WebIDL Guide

WebIDL Guide

To specify an interface using WebIDL, you define a <pre class="idl"> block.

<pre class="idl">
interface Request {
  readonly attribute ByteString method;
  readonly attribute USVString url;
};
</pre>

Ideal linking setup

The recommended way to code up your WebIDL is as follows:

<section data-dfn-for="ExampleInterface">
  <h2><dfn>ExampleInterface</dfn> interface</h2>
  <pre class="idl">
  interface ExampleInterface {
    void exampleMethod();
    readonly attribute USVString url;
  };
  </pre>
  <section>
    <h2><dfn>exampleMethod()</dfn> method</h2>
    <p>The {{ExampleInterface/exampleMethod()}} method steps are:</p>
    <ol class="algorithm">
      <li>Let |x| be ...</li>
    </ol>
  </section>
  <section>
    <h2><dfn>url</dfn> attribute</h2>
    <p>The {{ExampleInterface/url}} attribute...</p>
  </section>
</section>
<section>
 <h2>Here is how you link!</h2>
 <p>
  The {{ExampleInterface}} 
  or the {{ExampleInterface/exampleMethod()}} method
  or the {{ExampleInterface/url}} attribute.
 </p>
</section>

Defining the interface

Given interface Request {};, you can define the interface inside a heading like so:

<section>
  <h2><dfn>Request</dfn> interface</h2>
  <pre class="idl">
    interface Request {};
  </pre>
  <p>An instance of {{Request}} allows you to make a request.</p>
</section>

The above provides convenient linking to the section where the interface is defined.

Using data-dfn-for

The data-dfn-for attribute allows you to describe one or more aspects of an interface at once within a section of your document.

For example, the following defines both the url and the clone method.

<section data-dfn-for="Request">
  <h2>`Request` interface</h2>
  <pre>
  interface Request {
    readonly attribute ByteString method;
    readonly attribute USVString url;
  };
  </pre>
  <p>The <dfn>clone()</dfn> method. The <dfn>url</dfn> attribute.</p>
  <p>
    Links to {{Request/clone()}} method. Links to the {{Request/url}} attribute.
  </p>
</section>

Multiple interfaces with same attributes/methods

If, for instance, you have two interfaces with methods or attributes that are the same:

<pre class="idl">
interface Request {
  readonly attribute USVString url;
};
interface Response {
  readonly attribute USVString url;
};
</pre>

You explicitly distinguish between them like so:

<section data-dfn-for="Request">
  <p>
    The <dfn>url</dfn> attribute of {{Request}} is used by {{Response/url}}.
  </p>
</section>

<section data-dfn-for="Response">
  <p>
    The <dfn>url</dfn> attribute of {{Response}} depends on {{Request/url}}.
  </p>
</section>