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TimeSync API

Version: 1.0.0

Status: ⚫⚪⚪

TimeSync interface for Thunder framework.

(Defined with ITimeSync in ITimeSync.h)

Table of Contents

Introduction

Scope

This document describes purpose and functionality of the TimeSync interface (version 1.0.0). It includes detailed specification about its methods and properties as well as sent notifications.

Case Sensitivity

All identifiers of the interfaces described in this document are case-sensitive. Thus, unless stated otherwise, all keywords, entities, properties, relations and actions should be treated as such.

Acronyms, Abbreviations and Terms

The table below provides and overview of acronyms used in this document and their definitions.

Acronym Description
API Application Programming Interface
HTTP Hypertext Transfer Protocol
JSON JavaScript Object Notation; a data interchange format
JSON-RPC A remote procedure call protocol encoded in JSON

The table below provides and overview of terms and abbreviations used in this document and their definitions.

Term Description
callsign The name given to an instance of a plugin. One plugin can be instantiated multiple times, but each instance the instance name, callsign, must be unique.

References

Ref ID Description
HTTP HTTP specification
JSON-RPC JSON-RPC 2.0 specification
JSON JSON specification
Thunder Thunder API Reference

Description

TimeSync JSON-RPC interface.

This interface uses legacy lowercase naming convention. With the next major release the naming convention will change to camelCase.

Methods

The following methods are provided by the TimeSync interface:

Built-in methods:

Method Description
exists Checks if a JSON-RPC method or property exists
register Registers for an asynchronous JSON-RPC notification
unregister Unregisters from an asynchronous JSON-RPC notification

TimeSync interface methods:

Method Description
synchronize deprecated Synchronizes time

exists method

Checks if a JSON-RPC method or property exists.

Description

This method will return True for the following methods/properties: synctime, time, exists, register, unregister, synchronize.

Parameters

Name Type M/O Description
params object mandatory ...
params.method string mandatory Name of the method or property to look up

Result

Name Type M/O Description
result boolean mandatory Denotes if the method exists or not

Example

Request

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 42,
  "method": "<callsign>.1.exists",
  "params": {
    "method": "methodName"
  }
}

Response

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 42,
  "result": false
}

register method

Registers for an asynchronous JSON-RPC notification.

Description

This method supports the following event names: timechanged.

Parameters

Name Type M/O Description
params object mandatory ...
params.event string mandatory Name of the notification to register for
params.id string mandatory Client identifier

Result

Name Type M/O Description
result null mandatory Always null

Errors

Message Description
ERROR_FAILED_REGISTERED Failed to register for the notification (e.g. already registered)

Example

Request

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 42,
  "method": "<callsign>.1.register",
  "params": {
    "event": "eventName",
    "id": "myapp"
  }
}

Response

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 42,
  "result": null
}

unregister method

Unregisters from an asynchronous JSON-RPC notification.

Description

This method supports the following event names: timechanged.

Parameters

Name Type M/O Description
params object mandatory ...
params.event string mandatory Name of the notification to register for
params.id string mandatory Client identifier

Result

Name Type M/O Description
result null mandatory Always null

Errors

Message Description
ERROR_FAILED_UNREGISTERED Failed to unregister from the notification (e.g. not yet registered)

Example

Request

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 42,
  "method": "<callsign>.1.unregister",
  "params": {
    "event": "eventName",
    "id": "myapp"
  }
}

Response

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 42,
  "result": null
}

synchronize method

Synchronizes time.

synchronize is an alternative name for this method. This name is deprecated and may be removed in the future. It is not recommended for use in new implementations.

Parameters

This method takes no parameters.

Result

Name Type M/O Description
result null mandatory Always null

Errors

Message Description
ERROR_INPROGRESS Returned when the method is called while previously triggered synchronization is in progress
ERROR_INCOMPLETE_CONFIG Returned when the source configuration is missing or invalid

Example

Request

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 42,
  "method": "<callsign>.1.synchronize"
}

Response

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 42,
  "result": null
}

Properties

The following properties are provided by the TimeSync interface:

TimeSync interface properties:

Property R/W Description
synctime read-only Time of the most recent synchronization
time deprecated read/write Current system time

synctime property

Provides access to the time of the most recent synchronization.

This property is read-only.

Value

Name Type M/O Description
(property) object mandatory Time of the most recent synchronization
(property).time string mandatory Synchronized time (in ISO8601 format); empty string if the time has never been synchronized
(property)?.source string optional The synchronization source like an NTP server

Errors

Message Description
ERROR_UNAVAILABLE There has not been any successful time synchronization yet

Example

Get Request

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 42,
  "method": "<callsign>.1.synctime"
}

Get Response

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 42,
  "result": {
    "time": "2019-05-07T07:20:26Z",
    "source": "ntp://example.com"
  }
}

time property

Provides access to the current system time.

time is an alternative name for this property. This name is deprecated and may be removed in the future. It is not recommended for use in new implementations.

Value

Name Type M/O Description
(property) object mandatory Current system time
(property).value string mandatory ...
Name Type M/O Description
(property) string mandatory System time in ISO8601 format

Errors

Message Description
ERROR_BAD_REQUEST The time is invalid

Example

Get Request

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 42,
  "method": "<callsign>.1.time"
}

Get Response

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 42,
  "result": "2019-05-07T07:20:26Z"
}

Set Request

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 42,
  "method": "<callsign>.1.time",
  "params": {
    "value": "..."
  }
}

Set Response

{
    "jsonrpc": "2.0",
    "id": 42,
    "result": "null"
}

Notifications

Notifications are autonomous events triggered by the internals of the implementation and broadcasted via JSON-RPC to all registered observers. Refer to [Thunder] for information on how to register for a notification.

The following events are provided by the TimeSync interface:

TimeSync interface events:

Notification Description
timechanged / timechange Signals a time change

timechanged notification

Signals a time change.

timechange is an alternative name for this notification. This name is deprecated and may be removed in the future. It is not recommended for use in new implementations.

Notification Parameters

This notification carries no parameters.

Example

Registration

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 42,
  "method": "<callsign>.1.register",
  "params": {
    "event": "timechanged",
    "id": "myid"
  }
}

Notification

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "method": "myid.timechanged"
}

The client ID parameter is passed within the notification designator, i.e. <client-id>.timechanged.