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| 1 | +# workspace/xreferences extension to LSP |
| 2 | + |
| 3 | +The `workspace/xreferences` extension to the Language Server Protocol (LSP) enables a language server to export all of the references made from the workspace's code to its dependencies. Additionally, a new `textDocument/xdefinition` method performs the equivalent of `textDocument/definition` while returning metadata about the definition and _optionally_ a concrete location to it. |
| 4 | + |
| 5 | +Use case: clients of a language server can invoke `workspace/xreferences` in order to find references to dependencies. This information can then be stored in a database, which allows the caller to create a "global mapping" of symbols in dependencies to the workspaces they are used in (e.g. to see "how do other people use this symbol?"). A user would perform `textDocument/xdefinition` in order to locate the metadata about the symbol they are interested in and find its references in the database. |
| 6 | + |
| 7 | +### Initialization |
| 8 | + |
| 9 | +`ServerCapabilities` may contain a new field to indicate server-side support for this extension: |
| 10 | + |
| 11 | +```typescript |
| 12 | +interface ServerCapabilities { |
| 13 | + /* ... all fields from the base ServerCapabilities ... */ |
| 14 | + |
| 15 | + /** |
| 16 | + * The server provides workspace references exporting support. |
| 17 | + */ |
| 18 | + xworkspaceReferencesProvider?: boolean; |
| 19 | + |
| 20 | + /** |
| 21 | + * The server provides extended text document definition support. |
| 22 | + */ |
| 23 | + xdefinitionProvider?: boolean; |
| 24 | +} |
| 25 | +``` |
| 26 | + |
| 27 | +#### Workspace References Request |
| 28 | + |
| 29 | +The workspace references request is sent from the client to the server to locate project-wide references to a symbol given its description / metadata. |
| 30 | + |
| 31 | +_Request_ |
| 32 | +* method: 'workspace/xreferences' |
| 33 | +* params: `WorkspaceReferencesParams` defined as follows: |
| 34 | +```typescript |
| 35 | +/** |
| 36 | + * The parameters of a Workspace References Request. |
| 37 | + */ |
| 38 | +interface WorkspaceReferencesParams { |
| 39 | + /** |
| 40 | + * Metadata about the symbol that is being searched for. |
| 41 | + */ |
| 42 | + query: SymbolDescriptor; |
| 43 | + |
| 44 | + /** |
| 45 | + * An optional list of files to restrict the search to. |
| 46 | + */ |
| 47 | + files?: string[]; |
| 48 | +} |
| 49 | +``` |
| 50 | + |
| 51 | +_Response_: |
| 52 | +* result: `ReferenceInformation[]` defined as follows: |
| 53 | +```typescript |
| 54 | +/** |
| 55 | + * Represents information about a reference to programming constructs like |
| 56 | + * variables, classes, interfaces, etc. |
| 57 | + */ |
| 58 | +interface ReferenceInformation { |
| 59 | + /** |
| 60 | + * The location in the workspace where the `symbol` is referenced. |
| 61 | + */ |
| 62 | + reference: Location; |
| 63 | + |
| 64 | + /** |
| 65 | + * Metadata about the symbol that can be used to identify or locate its |
| 66 | + * definition. |
| 67 | + */ |
| 68 | + symbol: SymbolDescriptor; |
| 69 | +} |
| 70 | +``` |
| 71 | +* error: code and message set in case an exception happens during the workspace references request. |
| 72 | + |
| 73 | +Where `SymbolDescriptor` is defined as follows: |
| 74 | + |
| 75 | +```typescript |
| 76 | +/** |
| 77 | + * Represents information about a programming construct that can be used to |
| 78 | + * identify and locate the construct's symbol. The identification does not have |
| 79 | + * to be unique, but it should be as unique as possible. It is up to the |
| 80 | + * language server to define the schema of this object. |
| 81 | + * |
| 82 | + * In contrast to `SymbolInformation`, `SymbolDescriptor` includes more concrete, |
| 83 | + * language-specific, metadata about the symbol. |
| 84 | + */ |
| 85 | +interface SymbolDescriptor { |
| 86 | + /** |
| 87 | + * A list of properties of a symbol that can be used to identify or locate |
| 88 | + * it. |
| 89 | + */ |
| 90 | + [attr: string]: any |
| 91 | +} |
| 92 | +``` |
| 93 | + |
| 94 | +### Goto Definition Extension Request |
| 95 | + |
| 96 | +This method is the same as `textDocument/definition`, except that: |
| 97 | + |
| 98 | +1. The method returns metadata about the definition (the same metadata that `workspace/xreferences` searches for). |
| 99 | +2. The concrete location to the definition (`location` field) is optional. This is useful because the language server might not be able to resolve a goto definition request to a concrete location (e.g. due to lack of dependencies) but still may know _some_ information about it. |
| 100 | + |
| 101 | +_Request_ |
| 102 | +* method: 'textDocument/xdefinition' |
| 103 | +* params: [`TextDocumentPositionParams`](#textdocumentpositionparams) |
| 104 | + |
| 105 | +_Response_: |
| 106 | +* result: `SymbolLocationInformation[]` defined as follows: |
| 107 | +```typescript |
| 108 | +interface SymbolLocationInformation { |
| 109 | + /* The location where the symbol is defined, if any. */ |
| 110 | + location?: Location; |
| 111 | + |
| 112 | + /** |
| 113 | + * Metadata about the symbol that can be used to identify or locate its |
| 114 | + * definition. |
| 115 | + */ |
| 116 | + symbol: SymbolDescriptor; |
| 117 | +} |
| 118 | +``` |
| 119 | +* error: code and message set in case an exception happens during the definition request. |
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