Stricture

A Markdown-inspired data definition language and multi-target schema compiler

Stricture is a MicroDDL compiler that turns a simple, line-based schema definition into MySQL scripts, Meadow schema files, relationship diagrams, data dictionaries and test fixtures. Define your data model once in a human-readable format and generate everything you need for your database, API layer and documentation.

Features

• MicroDDL Language — concise, Markdown-inspired syntax for defining tables, columns, types and relationships
• Multi-Target Output — generate MySQL, Meadow schemas, Markdown docs, LaTeX docs, CSV dictionaries, Graphviz diagrams and test fixtures from a single source
• Relationship Diagrams — automatic Graphviz DOT generation with optional image compilation
• Authorization Definitions — declare per-table, per-role security policies inline with your schema
• PICT UI Definitions — define Create, List, Record, Update and Delete view configurations alongside your data model
• Audit Column Detection — magic column names (CreateDate, UpdateDate, Deleted, etc.) are automatically wired into Meadow's audit tracking
• Include Files — split large schemas across multiple MicroDDL files
• Domain Support — organize tables into logical domains within a single model

Quick Start

# Install globally for the `stricture` CLI command
npm install -g stricture

# Compile a MicroDDL file through the full pipeline
stricture -i Model.mddl -c Full

Or run directly from a local checkout:

node source/Stricture.js -i Model.mddl -c Full -f ./model/ -o MeadowModel

Installation

npm install stricture

How It Works

Stricture uses a two-phase approach: first compile the MicroDDL text into an intermediate JSON model, then run one or more generators against that model.

MicroDDL Source (.mddl)
  └── Compile
        ├── MeadowModel.json              (basic table model)
        ├── MeadowModel-Extended.json      (full model with auth + PICT)
        └── MeadowModel-PICT.json          (UI definitions)
              │
              ├── MySQL Generator       → CREATE TABLE scripts
              ├── Meadow Generator      → per-table schema JSON files
              ├── Markdown Generator    → data dictionary docs
              ├── LaTeX Generator       → printable documentation
              ├── CSV Generator         → spreadsheet-friendly dictionary
              ├── Graph Generator       → Graphviz relationship diagrams
              ├── Auth Chart Generator  → role/permission CSV matrix
              ├── Pict Generator        → RequireJS UI model
              └── Test Object Generator → fixture JSON files

The Full command chains Compile, MySQL, Meadow, Markdown and Diagrams in a single pass.

MicroDDL Syntax

Column Type Symbols

| Symbol | Type | MySQL Mapping | Default Size | |--------|-----------|----------------------------------------|-------------| | @ | ID | INT UNSIGNED NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT | — | | % | GUID | CHAR(n) | 36 | | ~ | ForeignKey | INT UNSIGNED NOT NULL DEFAULT '0' | — | | # | Numeric | INT NOT NULL DEFAULT '0' | int | | . | Decimal | DECIMAL(p,s) | 10,3 | | $ | String | CHAR(n) NOT NULL DEFAULT '' | 64 | | * | Text | TEXT | — | | & | DateTime | DATETIME | — | | ^ | Boolean | TINYINT NOT NULL DEFAULT '0' | — |

Example

!User
@IDUser
%GUIDUser
$UserName 128
$Email 256
&CreateDate
#CreatingIDUser -> IDUser
&UpdateDate
#UpdatingIDUser -> IDUser
^Deleted

!Contact
@IDContact
#IDUser -> IDUser
$Name 90
$Email 60
&CreateDate
#CreatingIDUser -> IDUser

Joins

Declare foreign key relationships with ->:

#IDUser -> IDUser

Descriptions

>Table description goes here
"ColumnName "Column description goes here"

Include Files and Domains

[Domain Reporting]
[Include shared-tables.mddl]

Authorization Stanzas

Define per-table security policies with three tokens per line: Permission Role Authorizer

[Authorization Inventory]
Read User Mine
Read Manager MyCustomer
Read Executive Deny
Read Administrator Allow

Use * as the role to apply an authorizer to all roles at once.

PICT UI Stanzas

[PICT-List User]
(Users)
UserName Type:text Label:"User Name"
Email

Commands

| Command | Description | |-----------------------|------------------------------------------------------| | Full | End-to-end pipeline: Compile + MySQL + Meadow + Docs + Diagrams | | Compile | Parse MicroDDL to JSON model files | | MySQL | Generate MySQL CREATE TABLE statements | | MySQL-Migrate | Generate INSERT...SELECT migration stubs | | Meadow | Generate per-table Meadow schema JSON files | | Documentation | Generate Markdown data dictionary | | DataDictionary | Generate LaTeX data dictionary | | DictionaryCSV | Generate CSV data dictionary | | Relationships | Generate Graphviz diagram (excluding audit joins) | | RelationshipsFull | Generate Graphviz diagram (including audit joins) | | Authorization | Generate CSV authorization/permission matrix | | Pict | Generate RequireJS PICT UI model | | TestObjectContainers| Generate per-table test fixture JSON files | | Info | List all tables in the model (default fallback) |

Command Line Options

| Flag | Option | Default | Description | |------|----------------------|------------------|--------------------------------------| | -c | Command | Full | Command to execute | | -i | InputFileName | ./Model.ddl | Input MicroDDL or JSON model file | | -f | OutputLocation | ./model/ | Output directory | | -o | OutputFileName | MeadowModel | Output file prefix | | -g | AutomaticallyCompile | false | Auto-generate PNG from DOT files | | -l | AutomaticallyLoad | false | Auto-open generated images in the OS |

Special Columns

Certain column names are automatically recognized by Meadow for audit tracking:

| Column Name | Behavior | |------------------|------------------------------------------| | CreateDate | Auto-stamped on record creation | | CreatingIDUser | Auto-stamped with creating user's ID | | UpdateDate | Auto-stamped on record update | | UpdatingIDUser | Auto-stamped with updating user's ID | | DeleteDate | Auto-stamped on soft delete | | DeletingIDUser | Auto-stamped with deleting user's ID | | Deleted | Soft delete flag (meadow filters these) | | IDCustomer | Enables MyCustomer multi-tenant authz |

Meadow Authorization

Roles and their default security policies:

| Role | Default Policy | |------------------|---------------------------------------| | Unauthenticated | Deny all | | Readonly | Allow reads, deny writes | | User | MyCustomer reads, Mine writes | | Manager | MyCustomer reads, Mine writes | | Director | MyCustomer all | | Executive | MyCustomer all | | Administrator | Allow all |

Built-in authorizers: Allow, Deny, Mine, MyCustomer

Testing

npm test
npm run coverage

Docker Development Environment

npm run docker-dev-build
npm run docker-dev-run

Documentation

Detailed command documentation is available in the docs/ folder:

| Document | Description | |----------|-------------| | Stricture-Legacy-Compiler.md | Compiler overview and output structure | | MicroDDL-Syntax.md | Full MicroDDL language reference | | Command-Compile.md | Compile command | | Command-Full.md | Full pipeline command | | Command-MySQL.md | MySQL generator | | Command-Meadow.md | Meadow schema generator | | Command-Documentation.md | Markdown documentation generator | | Command-Relationships.md | Graphviz diagram generator | | Command-Authorization.md | Authorization chart generator | | Docuserve-Configuration.md | Docuserve file format reference (cover, sidebar, topbar, catalog, search index) |

Related Packages

• meadow - Data access and ORM
• foxhound - Query DSL for SQL generation
• fable - Application services framework

License

MIT

Contributing

Pull requests are welcome. For details on our code of conduct, contribution process, and testing requirements, see the Retold Contributing Guide.