rbx-dom
rbx-dom is a collection of cross-platform libraries that enables any software to interact with Roblox instances.
Documentation about the project is hosted at dom.rojo.space.
At this moment, we do not specify a MSRV for any project in rbx-dom. If you need to build one of these libraries with an outdated version of Rust, please open an issue explaining what blockers there are to you updating Cargo, what version you would need us to support, and why.
rbx_dom_weak
Weakly-typed Roblox DOM implementation. Defines types for representing instances and properties on them.
rbx_types
Contains Roblox's value types like Vector3 and NumberSequence. Used by crates like rbx_dom_weak and a future rbx_dom_strong crate to let them share types and conversions.
rbx_xml
Serializer and deserializer for for Roblox's XML model and place formats, rbxmx and rbxlx.
rbx_binary
Serializer and deserializer for for Roblox's binary model and place formats, rbxm and rbxl.
rbx_reflection
Roblox reflection types for working with Instances in external tooling.
rbx_reflection_database
Bundled reflection database using types from rbx_reflection. Intended for users migrating from rbx_reflection 4.x and users who need reflection information statically.
rbx_reflector
Command line utility to generate a reflection database for rbx_dom_lua and rbx_reflection_database.
rbx_util
Command line utility to convert and debug Roblox model files.
rbx_dom_lua
Roblox Lua implementation of DOM APIs, allowing Instance reflection from inside Roblox. Uses a data format that's compatible with rbx_dom_weak to facilitate communication with applications outside Roblox about instances.
Property Type Coverage
| Property Type | Example Property | rbx_types | rbx_dom_lua | rbx_xml | rbx_binary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Axes | ArcHandles.Axes |
✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| BinaryString | Terrain.MaterialColors |
✔ | ➖ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Bool | Part.Anchored |
✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| BrickColor | Part.BrickColor |
✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Bytecode | N/A | ❌ | ⛔ | ❌ | ❌ |
| CFrame | Camera.CFrame |
✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Color3 | Lighting.Ambient |
✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Color3uint8 | Part.BrickColor |
✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| ColorSequence | Beam.Color |
✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Content | Decal.Texture |
✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Enum | Part.Shape |
✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Faces | Handles.Faces |
✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Float32 | Players.RespawnTime |
✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Float64 | Sound.PlaybackLoudness |
✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Font | TextLabel.Font |
✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Int32 | Frame.ZIndex |
✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Int64 | Player.UserId |
✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| NumberRange | ParticleEmitter.Lifetime |
✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| NumberSequence | Beam.Transparency |
✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| OptionalCFrame | Model.WorldPivotData |
✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| PhysicalProperties | Part.CustomPhysicalProperties |
✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| ProtectedString | ModuleScript.Source |
✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Ray | RayValue.Value |
✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Rect | ImageButton.SliceCenter |
✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Ref | Model.PrimaryPart |
✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Region3 | N/A | ✔ | ✔ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Region3int16 | Terrain.MaxExtents |
✔ | ✔ | ❌ | ❌ |
| SecurityCapabilities | Folder.SecurityCapabilities |
✔ | ❌ | ✔ | ✔ |
| SharedString | N/A | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| String | Instance.Name |
✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| UDim | UIListLayout.Padding |
✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| UDim2 | Frame.Size |
✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| UniqueId | Instance.UniqueId |
✔ | ❌ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Vector2 | ImageLabel.ImageRectSize |
✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Vector2int16 | N/A | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ❌ |
| Vector3 | Part.Size |
✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Vector3int16 | TerrainRegion.ExtentsMax |
✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| QDir | Studio.Auto-Save Path |
⛔ | ⛔ | ⛔ | ⛔ |
| QFont | Studio.Font |
⛔ | ⛔ | ⛔ | ⛔ |
✔ Implemented | ❌ Unimplemented | ➖ Partially Implemented | ⛔ Never
Outcome
This project has unveiled a handful of interesting bugs and quirks in Roblox!
GuiMain.DisplayOrderis uninitialized, so its default value isn't stableMaxPlayersInternalandPreferredPlayersInternalonPlayersare scriptable and accessible by the command bar- Instantiating a
NetworkClientwill turn your edit session into a game client and stop you from sending HTTP requests ContentProvider.RequestQueueSizeis mistakenly marked as serializable- Trying to invoke
game:GetService("Studio")causes a unique error:singleton Studio already exists Color3properties not serialized asColor3uint8would have their colors mistakenly clamped in the XML place format. This was bad for properties onLighting.ColorSequence's XML serialization contains an extra value per keypoint that was intended to be used as an envelope value, but was never implemented.
For Maintainers
Cutting new releases is not currently as optimized as it should be. While we work on improving it, packages need to be published in a specific order to make sense. The order that currently works well is:
rbx_typesrbx_dom_weakandrbx_reflectionrbx_reflection_databaserbx_binaryandrbx_xml
The process for publishing these is:
- Decide a new version number, following SemVer
- Update changelog to list new release under its own heading
- Adjust versions of local dependencies to be the new release (this is why releases must happen in a specific order)
- Increment version in
Cargo.toml - Add a git tag in the format
library_name-vMAJOR.MINOR.PATCHat the commit that incremented the Cargo version - Publish to Cargo
License
rbx-dom is available under the MIT license. See LICENSE.txt for details.