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Node-Firebird Roadmap

This document outlines the future development direction for the node-firebird library. Our primary goals are to modernize the codebase, implement support for the latest Firebird features, and improve the overall developer experience.

Protocol Implementation Status

The following table summarizes the current and planned implementation status of the Firebird wire protocol for each major version.

Firebird Version Protocol Versions Status
2.5 10, 11, 12, 13 ✅ Implemented
3.0 14, 15 ✅ Implemented
4.0 16, 17 ✅ Protocol 16 Implemented / 🚧 Protocol 17 Missing
5.0 18 ❌ Not Implemented
6.0 N/A ❌ Not Implemented

Firebird 3 Support

Firebird 3 introduced Protocol 13, which brought significant changes focusing on security and performance. The following features have been implemented:

  • Protocol Versions 14 and 15: ✅ Implemented - newer wire protocol versions are now supported.
  • Enhanced Authentication: ✅ Implemented - Srp256 (SHA-256) authentication plugin is now supported alongside Srp (SHA-1) and Legacy_Auth.
  • Wire Protocol Encryption: ✅ Implemented - Arc4 (RC4) stream cipher encryption for all network traffic using SRP session keys.
  • Wire Protocol Compression: ✅ Implemented - zlib compression support for protocol version 13+.
  • Packed (NULL-aware) Row Data: ✅ Implemented - null bitmap support for protocol version 13+.
  • op_cond_accept Handling: ✅ Implemented - proper handling of conditional accept with authentication continuation.
  • UTF-8 User Identification: ✅ Implemented - all user identification is properly handled with UTF-8 encoding via isc_dpb_utf8_filename flag for Firebird 3+.
  • Database Encryption Callback: ✅ Implemented - support for database encryption key callback (op_crypt_key_callback) during the connect phase, allowing connections to encrypted databases. The dbCryptConfig connection option supports both plain text and base64-encoded encryption keys.

Firebird 4 Support

Firebird 4 introduced Protocol versions 16 and 17, continuing to build upon the foundation of Firebird 3. Key features to implement include:

  • Protocol Versions 16 and 17: ✅ Protocol 16 Implemented - support for statement timeout, INT128, and timezones. 🚧 Protocol 17 Missing.
  • Statement Timeout: ✅ Implemented - support for op_execute with statement timeout (Protocol 16+).
  • INT128 Data Type: ✅ Implemented - support for 128-bit integer data type.
  • Time Zone Support: ✅ Implemented - support for TIME WITH TIME ZONE, TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE, and sessionTimeZone connection option (Protocol 16+).
  • DECFLOAT Data Type: ❌ TODO - support for DECFLOAT(16) and DECFLOAT(34).

Firebird 5 Support

Firebird 5 introduces Protocol version 18 and a host of new SQL features and performance improvements:

  • Protocol Version 18: ❌ TODO - implement the latest protocol version.
  • Bidirectional Cursors: ❌ TODO - implement support for scrollable cursors for remote database access.
  • RETURNING Multiple Rows: ❌ TODO - enhance DML operations to support returning multiple rows.
  • SKIP LOCKED: ❌ TODO - add support for the SKIP LOCKED clause in SELECT WITH LOCK, UPDATE, and DELETE statements.
  • Parallel Workers Information: ❌ TODO - support for parallel workers information in SQL information items.

Firebird 6 and Beyond

As Firebird 6 and future versions are released, we will continue to monitor new features and plan for their implementation. Key areas of interest include:

  • Native JSON Data Type: Implement support for the new native JSON type (often handled as optimized binary storage).
  • SQL-Standard ROW Type: Support for structured data types (records) as columns or variables.
  • SQL-Compliant JSON Functions: Implement client-side support for JSON_VALUE, JSON_QUERY, JSON_EXISTS, and JSON_OBJECT.
  • Tablespaces: Add support for tablespaces to control physical storage locations.
  • SQL Schemas: Implement support for SQL-standard schemas for better namespace organization.
  • Enhanced Collation Support: Support for collations defined directly as part of the data type declaration.

Codebase Refactoring

The current codebase is functional but could be significantly improved by adopting modern JavaScript and TypeScript features.

Modern JavaScript Classes

The existing codebase is written in a prototype-based style. We plan to refactor the entire library to use modern JavaScript classes (class syntax). This will improve readability, maintainability, and make the code easier to understand for new contributors.

Benefits:

  • Improved code structure and organization.
  • Easier to reason about inheritance and object-oriented patterns.
  • Better alignment with modern JavaScript best practices.

TypeScript Rewrite

A full rewrite of the library in TypeScript is a long-term goal. This would bring the benefits of static typing, improved developer tooling, and a more robust codebase.

Benefits:

  • Type Safety: Catch errors at compile-time instead of runtime.
  • Improved Autocomplete: Better editor support and developer experience.
  • Self-documenting Code: Types make the code easier to understand and use.
  • Easier Refactoring: Static analysis makes it easier to refactor code with confidence.

We believe these changes will make node-firebird a more robust, modern, and developer-friendly library for accessing Firebird databases.