Skip to main content
Version: 0.1.13

Spec-ID: x07.spec.abi.abi-v2@0.1.0 Status: stable Applies-to: toolchain >= v0.0.95 Related schemas: []

X07 ABI v2 (value layouts + ownership semantics)

This document specifies ABI v2 value layouts used by the X07 C backend for generated code and imported stdlib modules.

ABI v2 is a breaking change from ABI v1: bytes becomes an owning heap allocation and input becomes a bytes_view (borrowed).

Scope:

  • Value layouts for core runtime types (bytes, bytes_view, vec_u8, interface records, Option/Result encodings).
  • Not the solver executable I/O ABI (stdin/stdout), which is specified in docs/spec/internal/x07-c-backend.md.

Non-goals:

  • Stable ABI across debug vs release builds when X07_DEBUG_BORROW changes layouts. ABI v2 is defined for release layouts; debug-only fields are explicitly guarded by #ifdef X07_DEBUG_BORROW in the C header.

Scalar conventions​

  • i32 is represented as an unsigned 32-bit integer in C (uint32_t) with two’s-complement interpretation where needed.
  • bool is represented as uint32_t (0 = false, non-zero = true).

bytes (owned)​

bytes is an owning byte buffer.

Layout:

  • ptr: uint8_t*
  • len: uint32_t

Invariants:

  • If len == 0, ptr is a non-null sentinel (implementation-defined; do not dereference).
  • If len > 0, ptr is non-null and points to a heap allocation of exactly len bytes.

Ownership:

  • bytes is move-only (affine). Drops free the underlying allocation.
  • Borrowed reads/slices must use bytes_view.

bytes_view (borrowed)​

bytes_view is a borrowed byte slice used for zero-copy scan/slice.

Layout (release):

  • ptr: uint8_t*
  • len: uint32_t

Debug-only fields (only when X07_DEBUG_BORROW is defined):

  • aid: allocation id (u64)
  • bid: borrow id (u64)
  • off_bytes: byte offset within the allocation (u32)

Borrowing rules:

  • Enforced statically by the compiler in release builds (lexical borrows initially).
  • Enforced dynamically in debug builds (deterministic borrow table).

vec_u8 (owned)​

vec_u8 is an owning, growable byte buffer.

Layout (release):

  • data: uint8_t*
  • len: uint32_t
  • cap: uint32_t

Debug-only fields (only when X07_DEBUG_BORROW is defined):

  • dbg_aid: allocation id for the backing buffer (u64)

Invariants:

  • len <= cap
  • If cap == 0, data is a non-null sentinel (implementation-defined; do not dereference) and len must be 0.
  • If cap > 0, data is non-null and points to a heap allocation of cap bytes.

Ownership:

  • vec_u8 is move-only (affine). Drops free the backing allocation.
  • Finalizing a builder transfers ownership without copying (vec_u8.into_bytes).

Interface records​

Interface records are ABI-stable “fat handles”:

  • data: opaque handle (u32)
  • vtable: opaque handle (u32)

The initial use is iface(io.reader) for Phase G2 streaming readers.

Option / Result​

ABI v2 uses tagged layouts by default.

Option:

  • tag: uint32_t (0 = none, 1 = some)
  • payload: T (only meaningful when tag == 1)

Result:

  • tag: uint32_t (0 = err, 1 = ok)
  • payload: a union { ok: T, err: E } (selected by tag)

Concrete v2 instantiations used by the built-in stdlib and compiler:

  • option_i32: Option<i32>
  • option_bytes: Option<bytes>
  • option_bytes_view: Option<bytes_view>
  • result_i32: Result<i32, i32> (err payload is an error code)
  • result_bytes: Result<bytes, i32> (err payload is an error code)
  • result_bytes_view: Result<bytes_view, i32> (err payload is an error code)
  • result_result_bytes: Result<result_bytes, i32> (err payload is an error code)

Notes:

  • Brands (for bytes-like types) are compile-time only and do not affect ABI layouts.