
Cyrus IMAP Server: Sieve Bytecode
*********************************


Motivation
==========

The motivation behind moving to Sieve Bytecode is severalfold:

* Parsing a script at each execution is expensive computationally

* Lex/Yacc are costly in terms of memory usage and executable size,
  whereas a bytecode parser is much lighter weight.

* Using bytecode can simplify the code for the execution phase,
  which is far more frequently occurring than the upload/compile
  phase.

* Rewriting a significant part of the sieve execution framework
  forces a decent amount of refactoring on what has traditionally been
  a problematic part of the Cyrus code base. There is still work to do
  in this area.


Overall Bytecode Format
=======================

In the final bytecode, each opcode/parameter is aligned on a 4-byte
boundary. Strings are NUL-terminated (and padded to a 4-byte boundary
as needed).

Ideally, we'd have all integers in network byte order, so as to make
the scripts portable, but version 1 does not have this feature.

At the beginning of the file, there is a magic header to identify it
as a bytecode file, and a 4 byte version number. Immediately following
the version number are the opcodes that relate to the script.


Generation
==========

A Sieve Bytecode file is generated in three "passes":

* Generate a parse tree using lex/yacc from the sieve script.
  (addr.y, addr-lex.l, sieve.y, sieve-lex.l).

* Serialize the parse tree into an intermediate form, where strings
  are held separate from the rest of the representation.
  (bc_generate.c)

* Serialize the intermediate form into the final bytecode.
  (bc_emit.c)

The intermediate form is an array of bytecode_t unions, with strings
located elsewhere in memory. The entry point is bc_generate:
sieve_generate_bytecode() / bc_action_generate().

bc_action_generate traverses the commandlist_t tree and emits opcodes
in sequence.

Simple actions (STOP, DISCARD, KEEP, MARK, UNMARK) have no arguments,
and processing proceeds directly.

More complicated options have a sequence of arguments that are emitted
following the initial opcode.

For example, single argument commands such as REJECT, FILEINTO,
REDIRECT are followed by a bytecode_t for a string's length, and then
a bytecode_t which contains a pointer to a string.

Commands such as ADDFLAG, SETFLAG, REMOVEFLAG, which take a
stringlist, format the stringlist as (using bc_stringlist_generate):

   {Number of Strings}{String 1 Length}{String 1 Ptr}{String 2 Length}....

So their resulting final output would appear as:

   {Opcode}{...stringlist from above...}

Even more complicated action opcodes (vacation, notify) etc, may take
a sequence of integer values (flags), stringlists, or individual
strings. These are more specifically documented in the code.

This leaves us with the IF keyword (and tests). In the pass 1 form, IF
appears as the following bytecode_t structures:

   {IF opcode}
   {Beginning of the then block}
   {End of the then block / beginning of the else block}
   {End of the else block / -1 for no else block}
   {....test opcodes....}
   {....'then' action opcodes....}
   {....'else' action opcodes.... [optional]}

Test opcodes are generated by the bc_test_generate function, which is
very similar to bc_action_generate (tests without arguments are just
opcodes, tests with arguments have them serialized into place directly
following the original opcode). Test lists are represented as {number
of tests}{address of the end of the list}{test 1}{test 2}.

In the third pass, strings are serialized into place, and if statement
jumps are resolved to actual addresses within the file This is done in
bc_emit: sieve_emit_bytecode / bc_action_emit.

This results in a totally serialized representation, using byte
offsets within the file instead of indexes into the array of
bytecode_t's. In addition to the manipulations that are necessary to
do this, there are several other changes in format.

Two new opcodes exist: NULL and JUMP (which performs an unconditional
jump).

Stringlists and testslists now include a precomputed byte length of
the entire list, so it can be skipped over as needed.

So as to be executable without a stack, the IF statements are designed
as follows:

   {IF opcode}
   {....test block....}
   {JUMP (location of false condition) }
   {....then block....}
   {(if there is an else) JUMP (end of else block)}
   {(if there is an else) .... else block ....}

The idea being that if the test is true, the instruction pointer
should move to the then block, otherwise the else block will be hit
automatically (due to the unconditional jump).


Evaluation
==========

The evaluation routines are in bc_eval.c, the basic idea is that we
can simply mmap the bytecode, run straight through it, and complete
the processing without maintaining a stack.

The processing is done by overlaying a bytecode_input_t array over the
mmap. This allows addressing elements within the file to be simple.
There is an instruction pointer which is incremented as each action is
performed, or as actions/tests are skipped.

Of special note in bc_eval.c is the unwrap_string function which will
pull a string out of the bytecode, and return the instruction pointer
at the end of the string.


Other things to consider
========================

The Bytecode can be extended to contain other extensions. This could
require regeneration of older scripts. In many cases this can be
avoided by putting the new commands at the end of the proper enum in
bytecode.h
