details.
The full set of possible napi_status
values is defined
in napi_api_types.h
.
The napi_status
return value provides a VM-independent representation of
the error which occurred. In some cases it is useful to be able to get
more detailed information, including a string representing the error as well as
VM (engine)-specific information.
In order to retrieve this information napi_get_last_error_info
is provided which returns a napi_extended_error_info
structure.
The format of the napi_extended_error_info
structure is as follows:
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
typedef struct napi_extended_error_info {
const char* error_message;
void* engine_reserved;
uint32_t engine_error_code;
napi_status error_code;
};
error_message
: Textual representation of the error that occurred.
engine_reserved
: Opaque handle reserved for engine use only.
engine_error_code
: VM specific error code.
error_code
: Node-API status code for the last error.
napi_get_last_error_info
returns the information for the last
Node-API call that was made.
Do not rely on the content or format of any of the extended information as it
is not subject to SemVer and may change at any time. It is intended only for
logging purposes.
napi_get_last_error_info
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status
napi_get_last_error_info(napi_env env,
const napi_extended_error_info** result);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[out] result
: The napi_extended_error_info
structure with more
information about the error.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API retrieves a napi_extended_error_info
structure with information
about the last error that occurred.
The content of the napi_extended_error_info
returned is only valid up until
a Node-API function is called on the same env
. This includes a call to
napi_is_exception_pending
so it may often be necessary to make a copy
of the information so that it can be used later. The pointer returned
in error_message
points to a statically-defined string so it is safe to use
that pointer if you have copied it out of the error_message
field (which will
be overwritten) before another Node-API function was called.
Do not rely on the content or format of any of the extended information as it
is not subject to SemVer and may change at any time. It is intended only for
logging purposes.
This API can be called even if there is a pending JavaScript exception.
Exceptions#
Any Node-API function call may result in a pending JavaScript exception. This is
the case for any of the API functions, even those that may not cause the
execution of JavaScript.
If the napi_status
returned by a function is napi_ok
then no
exception is pending and no additional action is required. If the
napi_status
returned is anything other than napi_ok
or
napi_pending_exception
, in order to try to recover and continue
instead of simply returning immediately, napi_is_exception_pending
must be called in order to determine if an exception is pending or not.
In many cases when a Node-API function is called and an exception is
already pending, the function will return immediately with a
napi_status
of napi_pending_exception
. However, this is not the case
for all functions. Node-API allows a subset of the functions to be
called to allow for some minimal cleanup before returning to JavaScript.
In that case, napi_status
will reflect the status for the function. It
will not reflect previous pending exceptions. To avoid confusion, check
the error status after every function call.
When an exception is pending one of two approaches can be employed.
The first approach is to do any appropriate cleanup and then return so that
execution will return to JavaScript. As part of the transition back to
JavaScript, the exception will be thrown at the point in the JavaScript
code where the native method was invoked. The behavior of most Node-API calls
is unspecified while an exception is pending, and many will simply return
napi_pending_exception
, so do as little as possible and then return to
JavaScript where the exception can be handled.
The second approach is to try to handle the exception. There will be cases
where the native code can catch the exception, take the appropriate action,
and then continue. This is only recommended in specific cases
where it is known that the exception can be safely handled. In these
cases napi_get_and_clear_last_exception
can be used to get and
clear the exception. On success, result will contain the handle to
the last JavaScript Object
thrown. If it is determined, after
retrieving the exception, the exception cannot be handled after all
it can be re-thrown it with napi_throw
where error is the
JavaScript value to be thrown.
The following utility functions are also available in case native code
needs to throw an exception or determine if a napi_value
is an instance
of a JavaScript Error
object: napi_throw_error
,
napi_throw_type_error
, napi_throw_range_error
, node_api_throw_syntax_error
and napi_is_error
.
The following utility functions are also available in case native
code needs to create an Error
object: napi_create_error
,
napi_create_type_error
, napi_create_range_error
and node_api_create_syntax_error
,
where result is the napi_value
that refers to the newly created
JavaScript Error
object.
The Node.js project is adding error codes to all of the errors
generated internally. The goal is for applications to use these
error codes for all error checking. The associated error messages
will remain, but will only be meant to be used for logging and
display with the expectation that the message can change without
SemVer applying. In order to support this model with Node-API, both
in internal functionality and for module specific functionality
(as its good practice), the throw_
and create_
functions
take an optional code parameter which is the string for the code
to be added to the error object. If the optional parameter is NULL
then no code will be associated with the error. If a code is provided,
the name associated with the error is also updated to be:
originalName [code]
where originalName
is the original name associated with the error
and code
is the code that was provided. For example, if the code
is 'ERR_ERROR_1'
and a TypeError
is being created the name will be:
TypeError [ERR_ERROR_1]
napi_throw
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status napi_throw(napi_env env, napi_value error);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] error
: The JavaScript value to be thrown.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API throws the JavaScript value provided.
napi_throw_error
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status napi_throw_error(napi_env env,
const char* code,
const char* msg);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] code
: Optional error code to be set on the error.
[in] msg
: C string representing the text to be associated with the error.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API throws a JavaScript Error
with the text provided.
napi_throw_type_error
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status napi_throw_type_error(napi_env env,
const char* code,
const char* msg);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] code
: Optional error code to be set on the error.
[in] msg
: C string representing the text to be associated with the error.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API throws a JavaScript TypeError
with the text provided.
napi_throw_range_error
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status napi_throw_range_error(napi_env env,
const char* code,
const char* msg);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] code
: Optional error code to be set on the error.
[in] msg
: C string representing the text to be associated with the error.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API throws a JavaScript RangeError
with the text provided.
node_api_throw_syntax_error
#
Added in: v16.14.0
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status node_api_throw_syntax_error(napi_env env,
const char* code,
const char* msg);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] code
: Optional error code to be set on the error.
[in] msg
: C string representing the text to be associated with the error.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API throws a JavaScript SyntaxError
with the text provided.
napi_is_error
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status napi_is_error(napi_env env,
napi_value value,
bool* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: The napi_value
to be checked.
[out] result
: Boolean value that is set to true if napi_value
represents
an error, false otherwise.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API queries a napi_value
to check if it represents an error object.
napi_create_error
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status napi_create_error(napi_env env,
napi_value code,
napi_value msg,
napi_value* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] code
: Optional napi_value
with the string for the error code to be
associated with the error.
[in] msg
: napi_value
that references a JavaScript string
to be used as
the message for the Error
.
[out] result
: napi_value
representing the error created.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API returns a JavaScript Error
with the text provided.
napi_create_type_error
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status napi_create_type_error(napi_env env,
napi_value code,
napi_value msg,
napi_value* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] code
: Optional napi_value
with the string for the error code to be
associated with the error.
[in] msg
: napi_value
that references a JavaScript string
to be used as
the message for the Error
.
[out] result
: napi_value
representing the error created.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API returns a JavaScript TypeError
with the text provided.
napi_create_range_error
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status napi_create_range_error(napi_env env,
napi_value code,
napi_value msg,
napi_value* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] code
: Optional napi_value
with the string for the error code to be
associated with the error.
[in] msg
: napi_value
that references a JavaScript string
to be used as
the message for the Error
.
[out] result
: napi_value
representing the error created.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API returns a JavaScript RangeError
with the text provided.
node_api_create_syntax_error
#
Added in: v16.14.0
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status node_api_create_syntax_error(napi_env env,
napi_value code,
napi_value msg,
napi_value* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] code
: Optional napi_value
with the string for the error code to be
associated with the error.
[in] msg
: napi_value
that references a JavaScript string
to be used as
the message for the Error
.
[out] result
: napi_value
representing the error created.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API returns a JavaScript SyntaxError
with the text provided.
napi_get_and_clear_last_exception
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_get_and_clear_last_exception(napi_env env,
napi_value* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[out] result
: The exception if one is pending, NULL
otherwise.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API can be called even if there is a pending JavaScript exception.
napi_is_exception_pending
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_is_exception_pending(napi_env env, bool* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[out] result
: Boolean value that is set to true if an exception is pending.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API can be called even if there is a pending JavaScript exception.
napi_fatal_exception
#
Added in: v9.10.0
N-API version: 3
napi_status napi_fatal_exception(napi_env env, napi_value err);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] err
: The error that is passed to 'uncaughtException'
.
Trigger an 'uncaughtException'
in JavaScript. Useful if an async
callback throws an exception with no way to recover.
Fatal errors#
In the event of an unrecoverable error in a native addon, a fatal error can be
thrown to immediately terminate the process.
napi_fatal_error
#
Added in: v8.2.0
N-API version: 1
NAPI_NO_RETURN void napi_fatal_error(const char* location,
size_t location_len,
const char* message,
size_t message_len);
[in] location
: Optional location at which the error occurred.
[in] location_len
: The length of the location in bytes, or
NAPI_AUTO_LENGTH
if it is null-terminated.
[in] message
: The message associated with the error.
[in] message_len
: The length of the message in bytes, or NAPI_AUTO_LENGTH
if it is null-terminated.
The function call does not return, the process will be terminated.
This API can be called even if there is a pending JavaScript exception.
Object lifetime management#
As Node-API calls are made, handles to objects in the heap for the underlying
VM may be returned as napi_values
. These handles must hold the
objects 'live' until they are no longer required by the native code,
otherwise the objects could be collected before the native code was
finished using them.
As object handles are returned they are associated with a
'scope'. The lifespan for the default scope is tied to the lifespan
of the native method call. The result is that, by default, handles
remain valid and the objects associated with these handles will be
held live for the lifespan of the native method call.
In many cases, however, it is necessary that the handles remain valid for
either a shorter or longer lifespan than that of the native method.
The sections which follow describe the Node-API functions that can be used
to change the handle lifespan from the default.
Making handle lifespan shorter than that of the native method#
It is often necessary to make the lifespan of handles shorter than
the lifespan of a native method. For example, consider a native method
that has a loop which iterates through the elements in a large array:
for (int i = 0; i < 1000000; i++) {
napi_value result;
napi_status status = napi_get_element(env, object, i, &result);
if (status != napi_ok) {
break;
}
}
This would result in a large number of handles being created, consuming
substantial resources. In addition, even though the native code could only
use the most recent handle, all of the associated objects would also be
kept alive since they all share the same scope.
To handle this case, Node-API provides the ability to establish a new 'scope' to
which newly created handles will be associated. Once those handles
are no longer required, the scope can be 'closed' and any handles associated
with the scope are invalidated. The methods available to open/close scopes are
napi_open_handle_scope
and napi_close_handle_scope
.
Node-API only supports a single nested hierarchy of scopes. There is only one
active scope at any time, and all new handles will be associated with that
scope while it is active. Scopes must be closed in the reverse order from
which they are opened. In addition, all scopes created within a native method
must be closed before returning from that method.
Taking the earlier example, adding calls to napi_open_handle_scope
and
napi_close_handle_scope
would ensure that at most a single handle
is valid throughout the execution of the loop:
for (int i = 0; i < 1000000; i++) {
napi_handle_scope scope;
napi_status status = napi_open_handle_scope(env, &scope);
if (status != napi_ok) {
break;
}
napi_value result;
status = napi_get_element(env, object, i, &result);
if (status != napi_ok) {
break;
}
status = napi_close_handle_scope(env, scope);
if (status != napi_ok) {
break;
}
}
When nesting scopes, there are cases where a handle from an
inner scope needs to live beyond the lifespan of that scope. Node-API supports
an 'escapable scope' in order to support this case. An escapable scope
allows one handle to be 'promoted' so that it 'escapes' the
current scope and the lifespan of the handle changes from the current
scope to that of the outer scope.
The methods available to open/close escapable scopes are
napi_open_escapable_handle_scope
and
napi_close_escapable_handle_scope
.
The request to promote a handle is made through napi_escape_handle
which
can only be called once.
napi_open_handle_scope
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status napi_open_handle_scope(napi_env env,
napi_handle_scope* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[out] result
: napi_value
representing the new scope.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API opens a new scope.
napi_close_handle_scope
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status napi_close_handle_scope(napi_env env,
napi_handle_scope scope);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] scope
: napi_value
representing the scope to be closed.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API closes the scope passed in. Scopes must be closed in the
reverse order from which they were created.
This API can be called even if there is a pending JavaScript exception.
napi_open_escapable_handle_scope
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status
napi_open_escapable_handle_scope(napi_env env,
napi_handle_scope* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[out] result
: napi_value
representing the new scope.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API opens a new scope from which one object can be promoted
to the outer scope.
napi_close_escapable_handle_scope
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status
napi_close_escapable_handle_scope(napi_env env,
napi_handle_scope scope);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] scope
: napi_value
representing the scope to be closed.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API closes the scope passed in. Scopes must be closed in the
reverse order from which they were created.
This API can be called even if there is a pending JavaScript exception.
napi_escape_handle
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_escape_handle(napi_env env,
napi_escapable_handle_scope scope,
napi_value escapee,
napi_value* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] scope
: napi_value
representing the current scope.
[in] escapee
: napi_value
representing the JavaScript Object
to be
escaped.
[out] result
: napi_value
representing the handle to the escaped Object
in the outer scope.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API promotes the handle to the JavaScript object so that it is valid
for the lifetime of the outer scope. It can only be called once per scope.
If it is called more than once an error will be returned.
This API can be called even if there is a pending JavaScript exception.
References to objects with a lifespan longer than that of the native method#
In some cases an addon will need to be able to create and reference objects
with a lifespan longer than that of a single native method invocation. For
example, to create a constructor and later use that constructor
in a request to creates instances, it must be possible to reference
the constructor object across many different instance creation requests. This
would not be possible with a normal handle returned as a napi_value
as
described in the earlier section. The lifespan of a normal handle is
managed by scopes and all scopes must be closed before the end of a native
method.
Node-API provides methods to create persistent references to an object.
Each persistent reference has an associated count with a value of 0
or higher. The count determines if the reference will keep
the corresponding object live. References with a count of 0 do not
prevent the object from being collected and are often called 'weak'
references. Any count greater than 0 will prevent the object
from being collected.
References can be created with an initial reference count. The count can
then be modified through napi_reference_ref
and
napi_reference_unref
. If an object is collected while the count
for a reference is 0, all subsequent calls to
get the object associated with the reference napi_get_reference_value
will return NULL
for the returned napi_value
. An attempt to call
napi_reference_ref
for a reference whose object has been collected
results in an error.
References must be deleted once they are no longer required by the addon. When
a reference is deleted, it will no longer prevent the corresponding object from
being collected. Failure to delete a persistent reference results in
a 'memory leak' with both the native memory for the persistent reference and
the corresponding object on the heap being retained forever.
There can be multiple persistent references created which refer to the same
object, each of which will either keep the object live or not based on its
individual count. Multiple persistent references to the same object
can result in unexpectedly keeping alive native memory. The native structures
for a persistent reference must be kept alive until finalizers for the
referenced object are executed. If a new persistent reference is created
for the same object, the finalizers for that object will not be
run and the native memory pointed by the earlier persistent reference
will not be freed. This can be avoided by calling
napi_delete_reference
in addition to napi_reference_unref
when possible.
napi_create_reference
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status napi_create_reference(napi_env env,
napi_value value,
uint32_t initial_refcount,
napi_ref* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: napi_value
representing the Object
to which we want a
reference.
[in] initial_refcount
: Initial reference count for the new reference.
[out] result
: napi_ref
pointing to the new reference.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API creates a new reference with the specified reference count
to the Object
passed in.
napi_delete_reference
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status napi_delete_reference(napi_env env, napi_ref ref);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] ref
: napi_ref
to be deleted.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API deletes the reference passed in.
This API can be called even if there is a pending JavaScript exception.
napi_reference_ref
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status napi_reference_ref(napi_env env,
napi_ref ref,
uint32_t* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] ref
: napi_ref
for which the reference count will be incremented.
[out] result
: The new reference count.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API increments the reference count for the reference
passed in and returns the resulting reference count.
napi_reference_unref
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status napi_reference_unref(napi_env env,
napi_ref ref,
uint32_t* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] ref
: napi_ref
for which the reference count will be decremented.
[out] result
: The new reference count.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API decrements the reference count for the reference
passed in and returns the resulting reference count.
napi_get_reference_value
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status napi_get_reference_value(napi_env env,
napi_ref ref,
napi_value* result);
the napi_value passed
in or out of these methods is a handle to the
object to which the reference is related.
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] ref
: napi_ref
for which we requesting the corresponding Object
.
[out] result
: The napi_value
for the Object
referenced by the
napi_ref
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
If still valid, this API returns the napi_value
representing the
JavaScript Object
associated with the napi_ref
. Otherwise, result
will be NULL
.
Cleanup on exit of the current Node.js instance#
While a Node.js process typically releases all its resources when exiting,
embedders of Node.js, or future Worker support, may require addons to register
clean-up hooks that will be run once the current Node.js instance exits.
Node-API provides functions for registering and un-registering such callbacks.
When those callbacks are run, all resources that are being held by the addon
should be freed up.
napi_add_env_cleanup_hook
#
Added in: v10.2.0
N-API version: 3
NODE_EXTERN napi_status napi_add_env_cleanup_hook(napi_env env,
void (*fun)(void* arg),
void* arg);
Registers fun
as a function to be run with the arg
parameter once the
current Node.js environment exits.
A function can safely be specified multiple times with different
arg
values. In that case, it will be called multiple times as well.
Providing the same fun
and arg
values multiple times is not allowed
and will lead the process to abort.
The hooks will be called in reverse order, i.e. the most recently added one
will be called first.
Removing this hook can be done by using napi_remove_env_cleanup_hook
.
Typically, that happens when the resource for which this hook was added
is being torn down anyway.
For asynchronous cleanup, napi_add_async_cleanup_hook
is available.
napi_remove_env_cleanup_hook
#
Added in: v10.2.0
N-API version: 3
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status napi_remove_env_cleanup_hook(napi_env env,
void (*fun)(void* arg),
void* arg);
Unregisters fun
as a function to be run with the arg
parameter once the
current Node.js environment exits. Both the argument and the function value
need to be exact matches.
The function must have originally been registered
with napi_add_env_cleanup_hook
, otherwise the process will abort.
napi_add_async_cleanup_hook
#
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status napi_add_async_cleanup_hook(
napi_env env,
napi_async_cleanup_hook hook,
void* arg,
napi_async_cleanup_hook_handle* remove_handle);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] hook
: The function pointer to call at environment teardown.
[in] arg
: The pointer to pass to hook
when it gets called.
[out] remove_handle
: Optional handle that refers to the asynchronous cleanup
hook.
Registers hook
, which is a function of type napi_async_cleanup_hook
, as
a function to be run with the remove_handle
and arg
parameters once the
current Node.js environment exits.
Unlike napi_add_env_cleanup_hook
, the hook is allowed to be asynchronous.
Otherwise, behavior generally matches that of napi_add_env_cleanup_hook
.
If remove_handle
is not NULL
, an opaque value will be stored in it
that must later be passed to napi_remove_async_cleanup_hook
,
regardless of whether the hook has already been invoked.
Typically, that happens when the resource for which this hook was added
is being torn down anyway.
napi_remove_async_cleanup_hook
#
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status napi_remove_async_cleanup_hook(
napi_async_cleanup_hook_handle remove_handle);
Unregisters the cleanup hook corresponding to remove_handle
. This will prevent
the hook from being executed, unless it has already started executing.
This must be called on any napi_async_cleanup_hook_handle
value obtained
from napi_add_async_cleanup_hook
.
Module registration#
Node-API modules are registered in a manner similar to other modules
except that instead of using the NODE_MODULE
macro the following
is used:
NAPI_MODULE(NODE_GYP_MODULE_NAME, Init)
The next difference is the signature for the Init
method. For a Node-API
module it is as follows:
napi_value Init(napi_env env, napi_value exports);
The return value from Init
is treated as the exports
object for the module.
The Init
method is passed an empty object via the exports
parameter as a
convenience. If Init
returns NULL
, the parameter passed as exports
is
exported by the module. Node-API modules cannot modify the module
object but
can specify anything as the exports
property of the module.
To add the method hello
as a function so that it can be called as a method
provided by the addon:
napi_value Init(napi_env env, napi_value exports) {
napi_status status;
napi_property_descriptor desc = {
"hello",
NULL,
Method,
NULL,
NULL,
NULL,
napi_writable | napi_enumerable | napi_configurable,
NULL
};
status = napi_define_properties(env, exports, 1, &desc);
if (status != napi_ok) return NULL;
return exports;
}
To set a function to be returned by the require()
for the addon:
napi_value Init(napi_env env, napi_value exports) {
napi_value method;
napi_status status;
status = napi_create_function(env, "exports", NAPI_AUTO_LENGTH, Method, NULL, &method);
if (status != napi_ok) return NULL;
return method;
}
To define a class so that new instances can be created (often used with
Object wrap):
napi_value Init(napi_env env, napi_value exports) {
napi_status status;
napi_property_descriptor properties[] = {
{ "value", NULL, NULL, GetValue, SetValue, NULL, napi_writable | napi_configurable, NULL },
DECLARE_NAPI_METHOD("plusOne", PlusOne),
DECLARE_NAPI_METHOD("multiply", Multiply),
};
napi_value cons;
status =
napi_define_class(env, "MyObject", New, NULL, 3, properties, &cons);
if (status != napi_ok) return NULL;
status = napi_create_reference(env, cons, 1, &constructor);
if (status != napi_ok) return NULL;
status = napi_set_named_property(env, exports, "MyObject", cons);
if (status != napi_ok) return NULL;
return exports;
}
You can also use the NAPI_MODULE_INIT
macro, which acts as a shorthand
for NAPI_MODULE
and defining an Init
function:
NAPI_MODULE_INIT() {
napi_value answer;
napi_status result;
status = napi_create_int64(env, 42, &answer);
if (status != napi_ok) return NULL;
status = napi_set_named_property(env, exports, "answer", answer);
if (status != napi_ok) return NULL;
return exports;
}
All Node-API addons are context-aware, meaning they may be loaded multiple
times. There are a few design considerations when declaring such a module.
The documentation on context-aware addons provides more details.
The variables env
and exports
will be available inside the function body
following the macro invocation.
For more details on setting properties on objects, see the section on
Working with JavaScript properties.
For more details on building addon modules in general, refer to the existing
API.
Working with JavaScript values#
Node-API exposes a set of APIs to create all types of JavaScript values.
Some of these types are documented under Section 6
of the ECMAScript Language Specification.
Fundamentally, these APIs are used to do one of the following:
- Create a new JavaScript object
- Convert from a primitive C type to a Node-API value
- Convert from Node-API value to a primitive C type
- Get global instances including
undefined
and null
Node-API values are represented by the type napi_value
.
Any Node-API call that requires a JavaScript value takes in a napi_value
.
In some cases, the API does check the type of the napi_value
up-front.
However, for better performance, it's better for the caller to make sure that
the napi_value
in question is of the JavaScript type expected by the API.
Enum types#
napi_key_collection_mode
#
Added in: v13.7.0, v12.17.0, v10.20.0
N-API version: 6
typedef enum {
napi_key_include_prototypes,
napi_key_own_only
} napi_key_collection_mode;
Describes the Keys/Properties
filter enums:
napi_key_collection_mode
limits the range of collected properties.
napi_key_own_only
limits the collected properties to the given
object only. napi_key_include_prototypes
will include all keys
of the objects's prototype chain as well.
napi_key_filter
#
Added in: v13.7.0, v12.17.0, v10.20.0
N-API version: 6
typedef enum {
napi_key_all_properties = 0,
napi_key_writable = 1,
napi_key_enumerable = 1 << 1,
napi_key_configurable = 1 << 2,
napi_key_skip_strings = 1 << 3,
napi_key_skip_symbols = 1 << 4
} napi_key_filter;
Property filter bits. They can be or'ed to build a composite filter.
napi_key_conversion
#
Added in: v13.7.0, v12.17.0, v10.20.0
N-API version: 6
typedef enum {
napi_key_keep_numbers,
napi_key_numbers_to_strings
} napi_key_conversion;
napi_key_numbers_to_strings
will convert integer indices to
strings. napi_key_keep_numbers
will return numbers for integer
indices.
napi_valuetype
#
typedef enum {
napi_undefined,
napi_null,
napi_boolean,
napi_number,
napi_string,
napi_symbol,
napi_object,
napi_function,
napi_external,
napi_bigint,
} napi_valuetype;
Describes the type of a napi_value
. This generally corresponds to the types
described in Section 6.1 of the ECMAScript Language Specification.
In addition to types in that section, napi_valuetype
can also represent
Function
s and Object
s with external data.
A JavaScript value of type napi_external
appears in JavaScript as a plain
object such that no properties can be set on it, and no prototype.
napi_typedarray_type
#
typedef enum {
napi_int8_array,
napi_uint8_array,
napi_uint8_clamped_array,
napi_int16_array,
napi_uint16_array,
napi_int32_array,
napi_uint32_array,
napi_float32_array,
napi_float64_array,
napi_bigint64_array,
napi_biguint64_array,
} napi_typedarray_type;
This represents the underlying binary scalar datatype of the TypedArray
.
Elements of this enum correspond to
Section 22.2 of the ECMAScript Language Specification.
Object creation functions#
napi_create_array
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_create_array(napi_env env, napi_value* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the Node-API call is invoked under.
[out] result
: A napi_value
representing a JavaScript Array
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API returns a Node-API value corresponding to a JavaScript Array
type.
JavaScript arrays are described in
Section 22.1 of the ECMAScript Language Specification.
napi_create_array_with_length
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_create_array_with_length(napi_env env,
size_t length,
napi_value* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] length
: The initial length of the Array
.
[out] result
: A napi_value
representing a JavaScript Array
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API returns a Node-API value corresponding to a JavaScript Array
type.
The Array
's length property is set to the passed-in length parameter.
However, the underlying buffer is not guaranteed to be pre-allocated by the VM
when the array is created. That behavior is left to the underlying VM
implementation. If the buffer must be a contiguous block of memory that can be
directly read and/or written via C, consider using
napi_create_external_arraybuffer
.
JavaScript arrays are described in
Section 22.1 of the ECMAScript Language Specification.
napi_create_arraybuffer
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_create_arraybuffer(napi_env env,
size_t byte_length,
void** data,
napi_value* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] length
: The length in bytes of the array buffer to create.
[out] data
: Pointer to the underlying byte buffer of the ArrayBuffer
.
data
can optionally be ignored by passing NULL
.
[out] result
: A napi_value
representing a JavaScript ArrayBuffer
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API returns a Node-API value corresponding to a JavaScript ArrayBuffer
.
ArrayBuffer
s are used to represent fixed-length binary data buffers. They are
normally used as a backing-buffer for TypedArray
objects.
The ArrayBuffer
allocated will have an underlying byte buffer whose size is
determined by the length
parameter that's passed in.
The underlying buffer is optionally returned back to the caller in case the
caller wants to directly manipulate the buffer. This buffer can only be
written to directly from native code. To write to this buffer from JavaScript,
a typed array or DataView
object would need to be created.
JavaScript ArrayBuffer
objects are described in
Section 24.1 of the ECMAScript Language Specification.
napi_create_buffer
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_create_buffer(napi_env env,
size_t size,
void** data,
napi_value* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] size
: Size in bytes of the underlying buffer.
[out] data
: Raw pointer to the underlying buffer.
data
can optionally be ignored by passing NULL
.
[out] result
: A napi_value
representing a node::Buffer
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API allocates a node::Buffer
object. While this is still a
fully-supported data structure, in most cases using a TypedArray
will suffice.
napi_create_buffer_copy
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_create_buffer_copy(napi_env env,
size_t length,
const void* data,
void** result_data,
napi_value* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] size
: Size in bytes of the input buffer (should be the same as the size
of the new buffer).
[in] data
: Raw pointer to the underlying buffer to copy from.
[out] result_data
: Pointer to the new Buffer
's underlying data buffer.
result_data
can optionally be ignored by passing NULL
.
[out] result
: A napi_value
representing a node::Buffer
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API allocates a node::Buffer
object and initializes it with data copied
from the passed-in buffer. While this is still a fully-supported data
structure, in most cases using a TypedArray
will suffice.
napi_create_date
#
Added in: v11.11.0, v10.17.0
N-API version: 5
napi_status napi_create_date(napi_env env,
double time,
napi_value* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] time
: ECMAScript time value in milliseconds since 01 January, 1970 UTC.
[out] result
: A napi_value
representing a JavaScript Date
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API does not observe leap seconds; they are ignored, as
ECMAScript aligns with POSIX time specification.
This API allocates a JavaScript Date
object.
JavaScript Date
objects are described in
Section 20.3 of the ECMAScript Language Specification.
napi_create_external
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_create_external(napi_env env,
void* data,
napi_finalize finalize_cb,
void* finalize_hint,
napi_value* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] data
: Raw pointer to the external data.
[in] finalize_cb
: Optional callback to call when the external value is being
collected. napi_finalize
provides more details.
[in] finalize_hint
: Optional hint to pass to the finalize callback during
collection.
[out] result
: A napi_value
representing an external value.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API allocates a JavaScript value with external data attached to it. This
is used to pass external data through JavaScript code, so it can be retrieved
later by native code using napi_get_value_external
.
The API adds a napi_finalize
callback which will be called when the JavaScript
object just created is ready for garbage collection. It is similar to
napi_wrap()
except that:
- the native data cannot be retrieved later using
napi_unwrap()
,
- nor can it be removed later using
napi_remove_wrap()
, and
- the object created by the API can be used with
napi_wrap()
.
The created value is not an object, and therefore does not support additional
properties. It is considered a distinct value type: calling napi_typeof()
with
an external value yields napi_external
.
napi_create_external_arraybuffer
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status
napi_create_external_arraybuffer(napi_env env,
void* external_data,
size_t byte_length,
napi_finalize finalize_cb,
void* finalize_hint,
napi_value* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] external_data
: Pointer to the underlying byte buffer of the
ArrayBuffer
.
[in] byte_length
: The length in bytes of the underlying buffer.
[in] finalize_cb
: Optional callback to call when the ArrayBuffer
is being
collected. napi_finalize
provides more details.
[in] finalize_hint
: Optional hint to pass to the finalize callback during
collection.
[out] result
: A napi_value
representing a JavaScript ArrayBuffer
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
Some runtimes other than Node.js have dropped support for external buffers.
On runtimes other than Node.js this method may return
napi_no_external_buffers_allowed
to indicate that external
buffers are not supported. One such runtime is Electron as
described in this issue
electron/issues/35801.
In order to maintain broadest compatibility with all runtimes
you may define NODE_API_NO_EXTERNAL_BUFFERS_ALLOWED
in your addon before
includes for the node-api headers. Doing so will hide the 2 functions
that create external buffers. This will ensure a compilation error
occurs if you accidentally use one of these methods.
This API returns a Node-API value corresponding to a JavaScript ArrayBuffer
.
The underlying byte buffer of the ArrayBuffer
is externally allocated and
managed. The caller must ensure that the byte buffer remains valid until the
finalize callback is called.
The API adds a napi_finalize
callback which will be called when the JavaScript
object just created is ready for garbage collection. It is similar to
napi_wrap()
except that:
- the native data cannot be retrieved later using
napi_unwrap()
,
- nor can it be removed later using
napi_remove_wrap()
, and
- the object created by the API can be used with
napi_wrap()
.
JavaScript ArrayBuffer
s are described in
Section 24.1 of the ECMAScript Language Specification.
napi_create_external_buffer
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_create_external_buffer(napi_env env,
size_t length,
void* data,
napi_finalize finalize_cb,
void* finalize_hint,
napi_value* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] length
: Size in bytes of the input buffer (should be the same as the
size of the new buffer).
[in] data
: Raw pointer to the underlying buffer to expose to JavaScript.
[in] finalize_cb
: Optional callback to call when the ArrayBuffer
is being
collected. napi_finalize
provides more details.
[in] finalize_hint
: Optional hint to pass to the finalize callback during
collection.
[out] result
: A napi_value
representing a node::Buffer
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
Some runtimes other than Node.js have dropped support for external buffers.
On runtimes other than Node.js this method may return
napi_no_external_buffers_allowed
to indicate that external
buffers are not supported. One such runtime is Electron as
described in this issue
electron/issues/35801.
In order to maintain broadest compatibility with all runtimes
you may define NODE_API_NO_EXTERNAL_BUFFERS_ALLOWED
in your addon before
includes for the node-api headers. Doing so will hide the 2 functions
that create external buffers. This will ensure a compilation error
occurs if you accidentally use one of these methods.
This API allocates a node::Buffer
object and initializes it with data
backed by the passed in buffer. While this is still a fully-supported data
structure, in most cases using a TypedArray
will suffice.
The API adds a napi_finalize
callback which will be called when the JavaScript
object just created is ready for garbage collection. It is similar to
napi_wrap()
except that:
- the native data cannot be retrieved later using
napi_unwrap()
,
- nor can it be removed later using
napi_remove_wrap()
, and
- the object created by the API can be used with
napi_wrap()
.
For Node.js >=4 Buffers
are Uint8Array
s.
napi_create_object
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_create_object(napi_env env, napi_value* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[out] result
: A napi_value
representing a JavaScript Object
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API allocates a default JavaScript Object
.
It is the equivalent of doing new Object()
in JavaScript.
The JavaScript Object
type is described in Section 6.1.7 of the
ECMAScript Language Specification.
napi_create_symbol
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_create_symbol(napi_env env,
napi_value description,
napi_value* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] description
: Optional napi_value
which refers to a JavaScript
string
to be set as the description for the symbol.
[out] result
: A napi_value
representing a JavaScript symbol
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API creates a JavaScript symbol
value from a UTF8-encoded C string.
The JavaScript symbol
type is described in Section 19.4
of the ECMAScript Language Specification.
node_api_symbol_for
#
Added in: v16.15.0
napi_status node_api_symbol_for(napi_env env,
const char* utf8description,
size_t length,
napi_value* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] utf8description
: UTF-8 C string representing the text to be used as the
description for the symbol.
[in] length
: The length of the description string in bytes, or
NAPI_AUTO_LENGTH
if it is null-terminated.
[out] result
: A napi_value
representing a JavaScript symbol
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API searches in the global registry for an existing symbol with the given
description. If the symbol already exists it will be returned, otherwise a new
symbol will be created in the registry.
The JavaScript symbol
type is described in Section 19.4 of the ECMAScript
Language Specification.
napi_create_typedarray
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_create_typedarray(napi_env env,
napi_typedarray_type type,
size_t length,
napi_value arraybuffer,
size_t byte_offset,
napi_value* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] type
: Scalar datatype of the elements within the TypedArray
.
[in] length
: Number of elements in the TypedArray
.
[in] arraybuffer
: ArrayBuffer
underlying the typed array.
[in] byte_offset
: The byte offset within the ArrayBuffer
from which to
start projecting the TypedArray
.
[out] result
: A napi_value
representing a JavaScript TypedArray
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API creates a JavaScript TypedArray
object over an existing
ArrayBuffer
. TypedArray
objects provide an array-like view over an
underlying data buffer where each element has the same underlying binary scalar
datatype.
It's required that (length * size_of_element) + byte_offset
should
be <= the size in bytes of the array passed in. If not, a RangeError
exception
is raised.
JavaScript TypedArray
objects are described in
Section 22.2 of the ECMAScript Language Specification.
napi_create_dataview
#
Added in: v8.3.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_create_dataview(napi_env env,
size_t byte_length,
napi_value arraybuffer,
size_t byte_offset,
napi_value* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] length
: Number of elements in the DataView
.
[in] arraybuffer
: ArrayBuffer
underlying the DataView
.
[in] byte_offset
: The byte offset within the ArrayBuffer
from which to
start projecting the DataView
.
[out] result
: A napi_value
representing a JavaScript DataView
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API creates a JavaScript DataView
object over an existing ArrayBuffer
.
DataView
objects provide an array-like view over an underlying data buffer,
but one which allows items of different size and type in the ArrayBuffer
.
It is required that byte_length + byte_offset
is less than or equal to the
size in bytes of the array passed in. If not, a RangeError
exception is
raised.
JavaScript DataView
objects are described in
Section 24.3 of the ECMAScript Language Specification.
Functions to convert from C types to Node-API#
napi_create_int32
#
Added in: v8.4.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_create_int32(napi_env env, int32_t value, napi_value* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: Integer value to be represented in JavaScript.
[out] result
: A napi_value
representing a JavaScript number
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API is used to convert from the C int32_t
type to the JavaScript
number
type.
The JavaScript number
type is described in
Section 6.1.6 of the ECMAScript Language Specification.
napi_create_uint32
#
Added in: v8.4.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_create_uint32(napi_env env, uint32_t value, napi_value* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: Unsigned integer value to be represented in JavaScript.
[out] result
: A napi_value
representing a JavaScript number
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API is used to convert from the C uint32_t
type to the JavaScript
number
type.
The JavaScript number
type is described in
Section 6.1.6 of the ECMAScript Language Specification.
napi_create_int64
#
Added in: v8.4.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_create_int64(napi_env env, int64_t value, napi_value* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: Integer value to be represented in JavaScript.
[out] result
: A napi_value
representing a JavaScript number
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API is used to convert from the C int64_t
type to the JavaScript
number
type.
The JavaScript number
type is described in Section 6.1.6
of the ECMAScript Language Specification. Note the complete range of int64_t
cannot be represented with full precision in JavaScript. Integer values
outside the range of Number.MIN_SAFE_INTEGER
-(2**53 - 1)
-
Number.MAX_SAFE_INTEGER
(2**53 - 1)
will lose precision.
napi_create_double
#
Added in: v8.4.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_create_double(napi_env env, double value, napi_value* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: Double-precision value to be represented in JavaScript.
[out] result
: A napi_value
representing a JavaScript number
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API is used to convert from the C double
type to the JavaScript
number
type.
The JavaScript number
type is described in
Section 6.1.6 of the ECMAScript Language Specification.
napi_create_bigint_int64
#
Added in: v10.7.0
N-API version: 6
napi_status napi_create_bigint_int64(napi_env env,
int64_t value,
napi_value* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: Integer value to be represented in JavaScript.
[out] result
: A napi_value
representing a JavaScript BigInt
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API converts the C int64_t
type to the JavaScript BigInt
type.
napi_create_bigint_uint64
#
Added in: v10.7.0
N-API version: 6
napi_status napi_create_bigint_uint64(napi_env env,
uint64_t value,
napi_value* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: Unsigned integer value to be represented in JavaScript.
[out] result
: A napi_value
representing a JavaScript BigInt
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API converts the C uint64_t
type to the JavaScript BigInt
type.
napi_create_bigint_words
#
Added in: v10.7.0
N-API version: 6
napi_status napi_create_bigint_words(napi_env env,
int sign_bit,
size_t word_count,
const uint64_t* words,
napi_value* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] sign_bit
: Determines if the resulting BigInt
will be positive or
negative.
[in] word_count
: The length of the words
array.
[in] words
: An array of uint64_t
little-endian 64-bit words.
[out] result
: A napi_value
representing a JavaScript BigInt
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API converts an array of unsigned 64-bit words into a single BigInt
value.
The resulting BigInt
is calculated as: (–1)sign_bit
(words[0]
× (264)0 + words[1]
× (264)1 + …)
napi_create_string_latin1
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_create_string_latin1(napi_env env,
const char* str,
size_t length,
napi_value* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] str
: Character buffer representing an ISO-8859-1-encoded string.
[in] length
: The length of the string in bytes, or NAPI_AUTO_LENGTH
if it
is null-terminated.
[out] result
: A napi_value
representing a JavaScript string
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API creates a JavaScript string
value from an ISO-8859-1-encoded C
string. The native string is copied.
The JavaScript string
type is described in
Section 6.1.4 of the ECMAScript Language Specification.
napi_create_string_utf16
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_create_string_utf16(napi_env env,
const char16_t* str,
size_t length,
napi_value* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] str
: Character buffer representing a UTF16-LE-encoded string.
[in] length
: The length of the string in two-byte code units, or
NAPI_AUTO_LENGTH
if it is null-terminated.
[out] result
: A napi_value
representing a JavaScript string
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API creates a JavaScript string
value from a UTF16-LE-encoded C string.
The native string is copied.
The JavaScript string
type is described in
Section 6.1.4 of the ECMAScript Language Specification.
napi_create_string_utf8
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_create_string_utf8(napi_env env,
const char* str,
size_t length,
napi_value* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] str
: Character buffer representing a UTF8-encoded string.
[in] length
: The length of the string in bytes, or NAPI_AUTO_LENGTH
if it
is null-terminated.
[out] result
: A napi_value
representing a JavaScript string
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API creates a JavaScript string
value from a UTF8-encoded C string.
The native string is copied.
The JavaScript string
type is described in
Section 6.1.4 of the ECMAScript Language Specification.
Functions to convert from Node-API to C types#
napi_get_array_length
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_get_array_length(napi_env env,
napi_value value,
uint32_t* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: napi_value
representing the JavaScript Array
whose length is
being queried.
[out] result
: uint32
representing length of the array.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API returns the length of an array.
Array
length is described in Section 22.1.4.1 of the ECMAScript Language
Specification.
napi_get_arraybuffer_info
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_get_arraybuffer_info(napi_env env,
napi_value arraybuffer,
void** data,
size_t* byte_length)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] arraybuffer
: napi_value
representing the ArrayBuffer
being queried.
[out] data
: The underlying data buffer of the ArrayBuffer
. If byte_length
is 0
, this may be NULL
or any other pointer value.
[out] byte_length
: Length in bytes of the underlying data buffer.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API is used to retrieve the underlying data buffer of an ArrayBuffer
and
its length.
WARNING: Use caution while using this API. The lifetime of the underlying data
buffer is managed by the ArrayBuffer
even after it's returned. A
possible safe way to use this API is in conjunction with
napi_create_reference
, which can be used to guarantee control over the
lifetime of the ArrayBuffer
. It's also safe to use the returned data buffer
within the same callback as long as there are no calls to other APIs that might
trigger a GC.
napi_get_buffer_info
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_get_buffer_info(napi_env env,
napi_value value,
void** data,
size_t* length)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: napi_value
representing the node::Buffer
being queried.
[out] data
: The underlying data buffer of the node::Buffer
.
If length is 0
, this may be NULL
or any other pointer value.
[out] length
: Length in bytes of the underlying data buffer.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API is used to retrieve the underlying data buffer of a node::Buffer
and its length.
Warning: Use caution while using this API since the underlying data buffer's
lifetime is not guaranteed if it's managed by the VM.
napi_get_prototype
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_get_prototype(napi_env env,
napi_value object,
napi_value* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] object
: napi_value
representing JavaScript Object
whose prototype
to return. This returns the equivalent of Object.getPrototypeOf
(which is
not the same as the function's prototype
property).
[out] result
: napi_value
representing prototype of the given object.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
napi_get_typedarray_info
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_get_typedarray_info(napi_env env,
napi_value typedarray,
napi_typedarray_type* type,
size_t* length,
void** data,
napi_value* arraybuffer,
size_t* byte_offset)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] typedarray
: napi_value
representing the TypedArray
whose
properties to query.
[out] type
: Scalar datatype of the elements within the TypedArray
.
[out] length
: The number of elements in the TypedArray
.
[out] data
: The data buffer underlying the TypedArray
adjusted by
the byte_offset
value so that it points to the first element in the
TypedArray
. If the length of the array is 0
, this may be NULL
or
any other pointer value.
[out] arraybuffer
: The ArrayBuffer
underlying the TypedArray
.
[out] byte_offset
: The byte offset within the underlying native array
at which the first element of the arrays is located. The value for the data
parameter has already been adjusted so that data points to the first element
in the array. Therefore, the first byte of the native array would be at
data - byte_offset
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API returns various properties of a typed array.
Any of the out parameters may be NULL
if that property is unneeded.
Warning: Use caution while using this API since the underlying data buffer
is managed by the VM.
napi_get_dataview_info
#
Added in: v8.3.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_get_dataview_info(napi_env env,
napi_value dataview,
size_t* byte_length,
void** data,
napi_value* arraybuffer,
size_t* byte_offset)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] dataview
: napi_value
representing the DataView
whose
properties to query.
[out] byte_length
: Number of bytes in the DataView
.
[out] data
: The data buffer underlying the DataView
.
If byte_length is 0
, this may be NULL
or any other pointer value.
[out] arraybuffer
: ArrayBuffer
underlying the DataView
.
[out] byte_offset
: The byte offset within the data buffer from which
to start projecting the DataView
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
Any of the out parameters may be NULL
if that property is unneeded.
This API returns various properties of a DataView
.
napi_get_date_value
#
Added in: v11.11.0, v10.17.0
N-API version: 5
napi_status napi_get_date_value(napi_env env,
napi_value value,
double* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: napi_value
representing a JavaScript Date
.
[out] result
: Time value as a double
represented as milliseconds since
midnight at the beginning of 01 January, 1970 UTC.
This API does not observe leap seconds; they are ignored, as
ECMAScript aligns with POSIX time specification.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded. If a non-date napi_value
is passed
in it returns napi_date_expected
.
This API returns the C double primitive of time value for the given JavaScript
Date
.
napi_get_value_bool
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_get_value_bool(napi_env env, napi_value value, bool* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: napi_value
representing JavaScript Boolean
.
[out] result
: C boolean primitive equivalent of the given JavaScript
Boolean
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded. If a non-boolean napi_value
is
passed in it returns napi_boolean_expected
.
This API returns the C boolean primitive equivalent of the given JavaScript
Boolean
.
napi_get_value_double
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_get_value_double(napi_env env,
napi_value value,
double* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: napi_value
representing JavaScript number
.
[out] result
: C double primitive equivalent of the given JavaScript
number
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded. If a non-number napi_value
is passed
in it returns napi_number_expected
.
This API returns the C double primitive equivalent of the given JavaScript
number
.
napi_get_value_bigint_int64
#
Added in: v10.7.0
N-API version: 6
napi_status napi_get_value_bigint_int64(napi_env env,
napi_value value,
int64_t* result,
bool* lossless);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under
[in] value
: napi_value
representing JavaScript BigInt
.
[out] result
: C int64_t
primitive equivalent of the given JavaScript
BigInt
.
[out] lossless
: Indicates whether the BigInt
value was converted
losslessly.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded. If a non-BigInt
is passed in it
returns napi_bigint_expected
.
This API returns the C int64_t
primitive equivalent of the given JavaScript
BigInt
. If needed it will truncate the value, setting lossless
to false
.
napi_get_value_bigint_uint64
#
Added in: v10.7.0
N-API version: 6
napi_status napi_get_value_bigint_uint64(napi_env env,
napi_value value,
uint64_t* result,
bool* lossless);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: napi_value
representing JavaScript BigInt
.
[out] result
: C uint64_t
primitive equivalent of the given JavaScript
BigInt
.
[out] lossless
: Indicates whether the BigInt
value was converted
losslessly.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded. If a non-BigInt
is passed in it
returns napi_bigint_expected
.
This API returns the C uint64_t
primitive equivalent of the given JavaScript
BigInt
. If needed it will truncate the value, setting lossless
to false
.
napi_get_value_bigint_words
#
Added in: v10.7.0
N-API version: 6
napi_status napi_get_value_bigint_words(napi_env env,
napi_value value,
int* sign_bit,
size_t* word_count,
uint64_t* words);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: napi_value
representing JavaScript BigInt
.
[out] sign_bit
: Integer representing if the JavaScript BigInt
is positive
or negative.
[in/out] word_count
: Must be initialized to the length of the words
array. Upon return, it will be set to the actual number of words that
would be needed to store this BigInt
.
[out] words
: Pointer to a pre-allocated 64-bit word array.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API converts a single BigInt
value into a sign bit, 64-bit little-endian
array, and the number of elements in the array. sign_bit
and words
may be
both set to NULL
, in order to get only word_count
.
napi_get_value_external
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_get_value_external(napi_env env,
napi_value value,
void** result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: napi_value
representing JavaScript external value.
[out] result
: Pointer to the data wrapped by the JavaScript external value.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded. If a non-external napi_value
is
passed in it returns napi_invalid_arg
.
This API retrieves the external data pointer that was previously passed to
napi_create_external()
.
napi_get_value_int32
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_get_value_int32(napi_env env,
napi_value value,
int32_t* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: napi_value
representing JavaScript number
.
[out] result
: C int32
primitive equivalent of the given JavaScript
number
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded. If a non-number napi_value
is passed in napi_number_expected
.
This API returns the C int32
primitive equivalent
of the given JavaScript number
.
If the number exceeds the range of the 32 bit integer, then the result is
truncated to the equivalent of the bottom 32 bits. This can result in a large
positive number becoming a negative number if the value is > 231 - 1.
Non-finite number values (NaN
, +Infinity
, or -Infinity
) set the
result to zero.
napi_get_value_int64
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_get_value_int64(napi_env env,
napi_value value,
int64_t* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: napi_value
representing JavaScript number
.
[out] result
: C int64
primitive equivalent of the given JavaScript
number
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded. If a non-number napi_value
is passed in it returns napi_number_expected
.
This API returns the C int64
primitive equivalent of the given JavaScript
number
.
number
values outside the range of Number.MIN_SAFE_INTEGER
-(2**53 - 1)
- Number.MAX_SAFE_INTEGER
(2**53 - 1)
will lose
precision.
Non-finite number values (NaN
, +Infinity
, or -Infinity
) set the
result to zero.
napi_get_value_string_latin1
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_get_value_string_latin1(napi_env env,
napi_value value,
char* buf,
size_t bufsize,
size_t* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: napi_value
representing JavaScript string.
[in] buf
: Buffer to write the ISO-8859-1-encoded string into. If NULL
is
passed in, the length of the string in bytes and excluding the null terminator
is returned in result
.
[in] bufsize
: Size of the destination buffer. When this value is
insufficient, the returned string is truncated and null-terminated.
[out] result
: Number of bytes copied into the buffer, excluding the null
terminator.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded. If a non-string
napi_value
is passed in it returns napi_string_expected
.
This API returns the ISO-8859-1-encoded string corresponding the value passed
in.
napi_get_value_string_utf8
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_get_value_string_utf8(napi_env env,
napi_value value,
char* buf,
size_t bufsize,
size_t* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: napi_value
representing JavaScript string.
[in] buf
: Buffer to write the UTF8-encoded string into. If NULL
is passed
in, the length of the string in bytes and excluding the null terminator is
returned in result
.
[in] bufsize
: Size of the destination buffer. When this value is
insufficient, the returned string is truncated and null-terminated.
[out] result
: Number of bytes copied into the buffer, excluding the null
terminator.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded. If a non-string
napi_value
is passed in it returns napi_string_expected
.
This API returns the UTF8-encoded string corresponding the value passed in.
napi_get_value_string_utf16
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_get_value_string_utf16(napi_env env,
napi_value value,
char16_t* buf,
size_t bufsize,
size_t* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: napi_value
representing JavaScript string.
[in] buf
: Buffer to write the UTF16-LE-encoded string into. If NULL
is
passed in, the length of the string in 2-byte code units and excluding the
null terminator is returned.
[in] bufsize
: Size of the destination buffer. When this value is
insufficient, the returned string is truncated and null-terminated.
[out] result
: Number of 2-byte code units copied into the buffer, excluding
the null terminator.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded. If a non-string
napi_value
is passed in it returns napi_string_expected
.
This API returns the UTF16-encoded string corresponding the value passed in.
napi_get_value_uint32
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_get_value_uint32(napi_env env,
napi_value value,
uint32_t* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: napi_value
representing JavaScript number
.
[out] result
: C primitive equivalent of the given napi_value
as a
uint32_t
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded. If a non-number napi_value
is passed in it returns napi_number_expected
.
This API returns the C primitive equivalent of the given napi_value
as a
uint32_t
.
Functions to get global instances#
napi_get_boolean
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_get_boolean(napi_env env, bool value, napi_value* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: The value of the boolean to retrieve.
[out] result
: napi_value
representing JavaScript Boolean
singleton to
retrieve.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API is used to return the JavaScript singleton object that is used to
represent the given boolean value.
napi_get_global
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_get_global(napi_env env, napi_value* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[out] result
: napi_value
representing JavaScript global
object.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API returns the global
object.
napi_get_null
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_get_null(napi_env env, napi_value* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[out] result
: napi_value
representing JavaScript null
object.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API returns the null
object.
napi_get_undefined
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_get_undefined(napi_env env, napi_value* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[out] result
: napi_value
representing JavaScript Undefined value.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API returns the Undefined object.
Working with JavaScript values and abstract operations#
Node-API exposes a set of APIs to perform some abstract operations on JavaScript
values. Some of these operations are documented under Section 7
of the ECMAScript Language Specification.
These APIs support doing one of the following:
- Coerce JavaScript values to specific JavaScript types (such as
number
or
string
).
- Check the type of a JavaScript value.
- Check for equality between two JavaScript values.
napi_coerce_to_bool
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_coerce_to_bool(napi_env env,
napi_value value,
napi_value* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: The JavaScript value to coerce.
[out] result
: napi_value
representing the coerced JavaScript Boolean
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API implements the abstract operation ToBoolean()
as defined in
Section 7.1.2 of the ECMAScript Language Specification.
napi_coerce_to_number
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_coerce_to_number(napi_env env,
napi_value value,
napi_value* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: The JavaScript value to coerce.
[out] result
: napi_value
representing the coerced JavaScript number
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API implements the abstract operation ToNumber()
as defined in
Section 7.1.3 of the ECMAScript Language Specification.
This function potentially runs JS code if the passed-in value is an
object.
napi_coerce_to_object
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_coerce_to_object(napi_env env,
napi_value value,
napi_value* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: The JavaScript value to coerce.
[out] result
: napi_value
representing the coerced JavaScript Object
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API implements the abstract operation ToObject()
as defined in
Section 7.1.13 of the ECMAScript Language Specification.
napi_coerce_to_string
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_coerce_to_string(napi_env env,
napi_value value,
napi_value* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: The JavaScript value to coerce.
[out] result
: napi_value
representing the coerced JavaScript string
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API implements the abstract operation ToString()
as defined in
Section 7.1.13 of the ECMAScript Language Specification.
This function potentially runs JS code if the passed-in value is an
object.
napi_typeof
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_typeof(napi_env env, napi_value value, napi_valuetype* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: The JavaScript value whose type to query.
[out] result
: The type of the JavaScript value.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
napi_invalid_arg
if the type of value
is not a known ECMAScript type and
value
is not an External value.
This API represents behavior similar to invoking the typeof
Operator on
the object as defined in Section 12.5.5 of the ECMAScript Language
Specification. However, there are some differences:
- It has support for detecting an External value.
- It detects
null
as a separate type, while ECMAScript typeof
would detect
object
.
If value
has a type that is invalid, an error is returned.
napi_instanceof
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_instanceof(napi_env env,
napi_value object,
napi_value constructor,
bool* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] object
: The JavaScript value to check.
[in] constructor
: The JavaScript function object of the constructor function
to check against.
[out] result
: Boolean that is set to true if object instanceof constructor
is true.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API represents invoking the instanceof
Operator on the object as
defined in Section 12.10.4 of the ECMAScript Language Specification.
napi_is_array
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_is_array(napi_env env, napi_value value, bool* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: The JavaScript value to check.
[out] result
: Whether the given object is an array.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API represents invoking the IsArray
operation on the object
as defined in Section 7.2.2 of the ECMAScript Language Specification.
napi_is_arraybuffer
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_is_arraybuffer(napi_env env, napi_value value, bool* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: The JavaScript value to check.
[out] result
: Whether the given object is an ArrayBuffer
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API checks if the Object
passed in is an array buffer.
napi_is_buffer
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_is_buffer(napi_env env, napi_value value, bool* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: The JavaScript value to check.
[out] result
: Whether the given napi_value
represents a node::Buffer
object.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API checks if the Object
passed in is a buffer.
napi_is_date
#
Added in: v11.11.0, v10.17.0
N-API version: 5
napi_status napi_is_date(napi_env env, napi_value value, bool* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: The JavaScript value to check.
[out] result
: Whether the given napi_value
represents a JavaScript Date
object.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API checks if the Object
passed in is a date.
napi_is_error
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_is_error(napi_env env, napi_value value, bool* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: The JavaScript value to check.
[out] result
: Whether the given napi_value
represents an Error
object.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API checks if the Object
passed in is an Error
.
napi_is_typedarray
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_is_typedarray(napi_env env, napi_value value, bool* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: The JavaScript value to check.
[out] result
: Whether the given napi_value
represents a TypedArray
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API checks if the Object
passed in is a typed array.
napi_is_dataview
#
Added in: v8.3.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_is_dataview(napi_env env, napi_value value, bool* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: The JavaScript value to check.
[out] result
: Whether the given napi_value
represents a DataView
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API checks if the Object
passed in is a DataView
.
napi_strict_equals
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_strict_equals(napi_env env,
napi_value lhs,
napi_value rhs,
bool* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] lhs
: The JavaScript value to check.
[in] rhs
: The JavaScript value to check against.
[out] result
: Whether the two napi_value
objects are equal.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API represents the invocation of the Strict Equality algorithm as
defined in Section 7.2.14 of the ECMAScript Language Specification.
napi_detach_arraybuffer
#
Added in: v13.0.0, v12.16.0, v10.22.0
N-API version: 7
napi_status napi_detach_arraybuffer(napi_env env,
napi_value arraybuffer)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] arraybuffer
: The JavaScript ArrayBuffer
to be detached.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded. If a non-detachable ArrayBuffer
is
passed in it returns napi_detachable_arraybuffer_expected
.
Generally, an ArrayBuffer
is non-detachable if it has been detached before.
The engine may impose additional conditions on whether an ArrayBuffer
is
detachable. For example, V8 requires that the ArrayBuffer
be external,
that is, created with napi_create_external_arraybuffer
.
This API represents the invocation of the ArrayBuffer
detach operation as
defined in Section 24.1.1.3 of the ECMAScript Language Specification.
napi_is_detached_arraybuffer
#
Added in: v13.3.0, v12.16.0, v10.22.0
N-API version: 7
napi_status napi_is_detached_arraybuffer(napi_env env,
napi_value arraybuffer,
bool* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] arraybuffer
: The JavaScript ArrayBuffer
to be checked.
[out] result
: Whether the arraybuffer
is detached.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
The ArrayBuffer
is considered detached if its internal data is null
.
This API represents the invocation of the ArrayBuffer
IsDetachedBuffer
operation as defined in Section 24.1.1.2 of the ECMAScript Language
Specification.
Working with JavaScript properties#
Node-API exposes a set of APIs to get and set properties on JavaScript
objects. Some of these types are documented under Section 7 of the
ECMAScript Language Specification.
Properties in JavaScript are represented as a tuple of a key and a value.
Fundamentally, all property keys in Node-API can be represented in one of the
following forms:
- Named: a simple UTF8-encoded string
- Integer-Indexed: an index value represented by
uint32_t
- JavaScript value: these are represented in Node-API by
napi_value
. This can
be a napi_value
representing a string
, number
, or symbol
.
Node-API values are represented by the type napi_value
.
Any Node-API call that requires a JavaScript value takes in a napi_value
.
However, it's the caller's responsibility to make sure that the
napi_value
in question is of the JavaScript type expected by the API.
The APIs documented in this section provide a simple interface to
get and set properties on arbitrary JavaScript objects represented by
napi_value
.
For instance, consider the following JavaScript code snippet:
const obj = {};
obj.myProp = 123;
The equivalent can be done using Node-API values with the following snippet:
napi_status status = napi_generic_failure;
napi_value obj, value;
status = napi_create_object(env, &obj);
if (status != napi_ok) return status;
status = napi_create_int32(env, 123, &value);
if (status != napi_ok) return status;
status = napi_set_named_property(env, obj, "myProp", value);
if (status != napi_ok) return status;
Indexed properties can be set in a similar manner. Consider the following
JavaScript snippet:
const arr = [];
arr[123] = 'hello';
The equivalent can be done using Node-API values with the following snippet:
napi_status status = napi_generic_failure;
napi_value arr, value;
status = napi_create_array(env, &arr);
if (status != napi_ok) return status;
status = napi_create_string_utf8(env, "hello", NAPI_AUTO_LENGTH, &value);
if (status != napi_ok) return status;
status = napi_set_element(env, arr, 123, value);
if (status != napi_ok) return status;
Properties can be retrieved using the APIs described in this section.
Consider the following JavaScript snippet:
const arr = [];
const value = arr[123];
The following is the approximate equivalent of the Node-API counterpart:
napi_status status = napi_generic_failure;
napi_value arr, value;
status = napi_create_array(env, &arr);
if (status != napi_ok) return status;
status = napi_get_element(env, arr, 123, &value);
if (status != napi_ok) return status;
Finally, multiple properties can also be defined on an object for performance
reasons. Consider the following JavaScript:
const obj = {};
Object.defineProperties(obj, {
'foo': { value: 123, writable: true, configurable: true, enumerable: true },
'bar': { value: 456, writable: true, configurable: true, enumerable: true }
});
The following is the approximate equivalent of the Node-API counterpart:
napi_status status = napi_status_generic_failure;
napi_value obj;
status = napi_create_object(env, &obj);
if (status != napi_ok) return status;
napi_value fooValue, barValue;
status = napi_create_int32(env, 123, &fooValue);
if (status != napi_ok) return status;
status = napi_create_int32(env, 456, &barValue);
if (status != napi_ok) return status;
napi_property_descriptor descriptors[] = {
{ "foo", NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL, fooValue, napi_writable | napi_configurable, NULL },
{ "bar", NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL, barValue, napi_writable | napi_configurable, NULL }
}
status = napi_define_properties(env,
obj,
sizeof(descriptors) / sizeof(descriptors[0]),
descriptors);
if (status != napi_ok) return status;
Structures#
napi_property_attributes
#
typedef enum {
napi_default = 0,
napi_writable = 1 << 0,
napi_enumerable = 1 << 1,
napi_configurable = 1 << 2,
napi_static = 1 << 10,
napi_default_method = napi_writable | napi_configurable,
napi_default_jsproperty = napi_writable |
napi_enumerable |
napi_configurable,
} napi_property_attributes;
napi_property_attributes
are flags used to control the behavior of properties
set on a JavaScript object. Other than napi_static
they correspond to the
attributes listed in Section 6.1.7.1
of the ECMAScript Language Specification.
They can be one or more of the following bitflags:
napi_default
: No explicit attributes are set on the property. By default, a
property is read only, not enumerable and not configurable.
napi_writable
: The property is writable.
napi_enumerable
: The property is enumerable.
napi_configurable
: The property is configurable as defined in
Section 6.1.7.1 of the ECMAScript Language Specification.
napi_static
: The property will be defined as a static property on a class as
opposed to an instance property, which is the default. This is used only by
napi_define_class
. It is ignored by napi_define_properties
.
napi_default_method
: Like a method in a JS class, the property is
configurable and writeable, but not enumerable.
napi_default_jsproperty
: Like a property set via assignment in JavaScript,
the property is writable, enumerable, and configurable.
napi_property_descriptor
#
typedef struct {
const char* utf8name;
napi_value name;
napi_callback method;
napi_callback getter;
napi_callback setter;
napi_value value;
napi_property_attributes attributes;
void* data;
} napi_property_descriptor;
utf8name
: Optional string describing the key for the property,
encoded as UTF8. One of utf8name
or name
must be provided for the
property.
name
: Optional napi_value
that points to a JavaScript string or symbol
to be used as the key for the property. One of utf8name
or name
must
be provided for the property.
value
: The value that's retrieved by a get access of the property if the
property is a data property. If this is passed in, set getter
, setter
,
method
and data
to NULL
(since these members won't be used).
getter
: A function to call when a get access of the property is performed.
If this is passed in, set value
and method
to NULL
(since these members
won't be used). The given function is called implicitly by the runtime when
the property is accessed from JavaScript code (or if a get on the property is
performed using a Node-API call). napi_callback
provides more details.
setter
: A function to call when a set access of the property is performed.
If this is passed in, set value
and method
to NULL
(since these members
won't be used). The given function is called implicitly by the runtime when
the property is set from JavaScript code (or if a set on the property is
performed using a Node-API call). napi_callback
provides more details.
method
: Set this to make the property descriptor object's value
property to be a JavaScript function represented by method
. If this is
passed in, set value
, getter
and setter
to NULL
(since these members
won't be used). napi_callback
provides more details.
attributes
: The attributes associated with the particular property. See
napi_property_attributes
.
data
: The callback data passed into method
, getter
and setter
if this
function is invoked.
Functions#
napi_get_property_names
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_get_property_names(napi_env env,
napi_value object,
napi_value* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the Node-API call is invoked under.
[in] object
: The object from which to retrieve the properties.
[out] result
: A napi_value
representing an array of JavaScript values
that represent the property names of the object. The API can be used to
iterate over result
using napi_get_array_length
and napi_get_element
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API returns the names of the enumerable properties of object
as an array
of strings. The properties of object
whose key is a symbol will not be
included.
napi_get_all_property_names
#
Added in: v13.7.0, v12.17.0, v10.20.0
N-API version: 6
napi_get_all_property_names(napi_env env,
napi_value object,
napi_key_collection_mode key_mode,
napi_key_filter key_filter,
napi_key_conversion key_conversion,
napi_value* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the Node-API call is invoked under.
[in] object
: The object from which to retrieve the properties.
[in] key_mode
: Whether to retrieve prototype properties as well.
[in] key_filter
: Which properties to retrieve
(enumerable/readable/writable).
[in] key_conversion
: Whether to convert numbered property keys to strings.
[out] result
: A napi_value
representing an array of JavaScript values
that represent the property names of the object. napi_get_array_length
and napi_get_element
can be used to iterate over result
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API returns an array containing the names of the available properties
of this object.
napi_set_property
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_set_property(napi_env env,
napi_value object,
napi_value key,
napi_value value);
[in] env
: The environment that the Node-API call is invoked under.
[in] object
: The object on which to set the property.
[in] key
: The name of the property to set.
[in] value
: The property value.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API set a property on the Object
passed in.
napi_get_property
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_get_property(napi_env env,
napi_value object,
napi_value key,
napi_value* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the Node-API call is invoked under.
[in] object
: The object from which to retrieve the property.
[in] key
: The name of the property to retrieve.
[out] result
: The value of the property.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API gets the requested property from the Object
passed in.
napi_has_property
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_has_property(napi_env env,
napi_value object,
napi_value key,
bool* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the Node-API call is invoked under.
[in] object
: The object to query.
[in] key
: The name of the property whose existence to check.
[out] result
: Whether the property exists on the object or not.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API checks if the Object
passed in has the named property.
napi_delete_property
#
Added in: v8.2.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_delete_property(napi_env env,
napi_value object,
napi_value key,
bool* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the Node-API call is invoked under.
[in] object
: The object to query.
[in] key
: The name of the property to delete.
[out] result
: Whether the property deletion succeeded or not. result
can
optionally be ignored by passing NULL
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API attempts to delete the key
own property from object
.
napi_has_own_property
#
Added in: v8.2.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_has_own_property(napi_env env,
napi_value object,
napi_value key,
bool* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the Node-API call is invoked under.
[in] object
: The object to query.
[in] key
: The name of the own property whose existence to check.
[out] result
: Whether the own property exists on the object or not.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API checks if the Object
passed in has the named own property. key
must
be a string
or a symbol
, or an error will be thrown. Node-API will not
perform any conversion between data types.
napi_set_named_property
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_set_named_property(napi_env env,
napi_value object,
const char* utf8Name,
napi_value value);
[in] env
: The environment that the Node-API call is invoked under.
[in] object
: The object on which to set the property.
[in] utf8Name
: The name of the property to set.
[in] value
: The property value.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This method is equivalent to calling napi_set_property
with a napi_value
created from the string passed in as utf8Name
.
napi_get_named_property
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_get_named_property(napi_env env,
napi_value object,
const char* utf8Name,
napi_value* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the Node-API call is invoked under.
[in] object
: The object from which to retrieve the property.
[in] utf8Name
: The name of the property to get.
[out] result
: The value of the property.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This method is equivalent to calling napi_get_property
with a napi_value
created from the string passed in as utf8Name
.
napi_has_named_property
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_has_named_property(napi_env env,
napi_value object,
const char* utf8Name,
bool* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the Node-API call is invoked under.
[in] object
: The object to query.
[in] utf8Name
: The name of the property whose existence to check.
[out] result
: Whether the property exists on the object or not.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This method is equivalent to calling napi_has_property
with a napi_value
created from the string passed in as utf8Name
.
napi_set_element
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_set_element(napi_env env,
napi_value object,
uint32_t index,
napi_value value);
[in] env
: The environment that the Node-API call is invoked under.
[in] object
: The object from which to set the properties.
[in] index
: The index of the property to set.
[in] value
: The property value.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API sets an element on the Object
passed in.
napi_get_element
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_get_element(napi_env env,
napi_value object,
uint32_t index,
napi_value* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the Node-API call is invoked under.
[in] object
: The object from which to retrieve the property.
[in] index
: The index of the property to get.
[out] result
: The value of the property.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API gets the element at the requested index.
napi_has_element
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_has_element(napi_env env,
napi_value object,
uint32_t index,
bool* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the Node-API call is invoked under.
[in] object
: The object to query.
[in] index
: The index of the property whose existence to check.
[out] result
: Whether the property exists on the object or not.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API returns if the Object
passed in has an element at the
requested index.
napi_delete_element
#
Added in: v8.2.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_delete_element(napi_env env,
napi_value object,
uint32_t index,
bool* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the Node-API call is invoked under.
[in] object
: The object to query.
[in] index
: The index of the property to delete.
[out] result
: Whether the element deletion succeeded or not. result
can
optionally be ignored by passing NULL
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API attempts to delete the specified index
from object
.
napi_define_properties
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_define_properties(napi_env env,
napi_value object,
size_t property_count,
const napi_property_descriptor* properties);
[in] env
: The environment that the Node-API call is invoked under.
[in] object
: The object from which to retrieve the properties.
[in] property_count
: The number of elements in the properties
array.
[in] properties
: The array of property descriptors.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This method allows the efficient definition of multiple properties on a given
object. The properties are defined using property descriptors (see
napi_property_descriptor
). Given an array of such property descriptors,
this API will set the properties on the object one at a time, as defined by
DefineOwnProperty()
(described in Section 9.1.6 of the ECMA-262
specification).
napi_object_freeze
#
Added in: v14.14.0, v12.20.0
N-API version: 8
napi_status napi_object_freeze(napi_env env,
napi_value object);
[in] env
: The environment that the Node-API call is invoked under.
[in] object
: The object to freeze.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This method freezes a given object. This prevents new properties from
being added to it, existing properties from being removed, prevents
changing the enumerability, configurability, or writability of existing
properties, and prevents the values of existing properties from being changed.
It also prevents the object's prototype from being changed. This is described
in Section 19.1.2.6 of the
ECMA-262 specification.
napi_object_seal
#
Added in: v14.14.0, v12.20.0
N-API version: 8
napi_status napi_object_seal(napi_env env,
napi_value object);
[in] env
: The environment that the Node-API call is invoked under.
[in] object
: The object to seal.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This method seals a given object. This prevents new properties from being
added to it, as well as marking all existing properties as non-configurable.
This is described in Section 19.1.2.20
of the ECMA-262 specification.
Working with JavaScript functions#
Node-API provides a set of APIs that allow JavaScript code to
call back into native code. Node-APIs that support calling back
into native code take in a callback functions represented by
the napi_callback
type. When the JavaScript VM calls back to
native code, the napi_callback
function provided is invoked. The APIs
documented in this section allow the callback function to do the
following:
- Get information about the context in which the callback was invoked.
- Get the arguments passed into the callback.
- Return a
napi_value
back from the callback.
Additionally, Node-API provides a set of functions which allow calling
JavaScript functions from native code. One can either call a function
like a regular JavaScript function call, or as a constructor
function.
Any non-NULL
data which is passed to this API via the data
field of the
napi_property_descriptor
items can be associated with object
and freed
whenever object
is garbage-collected by passing both object
and the data to
napi_add_finalizer
.
napi_call_function
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status napi_call_function(napi_env env,
napi_value recv,
napi_value func,
size_t argc,
const napi_value* argv,
napi_value* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] recv
: The this
value passed to the called function.
[in] func
: napi_value
representing the JavaScript function to be invoked.
[in] argc
: The count of elements in the argv
array.
[in] argv
: Array of napi_values
representing JavaScript values passed in
as arguments to the function.
[out] result
: napi_value
representing the JavaScript object returned.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This method allows a JavaScript function object to be called from a native
add-on. This is the primary mechanism of calling back from the add-on's
native code into JavaScript. For the special case of calling into JavaScript
after an async operation, see napi_make_callback
.
A sample use case might look as follows. Consider the following JavaScript
snippet:
function AddTwo(num) {
return num + 2;
}
global.AddTwo = AddTwo;
Then, the above function can be invoked from a native add-on using the
following code:
napi_value global, add_two, arg;
napi_status status = napi_get_global(env, &global);
if (status != napi_ok) return;
status = napi_get_named_property(env, global, "AddTwo", &add_two);
if (status != napi_ok) return;
status = napi_create_int32(env, 1337, &arg);
if (status != napi_ok) return;
napi_value* argv = &arg;
size_t argc = 1;
napi_value return_val;
status = napi_call_function(env, global, add_two, argc, argv, &return_val);
if (status != napi_ok) return;
int32_t result;
status = napi_get_value_int32(env, return_val, &result);
if (status != napi_ok) return;
napi_create_function
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_create_function(napi_env env,
const char* utf8name,
size_t length,
napi_callback cb,
void* data,
napi_value* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] utf8Name
: Optional name of the function encoded as UTF8. This is
visible within JavaScript as the new function object's name
property.
[in] length
: The length of the utf8name
in bytes, or NAPI_AUTO_LENGTH
if
it is null-terminated.
[in] cb
: The native function which should be called when this function
object is invoked. napi_callback
provides more details.
[in] data
: User-provided data context. This will be passed back into the
function when invoked later.
[out] result
: napi_value
representing the JavaScript function object for
the newly created function.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API allows an add-on author to create a function object in native code.
This is the primary mechanism to allow calling into the add-on's native code
from JavaScript.
The newly created function is not automatically visible from script after this
call. Instead, a property must be explicitly set on any object that is visible
to JavaScript, in order for the function to be accessible from script.
In order to expose a function as part of the
add-on's module exports, set the newly created function on the exports
object. A sample module might look as follows:
napi_value SayHello(napi_env env, napi_callback_info info) {
printf("Hello\n");
return NULL;
}
napi_value Init(napi_env env, napi_value exports) {
napi_status status;
napi_value fn;
status = napi_create_function(env, NULL, 0, SayHello, NULL, &fn);
if (status != napi_ok) return NULL;
status = napi_set_named_property(env, exports, "sayHello", fn);
if (status != napi_ok) return NULL;
return exports;
}
NAPI_MODULE(NODE_GYP_MODULE_NAME, Init)
Given the above code, the add-on can be used from JavaScript as follows:
const myaddon = require('./addon');
myaddon.sayHello();
The string passed to require()
is the name of the target in binding.gyp
responsible for creating the .node
file.
Any non-NULL
data which is passed to this API via the data
parameter can
be associated with the resulting JavaScript function (which is returned in the
result
parameter) and freed whenever the function is garbage-collected by
passing both the JavaScript function and the data to napi_add_finalizer
.
JavaScript Function
s are described in Section 19.2 of the ECMAScript
Language Specification.
napi_get_cb_info
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_get_cb_info(napi_env env,
napi_callback_info cbinfo,
size_t* argc,
napi_value* argv,
napi_value* thisArg,
void** data)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] cbinfo
: The callback info passed into the callback function.
[in-out] argc
: Specifies the length of the provided argv
array and
receives the actual count of arguments. argc
can
optionally be ignored by passing NULL
.
[out] argv
: C array of napi_value
s to which the arguments will be
copied. If there are more arguments than the provided count, only the
requested number of arguments are copied. If there are fewer arguments
provided than claimed, the rest of argv
is filled with napi_value
values
that represent undefined
. argv
can optionally be ignored by
passing NULL
.
[out] thisArg
: Receives the JavaScript this
argument for the call.
thisArg
can optionally be ignored by passing NULL
.
[out] data
: Receives the data pointer for the callback. data
can
optionally be ignored by passing NULL
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This method is used within a callback function to retrieve details about the
call like the arguments and the this
pointer from a given callback info.
napi_get_new_target
#
Added in: v8.6.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_get_new_target(napi_env env,
napi_callback_info cbinfo,
napi_value* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] cbinfo
: The callback info passed into the callback function.
[out] result
: The new.target
of the constructor call.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API returns the new.target
of the constructor call. If the current
callback is not a constructor call, the result is NULL
.
napi_new_instance
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_new_instance(napi_env env,
napi_value cons,
size_t argc,
napi_value* argv,
napi_value* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] cons
: napi_value
representing the JavaScript function to be invoked
as a constructor.
[in] argc
: The count of elements in the argv
array.
[in] argv
: Array of JavaScript values as napi_value
representing the
arguments to the constructor. If argc
is zero this parameter may be
omitted by passing in NULL
.
[out] result
: napi_value
representing the JavaScript object returned,
which in this case is the constructed object.
This method is used to instantiate a new JavaScript value using a given
napi_value
that represents the constructor for the object. For example,
consider the following snippet:
function MyObject(param) {
this.param = param;
}
const arg = 'hello';
const value = new MyObject(arg);
The following can be approximated in Node-API using the following snippet:
napi_value global, constructor, arg, value;
napi_status status = napi_get_global(env, &global);
if (status != napi_ok) return;
status = napi_get_named_property(env, global, "MyObject", &constructor);
if (status != napi_ok) return;
status = napi_create_string_utf8(env, "hello", NAPI_AUTO_LENGTH, &arg);
if (status != napi_ok) return;
napi_value* argv = &arg;
size_t argc = 1;
status = napi_new_instance(env, constructor, argc, argv, &value);
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
Object wrap#
Node-API offers a way to "wrap" C++ classes and instances so that the class
constructor and methods can be called from JavaScript.
- The
napi_define_class
API defines a JavaScript class with constructor,
static properties and methods, and instance properties and methods that
correspond to the C++ class.
- When JavaScript code invokes the constructor, the constructor callback
uses
napi_wrap
to wrap a new C++ instance in a JavaScript object,
then returns the wrapper object.
- When JavaScript code invokes a method or property accessor on the class,
the corresponding
napi_callback
C++ function is invoked. For an instance
callback, napi_unwrap
obtains the C++ instance that is the target of
the call.
For wrapped objects it may be difficult to distinguish between a function
called on a class prototype and a function called on an instance of a class.
A common pattern used to address this problem is to save a persistent
reference to the class constructor for later instanceof
checks.
napi_value MyClass_constructor = NULL;
status = napi_get_reference_value(env, MyClass::es_constructor, &MyClass_constructor);
assert(napi_ok == status);
bool is_instance = false;
status = napi_instanceof(env, es_this, MyClass_constructor, &is_instance);
assert(napi_ok == status);
if (is_instance) {
} else {
}
The reference must be freed once it is no longer needed.
There are occasions where napi_instanceof()
is insufficient for ensuring that
a JavaScript object is a wrapper for a certain native type. This is the case
especially when wrapped JavaScript objects are passed back into the addon via
static methods rather than as the this
value of prototype methods. In such
cases there is a chance that they may be unwrapped incorrectly.
const myAddon = require('./build/Release/my_addon.node');
const dbHandle = myAddon.openDatabase();
const queryHandle = myAddon.query(dbHandle, 'Gimme ALL the things!');
while (myAddon.queryHasRecords(queryHandle, dbHandle)) {
}
In the above example myAddon.queryHasRecords()
is a method that accepts two
arguments. The first is a database handle and the second is a query handle.
Internally, it unwraps the first argument and casts the resulting pointer to a
native database handle. It then unwraps the second argument and casts the
resulting pointer to a query handle. If the arguments are passed in the wrong
order, the casts will work, however, there is a good chance that the underlying
database operation will fail, or will even cause an invalid memory access.
To ensure that the pointer retrieved from the first argument is indeed a pointer
to a database handle and, similarly, that the pointer retrieved from the second
argument is indeed a pointer to a query handle, the implementation of
queryHasRecords()
has to perform a type validation. Retaining the JavaScript
class constructor from which the database handle was instantiated and the
constructor from which the query handle was instantiated in napi_ref
s can
help, because napi_instanceof()
can then be used to ensure that the instances
passed into queryHashRecords()
are indeed of the correct type.
Unfortunately, napi_instanceof()
does not protect against prototype
manipulation. For example, the prototype of the database handle instance can be
set to the prototype of the constructor for query handle instances. In this
case, the database handle instance can appear as a query handle instance, and it
will pass the napi_instanceof()
test for a query handle instance, while still
containing a pointer to a database handle.
To this end, Node-API provides type-tagging capabilities.
A type tag is a 128-bit integer unique to the addon. Node-API provides the
napi_type_tag
structure for storing a type tag. When such a value is passed
along with a JavaScript object stored in a napi_value
to
napi_type_tag_object()
, the JavaScript object will be "marked" with the
type tag. The "mark" is invisible on the JavaScript side. When a JavaScript
object arrives into a native binding, napi_check_object_type_tag()
can be used
along with the original type tag to determine whether the JavaScript object was
previously "marked" with the type tag. This creates a type-checking capability
of a higher fidelity than napi_instanceof()
can provide, because such type-
tagging survives prototype manipulation and addon unloading/reloading.
Continuing the above example, the following skeleton addon implementation
illustrates the use of napi_type_tag_object()
and
napi_check_object_type_tag()
.
static const napi_type_tag DatabaseHandleTypeTag = {
0x1edf75a38336451d, 0xa5ed9ce2e4c00c38
};
static const napi_type_tag QueryHandleTypeTag = {
0x9c73317f9fad44a3, 0x93c3920bf3b0ad6a
};
static napi_value
openDatabase(napi_env env, napi_callback_info info) {
napi_status status;
napi_value result;
DatabaseHandle* dbHandle = open_database();
status = napi_create_object(env, &result);
if (status != napi_ok) return NULL;
status = napi_type_tag_object(env, result, &DatabaseHandleTypeTag);
if (status != napi_ok) return NULL;
status = napi_wrap(env, result, dbHandle, NULL, NULL, NULL);
if (status != napi_ok) return NULL;
return result;
}
static napi_value
query(napi_env env, napi_callback_info info) {
napi_status status;
size_t argc = 2;
napi_value argv[2];
bool is_db_handle;
status = napi_get_cb_info(env, info, &argc, argv, NULL, NULL);
if (status != napi_ok) return NULL;
status = napi_check_object_type_tag(env,
argv[0],
&DatabaseHandleTypeTag,
&is_db_handle);
if (status != napi_ok) return NULL;
if (!is_db_handle) {
return NULL;
}
}
napi_define_class
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_define_class(napi_env env,
const char* utf8name,
size_t length,
napi_callback constructor,
void* data,
size_t property_count,
const napi_property_descriptor* properties,
napi_value* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] utf8name
: Name of the JavaScript constructor function; When wrapping a
C++ class, we recommend for clarity that this name be the same as that of
the C++ class.
[in] length
: The length of the utf8name
in bytes, or NAPI_AUTO_LENGTH
if it is null-terminated.
[in] constructor
: Callback function that handles constructing instances
of the class. When wrapping a C++ class, this method must be a static member
with the napi_callback
signature. A C++ class constructor cannot be
used. napi_callback
provides more details.
[in] data
: Optional data to be passed to the constructor callback as
the data
property of the callback info.
[in] property_count
: Number of items in the properties
array argument.
[in] properties
: Array of property descriptors describing static and
instance data properties, accessors, and methods on the class
See napi_property_descriptor
.
[out] result
: A napi_value
representing the constructor function for
the class.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
Defines a JavaScript class, including:
- A JavaScript constructor function that has the class name. When wrapping a
corresponding C++ class, the callback passed via
constructor
can be used to
instantiate a new C++ class instance, which can then be placed inside the
JavaScript object instance being constructed using napi_wrap
.
- Properties on the constructor function whose implementation can call
corresponding static data properties, accessors, and methods of the C++
class (defined by property descriptors with the
napi_static
attribute).
- Properties on the constructor function's
prototype
object. When wrapping a
C++ class, non-static data properties, accessors, and methods of the C++
class can be called from the static functions given in the property
descriptors without the napi_static
attribute after retrieving the C++ class
instance placed inside the JavaScript object instance by using
napi_unwrap
.
When wrapping a C++ class, the C++ constructor callback passed via constructor
should be a static method on the class that calls the actual class constructor,
then wraps the new C++ instance in a JavaScript object, and returns the wrapper
object. See napi_wrap
for details.
The JavaScript constructor function returned from napi_define_class
is
often saved and used later to construct new instances of the class from native
code, and/or to check whether provided values are instances of the class. In
that case, to prevent the function value from being garbage-collected, a
strong persistent reference to it can be created using
napi_create_reference
, ensuring that the reference count is kept >= 1.
Any non-NULL
data which is passed to this API via the data
parameter or via
the data
field of the napi_property_descriptor
array items can be associated
with the resulting JavaScript constructor (which is returned in the result
parameter) and freed whenever the class is garbage-collected by passing both
the JavaScript function and the data to napi_add_finalizer
.
napi_wrap
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_wrap(napi_env env,
napi_value js_object,
void* native_object,
napi_finalize finalize_cb,
void* finalize_hint,
napi_ref* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] js_object
: The JavaScript object that will be the wrapper for the
native object.
[in] native_object
: The native instance that will be wrapped in the
JavaScript object.
[in] finalize_cb
: Optional native callback that can be used to free the
native instance when the JavaScript object is ready for garbage-collection.
napi_finalize
provides more details.
[in] finalize_hint
: Optional contextual hint that is passed to the
finalize callback.
[out] result
: Optional reference to the wrapped object.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
Wraps a native instance in a JavaScript object. The native instance can be
retrieved later using napi_unwrap()
.
When JavaScript code invokes a constructor for a class that was defined using
napi_define_class()
, the napi_callback
for the constructor is invoked.
After constructing an instance of the native class, the callback must then call
napi_wrap()
to wrap the newly constructed instance in the already-created
JavaScript object that is the this
argument to the constructor callback.
(That this
object was created from the constructor function's prototype
,
so it already has definitions of all the instance properties and methods.)
Typically when wrapping a class instance, a finalize callback should be
provided that simply deletes the native instance that is received as the data
argument to the finalize callback.
The optional returned reference is initially a weak reference, meaning it
has a reference count of 0. Typically this reference count would be incremented
temporarily during async operations that require the instance to remain valid.
Caution: The optional returned reference (if obtained) should be deleted via
napi_delete_reference
ONLY in response to the finalize callback
invocation. If it is deleted before then, then the finalize callback may never
be invoked. Therefore, when obtaining a reference a finalize callback is also
required in order to enable correct disposal of the reference.
Finalizer callbacks may be deferred, leaving a window where the object has
been garbage collected (and the weak reference is invalid) but the finalizer
hasn't been called yet. When using napi_get_reference_value()
on weak
references returned by napi_wrap()
, you should still handle an empty result.
Calling napi_wrap()
a second time on an object will return an error. To
associate another native instance with the object, use napi_remove_wrap()
first.
napi_unwrap
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_unwrap(napi_env env,
napi_value js_object,
void** result);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] js_object
: The object associated with the native instance.
[out] result
: Pointer to the wrapped native instance.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
Retrieves a native instance that was previously wrapped in a JavaScript
object using napi_wrap()
.
When JavaScript code invokes a method or property accessor on the class, the
corresponding napi_callback
is invoked. If the callback is for an instance
method or accessor, then the this
argument to the callback is the wrapper
object; the wrapped C++ instance that is the target of the call can be obtained
then by calling napi_unwrap()
on the wrapper object.
napi_remove_wrap
#
Added in: v8.5.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_remove_wrap(napi_env env,
napi_value js_object,
void** result);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] js_object
: The object associated with the native instance.
[out] result
: Pointer to the wrapped native instance.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
Retrieves a native instance that was previously wrapped in the JavaScript
object js_object
using napi_wrap()
and removes the wrapping. If a finalize
callback was associated with the wrapping, it will no longer be called when the
JavaScript object becomes garbage-collected.
napi_type_tag_object
#
Added in: v14.8.0, v12.19.0
N-API version: 8
napi_status napi_type_tag_object(napi_env env,
napi_value js_object,
const napi_type_tag* type_tag);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] js_object
: The JavaScript object to be marked.
[in] type_tag
: The tag with which the object is to be marked.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
Associates the value of the type_tag
pointer with the JavaScript object.
napi_check_object_type_tag()
can then be used to compare the tag that was
attached to the object with one owned by the addon to ensure that the object
has the right type.
If the object already has an associated type tag, this API will return
napi_invalid_arg
.
napi_check_object_type_tag
#
Added in: v14.8.0, v12.19.0
N-API version: 8
napi_status napi_check_object_type_tag(napi_env env,
napi_value js_object,
const napi_type_tag* type_tag,
bool* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] js_object
: The JavaScript object whose type tag to examine.
[in] type_tag
: The tag with which to compare any tag found on the object.
[out] result
: Whether the type tag given matched the type tag on the
object. false
is also returned if no type tag was found on the object.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
Compares the pointer given as type_tag
with any that can be found on
js_object
. If no tag is found on js_object
or, if a tag is found but it does
not match type_tag
, then result
is set to false
. If a tag is found and it
matches type_tag
, then result
is set to true
.
napi_add_finalizer
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 5
napi_status napi_add_finalizer(napi_env env,
napi_value js_object,
void* native_object,
napi_finalize finalize_cb,
void* finalize_hint,
napi_ref* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] js_object
: The JavaScript object to which the native data will be
attached.
[in] native_object
: The native data that will be attached to the JavaScript
object.
[in] finalize_cb
: Native callback that will be used to free the
native data when the JavaScript object is ready for garbage-collection.
napi_finalize
provides more details.
[in] finalize_hint
: Optional contextual hint that is passed to the
finalize callback.
[out] result
: Optional reference to the JavaScript object.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
Adds a napi_finalize
callback which will be called when the JavaScript object
in js_object
is ready for garbage collection. This API is similar to
napi_wrap()
except that:
- the native data cannot be retrieved later using
napi_unwrap()
,
- nor can it be removed later using
napi_remove_wrap()
, and
- the API can be called multiple times with different data items in order to
attach each of them to the JavaScript object, and
- the object manipulated by the API can be used with
napi_wrap()
.
Caution: The optional returned reference (if obtained) should be deleted via
napi_delete_reference
ONLY in response to the finalize callback
invocation. If it is deleted before then, then the finalize callback may never
be invoked. Therefore, when obtaining a reference a finalize callback is also
required in order to enable correct disposal of the reference.
Simple asynchronous operations#
Addon modules often need to leverage async helpers from libuv as part of their
implementation. This allows them to schedule work to be executed asynchronously
so that their methods can return in advance of the work being completed. This
allows them to avoid blocking overall execution of the Node.js application.
Node-API provides an ABI-stable interface for these
supporting functions which covers the most common asynchronous use cases.
Node-API defines the napi_async_work
structure which is used to manage
asynchronous workers. Instances are created/deleted with
napi_create_async_work
and napi_delete_async_work
.
The execute
and complete
callbacks are functions that will be
invoked when the executor is ready to execute and when it completes its
task respectively.
The execute
function should avoid making any Node-API calls
that could result in the execution of JavaScript or interaction with
JavaScript objects. Most often, any code that needs to make Node-API
calls should be made in complete
callback instead.
Avoid using the napi_env
parameter in the execute callback as
it will likely execute JavaScript.
These functions implement the following interfaces:
typedef void (*napi_async_execute_callback)(napi_env env,
void* data);
typedef void (*napi_async_complete_callback)(napi_env env,
napi_status status,
void* data);
When these methods are invoked, the data
parameter passed will be the
addon-provided void*
data that was passed into the
napi_create_async_work
call.
Once created the async worker can be queued
for execution using the napi_queue_async_work
function:
napi_status napi_queue_async_work(napi_env env,
napi_async_work work);
napi_cancel_async_work
can be used if the work needs
to be cancelled before the work has started execution.
After calling napi_cancel_async_work
, the complete
callback
will be invoked with a status value of napi_cancelled
.
The work should not be deleted before the complete
callback invocation, even when it was cancelled.
napi_create_async_work
#
napi_status napi_create_async_work(napi_env env,
napi_value async_resource,
napi_value async_resource_name,
napi_async_execute_callback execute,
napi_async_complete_callback complete,
void* data,
napi_async_work* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] async_resource
: An optional object associated with the async work
that will be passed to possible async_hooks
init
hooks.
[in] async_resource_name
: Identifier for the kind of resource that is being
provided for diagnostic information exposed by the async_hooks
API.
[in] execute
: The native function which should be called to execute the
logic asynchronously. The given function is called from a worker pool thread
and can execute in parallel with the main event loop thread.
[in] complete
: The native function which will be called when the
asynchronous logic is completed or is cancelled. The given function is called
from the main event loop thread. napi_async_complete_callback
provides
more details.
[in] data
: User-provided data context. This will be passed back into the
execute and complete functions.
[out] result
: napi_async_work*
which is the handle to the newly created
async work.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API allocates a work object that is used to execute logic asynchronously.
It should be freed using napi_delete_async_work
once the work is no longer
required.
async_resource_name
should be a null-terminated, UTF-8-encoded string.
The async_resource_name
identifier is provided by the user and should be
representative of the type of async work being performed. It is also recommended
to apply namespacing to the identifier, e.g. by including the module name. See
the async_hooks
documentation for more information.
napi_delete_async_work
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_delete_async_work(napi_env env,
napi_async_work work);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] work
: The handle returned by the call to napi_create_async_work
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API frees a previously allocated work object.
This API can be called even if there is a pending JavaScript exception.
napi_queue_async_work
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_queue_async_work(napi_env env,
napi_async_work work);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] work
: The handle returned by the call to napi_create_async_work
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API requests that the previously allocated work be scheduled
for execution. Once it returns successfully, this API must not be called again
with the same napi_async_work
item or the result will be undefined.
napi_cancel_async_work
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_cancel_async_work(napi_env env,
napi_async_work work);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] work
: The handle returned by the call to napi_create_async_work
.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API cancels queued work if it has not yet
been started. If it has already started executing, it cannot be
cancelled and napi_generic_failure
will be returned. If successful,
the complete
callback will be invoked with a status value of
napi_cancelled
. The work should not be deleted before the complete
callback invocation, even if it has been successfully cancelled.
This API can be called even if there is a pending JavaScript exception.
Custom asynchronous operations#
The simple asynchronous work APIs above may not be appropriate for every
scenario. When using any other asynchronous mechanism, the following APIs
are necessary to ensure an asynchronous operation is properly tracked by
the runtime.
napi_async_init
#
Added in: v8.6.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_async_init(napi_env env,
napi_value async_resource,
napi_value async_resource_name,
napi_async_context* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] async_resource
: Object associated with the async work
that will be passed to possible async_hooks
init
hooks and can be
accessed by async_hooks.executionAsyncResource()
.
[in] async_resource_name
: Identifier for the kind of resource that is being
provided for diagnostic information exposed by the async_hooks
API.
[out] result
: The initialized async context.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
The async_resource
object needs to be kept alive until
napi_async_destroy
to keep async_hooks
related API acts correctly. In
order to retain ABI compatibility with previous versions, napi_async_context
s
are not maintaining the strong reference to the async_resource
objects to
avoid introducing causing memory leaks. However, if the async_resource
is
garbage collected by JavaScript engine before the napi_async_context
was
destroyed by napi_async_destroy
, calling napi_async_context
related APIs
like napi_open_callback_scope
and napi_make_callback
can cause
problems like loss of async context when using the AsyncLocalStorage
API.
In order to retain ABI compatibility with previous versions, passing NULL
for async_resource
does not result in an error. However, this is not
recommended as this will result poor results with async_hooks
init
hooks and async_hooks.executionAsyncResource()
as the resource is
now required by the underlying async_hooks
implementation in order to provide
the linkage between async callbacks.
napi_async_destroy
#
Added in: v8.6.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_async_destroy(napi_env env,
napi_async_context async_context);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] async_context
: The async context to be destroyed.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API can be called even if there is a pending JavaScript exception.
napi_make_callback
#
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status napi_make_callback(napi_env env,
napi_async_context async_context,
napi_value recv,
napi_value func,
size_t argc,
const napi_value* argv,
napi_value* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] async_context
: Context for the async operation that is
invoking the callback. This should normally be a value previously
obtained from napi_async_init
.
In order to retain ABI compatibility with previous versions, passing NULL
for async_context
does not result in an error. However, this results
in incorrect operation of async hooks. Potential issues include loss of
async context when using the AsyncLocalStorage
API.
[in] recv
: The this
value passed to the called function.
[in] func
: napi_value
representing the JavaScript function to be invoked.
[in] argc
: The count of elements in the argv
array.
[in] argv
: Array of JavaScript values as napi_value
representing the
arguments to the function. If argc
is zero this parameter may be
omitted by passing in NULL
.
[out] result
: napi_value
representing the JavaScript object returned.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This method allows a JavaScript function object to be called from a native
add-on. This API is similar to napi_call_function
. However, it is used to call
from native code back into JavaScript after returning from an async
operation (when there is no other script on the stack). It is a fairly simple
wrapper around node::MakeCallback
.
Note it is not necessary to use napi_make_callback
from within a
napi_async_complete_callback
; in that situation the callback's async
context has already been set up, so a direct call to napi_call_function
is sufficient and appropriate. Use of the napi_make_callback
function
may be required when implementing custom async behavior that does not use
napi_create_async_work
.
Any process.nextTick
s or Promises scheduled on the microtask queue by
JavaScript during the callback are ran before returning back to C/C++.
napi_open_callback_scope
#
Added in: v9.6.0
N-API version: 3
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status napi_open_callback_scope(napi_env env,
napi_value resource_object,
napi_async_context context,
napi_callback_scope* result)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] resource_object
: An object associated with the async work
that will be passed to possible async_hooks
init
hooks. This
parameter has been deprecated and is ignored at runtime. Use the
async_resource
parameter in napi_async_init
instead.
[in] context
: Context for the async operation that is invoking the callback.
This should be a value previously obtained from napi_async_init
.
[out] result
: The newly created scope.
There are cases (for example, resolving promises) where it is
necessary to have the equivalent of the scope associated with a callback
in place when making certain Node-API calls. If there is no other script on
the stack the napi_open_callback_scope
and
napi_close_callback_scope
functions can be used to open/close
the required scope.
napi_close_callback_scope
#
Added in: v9.6.0
N-API version: 3
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status napi_close_callback_scope(napi_env env,
napi_callback_scope scope)
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] scope
: The scope to be closed.
This API can be called even if there is a pending JavaScript exception.
Version management#
napi_get_node_version
#
Added in: v8.4.0
N-API version: 1
typedef struct {
uint32_t major;
uint32_t minor;
uint32_t patch;
const char* release;
} napi_node_version;
napi_status napi_get_node_version(napi_env env,
const napi_node_version** version);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[out] version
: A pointer to version information for Node.js itself.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This function fills the version
struct with the major, minor, and patch
version of Node.js that is currently running, and the release
field with the
value of process.release.name
.
The returned buffer is statically allocated and does not need to be freed.
napi_get_version
#
Added in: v8.0.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_get_version(napi_env env,
uint32_t* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[out] result
: The highest version of Node-API supported.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API returns the highest Node-API version supported by the
Node.js runtime. Node-API is planned to be additive such that
newer releases of Node.js may support additional API functions.
In order to allow an addon to use a newer function when running with
versions of Node.js that support it, while providing
fallback behavior when running with Node.js versions that don't
support it:
- Call
napi_get_version()
to determine if the API is available.
- If available, dynamically load a pointer to the function using
uv_dlsym()
.
- Use the dynamically loaded pointer to invoke the function.
- If the function is not available, provide an alternate implementation
that does not use the function.
Memory management#
napi_adjust_external_memory
#
Added in: v8.5.0
N-API version: 1
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status napi_adjust_external_memory(napi_env env,
int64_t change_in_bytes,
int64_t* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] change_in_bytes
: The change in externally allocated memory that is kept
alive by JavaScript objects.
[out] result
: The adjusted value
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This function gives V8 an indication of the amount of externally allocated
memory that is kept alive by JavaScript objects (i.e. a JavaScript object
that points to its own memory allocated by a native addon). Registering
externally allocated memory will trigger global garbage collections more
often than it would otherwise.
Promises#
Node-API provides facilities for creating Promise
objects as described in
Section 25.4 of the ECMA specification. It implements promises as a pair of
objects. When a promise is created by napi_create_promise()
, a "deferred"
object is created and returned alongside the Promise
. The deferred object is
bound to the created Promise
and is the only means to resolve or reject the
Promise
using napi_resolve_deferred()
or napi_reject_deferred()
. The
deferred object that is created by napi_create_promise()
is freed by
napi_resolve_deferred()
or napi_reject_deferred()
. The Promise
object may
be returned to JavaScript where it can be used in the usual fashion.
For example, to create a promise and pass it to an asynchronous worker:
napi_deferred deferred;
napi_value promise;
napi_status status;
status = napi_create_promise(env, &deferred, &promise);
if (status != napi_ok) return NULL;
do_something_asynchronous(deferred);
return promise;
The above function do_something_asynchronous()
would perform its asynchronous
action and then it would resolve or reject the deferred, thereby concluding the
promise and freeing the deferred:
napi_deferred deferred;
napi_value undefined;
napi_status status;
status = napi_get_undefined(env, &undefined);
if (status != napi_ok) return NULL;
if (asynchronous_action_succeeded) {
status = napi_resolve_deferred(env, deferred, undefined);
} else {
status = napi_reject_deferred(env, deferred, undefined);
}
if (status != napi_ok) return NULL;
deferred = NULL;
napi_create_promise
#
Added in: v8.5.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_create_promise(napi_env env,
napi_deferred* deferred,
napi_value* promise);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[out] deferred
: A newly created deferred object which can later be passed to
napi_resolve_deferred()
or napi_reject_deferred()
to resolve resp. reject
the associated promise.
[out] promise
: The JavaScript promise associated with the deferred object.
Returns napi_ok
if the API succeeded.
This API creates a deferred object and a JavaScript promise.
napi_resolve_deferred
#
Added in: v8.5.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_resolve_deferred(napi_env env,
napi_deferred deferred,
napi_value resolution);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] deferred
: The deferred object whose associated promise to resolve.
[in] resolution
: The value with which to resolve the promise.
This API resolves a JavaScript promise by way of the deferred object
with which it is associated. Thus, it can only be used to resolve JavaScript
promises for which the corresponding deferred object is available. This
effectively means that the promise must have been created using
napi_create_promise()
and the deferred object returned from that call must
have been retained in order to be passed to this API.
The deferred object is freed upon successful completion.
napi_reject_deferred
#
Added in: v8.5.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_reject_deferred(napi_env env,
napi_deferred deferred,
napi_value rejection);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] deferred
: The deferred object whose associated promise to resolve.
[in] rejection
: The value with which to reject the promise.
This API rejects a JavaScript promise by way of the deferred object
with which it is associated. Thus, it can only be used to reject JavaScript
promises for which the corresponding deferred object is available. This
effectively means that the promise must have been created using
napi_create_promise()
and the deferred object returned from that call must
have been retained in order to be passed to this API.
The deferred object is freed upon successful completion.
napi_is_promise
#
Added in: v8.5.0
N-API version: 1
napi_status napi_is_promise(napi_env env,
napi_value value,
bool* is_promise);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] value
: The value to examine
[out] is_promise
: Flag indicating whether promise
is a native promise
object (that is, a promise object created by the underlying engine).
Script execution#
Node-API provides an API for executing a string containing JavaScript using the
underlying JavaScript engine.
napi_run_script
#
Added in: v8.5.0
N-API version: 1
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status napi_run_script(napi_env env,
napi_value script,
napi_value* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] script
: A JavaScript string containing the script to execute.
[out] result
: The value resulting from having executed the script.
This function executes a string of JavaScript code and returns its result with
the following caveats:
- Unlike
eval
, this function does not allow the script to access the current
lexical scope, and therefore also does not allow to access the
module scope, meaning that pseudo-globals such as require
will not be
available.
- The script can access the global scope. Function and
var
declarations
in the script will be added to the global
object. Variable declarations
made using let
and const
will be visible globally, but will not be added
to the global
object.
- The value of
this
is global
within the script.
libuv event loop#
Node-API provides a function for getting the current event loop associated with
a specific napi_env
.
napi_get_uv_event_loop
#
Added in: v9.3.0, v8.10.0
N-API version: 2
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status napi_get_uv_event_loop(napi_env env,
struct uv_loop_s** loop);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[out] loop
: The current libuv loop instance.
Asynchronous thread-safe function calls#
JavaScript functions can normally only be called from a native addon's main
thread. If an addon creates additional threads, then Node-API functions that
require a napi_env
, napi_value
, or napi_ref
must not be called from those
threads.
When an addon has additional threads and JavaScript functions need to be invoked
based on the processing completed by those threads, those threads must
communicate with the addon's main thread so that the main thread can invoke the
JavaScript function on their behalf. The thread-safe function APIs provide an
easy way to do this.
These APIs provide the type napi_threadsafe_function
as well as APIs to
create, destroy, and call objects of this type.
napi_create_threadsafe_function()
creates a persistent reference to a
napi_value
that holds a JavaScript function which can be called from multiple
threads. The calls happen asynchronously. This means that values with which the
JavaScript callback is to be called will be placed in a queue, and, for each
value in the queue, a call will eventually be made to the JavaScript function.
Upon creation of a napi_threadsafe_function
a napi_finalize
callback can be
provided. This callback will be invoked on the main thread when the thread-safe
function is about to be destroyed. It receives the context and the finalize data
given during construction, and provides an opportunity for cleaning up after the
threads e.g. by calling uv_thread_join()
. Aside from the main loop thread,
no threads should be using the thread-safe function after the finalize callback
completes.
The context
given during the call to napi_create_threadsafe_function()
can
be retrieved from any thread with a call to
napi_get_threadsafe_function_context()
.
Calling a thread-safe function#
napi_call_threadsafe_function()
can be used for initiating a call into
JavaScript. napi_call_threadsafe_function()
accepts a parameter which controls
whether the API behaves blockingly. If set to napi_tsfn_nonblocking
, the API
behaves non-blockingly, returning napi_queue_full
if the queue was full,
preventing data from being successfully added to the queue. If set to
napi_tsfn_blocking
, the API blocks until space becomes available in the queue.
napi_call_threadsafe_function()
never blocks if the thread-safe function was
created with a maximum queue size of 0.
napi_call_threadsafe_function()
should not be called with napi_tsfn_blocking
from a JavaScript thread, because, if the queue is full, it may cause the
JavaScript thread to deadlock.
The actual call into JavaScript is controlled by the callback given via the
call_js_cb
parameter. call_js_cb
is invoked on the main thread once for each
value that was placed into the queue by a successful call to
napi_call_threadsafe_function()
. If such a callback is not given, a default
callback will be used, and the resulting JavaScript call will have no arguments.
The call_js_cb
callback receives the JavaScript function to call as a
napi_value
in its parameters, as well as the void*
context pointer used when
creating the napi_threadsafe_function
, and the next data pointer that was
created by one of the secondary threads. The callback can then use an API such
as napi_call_function()
to call into JavaScript.
The callback may also be invoked with env
and call_js_cb
both set to NULL
to indicate that calls into JavaScript are no longer possible, while items
remain in the queue that may need to be freed. This normally occurs when the
Node.js process exits while there is a thread-safe function still active.
It is not necessary to call into JavaScript via napi_make_callback()
because
Node-API runs call_js_cb
in a context appropriate for callbacks.
Reference counting of thread-safe functions#
Threads can be added to and removed from a napi_threadsafe_function
object
during its existence. Thus, in addition to specifying an initial number of
threads upon creation, napi_acquire_threadsafe_function
can be called to
indicate that a new thread will start making use of the thread-safe function.
Similarly, napi_release_threadsafe_function
can be called to indicate that an
existing thread will stop making use of the thread-safe function.
napi_threadsafe_function
objects are destroyed when every thread which uses
the object has called napi_release_threadsafe_function()
or has received a
return status of napi_closing
in response to a call to
napi_call_threadsafe_function
. The queue is emptied before the
napi_threadsafe_function
is destroyed. napi_release_threadsafe_function()
should be the last API call made in conjunction with a given
napi_threadsafe_function
, because after the call completes, there is no
guarantee that the napi_threadsafe_function
is still allocated. For the same
reason, do not use a thread-safe function
after receiving a return value of napi_closing
in response to a call to
napi_call_threadsafe_function
. Data associated with the
napi_threadsafe_function
can be freed in its napi_finalize
callback which
was passed to napi_create_threadsafe_function()
. The parameter
initial_thread_count
of napi_create_threadsafe_function
marks the initial
number of acquisitions of the thread-safe functions, instead of calling
napi_acquire_threadsafe_function
multiple times at creation.
Once the number of threads making use of a napi_threadsafe_function
reaches
zero, no further threads can start making use of it by calling
napi_acquire_threadsafe_function()
. In fact, all subsequent API calls
associated with it, except napi_release_threadsafe_function()
, will return an
error value of napi_closing
.
The thread-safe function can be "aborted" by giving a value of napi_tsfn_abort
to napi_release_threadsafe_function()
. This will cause all subsequent APIs
associated with the thread-safe function except
napi_release_threadsafe_function()
to return napi_closing
even before its
reference count reaches zero. In particular, napi_call_threadsafe_function()
will return napi_closing
, thus informing the threads that it is no longer
possible to make asynchronous calls to the thread-safe function. This can be
used as a criterion for terminating the thread. Upon receiving a return value
of napi_closing
from napi_call_threadsafe_function()
a thread must not use
the thread-safe function anymore because it is no longer guaranteed to
be allocated.
Deciding whether to keep the process running#
Similarly to libuv handles, thread-safe functions can be "referenced" and
"unreferenced". A "referenced" thread-safe function will cause the event loop on
the thread on which it is created to remain alive until the thread-safe function
is destroyed. In contrast, an "unreferenced" thread-safe function will not
prevent the event loop from exiting. The APIs napi_ref_threadsafe_function
and
napi_unref_threadsafe_function
exist for this purpose.
Neither does napi_unref_threadsafe_function
mark the thread-safe functions as
able to be destroyed nor does napi_ref_threadsafe_function
prevent it from
being destroyed.
napi_create_threadsafe_function
#
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status
napi_create_threadsafe_function(napi_env env,
napi_value func,
napi_value async_resource,
napi_value async_resource_name,
size_t max_queue_size,
size_t initial_thread_count,
void* thread_finalize_data,
napi_finalize thread_finalize_cb,
void* context,
napi_threadsafe_function_call_js call_js_cb,
napi_threadsafe_function* result);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] func
: An optional JavaScript function to call from another thread. It
must be provided if NULL
is passed to call_js_cb
.
[in] async_resource
: An optional object associated with the async work that
will be passed to possible async_hooks
init
hooks.
[in] async_resource_name
: A JavaScript string to provide an identifier for
the kind of resource that is being provided for diagnostic information exposed
by the async_hooks
API.
[in] max_queue_size
: Maximum size of the queue. 0
for no limit.
[in] initial_thread_count
: The initial number of acquisitions, i.e. the
initial number of threads, including the main thread, which will be making use
of this function.
[in] thread_finalize_data
: Optional data to be passed to thread_finalize_cb
.
[in] thread_finalize_cb
: Optional function to call when the
napi_threadsafe_function
is being destroyed.
[in] context
: Optional data to attach to the resulting
napi_threadsafe_function
.
[in] call_js_cb
: Optional callback which calls the JavaScript function in
response to a call on a different thread. This callback will be called on the
main thread. If not given, the JavaScript function will be called with no
parameters and with undefined
as its this
value.
napi_threadsafe_function_call_js
provides more details.
[out] result
: The asynchronous thread-safe JavaScript function.
napi_get_threadsafe_function_context
#
Added in: v10.6.0
N-API version: 4
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status
napi_get_threadsafe_function_context(napi_threadsafe_function func,
void** result);
[in] func
: The thread-safe function for which to retrieve the context.
[out] result
: The location where to store the context.
This API may be called from any thread which makes use of func
.
napi_call_threadsafe_function
#
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status
napi_call_threadsafe_function(napi_threadsafe_function func,
void* data,
napi_threadsafe_function_call_mode is_blocking);
[in] func
: The asynchronous thread-safe JavaScript function to invoke.
[in] data
: Data to send into JavaScript via the callback call_js_cb
provided during the creation of the thread-safe JavaScript function.
[in] is_blocking
: Flag whose value can be either napi_tsfn_blocking
to
indicate that the call should block if the queue is full or
napi_tsfn_nonblocking
to indicate that the call should return immediately
with a status of napi_queue_full
whenever the queue is full.
This API should not be called with napi_tsfn_blocking
from a JavaScript
thread, because, if the queue is full, it may cause the JavaScript thread to
deadlock.
This API will return napi_closing
if napi_release_threadsafe_function()
was
called with abort
set to napi_tsfn_abort
from any thread. The value is only
added to the queue if the API returns napi_ok
.
This API may be called from any thread which makes use of func
.
napi_acquire_threadsafe_function
#
Added in: v10.6.0
N-API version: 4
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status
napi_acquire_threadsafe_function(napi_threadsafe_function func);
[in] func
: The asynchronous thread-safe JavaScript function to start making
use of.
A thread should call this API before passing func
to any other thread-safe
function APIs to indicate that it will be making use of func
. This prevents
func
from being destroyed when all other threads have stopped making use of
it.
This API may be called from any thread which will start making use of func
.
napi_release_threadsafe_function
#
Added in: v10.6.0
N-API version: 4
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status
napi_release_threadsafe_function(napi_threadsafe_function func,
napi_threadsafe_function_release_mode mode);
[in] func
: The asynchronous thread-safe JavaScript function whose reference
count to decrement.
[in] mode
: Flag whose value can be either napi_tsfn_release
to indicate
that the current thread will make no further calls to the thread-safe
function, or napi_tsfn_abort
to indicate that in addition to the current
thread, no other thread should make any further calls to the thread-safe
function. If set to napi_tsfn_abort
, further calls to
napi_call_threadsafe_function()
will return napi_closing
, and no further
values will be placed in the queue.
A thread should call this API when it stops making use of func
. Passing func
to any thread-safe APIs after having called this API has undefined results, as
func
may have been destroyed.
This API may be called from any thread which will stop making use of func
.
napi_ref_threadsafe_function
#
Added in: v10.6.0
N-API version: 4
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status
napi_ref_threadsafe_function(napi_env env, napi_threadsafe_function func);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] func
: The thread-safe function to reference.
This API is used to indicate that the event loop running on the main thread
should not exit until func
has been destroyed. Similar to uv_ref
it is
also idempotent.
Neither does napi_unref_threadsafe_function
mark the thread-safe functions as
able to be destroyed nor does napi_ref_threadsafe_function
prevent it from
being destroyed. napi_acquire_threadsafe_function
and
napi_release_threadsafe_function
are available for that purpose.
This API may only be called from the main thread.
napi_unref_threadsafe_function
#
Added in: v10.6.0
N-API version: 4
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status
napi_unref_threadsafe_function(napi_env env, napi_threadsafe_function func);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[in] func
: The thread-safe function to unreference.
This API is used to indicate that the event loop running on the main thread
may exit before func
is destroyed. Similar to uv_unref
it is also
idempotent.
This API may only be called from the main thread.
Miscellaneous utilities#
node_api_get_module_file_name
#
Added in: v15.9.0, v12.22.0
NAPI_EXTERN napi_status
node_api_get_module_file_name(napi_env env, const char** result);
[in] env
: The environment that the API is invoked under.
[out] result
: A URL containing the absolute path of the
location from which the add-on was loaded. For a file on the local
file system it will start with file://
. The string is null-terminated and
owned by env
and must thus not be modified or freed.
result
may be an empty string if the add-on loading process fails to establish
the add-on's file name during loading.