js_ffi

this library creates a bridge to javascript in the browser at runtime using web assembly

A foreign function interface(FFI) library for invoking Javascript functions from Web Assembly for many programming languages

• no code generation or special cargo components
• support for callbacks (e.g. setTimeout)
• futures based on callbacks
• memory as a parameter
• wrapper library for Rust
• works with C or C++, check out examples here
• typed arrays
• can be executed in a web worker

This project has similarities to Javascript's <function>.call(<object>,a0,a1,...) but with the limitations of Web Assembly's function call restrictions.

Hello World! in Rust

note js_ffi is language agnostic, I just used Rust as example because I like it

[dependencies]
js_ffi = "0.6"

use js_ffi::*;
​
#[no_mangle]
pub fn main() -> () {
    register_(console.log).invoke_1("Hello World");
}

<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/richardanaya/js_ffi@latest/js_ffi.js"></script>
<script>js_ffi.run("example.wasm");</script>

# cli commands for building web assembly
build:
	@RUSTFLAGS='-C link-arg=-s' cargo build --target wasm32-unknown-unknown --release
	@cp target/wasm32-unknown-unknown/release/helloworld.wasm .
lint:
	@cargo fmt
serve:
	python3 -m http.server 8080

Drawing

See demo here

use js_ffi::*;

#[no_mangle]
fn main() {
    let screen = register_function("document.querySelector").call_1(&DOCUMENT, "#screen").to_js_object();
    let ctx = register_function("document.querySelector").call_1(&screen, "#screen").to_js_object();

    let fill_style = register_function("function(color){
        this.fillStyle = color;
    }");
    let fill_rect = register_function("CanvasRenderingContext2D.prototype.fillRect");

    fill_style.call_1(&ctx, "red");
    fill_rect.call_4(&ctx, 0.0, 0.0, 50.0, 50.0);

    fill_style.call_1(&ctx, "green");
    fill_rect.call_4(&ctx, 15.0, 15.0, 50.0, 50.0);

    fill_style.call_1(&ctx, "blue");
    fill_rect.call_4(&ctx, 30.0, 30.0, 50.0, 50.0);
}

Event Listener

use js_ffi::*;

#[no_mangle]
fn main() {
    let btn = register_function("document.querySelector").call_1(&DOCUMENT, "#button").to_js_object();
    register_function("Node.prototype.addEventListener").call_2(
        &btn,
        "click",
        create_callback_0(|| {
            register_function("window.alert").invoke_1("I was clicked");
        }),
    );
}

Async Example

Using an executor library we can easily turn callbacks into futures and run behavior asynchronously.

use js_ffi::*;

#[no_mangle]
pub fn main() -> () {
    executor::spawn(async {
        let console_log = register_function("console.log");
        console_log.invoke_1("Hello");
        sleep(1000).await;
        console_log.invoke_1("world!");
    });
}

fn sleep(millis: u32) -> impl core::future::Future {
    let set_timeout = register_function("window.setTimeout");
    let (future, cb) = create_callback_future_0();
    set_timeout.invoke_2(cb, millis);
    future
}

Third Party

Wrap third party libraries. Anything function in global space should be able to be wrapped and invoked.

use js_ffi::*;

#[no_mangle]
fn main() {
    let jquery_handle = register_function("$");
    let jquery_on_handle = register_function("jQuery.prototype.on");
    let alert = register_function("(msg)=>window.alert(msg)");

    let body = jquery_handle.invoke_1("body").to_js_object();
    jquery_on_handle.call_2(
        &body,
        "click",
        create_callback_1(move |_event| {
            alert.invoke_1("I was clicked!");
        }),
    );
}

<script src="https://code.jquery.com/jquery-3.4.1.js"></script>
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/richardanaya/js_ffi/js_ffi.js"></script>
<script>js_ffi.run("example.wasm");</script>

Standard Web Libraries

A collection of libraries exist that expose javascript functionality so you don't have to implement it yourself. Just add them to your project and go!

• web_console
• web_random
• web_timer

How it works

1. Get a handle to some Javascript function using register_function. Re-use this handle as often as possible.
2. If you are invoking this function as a regular function, use the appropriate invoke_* function based on the number of arguments you are passing (invoke_1,invoke_7,etc.).
3. If you are invoking this function as a method of an object represented by a JSValue, use the appropriate call_* function based on the number of arguments you are passing (call_1,invoke_7,etc.) and make sure your object is the first paramter.

Don't like Rust?

The script js_ffi.js has nothing Rust specific.

• Operations execute through an interface specified in this js_ffi.h
• js_ffi expects an entry point main()
• If you plan on having your module receive data it must implement jsffimalloc(i32) -> i32
• If you plan on having your module receive callbacks it must implement jsfficallback(i32,f32,f32,f32,f32,f32,f32,f32,f32,f32,f32)
• strings are simply c-strings in memory that end in a 0 character.

Run as a webworker

// main.js
let w = new Worker("worker.js");
w.postMessage("go");

// worker.js
importScripts("https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/richardanaya/js_ffi/js_ffi.js")
onmessage = function() {
    js_ffi.run("helloworld.wasm");
}

License

This project is licensed under either of

• Apache License, Version 2.0, (LICENSE-APACHE or http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0)
• MIT license (LICENSE-MIT or http://opensource.org/licenses/MIT)

at your option.

Contribution

Unless you explicitly state otherwise, any contribution intentionally submitted for inclusion in js_ffi by you, as defined in the Apache-2.0 license, shall be dual licensed as above, without any additional terms or conditions.