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| 1 | +# Firestore Swift Package Manager Target Hierarchy |
| 2 | + |
| 3 | +This document outlines the hierarchy of the Firestore-related targets in the |
| 4 | +`Package.swift` manifest. The setup is designed to support two different build |
| 5 | +options for Firestore: from source or from a pre-compiled binary. This choice is |
| 6 | +controlled by the `FIREBASE_SOURCE_FIRESTORE` environment variable. |
| 7 | + |
| 8 | +## Main Product |
| 9 | + |
| 10 | +The main entry point for integrating Firestore via Swift Package Manager is the |
| 11 | +`FirebaseFirestore` library product. |
| 12 | + |
| 13 | +```swift |
| 14 | +.library( |
| 15 | + name: "FirebaseFirestore", |
| 16 | + targets: ["FirebaseFirestoreTarget"] |
| 17 | +) |
| 18 | +``` |
| 19 | + |
| 20 | +This product points to a wrapper target, `FirebaseFirestoreTarget`, which then |
| 21 | +depends on the appropriate Firestore targets based on the chosen build option. |
| 22 | + |
| 23 | +--- |
| 24 | + |
| 25 | +## Wrapper Target |
| 26 | + |
| 27 | +The `FirebaseFirestoreTarget` is a thin wrapper that exists to work around a |
| 28 | +limitation in Swift Package Manager where a single target cannot conditionally |
| 29 | +depend on different sets of targets (source vs. binary). |
| 30 | + |
| 31 | +By having clients depend on the wrapper, the `Package.swift` can internally |
| 32 | +manage the complexity of switching between source and binary builds based on the |
| 33 | +`FIREBASE_SOURCE_FIRESTORE` environment variable. This provides a stable entry |
| 34 | +point for all clients and avoids pushing conditional logic into their own |
| 35 | +package manifests. |
| 36 | + |
| 37 | +--- |
| 38 | + |
| 39 | +## 1. Binary-Based Build |
| 40 | + |
| 41 | +When the `FIREBASE_SOURCE_FIRESTORE` environment variable is **not** set (which is |
| 42 | +the default), Swift Package Manager will use pre-compiled binaries for Firestore |
| 43 | +and its heavy dependencies. |
| 44 | + |
| 45 | +### Dependency Hierarchy |
| 46 | + |
| 47 | +The dependency tree for a binary-based build is as follows: |
| 48 | + |
| 49 | +``` |
| 50 | +FirebaseFirestore (Library Product) |
| 51 | +└── FirebaseFirestoreTarget (Wrapper Target) |
| 52 | + └── FirebaseFirestore (Swift Target) |
| 53 | + ├── FirebaseAppCheckInterop |
| 54 | + ├── FirebaseCore |
| 55 | + ├── FirebaseCoreExtension |
| 56 | + ├── FirebaseSharedSwift |
| 57 | + ├── leveldb |
| 58 | + ├── nanopb |
| 59 | + ├── abseil (binary) (from https://github.com/google/abseil-cpp-binary.git) |
| 60 | + ├── gRPC-C++ (binary) (from https://github.com/google/grpc-binary.git) |
| 61 | + └── FirebaseFirestoreInternalWrapper (Wrapper Target) |
| 62 | + └── FirebaseFirestoreInternal (Binary Target) |
| 63 | +``` |
| 64 | + |
| 65 | +### Target Breakdown |
| 66 | + |
| 67 | +* **`FirebaseFirestoreTarget`**: A wrapper target, same as in the source-based |
| 68 | + build. |
| 69 | +* **`FirebaseFirestore`**: The Swift target containing the public API. In this |
| 70 | + configuration, it depends on the binary versions of abseil and gRPC, as |
| 71 | + well as the `FirebaseFirestoreInternalWrapper`. |
| 72 | +* **`FirebaseFirestoreInternalWrapper`**: A thin wrapper target that exists to |
| 73 | + expose the headers from the underlying binary target. |
| 74 | +* **`FirebaseFirestoreInternal`**: This is a `binaryTarget` that downloads and |
| 75 | + links the pre-compiled `FirebaseFirestoreInternal.xcframework`. This |
| 76 | + framework contains the compiled C++ core of Firestore. |
| 77 | + |
| 78 | +--- |
| 79 | + |
| 80 | +## 2. Source-Based Build |
| 81 | + |
| 82 | +When the `FIREBASE_SOURCE_FIRESTORE` environment variable is set, Firestore and |
| 83 | +its dependencies (like abseil and gRPC) are compiled from source. |
| 84 | + |
| 85 | +### Dependency Hierarchy |
| 86 | + |
| 87 | +The dependency tree for a source-based build looks like this: |
| 88 | + |
| 89 | +``` |
| 90 | +FirebaseFirestore (Library Product) |
| 91 | +└── FirebaseFirestoreTarget (Wrapper Target) |
| 92 | + └── FirebaseFirestore (Swift Target) |
| 93 | + ├── FirebaseCore |
| 94 | + ├── FirebaseCoreExtension |
| 95 | + ├── FirebaseSharedSwift |
| 96 | + └── FirebaseFirestoreInternalWrapper (C++ Target) |
| 97 | + ├── FirebaseAppCheckInterop |
| 98 | + ├── FirebaseCore |
| 99 | + ├── leveldb |
| 100 | + ├── nanopb |
| 101 | + ├── abseil (source) (from https://github.com/firebase/abseil-cpp-SwiftPM.git) |
| 102 | + ├── gRPC-cpp (source) (from https://github.com/grpc/grpc-ios.git) |
| 103 | + └── BoringSSL (source) (from https://github.com/firebase/boringSSL-SwiftPM.git) |
| 104 | +``` |
| 105 | + |
| 106 | +### Target Breakdown |
| 107 | + |
| 108 | +* **`FirebaseFirestoreTarget`**: A wrapper target that conditionally depends on |
| 109 | + the main `FirebaseFirestore` target. |
| 110 | +* **`FirebaseFirestore`**: The main Swift target containing the public Swift |
| 111 | + API for Firestore. It acts as a bridge to the underlying C++ |
| 112 | + implementation. |
| 113 | +* **`FirebaseFirestoreInternalWrapper`**: This target compiles the core C++ |
| 114 | + source code of Firestore. It depends on other low-level libraries and C++ |
| 115 | + dependencies, which are also built from source. |
| 116 | + |
| 117 | +--- |
| 118 | + |
| 119 | +## 3. Local Binary Build (CI Only) |
| 120 | + |
| 121 | +A third, less common build option is available for CI environments. When the |
| 122 | +`FIREBASECI_USE_LOCAL_FIRESTORE_ZIP` environment variable is set, the build |
| 123 | +system will use a local `FirebaseFirestoreInternal.xcframework` instead of |
| 124 | +downloading the pre-compiled binary. This option assumes the xcframework is |
| 125 | +located at the root of the repository. |
| 126 | + |
| 127 | +This option is primarily used by internal scripts, such as |
| 128 | +`scripts/check_firestore_symbols.sh`, to perform validation against a locally |
| 129 | +built version of the Firestore binary. It is not intended for general consumer |
| 130 | +use. |
| 131 | + |
| 132 | +--- |
| 133 | + |
| 134 | +## 4. Test Targets |
| 135 | + |
| 136 | +The testing infrastructure for Firestore in Swift Package Manager is designed to |
| 137 | +be independent of the build choice (source vs. binary). |
| 138 | + |
| 139 | +* **`FirebaseFirestoreTestingSupport`**: This is a library target, not a test |
| 140 | + target. It provides public testing utilities that consumers can use to write |
| 141 | + unit tests for their Firestore-dependent code. It has a dependency on |
| 142 | + `FirebaseFirestoreTarget`, which means it will link against whichever |
| 143 | + version of Firestore (source or binary) is being used in the build. |
| 144 | + |
| 145 | +* **`FirestoreTestingSupportTests`**: This is a test target that contains the |
| 146 | + unit tests for the `FirebaseFirestoreTestingSupport` library itself. Its |
| 147 | + purpose is to validate the testing utilities. |
| 148 | + |
| 149 | +Because both of these targets depend on the `FirebaseFirestoreTarget` wrapper, |
| 150 | +they seamlessly adapt to either the source-based or binary-based build path |
| 151 | +without any conditional logic. |
| 152 | + |
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