Synopse mORMot 2 Framework

An Open Source Client-Server ORM/SOA/MVC framework in modern Object Pascal

(c) 2008-2024 Synopse Informatique - Arnaud Bouchez

https://synopse.info - http://mORMot.net

Thanks to all Contributors!

NOTICE: This version 2 replaces mORMot 1.18 which is now in maintainance-only mode. Consider using mORMot 2 for any new or maintainable project.

Resources

You can find more about mORMot 2 in:

• its Official Documentation (work in progress);
• the Samples Folder;
• the Thomas Tutorials;
• the Synopse Forum;
• the Synopse Blog;
• the Source Code src sub-folder;
• the Old mORMot 1 Documentation which still mostly apply to the new version - especially the design/conceptual parts.

To discuss about mORMot, in addition to our official forum, you can join:

• the mORMot Telegram group;
• the mORMot Discord server. Those discussion groups are not managed by Synopse, but by some mORMot 2 users: thanks a lot to them!

If you find it worth using, please consider sponsoring mORMot 2 dev if you can - and even better through sharing your own commits. :-)

Presentation

mORMot What?

Synopse mORMot 2 is an Open Source Client-Server ORM SOA MVC framework for Delphi 7 up to Delphi 12 Athenes and FPC 3.2/trunk, targeting Windows/Linux/BSD/MacOS for servers, and any platform for clients (including mobile or AJAX).

The main features of mORMot are therefore:

• An optimized cross-compiler and cross-platform JSON/UTF-8 and RTTI kernel;
• Direct SQL and NoSQL database access (e.g. SQLite3, PostgreSQL, Oracle, MSSQL, OleDB, ODBC, MongoDB);
• ORM/ODM: objects persistence on almost any database (SQL or NoSQL);
• SOA: organize your business logic into REST services defined as interface;
• Convention-over-configuration REST/JSON router, locally or over HTTP/HTTPS/WebSockets;
• Clients: consume your data or services from any platform, via ORM/SOA APIs;
• Web MVC: publish your ORM/SOA process as responsive Web Applications;
• A lot of other reusable bricks (e.g. Unicode, cryptography, network, threads, dictionaries, logging, binary serialization, variants, generics, cross-platform...).

Emphasizing speed and versatility, mORMot leverages the advantages of modern object pascal native code and easy-to-deploy solutions, reducing deployment cost and increasing ROI. It can be used:

• to add basic ORM or Client-Server features to simple applications for hobbyists,
• or let experienced users develop scalable service-based (DDD) projects for their customers,
• or leverage FPC cross-platform abilities with an existing Delphi codebase, to embrace the next decades,
• have fun and see modern object pascal challenge the latest languages or frameworks.

Sub-Folders

The mORMOt 2 repository content is organized into the following sub-folders:

• src is the main source code folder, where you should find the actual framework;
• packages contains IDE packages and tools to setup your dev environment;
• static contains raw library .o/.obj files needed for FPC and Delphi static linking;
• test defines the regression tests of all framework features;
• res to compile some resources used within src - e.g. the static third-party binaries;
• doc holds the documentation of the framework;
• ex contains various samples.

Feel free to explore the source, and the inlined documentation.

MPL/GPL/LGPL Three-License

The framework is licensed under a disjunctive three-license giving you the choice of one of the three following sets of free software/open source licensing terms:

• Mozilla Public License, version 1.1 or later;
• GNU General Public License, version 2.0 or later;
• GNU Lesser General Public License, version 2.1 or later.

This allows the use of our code in as wide a variety of software projects as possible, while still maintaining copy-left on code we wrote. See the full licensing terms.

Quick Start

Compiler targets

The framework source code:

• Tries to stay compatible with FPC stable and Delphi 7 and up;
• Is currently validated against FPC 3.2.3 (fixes-3_2) and Lazarus 2.2.5 (fixes_2_2), Delphi 7, 2007, 2009, 2010, XE4, XE7, XE8, 10.4 and 11.1.

Note that FPC 3.2.2 has a regression with variant late binding - use FPC 3.2.2 fixes branch instead.

On Delphi, only the Windows target is available for mORMot general units, but you can use the cross-platform clients units on all Delphi targets. FPC is a much better and consistent cross-platform compiler, we gladly support.

Please submit pull requests for non-validated versions.

Installation

1. Get the source, Luke!

• By cloning the repository (preferred):
  • git clone https://github.com/synopse/mORMot2.git into e.g. c:\github\mORMot2,
  • and download and extract latest https://synopse.info/files/mormot2static.tgz or https://synopse.info/files/mormot2static.7z into c:\github\mORMot2\static.
• or as direct download of a given release (e.g. for a build script):
  • Download a Source code (zip) release from https://github.com/synopse/mORMot2/releases and extract it e.g. into d:\mormot2,
  • and extract its associated mormot2static.tgz or mormot2static.7z file content into d:\mormot2\static.

2. Setup your favorite IDE:

• On Lazarus:
  • Just open and compile the /packages/lazarus/mormot2.lpk package;
  • and mormot2ui.lpk if needed.
• On Delphi:
  • Create a new environment variable mormot2 with full path to your mORMot 2 src sub-folder (Tools - Options - IDE - Environment Variables), e.g. c:\github\mORMot2\src or d:\mormot2\src depending on step 1;
  • Add the following string to your IDE library paths (for all target platforms, i.e. Win32 and Win64): $(mormot2);$(mormot2)\core;$(mormot2)\lib;$(mormot2)\crypt;$(mormot2)\net;$(mormot2)\db;$(mormot2)\rest;$(mormot2)\orm;$(mormot2)\soa;$(mormot2)\app;$(mormot2)\script;$(mormot2)\ui;$(mormot2)\tools;$(mormot2)\misc
  • There is no IDE or UI package needed (yet).

3. Discover and enjoy:

• Open and compile test/mormot2tests.dpr in the IDE, and run the regression tests on your machine.
• Browse the examples folder (work in progress) - especially Thomas Tutorials which are realistic and pedagogical.
• Start from an example, and follow the documentation.
• Feel free to contribute by posting enhancements and patches to this quickly evolving project.

For safety, the SHA-256 checksums of the current version of the downloaded binary files, as published in our https://synopse.info/files server, are available in this repository static/dev.sha256 file.

Coming From Version 2

Why Rewrite a Working Solution?

The mORMot framework stayed in revision 1.18 for years, and is was time for a full refactoring.

The main refactoring points tried to better follow SOLID principles:

• Switch to a more rigorous versioning policy, with regular releases;
• Split main big units (SynCommons.pas, mORMot.pas) into smaller scope-refined units;
• OS- or compiler- specific code separated to ease evolution;
• Rename confusing types, e.g. TSQLRecord into TOrm, TSQLRest into TRest...;
• Favor composition over inheritance, e.g. TRest class split into proper REST/ORM/SOA classes - and folders;
• Circumvent compiler internal errors on Delphi, e.g. changed untyped const/var changed into pointers, or reduced the units size;
• Full rewrite of the whole RTTI, JSON and REST cores, for better efficiency and maintainability;
• Optimization of the framework asm kernel, using AVX2 if available;
• New features like OpenSSL, libdeflate or QuickJS support;
• New asynchronous HTTP and WebSockets servers, with optional HTTPS/TLS support via Let's Encrypt;
• Introduce modern syntax like generics or enumerators - but optional for compatibility.

We therefore created a whole new project and repository, since switching to version 2 induced some backward uncompatible changes. New unit names were used, to avoid unexpected collision issues during migration, or if 1.18 is to remain installed for a compatibility project.

Upgrade In Practice

Quick Steps when upgrading from a previous 1.18 revision:

1. Note all units where split and renamed, and some breaking changes introduced for enhanced features, therefore a direct update is not possible - nor wanted

2. Switch to a new folder, e.g. #\lib2 instead of #\lib

3. Download latest 2.# revision files as stated just above

4. Change your references to mORMot units:

• All unit names changed, to avoid collision between versions;
• Look at the samples to see the main useful units.

5. Consult the documentation about breaking changes from 1.18, mainly:

• Units refactoring (see point 4 above);
• Types renamed in PUREMORMOT2 mode;
• Delphi 5-6 and Kylix compatibility removed;
• BigTable, LVCL, RTTI-UI deprecated.