Add .ice files equivalent to the mode=Slice1 Slice files by bernardnormier · Pull Request #29 · icerpc/icerpc-slice

bernardnormier · 2026-02-28T23:05:53Z

This PR adds .ice files equivalent to the existing mode=Slice1 Slice files.

Once we've updated icerpc-csharp to use these .ice files, I'll open a follow-up PR to delete the mode=Slice1 files.

Copilot

Pull request overview

Adds new .ice (Slice2-style) definition files intended to mirror the existing mode=Slice1 .slice definitions, as preparation for switching icerpc-csharp to consume .ice sources.

Changes:

Added .ice equivalents for IceRpc internal Slice types (InvocationMode, TcpServerAddressBody).
Added .ice definitions for Ice protocol frame-related internal types (IceRpc/Internal/IceDefinitions.ice).
Added .ice definitions for several Ice interfaces/types (Ice/*.ice).

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 9 out of 9 changed files in this pull request and generated 7 comments.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
IceRpc/Slice/Internal/TcpServerAddressBody.ice	Adds Slice2-style struct for tcp/ssl server address body.
IceRpc/Slice/Internal/InvocationMode.ice	Adds Slice2-style enum for invocation mode.
IceRpc/Internal/IceDefinitions.ice	Adds Slice2-style definitions for Ice frame/protocol structs/enums.
Ice/Process.ice	Adds `.ice` definition for `Ice::Process`.
Ice/Object.ice	Adds `.ice` definition for `Ice::Object`.
Ice/LocatorRegistry.ice	Adds `.ice` definition for `Ice::LocatorRegistry` and related exceptions.
Ice/Locator.ice	Adds `.ice` definition for `Ice::Locator`/`LocatorFinder` and related exceptions.
Ice/Identity.ice	Adds `.ice` definition for `Ice::Identity`.
Ice/BuiltinSequences.ice	Adds `.ice` definition for common built-in sequences.

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Copilot · 2026-02-28T23:10:05Z

Ice/Locator.ice

+    /// Client applications use the Locator object to resolve Ice indirect proxies. This object also allows
+    /// server applications to retrieve a proxy to the associated {@link LocatorRegistry} object where they can register
+    /// their object adapters.
+    interface Locator
+    {
+        /// Finds an object by identity and returns a dummy proxy with the endpoint(s) that can be used to reach this
+        /// object. This dummy proxy may be an indirect proxy that requires further resolution using
+        /// {@link findAdapterById}.
+        /// @param id The identity.
+        /// @return A dummy proxy, or null if an object with the requested identity was not found.
+        /// @throws ObjectNotFoundException Thrown when an object with the requested identity was not found. The caller
+        /// should treat this exception like a null return value.
+        ["cpp:const"]
+        idempotent Object* findObjectById(Identity id)
+            throws ObjectNotFoundException;
+
+        /// Finds an object adapter by adapter ID and returns a dummy proxy with the object adapter's endpoint(s).
+        /// @param id The adapter ID.
+        /// @return A dummy proxy with the adapter's endpoints, or null if an object adapter with @p id was not found.
+        /// @throws AdapterNotFoundException Thrown when an object adapter with this adapter ID was not found. The
+        /// caller should treat this exception like a null return value.
+        ["cpp:const"]
+        idempotent Object* findAdapterById(string id)
+            throws AdapterNotFoundException;


These Ice/*.ice definitions don’t appear equivalent to the existing Ice/*.slice (mode=Slice1) versions: e.g., findObjectById takes Identity and returns Object* here, while the Slice1 file uses IdentityPath and returns IceRpc::ServiceAddress?. If the PR’s goal is 1:1 equivalents, the signatures/types need to match; otherwise, please update the PR description (or add a note in these files) to clarify that these are canonical Ice definitions rather than the IceRpc-adapted Slice1 surface.

They are equivalent on-the-wire. The syntax is not 100% equivalent because of missing features in the .ice syntax, such as custom types.

Copilot · 2026-02-28T23:10:05Z

IceRpc/Slice/Internal/InvocationMode.ice

+    /// A proxy encoded with Slice1 includes an InvocationMode which specifies the behavior when sending requests using
+    /// this proxy.
+    enum InvocationMode
+    {
+        /// This is the default invocation mode; a request using this mode always expects a response.
+        Twoway,
+


The Slice1 version of this enum is marked [cs::internal], but this .ice definition has no equivalent C# visibility metadata. If icerpc-csharp will generate code from this .ice, this likely changes the enum from internal to public; please add the Slice2/C# metadata needed to keep this type internal (or confirm the generator enforces internal visibility elsewhere).

We want to add "cs:internal" metadata directive for Ice-Slice. But it's not done yet.

Copilot · 2026-02-28T23:10:06Z

IceRpc/Slice/Internal/TcpServerAddressBody.ice

+    /// Represents the body of a tcp or ssl server address in an ice proxy.
+    struct TcpServerAddressBody
+    {
+        string host;
+        int port;
+        int timeout;
+        bool compress;
+    }


The Slice1 version of this type is a [cs::internal] [cs::readonly] compact struct. This .ice version drops the internal/readonly metadata and the compact encoding hint, which can change generated C# API surface and potentially the on-the-wire encoding/size. Please add the Slice2 equivalents (or otherwise ensure codegen/encoding remains compatible with the existing Slice1 definition).

See above for "cs:internal" and "cs:readonly". There is no compact "hint" in Ice-Slice: structs are always compact in Ice-Slice.

Copilot · 2026-02-28T23:10:06Z

IceRpc/Slice/Internal/TcpServerAddressBody.ice

+
+module IceRpc::Slice::Internal
+{
+    /// Represents the body of a tcp or ssl server address in an ice proxy.


The Slice1 file documents this struct as "Used only with Slice1", but that qualifier is missing here. If this .ice is intended to be a drop-in equivalent, consider restoring that clarification to avoid confusion about when this type is applicable.

Suggested change

/// Represents the body of a tcp or ssl server address in an ice proxy.

/// Represents the body of a tcp or ssl server address in an ice proxy. Used only with Slice1.

This is implied since the .ice format implies Slice1.

Copilot · 2026-02-28T23:10:06Z

IceRpc/Internal/IceDefinitions.ice

+    /// The identity of a service.
+    /// @remarks We named this internal struct IceIdentity to avoid confusion with Ice::Identity, the public version
+    /// of this struct.
+    struct IceIdentity
+    {
+        /// The name of the identity.
+        string name;
+
+        /// The category of the identity.
+        string category;
+    }
+
+    /// The facet of a service. A sequence with 0 element corresponds to the default, empty facet; a sequence with a
+    /// single element corresponds to a non-empty facet; and a sequence with more than 1 element is invalid.
+    sequence<string> Facet;
+
+    /// Each ice request frame has:
+    /// - a frame prologue, with the frame type and the overall frame size
+    /// - a request ID
+    /// - a request header (below)
+    /// - a request payload, with encapsulationSize - 6 bytes
+    struct IceRequestHeader
+    {
+        IceIdentity identity;
+        Facet facet;
+        string operation;
+        OperationMode operationMode;
+        // Manually encoded/decoded
+        // Context context;
+        // EncapsulationHeader encapsulationHeader;
+    }


This .ice file is described as an equivalent of IceRpc/Internal/IceDefinitions.slice, but several definitions are not equivalent: the Slice1 version marks most types as [cs::internal] [cs::readonly] compact, and IceRequestHeader uses Identity + Fragment whereas this uses IceIdentity + Facet. Please confirm the intended compatibility (API surface and encoding) and, if equivalence is required, adjust the types/metadata accordingly.

These differences are fine and don't affect the on-the-wire representation.

IceRpc/Internal/IceDefinitions.ice

Copilot · 2026-02-28T23:10:07Z

Ice/Object.ice

+
+["cs:identifier:IceRpc.Slice.Ice"]


All other newly-added Ice/*.ice files wrap the C# namespace/identifier override in #ifdef __ICERPC__, but this file applies "cs:identifier:IceRpc.Slice.Ice" unconditionally. If these Slice definitions are ever consumed outside an IceRpc build, this will force the C# namespace unexpectedly. Please wrap this attribute with the same __ICERPC__ guard for consistency and to avoid impacting non-IceRpc consumers.

Suggested change

["cs:identifier:IceRpc.Slice.Ice"]

#ifdef __ICERPC__

["cs:identifier:IceRpc.Slice.Ice"]

#endif

bernardnormier · 2026-02-28T23:07:35Z

Ice/BuiltinSequences.ice

@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+// Copyright (c) ZeroC, Inc.


BuiltinSequences.ice etc are identical to the files in https://github.com/zeroc-ice/ice/tree/main/slice (main and 3.8), except for the addition of the #ifdef __ICERPC__ block.

bernardnormier · 2026-02-28T23:08:35Z

Ice/Object.ice

+{
+    /// Represents the implicit base interface of all Slice interfaces.
+    ["cs:identifier:IceObject"]
+    interface \Object


This interface is specific to IceRPC (not copied from zeroc-ice/ice).

bernardnormier · 2026-02-28T23:10:49Z

IceRpc/Internal/IceDefinitions.ice

+    // These definitions help with the encoding of ice frames.
+
+    /// Each ice frame has a type identified by this enumeration.
+    enum IceFrameType


Ideally all these types would be internal in C#, but we don't provide yet a "cs:internal" metadata directive.

bernardnormier · 2026-02-28T23:11:26Z

IceRpc/Internal/IceDefinitions.ice

+    }
+
+    /// The ice frame prologue.
+    struct IcePrologue


It would be nice to make these structs readonly with a "cs:readonly" metadata directive.

bernardnormier · 2026-02-28T23:13:09Z

IceRpc/Slice/Internal/InvocationMode.ice

+{
+    /// A proxy encoded with Slice1 includes an InvocationMode which specifies the behavior when sending requests using
+    /// this proxy.
+    enum InvocationMode


zeroc-ice/ice doesn't define InvocationMode in Slice.

Copilot

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 9 out of 9 changed files in this pull request and generated 3 comments.

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Copilot · 2026-02-28T23:42:56Z

IceRpc/Internal/IceDefinitions.ice

+
+        /// An idempotent operation. The client runtime does not guarantee at-most-once semantics for such an
+        /// operation.
+        Idempotent,


OperationMode uses Idempotent as an enum enumerator. In the existing Slice1 definition this enumerator is escaped as \Idempotent (because idempotent is a Slice keyword). To avoid the same keyword collision in Ice-Slice and keep the definitions aligned, escape this enumerator here as well.

Suggested change

Idempotent,

\Idempotent,

In the latest Ice release (3.8), such conflicts are case-sensitive, as evidenced by OperationMode in ice:
https://github.com/zeroc-ice/ice/blob/3.8/slice/Ice/OperationMode.ice

I didn't reuse this ice OperationMode.ice file as I want to make it internal in IceRPC.

Copilot · 2026-02-28T23:42:57Z

Ice/Object.ice

+
+["cs:identifier:IceRpc.Slice.Ice"]
+module Ice
+{
+    /// Represents the implicit base interface of all Slice interfaces.
+    ["cs:identifier:IceObject"]


Ice/Object.ice is missing several file/module-level directives that are present in the other Ice/*.ice files in this PR (e.g., [["cpp:dll-export:ICE_API"]], [["js:module:@zeroc/ice"]], "java:identifier:com.zeroc.Ice", and the #ifdef __ICERPC__ guard around the C# identifier). If this file is meant to be compiled alongside the rest of the Ice .ice definitions, please add the same directives/guards for consistency and to avoid generating a different API surface for Object than for the rest of the Ice module.

Suggested change

["cs:identifier:IceRpc.Slice.Ice"]

module Ice

{

/// Represents the implicit base interface of all Slice interfaces.

["cs:identifier:IceObject"]

["cpp:dll-export:ICE_API"]

["js:module:@zeroc/ice"]

["java:identifier:com.zeroc.Ice"]

#ifdef __ICERPC__

["cs:identifier:IceRpc.Slice.Ice"]

#endif

module Ice

{

/// Represents the implicit base interface of all Slice interfaces.

#ifdef __ICERPC__

["cs:identifier:IceObject"]

#endif

IceRpc/Internal/IceDefinitions.ice

Co-authored-by: Copilot <175728472+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>

Add .ice files equivalent to the mode=Slice1 Slice files

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bernardnormier requested review from InsertCreativityHere, Copilot, externl and pepone February 28, 2026 23:05

Copilot started reviewing on behalf of bernardnormier February 28, 2026 23:06 View session

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bernardnormier commented Feb 28, 2026

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Update OperationMode doc-comments

cd66a4e

bernardnormier requested a review from Copilot February 28, 2026 23:36

Copilot started reviewing on behalf of bernardnormier February 28, 2026 23:37 View session

Copilot AI reviewed Feb 28, 2026

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Update IceRpc/Internal/IceDefinitions.ice

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Co-authored-by: Copilot <175728472+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>

	/// Represents the body of a tcp or ssl server address in an ice proxy.
	/// Represents the body of a tcp or ssl server address in an ice proxy. Used only with Slice1.

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