Service/Sync/FxSync/Developer/BrowserObjects

Once an Encrypted Data Object's payload is decrypted using Weave Crypto, the result is a cleartext JSON string. Each collection can have its own object structure to store data that it needs to reconstruct the item on the client.

The object structure is versioned with the version metadata stored in the payload of meta/global.

This document describes the format of the objects for each collection for each version. Typically, one record corresponds to one item, e.g., a bookmark, and the object formats have a fixed list of keys for simple key/value string pairs.

The following sections, named by the corresponding collection name, describes the various object formats and how they're used. Note that object structures may change in the future and may not be backwards compatible.

In addition to these custom collection object structures, the Encrypted Data Object adds fields like id and deleted. Also, remember that there is data at the Weave Basic Object level as well such as id, modified, sortindex and payload.

bookmarks (engine version 1)

One bookmark record exists for each "bookmark item," where an item may actually be a folder or a separator. Each item will have a type that determines what other fields are available in the object. The following sections describe the object format for a given type.

Each bookmark item has a parentid and predecessorid to form a structure like a tree of linked-lists to provide a hierarchical ordered list of bookmarks, folders, etc.

bookmark

This describes a regular bookmark that users can click to view a page.

title string: name of the bookmark
bmkUri string uri of the page to load
description string: extra description if provided
loadInSidebar boolean: true if the bookmark should load in the sidebar
tags array of strings: tags for the bookmark
keyword string: alias to activate the bookmark from the location bar

parentid string: GUID of the containing folder
parentName string: name of the containing folder
predecessorid string: GUID of the item before this (empty if it's first)
type string: "bookmark"

microsummary

Microsummaries allow pages to be summarized for viewing from the toolbar. This extends bookmark, so the usual bookmark fields apply.

generatorUri string: uri that generates the summary
staticTitle string: title to show when no summaries are available

title string: name of the microsummary
bmkUri string uri of the page to load
description string: extra description if provided
loadInSidebar boolean: true if the bookmark should load in the sidebar
tags array of strings: tags for the bookmark
keyword string: alias to activate the bookmark from the location bar

parentid string: GUID of the containing folder
parentName string: name of the containing folder
predecessorid string: GUID of the item before this (empty if it's first)
type string: "microsummary"

query

Place queries are special bookmarks with a place: uri that links to an existing folder/tag. This extends bookmark, so the usual bookmark fields apply.

folderName string: name of the folder/tag to link to

title string: name of the query
bmkUri string place: uri query
description string: extra description if provided
loadInSidebar boolean: true if the bookmark should load in the sidebar
tags array of strings: tags for the query
keyword string: alias to activate the bookmark from the location bar

parentid string: GUID of the containing folder
parentName string: name of the containing folder
predecessorid string: GUID of the item before this (empty if it's first)
type string: "query"

folder

Folders contain bookmark items like bookmarks and other folders.

title string: name of the folder

parentid string: GUID of the containing folder
parentName string: name of the containing folder
predecessorid string: GUID of the item before this (empty if it's first)
type string: "folder"

livemark

Livemarks act like folders with a dynamic list bookmarks, e.g., a RSS feed. This extends folder, so the usual folder fields apply.

siteUri string: site associated with the livemark
feedUri string: feed to get items for the livemark

title string: name of the livemark

parentid string: GUID of the containing folder
parentName string: name of the containing folder
predecessorid string: GUID of the item before this (empty if it's first)
type string: "livemark"

separator

Separators help split sections of a folder.

pos string: position (index) of the separator

parentid string: GUID of the containing folder
parentName string: name of the containing folder
predecessorid string: GUID of the item before this (empty if it's first)
type string: "separator"

bookmarks (engine version 2)

Same as engine version 1, except:

• the predecessorid is removed from all records,
• instead folder and livemark records have a children attribute which is an array of child GUIDs in order of their appearance in the folder:

children array of strings: ordered list of child GUIDs

• the special folders 'menu' and 'toolbar' now have records that are synced, purely to maintain order within them according to their children array.

clients

Client records identify a user's one or multiple clients that are accessing the data. The existence of client records can change the behavior of the Firefox Weave Sync add-on -- multiple clients and/or mobile clients result in syncs to happen more frequently.

name string: name of the client connecting
type string: type of the client: "desktop" or "mobile"
commands array: commands to be executed upon next sync

forms

Form data is used to give suggestions for autocomplete for a HTML text input form. One record is created for each form entry.

name string: name of the HTML input field
value string: value to suggest for the input

history

Every page a user visits generates a history item/page. One history (page) per record.

histUri string: uri of the page
title string: title of the page
visits array of objects: a number of how and when the page was visited
  date integer: datetime of the visit
  type integer: transition type of the visit

passwords

Saved passwords help users get back into websites that require a login such as HTML input/password fields or HTTP auth.

hostname string: hostname that password is applicable at
formSubmitURL string: submission url (GET/POST url set by <form>)
httpRealm string: the HTTP Realm for which the login is valid. if not provided by the server, the value is the same as hostname
username string: username to log in as
password string: password for the username
usernameField string: HTML field name of the username
passwordField string: HTML field name of the password

prefs (engine version 1)

Some preferences used by Firefox will be synced to other clients. There is only one record for preferences with a GUID "preferences". Custom preferences can be synced such as add-on preferences.

value array of objects: each object describes a preference entry
  name string: full name of the preference
  type string: the type of preference (int, string, boolean)
  value depends on type: value of the preference

prefs (engine version 2)

There is only one record for preferences, using nsIXULAppInfo.ID as the GUID. Custom preferences can be synced such as add-on preferences.

value object containing name and value of the preferences.

Note: The preferences that determine which preferences are synced are now included as well.

tabs

Tabs describe the opened tabs on a given client to provide functionality like get-up-n-go. Each client will provide one record.

clientName string: name of the client providing these tabs
tabs array of objects: each object describes a tab
  title string: title of the current page
  urlHistory array of strings: page urls in the tab's history
  icon string: favicon uri of the tab
  lastUsed integer: datetime in seconds the tab was last accessed