21cc284abe
* updated permalink to architecture visualization * updated architecture visualization link
47 lines
2.0 KiB
Markdown
47 lines
2.0 KiB
Markdown
# Anki Architecture
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Very brief notes for now.
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## Backend/GUI
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At the highest level, Anki is logically separated into two parts.
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A neat visualization of the file layout is available here:
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<https://mango-dune-07a8b7110.1.azurestaticapps.net/?repo=ankitects%2Fanki>
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(or go to <https://githubnext.com/projects/repo-visualization#explore-for-yourself> and enter `ankitects/anki`).
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### Library (rslib & pylib)
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The Python library (pylib) exports "backend" methods - opening collections,
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fetching and answering cards, and so on. It is used by Anki’s GUI, and can also
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be included in command line programs to access Anki decks without the GUI.
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The library is accessible in Python with "import anki". Its code lives in
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the `pylib/anki/` folder.
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These days, the majority of backend logic lives in a Rust library (rslib, located in `rslib/`). Calls to pylib proxy requests to rslib, and return the results.
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pylib contains a private Python module called rsbridge (`pylib/rsbridge/`) that wraps the Rust code, making it accessible in Python.
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### GUI (aqt & ts)
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Anki's _GUI_ is a mix of Qt (via the PyQt Python bindings for Qt), and
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TypeScript/HTML/CSS. The Qt code lives in `qt/aqt/`, and is importable in Python
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with "import aqt". The web code is split between `qt/aqt/data/web/` and `ts/`,
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with the majority of new code being placed in the latter, and copied into the
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former at build time.
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## Protobuf
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Anki uses Protocol Buffers to define backend methods, and the storage format of
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some items in a collection file. The definitions live in `proto/anki/`.
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The Python/Rust bridge uses them to pass data back and forth, and some of the
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TypeScript code also makes use of them, allowing data to be communicated in a
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type-safe manner between the different languages.
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At the moment, the protobuf is not considered public API. Some pylib methods
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expose a protobuf object directly to callers, but when they do so, they use a
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type alias, so callers outside pylib should never need to import a generated
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\_pb2.py file.
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