1 <chapter id="ffi"><title>The Foreign Function Interface</>
3 <para>This chapter describes &SBCL;'s interface to C programs and
4 libraries (and, since C interfaces are a sort of <foreignphrase>lingua
5 franca</> of the Unix world, to other programs and libraries in
8 <note><para>In the modern Lisp world, the usual term for this
9 functionality is Foreign Function Interface, or <acronym>FFI</>, where
10 despite the mention of <quote>function</> in this term, <acronym>FFI</> also
11 refers to direct manipulation of C data structures as well as
12 functions. The traditional &CMUCL; terminology is Alien Interface, and
13 while that older terminology is no longer used much in the system
14 documentation, it still reflected in names in the
15 implementation, notably in the name of the <literal>SB-ALIEN</>
16 package.</para></note>
18 <sect1><title>Introduction to the Foreign Function Interface</>
19 <!-- AKA "Introduction to Aliens" in the CMU CL manual -->
22 Because of Lisp's emphasis on dynamic memory allocation and garbage
23 collection, Lisp implementations use non-C-like memory representations
24 for objects. This representation mismatch creates friction when a Lisp
25 program must share objects with programs which expect C data. There
26 are three common approaches to establishing communication:
28 <listitem><para>The burden can be placed on the foreign program
29 (and programmer) by requiring the knowledge and use of the
30 representations used internally by the Lisp implementation.
31 This can require a considerable amount of <quote>glue</> code on the
32 C side, and that code tends to be sensitively dependent on the
33 internal implementation details of the Lisp system.</para></listitem>
34 <listitem><para>The Lisp system can automatically convert objects
35 back and forth between the Lisp and foreign representations.
36 This is convenient, but translation becomes prohibitively slow
37 when large or complex data structures must be shared. This approach
38 is supported by the &SBCL; <acronym>FFI</>, and used automatically
39 by the when passing integers and strings.</para></listitem>
40 <listitem><para>The Lisp program can directly manipulate foreign
41 objects through the use of extensions to the Lisp language.
45 <para>&SBCL;, like &CMUCL; before it,
46 relies primarily on the automatic conversion and direct manipulation
47 approaches. Foreign values of simple scalar types are automatically
48 converted, complex types are directly manipulated in their foreign
49 representation. Furthermore, Lisp strings are represented internally
50 with null termination bytes so that they can be passed directly to
51 C interfaces without allocating new zero-terminated copies.</para>
53 <para>Any foreign objects that can't automatically be converted into
54 Lisp values are represented by objects of type <type>alien-value</>.
55 Since Lisp is a dynamically typed language, even foreign objects must
56 have a run-time type; this type information is provided by
57 encapsulating the raw pointer to the foreign data within an
58 <type>alien-value</> object.</para>
60 <para>The type language and operations on foreign types are
61 intentionally similar to those of the C language.</para>
65 <sect1><title>Foreign Types</>
66 <!-- AKA "Alien Types" in the CMU CL manual -->
68 <para>Alien types have a description language based on nested list
69 structure. For example the C type
70 <programlisting>struct foo {
74 has the corresponding &SBCL; FFI type
75 <programlisting>(struct foo
77 (b (array (* (struct foo)) 100)))</programlisting>
80 <sect2><title>Defining Foreign Types</>
83 Types may be either named or anonymous. With structure and union
84 types, the name is part of the type specifier, allowing recursively
85 defined types such as:
86 <programlisting>(struct foo (a (* (struct foo))))</programlisting>
87 An anonymous structure or union type is specified by using the name
88 <literal>nil</>. The <function>with-alien</> macro defines a local
89 scope which <quote>captures</> any named type definitions. Other types
90 are not inherently named, but can be given named abbreviations using
91 the <function>define-alien-type</> macro.
96 <sect2><title>Foreign Types and Lisp Types</>
99 The foreign types form a subsystem of the &SBCL; type system. An
100 <type>alien</> type specifier provides a way to use any foreign type as a
101 Lisp type specifier. For example,
102 <programlisting>(typep foo '(alien (* int)))</programlisting>
103 can be used to determine whether <varname>foo</> is a pointer to a foreign
104 <type>int</>. <type>alien</> type specifiers can be used in the same ways
105 as ordinary Lisp type specifiers (like <type>string</>.) Alien type
106 declarations are subject to the same
107 precise type checking <!-- FIXME: should be linked to id="precisetypechecking" -->
108 as any other declaration.
112 Note that the type identifiers used in the
113 foreign type system overlap with native Lisp type
114 specifiers in some cases. For example, the type specifier
115 <type>(alien single-float)</type> is identical to <type>single-float</>, since
116 foreign floats are automatically converted to Lisp floats. When
117 <function>type-of</> is called on an alien value that is not automatically
118 converted to a Lisp value, then it will return an <type>alien</> type
124 <sect2><title>Foreign Type Specifiers</>
127 All foreign type names are exported from the <literal>sb-alien</>
128 package. Some foreign type names are also symbols in
129 the <literal>common-lisp</> package, in which case they are
130 reexported from the <literal>sb-alien</> package, so that
131 e.g. it is legal to refer to <type>sb-alien:single-float</>.
135 These are the basic foreign type specifiers:
136 <!-- FIXME: There must be some better way of formatting definitions
137 in DocBook than this. I haven't found it yet, but suggestions
138 or patches would be welcome. -->
142 The foreign type specifier <type>(* foo)</> describes a
143 pointer to an object of type <type>foo</>. A pointed-to type
144 <type>foo</> of <type>t</> indicates a pointer to anything,
145 similar to <type>void *</> in ANSI C. A null alien pointer can
146 be detected with the <function>sb-alien:null-alien</>
152 The foreign type specifier <type>(array foo &optional dimensions)</>
153 describes array of the specified <literal>dimensions</>, holding
154 elements of type <type>foo</>. Note that (unlike in C) <type>(* foo)</>
155 <type>(array foo)}</> are considered to be different types when
156 type checking is done. If equivalence of pointer and array types
157 is desired, it may be explicitly coerced using
158 <function>sb-alien:cast</>.
161 Arrays are accessed using <function>sb-alien:deref</>, passing
162 the indices as additional arguments. Elements are stored in
163 column-major order (as in C), so the first dimension determines
164 only the size of the memory block, and not the layout of the
165 higher dimensions. An array whose first dimension is variable
166 may be specified by using <literal>nil</> as the first dimension.
167 Fixed-size arrays can be allocated as array elements, structure
168 slots or <function>sb-alien:with-alien</> variables. Dynamic
169 arrays can only be allocated using <function>sb-alien:make-alien</>.
174 The foreign type specifier
175 <type>(sb-alien:struct name &rest fields)</>
176 describes a structure type with the specified <varname>name</> and
177 <varname>fields</>. Fields are allocated at the same offsets
178 used by the implementation's C compiler. If <varname>name</>
179 is <literal>nil</> then the structure is anonymous.
182 If a named foreign <type>struct</> specifier is passed to
183 <function>define-alien-type</> or <function>with-alien</>,
184 then this defines, respectively, a new global or local foreign
185 structure type. If no <varname>fields</> are specified, then
186 the fields are taken from the current (local or global) alien
187 structure type definition of <varname>name</>.
192 The foreign type specifier
193 <type>(sb-alien:union name &rest fields)</>
194 is similar to <type>sb-alien:struct</>, but describes a union type.
195 All fields are allocated at the same offset, and the size of the
196 union is the size of the largest field. The programmer must
197 determine which field is active from context.
202 The foreign type specifier <type>(sb-alien:enum name &rest specs)</>
203 describes an enumeration type that maps between integer values
204 and keywords. If <varname>name</> is <literal>nil</>, then the
205 type is anonymous. Each element of the <varname>specs</>
206 list is either a Lisp keyword, or a list <literal>(keyword value)</>.
207 <varname>value</> is an integer. If <varname>value</> is not
208 supplied, then it defaults to one greater than the value for
209 the preceding spec (or to zero if it is the first spec.)
214 The foreign type specifier <type>(sb-alien:signed &optional bits)</>
215 specifies a signed integer with the specified number of
216 <varname>bits</> precision. The upper limit on integer
217 precision is determined by the machine's word
218 size. If <varname>bits</> is not specified, the maximum
224 The foreign type specifier <type>(integer &optional bits)</> is
225 equivalent to the corresponding type specifier using
226 <type>sb-alien:signed</> instead of <type>integer</>.
231 The foreign type specifier
232 <type>(sb-alien:unsigned &optional bits)</>
233 is like corresponding type specifier using <type>sb-alien:signed</>
234 except that the variable is treated as an unsigned integer.
239 The foreign type specifier <type>(boolean &optional bits)</> is
240 similar to an enumeration type, but maps from Lisp <literal>nil</>
241 and <literal>t</> to C <literal>0</> and <literal>1</>
242 respectively. <varname>bits</> determines the amount of
243 storage allocated to hold the truth value.
248 The foreign type specifier <type>single-float</> describes a
249 floating-point number in IEEE single-precision format.
254 The foreign type specifier <type>double-float</> describes a
255 floating-point number in IEEE double-precision format.
260 The foreign type specifier
261 <type>(function result-type &rest arg-types)</>
262 describes a foreign function that takes arguments of the specified
263 <varname>arg-types</> and returns a result of type <type>result-type</>.
264 Note that the only context where a foreign <type>function</> type
265 is directly specified is in the argument to
266 <function>sb-alien:alien-funcall</>.
267 In all other contexts, foreign functions are represented by
268 foreign function pointer types: <type>(* (function ...))</>.
273 The foreign type specifier <type>sb-alien:system-area-pointer</>
274 describes a pointer which is represented in Lisp as a
275 <type>system-area-pointer</> object. &SBCL; exports this type from
276 <literal>sb-alien</> because &CMUCL; did, but tentatively (as of
277 the first draft of this section of the manual, &SBCL; 0.7.6) it is
278 deprecated, since it doesn't seem to be required by user code.
283 The foreign type specifier <type>sb-alien:void</> is
284 used in function types to declare that no useful value
285 is returned. Using <function>alien-funcall</>
286 to call a <type>void</> foreign function will return
292 The foreign type specifier <type>sb-alien:c-string</>
293 is similar to <type>(* char)</>, but is interpreted as a
294 null-terminated string, and is automatically converted into a
295 Lisp string when accessed; or if the pointer is C <literal>NULL</>
296 or <literal>0</>, then accessing it gives Lisp <literal>nil</>.
299 Assigning a Lisp string to a <type>c-string</> structure field or
300 variable stores the contents of the string to the memory already
301 pointed to by that variable. When a foreign object of type
302 <type>(* char)</> is assigned to a <type>c-string</>, then the
303 <type>c-string</> pointer is assigned to. This allows
304 <type>c-string</> pointers to be initialized. For example:
305 <programlisting>(cl:in-package "CL-USER") ; which USEs package "SB-ALIEN"
306 (define-alien-type nil (struct foo (str c-string)))
307 (defun make-foo (str) (let ((my-foo (make-alien (struct foo))))
308 (setf (slot my-foo 'str) (make-alien char (length str))
309 (slot my-foo 'str) str) my-foo))</programlisting>
310 Storing Lisp <literal>NIL</> in a <type>c-string</> writes C
311 <literal>NULL</> to the variable.
316 <literal>sb-alien</> also exports translations of these C type
317 specifiers as foreign type specifiers:
318 <type>sb-alien:char</>,
319 <type>sb-alien:short</>,
320 <type>sb-alien:int</>,
321 <type>sb-alien:long</>,
322 <type>sb-alien:unsigned-char</>,
323 <type>sb-alien:unsigned-short</>,
324 <type>sb-alien:unsigned-int</>,
325 <type>sb-alien:unsigned-long</>,
326 <type>sb-alien:float</>, and
327 <type>sb-alien:double</>.
335 <sect1><title>Operations On Foreign Values</>
336 <!-- AKA "Alien Operations" in the CMU CL manual -->
338 <para>This section describes how to read foreign values as Lisp
339 values, how to coerce foreign values to different kinds of foreign values, and
340 how to dynamically allocate and free foreign variables.</para>
342 <sect2><title>Accessing Foreign Values</>
344 <synopsis>(sb-alien:deref pointer-or-array &rest indices)</>
346 <para>The <function>sb-alien:deref</> function returns the value pointed to by
347 a foreign pointer, or the value of a foreign array element. When
348 dereferencing a pointer, an optional single index can be specified to
349 give the equivalent of C pointer arithmetic; this index is scaled by
350 the size of the type pointed to. When dereferencing an array, the
351 number of indices must be the same as the number of dimensions in the
352 array type. <function>deref</> can be set with <function>setf</> to
353 assign a new value.</para>
355 <synopsis>(sb-alien:slot struct-or-union &rest slot-names)</>
357 <para>The <function>sb-alien:slot</> function extracts the value of
358 the slot named <varname>slot-name</> from a foreign <type>struct</> or
359 <type>union</>. If <varname>struct-or-union</> is a pointer to a
360 structure or union, then it is automatically dereferenced.
361 <function>sb-alien:slot</> can be set with <function>setf</> to assign
362 a new value. Note that <varname>slot-name</> is evaluated, and need
363 not be a compile-time constant (but only constant slot accesses are
364 efficiently compiled.)</para>
368 <sect2><title>Coercing Foreign Values</>
370 <synopsis>(sb-alien:addr alien-expr)</>
373 The <function>sb-alien:addr</> macro
374 returns a pointer to the location specified by
375 <varname>alien-expr</>, which must be either a foreign variable, a use of
376 <function>sb-alien:deref</>, a use of <function>sb-alien:slot</>, or a use of
377 <function>sb-alien:extern-alien</>.
380 <synopsis>(sb-alien:cast foreign-value new-type)</>
382 <para>The <function>sb-alien:cast</>
383 converts <varname>foreign-value</> to a new foreign value with the specified
384 <varname>new-type</>. Both types, old and new, must be foreign pointer,
385 array or function types. Note that the resulting Lisp
386 foreign variable object
387 is not <function>eq</> to the
388 argument, but it does refer to the same foreign data bits.</para>
390 <synopsis>(sb-alien:sap-alien sap type)</>
392 <para>The <function>sb-alien:sap-alien</> function converts <varname>sap</>
393 (a system area pointer) to a foreign value with the specified
394 <varname>type</>. <varname>type</> is not evaluated.
395 As of &SBCL; 0.7.6, it looks as though this and other SAP functionality
396 may become deprecated, since it shouldn't be needed by user code.
399 <para>The <varname>type</> must be some foreign pointer, array, or
402 <synopsis>(sb-alien:alien-sap foreign-value type)</>
404 <para>The <function>sb-alien:alien-sap</> function
405 returns the SAP which points to <varname>alien-value</>'s data.
406 As of &SBCL; 0.7.6, it looks as though this and other SAP functionality
407 may become deprecated, since it shouldn't be needed by user code.
410 <para>The <varname>foreign-value</> must be of some foreign pointer,
411 array, or record type.</para>
415 <sect2><title>Foreign Dynamic Allocation</>
417 <para>Lisp code can call the C standard library functions
418 <function>malloc</> and <function>free</> to dynamically allocate and
419 deallocate foreign variables. The Lisp code shares the same allocator
420 with foreign C code, so it's OK for foreign code to call
421 <function>free</> on the result of Lisp
422 <function>sb-alien:make-alien</>, or for Lisp code to call
423 <function>sb-alien:free-alien</> on foreign objects allocated by C
426 <synopsis>(sb-alien:make-alien type size)</>
428 <para>The <function>sb-alien:make-alien</> macro
429 returns a dynamically allocated foreign value of the specified
430 <varname>type</> (which is not evaluated.) The allocated memory is not
431 initialized, and may contain arbitrary junk. If supplied,
432 <varname>size</> is an expression to evaluate to compute the size of the
433 allocated object. There are two major cases:
436 <para>When <varname>type</> is a foreign array type, an array of
437 that type is allocated and a pointer to it is returned. Note that you
438 must use <function>deref</> to change the result to an array before you
439 can use <function>deref</> to read or write elements:
441 (cl:in-package "CL-USER") ; which USEs package "SB-ALIEN"
442 (defvar *foo* (make-alien (array char 10)))
443 (type-of *foo*) => (alien (* (array (signed 8) 10)))
444 (setf (deref (deref foo) 0) 10) => 10</programlisting>
445 If supplied, <varname>size</> is used as the first dimension for the
449 <para>When <varname>type</> is any other foreign type, then an
450 object for that type is allocated, and a pointer to it is
451 returned. So <function>(make-alien int)</> returns a <type>(* int)</>.
452 If <varname>size</> is specified, then a block of that many
453 objects is allocated, with the result pointing to the first one.</para>
458 <synopsis>(sb-alien:free-alien foreign-value)</>
460 <para>The <function>sb-alien:free-alien</> function
461 frees the storage for <varname>foreign-value</>,
462 which must have been allocated with Lisp <function>make-alien</>
463 or C <function>malloc</>.</para>
465 <para>See also the <function>sb-alien:with-alien</> macro, which
466 allocates foreign values on the stack.</para>
470 <sect1><title>Foreign Variables</>
471 <!-- AKA "Alien Variables" in the CMU CL manual -->
474 Both local (stack allocated) and external (C global) foreign variables are
478 <sect2><title>Local Foreign Variables</>
480 <synopsis>(sb-alien:with-alien var-definitions &body body)</>
482 <para>The <function>with-alien</>
483 macro establishes local
486 alien types and names.
487 This form is analogous to defining a local variable in C: additional
488 storage is allocated, and the initial value is copied.
490 analogous to LET-allocated Lisp variables, since the variables
491 can't be captured in closures: they live only for the dynamic extent
492 of the body, and referring to them outside is a gruesome error.
495 <para>The <varname>var-definitions</> argument is a list of
496 variable definitions, each of the form
497 <programlisting>(name type &optional initial-value)</programlisting>
498 The names of the variables are established as symbol-macros; the bindings have
499 lexical scope, and may be assigned with <function>setq</>
500 or <function>setf</>.
503 <para>The <function>with-alien</> macro also establishes
504 a new scope for named structures
505 and unions. Any <varname>type</> specified for a variable may contain
506 named structure or union types with the slots specified. Within the
507 lexical scope of the binding specifiers and body, a locally defined
508 foreign structure type <type>foo</> can be referenced by its name using
509 <type>(struct foo)</>.
514 <sect2><title>External Foreign Variables</>
517 External foreign names are strings, and Lisp names are symbols. When
518 an external foreign value is represented using a Lisp variable, there
519 must be a way to convert from one name syntax into the other. The
520 macros <function>extern-alien</>, <function>define-alien-variable</> and
521 <function>define-alien-routine</> use this conversion heuristic:
523 <listitem><para>Alien names are converted to Lisp names by uppercasing and
524 replacing underscores with hyphens.</para></listitem>
525 <listitem><para>Conversely, Lisp names are converted to alien names by
526 lowercasing and replacing hyphens with underscores.</para></listitem>
527 <listitem><para>Both the Lisp symbol and alien string names may be
528 separately specified by using a list of the form
529 <programlisting>(alien-string lisp-symbol)</></para></listitem>
532 <synopsis>(sb-alien:define-alien-variable name type)</>
535 The <function>define-alien-variable</> macro
536 defines <varname>name</> as an external foreign variable of the
537 specified foreign <type>type</>. <varname>name</> and <type>type</> are not
538 evaluated. The Lisp name of the variable (see above) becomes a
539 global alien variable. Global alien variables
540 are effectively ``global symbol macros''; a reference to the
541 variable fetches the contents of the external variable. Similarly,
542 setting the variable stores new contents---the new contents must be
543 of the declared <type>type</>. Someday, they may well be implemented
544 using the &ANSI; <function>define-symbol-macro</> mechanism, but
545 as of &SBCL; 0.7.5, they are still implemented using an older
546 more-or-less parallel mechanism inherited from &CMUCL;.
550 For example, to access a C-level counter <varname>foo</>, one could
553 (define-alien-variable "foo" int)
554 ;; Now it is possible to get the value of the C variable foo simply by
555 ;; referencing that Lisp variable:
558 (incf foo)</programlisting>
561 <synopsis>(sb-alien:get-errno)</>
564 Since in modern C libraries, the <varname>errno</> "variable" is typically
565 no longer a variable, but some bizarre artificial construct
566 which behaves superficially like a variable within a given thread,
567 it can no longer reliably be accessed through the ordinary
568 <varname>define-alien-variable</> mechanism. Instead, &SBCL; provides
569 the operator <function>sb-alien:get-errno</> to allow Lisp code to read it.
572 <synopsis>(sb-alien:extern-alien name type)</>
575 The <function>extern-alien</> macro
576 returns an alien with the specified <type>type</> which
577 points to an externally defined value. <varname>name</> is not evaluated,
578 and may be either a string or a symbol. <type>type</> is
579 an unevaluated alien type specifier.
584 <sect1><title>Foreign Data Structure Examples</>
585 <!-- AKA "Alien Data Structure Example" in the CMU CL manual -->
588 Now that we have alien types, operations and variables, we can manipulate
589 foreign data structures. This C declaration
595 can be translated into the following alien type:
596 <programlisting>(define-alien-type nil
599 (b (array (* (struct foo)) 100))))</programlisting>
603 Once the <type>foo</> alien type has been defined as above,
607 f.b[7].a</programlisting>
608 can be translated in this way:
610 (with-alien ((f (struct foo)))
611 (slot (deref (slot f 'b) 7) 'a)
613 ;; Do something with f...
618 Or consider this example of an external C variable and some accesses:
626 extern struct c_struct *my_struct;
629 my_struct = my_struct->n;</programlisting>
630 which can be manipulated in Lisp like this:
632 (define-alien-type nil
640 (define-alien-variable "my_struct" (* c-struct))
641 (incf (slot my-struct 'x))
642 (setf (slot my-struct 'a) 5)
643 (setq my-struct (slot my-struct 'n))</programlisting>
648 <sect1><title>Loading Unix Object Files</>
651 Foreign object files can be loaded into the running Lisp process by
652 calling the functions <function>load-foreign</> or
653 <function>load-1-foreign</>.
656 <para> The <function>sb-alien:load-1-foreign</> function is the more
657 primitive of the two operations. It loads a single object file. into
658 the currently running Lisp. The external symbols defining routines and
659 variables are made available for future external references (e.g. by
660 <function>extern-alien</>). Forward references to foreign symbols
661 aren't supported: <function>load-1-foreign</> must be run before any
662 of the defined symbols are referenced.
665 <para><function>sb-alien:load-foreign</> is built in terms of
666 <function>load-1-foreign</> and some other machinery
667 like <function>sb-ext:run-program</>.
668 It accepts a list of files and libraries,
669 and runs the linker on the files and
670 libraries, creating an absolute Unix object file which is then
671 processed by <function>load-1-foreign</>.</para>
673 <note><para>As of &SBCL; 0.7.5, all foreign code (code loaded
674 with <function>load-1-function</> or <function>load-function</>) is
675 lost when a Lisp core is saved with
676 <function>sb-ext:save-lisp-and-die</>, and no attempt is made to
677 restore it when the core is loaded. Historically this has been an
678 annoyance both for &SBCL; users and for &CMUCL; users.
679 It's hard to solve this problem completely cleanly, but some
680 generally-reliable partial solution might be useful. Once someone in
681 either camp gets sufficiently annoyed to create it, &SBCL; is
682 likely to adopt some mechanism for automatically restoring foreign
683 code when a saved core is loaded.</para></note>
687 <sect1><title>Foreign Function Calls</>
690 The foreign function call interface allows a Lisp program to call
691 functions written in other languages using the C calling convention.
695 Lisp sets up various interrupt handling routines and other environment
696 information when it first starts up, and expects these to be in place
697 at all times. The C functions called by Lisp should either not change
698 the environment, especially the interrupt entry points, or should make
699 sure that these entry points are restored when the C function returns
700 to Lisp. If a C function makes changes without restoring things to the
701 way they were when the C function was entered, there is no telling
705 <sect2><title>The <function>alien-funcall</> Primitive</title>
707 <synopsis>(sb-alien:alien-funcall alien-function &rest arguments)</>
710 The <function>alien-funcall</> function is the foreign function call
711 primitive: <varname>alien-function</> is called with the supplied
712 <varname>arguments</> and its C return value is returned as a Lisp value.
713 The <varname>alien-function</> is an arbitrary
714 run-time expression; to refer to a constant function, use
715 <function>extern-alien</> or a value defined by
716 <function>define-alien-routine</>.
720 The type of <function>alien-function</>
721 must be <type>(alien (function ...))</>
722 or <type>(alien (* (function ...)))</>.
723 The function type is used to
724 determine how to call the function (as though it was declared with
725 a prototype.) The type need not be known at compile time, but only
726 known-type calls are efficiently compiled. Limitations:
728 <listitem><para>Structure type return values are not implemented.</></>
729 <listitem><para>Passing of structures by value is not implemented.</></>
733 Here is an example which allocates a <type>(struct foo)</>, calls a foreign
734 function to initialize it, then returns a Lisp vector of all the
735 <type>(* (struct foo))</> objects filled in by the foreign call:
737 ;; Allocate a foo on the stack.
738 (with-alien ((f (struct foo)))
739 ;; Call some C function to fill in foo fields.
740 (alien-funcall (extern-alien "mangle_foo" (function void (* foo)))
742 ;; Find how many foos to use by getting the A field.
743 (let* ((num (slot f 'a))
744 (result (make-array num)))
745 ;; Get a pointer to the array so that we don't have to keep extracting it:
746 (with-alien ((a (* (array (* (struct foo)) 100)) (addr (slot f 'b))))
747 ;; Loop over the first N elements and stash them in the result vector.
749 (setf (svref result i) (deref (deref a) i)))
751 result)))</programlisting>
756 <sect2><title>The <function>define-alien-routine</> Macro</>
758 <synopsis>(sb-alien:define-alien-routine} name result-type &rest arg-specifiers)</>
761 The <function>define-alien-routine</> macro is a convenience
762 for automatically generating Lisp
763 interfaces to simple foreign functions. The primary feature is the
764 parameter style specification, which translates the C
765 pass-by-reference idiom into additional return values.
769 <varname>name</> is usually a string external symbol, but may also be a
770 symbol Lisp name or a list of the foreign name and the Lisp name.
771 If only one name is specified, the other is automatically derived
772 as for <function>extern-alien</>.
773 <varname>result-type</> is the alien type of the return value.
777 Each element of the <varname>arg-specifiers</> list
778 specifies an argument to the foreign function, and is
780 <programlisting>(aname atype &optional style)</programlisting>
781 <varname>aname</> is the symbol name of the argument to the constructed
782 function (for documentation). <varname>atype</> is the alien type of
783 corresponding foreign argument. The semantics of the actual call
784 are the same as for <function>alien-funcall</>. <varname>style</>
785 specifies how this argument should be handled at call and return time,
786 and should be one of the following
788 <listitem><para><varname>:in</>specifies that the argument is
789 passed by value. This is the default. <varname>:in</> arguments
790 have no corresponding return value from the Lisp function.
792 <listitem><para><varname>:copy</> is similar to <varname>:in</>,
793 but the argument is copied
794 to a pre-allocated object and a pointer to this object is passed
795 to the foreign routine.</para></listitem>
796 <listitem><para><varname>:out</> specifies a pass-by-reference
797 output value. The type of the argument must be a pointer to
798 a fixed-sized object (such as an integer or pointer).
799 <varname>:out</> and <varname>:in-out</> style cannot
800 be used with pointers to arrays, records or functions. An
801 object of the correct size is allocated on the stack, and
802 its address is passed to the foreign function. When the
803 function returns, the contents
804 of this location are returned as one of the values of the Lisp
805 function (and the location is automatically deallocated).
807 <listitem><para><varname>:in-out</> is a combination of
808 <varname>:copy</> and <varname>:out</>.
809 The argument is copied to a pre-allocated object and a pointer to
810 this object is passed to the foreign routine. On return, the
811 contents of this location is returned as an additional value.
818 Any efficiency-critical foreign interface function should be inline
819 expanded, which can be done by preceding the
820 <function>define-alien-routine</> call with:
821 <programlisting>(declaim (inline lisp-name))</programlisting>
822 In addition to avoiding the Lisp call overhead, this allows
823 pointers, word-integers and floats to be passed using non-descriptor
824 representations, avoiding consing.)
830 <sect2><title><function>define-alien-routine</> Example</title>
833 Consider the C function <function>cfoo</>
834 with the following calling convention:
839 char *a; /* update */
842 /* body of cfoo(...) */
844 This can be described by the following call to
845 <function>define-alien-routine</>:
847 (define-alien-routine "cfoo" void
850 (i int :out))</programlisting>
851 The Lisp function <function>cfoo</> will have
852 two arguments (<varname>str</> and <varname>a</>)
853 and two return values (<varname>a</> and <varname>i</>).
857 <sect2><title>Calling Lisp From C</>
860 Calling Lisp functions from C is sometimes possible, but is extremely
861 hackish and poorly supported as of &SBCL; 0.7.5.
862 See <function>funcall0</> ... <function>funcall3</> in
863 the runtime system. The
864 arguments must be valid &SBCL; object descriptors (so that
866 left-shifted by 2.) As of &SBCL; 0.7.5, the format
867 of object descriptors is documented only by the source code and
868 by the old &CMUCL; "INTERNALS" documentation.</para>
870 <para> Note that the garbage collector moves objects, and won't be
871 able to fix up any references in C variables, so either turn GC off or
872 don't keep Lisp pointers in C data unless they are to statically
873 allocated objects. It is possible to use the
874 <function>sb-ext:purify</> function to place live data structures in
875 static space so that they won't move during GC. </para>
877 <!-- FIXME: This is a "changebar" section from the CMU CL manual.
878 I (WHN 2002-07-14) am not very familiar with this content, so
879 I'm not immediately prepared to try to update it for SBCL, and
880 I'm not feeling masochistic enough to work to encourage this
881 kind of low-level hack anyway. However, I acknowledge that callbacks
882 are sometimes really really necessary, so I include the original
883 text in case someone is hard-core enough to benefit from it. If
884 anyone brings the information up to date for SBCL, it belong
885 either in the main manual or on a CLiki SBCL Internals page.
886 LaTeX \subsection{Accessing Lisp Arrays}
888 LaTeX Due to the way \cmucl{} manages memory, the amount of memory that can
889 LaTeX be dynamically allocated by \code{malloc} or \funref{make-alien} is
890 LaTeX limited\footnote{\cmucl{} mmaps a large piece of memory for it's own
891 LaTeX use and this memory is typically about 8 MB above the start of the C
892 LaTeX heap. Thus, only about 8 MB of memory can be dynamically
895 LaTeX To overcome this limitation, it is possible to access the content of
896 LaTeX Lisp arrays which are limited only by the amount of physical memory
897 LaTeX and swap space available. However, this technique is only useful if
898 LaTeX the foreign function takes pointers to memory instead of allocating
899 LaTeX memory for itself. In latter case, you will have to modify the
900 LaTeX foreign functions.
902 LaTeX This technique takes advantage of the fact that \cmucl{} has
903 LaTeX specialized array types (\pxlref{specialized-array-types}) that match
904 LaTeX a typical C array. For example, a \code{(simple-array double-float
905 LaTeX (100))} is stored in memory in essentially the same way as the C
906 LaTeX array \code{double x[100]} would be. The following function allows us
907 LaTeX to get the physical address of such a Lisp array:
908 LaTeX \begin{example}
909 LaTeX (defun array-data-address (array)
910 LaTeX "Return the physical address of where the actual data of an array is
913 LaTeX ARRAY must be a specialized array type in CMU Lisp. This means ARRAY
914 LaTeX must be an array of one of the following types:
918 LaTeX (unsigned-byte 32)
919 LaTeX (unsigned-byte 16)
920 LaTeX (unsigned-byte 8)
921 LaTeX (signed-byte 32)
922 LaTeX (signed-byte 16)
923 LaTeX (signed-byte 8)
925 LaTeX (declare (type (or #+signed-array (array (signed-byte 8))
926 LaTeX #+signed-array (array (signed-byte 16))
927 LaTeX #+signed-array (array (signed-byte 32))
928 LaTeX (array (unsigned-byte 8))
929 LaTeX (array (unsigned-byte 16))
930 LaTeX (array (unsigned-byte 32))
931 LaTeX (array single-float)
932 LaTeX (array double-float))
934 LaTeX (optimize (speed 3) (safety 0))
935 LaTeX (ext:optimize-interface (safety 3)))
936 LaTeX ;; with-array-data will get us to the actual data. However, because
937 LaTeX ;; the array could have been displaced, we need to know where the
938 LaTeX ;; data starts.
939 LaTeX (lisp::with-array-data ((data array)
942 LaTeX (declare (ignore end))
943 LaTeX ;; DATA is a specialized simple-array. Memory is laid out like this:
945 LaTeX ;; byte offset Value
946 LaTeX ;; 0 type code (should be 70 for double-float vector)
947 LaTeX ;; 4 4 * number of elements in vector
948 LaTeX ;; 8 1st element of vector
951 LaTeX (let ((addr (+ 8 (logandc1 7 (kernel:get-lisp-obj-address data))))
952 LaTeX (type-size (let ((type (array-element-type data)))
953 LaTeX (cond ((or (equal type '(signed-byte 8))
954 LaTeX (equal type '(unsigned-byte 8)))
956 LaTeX ((or (equal type '(signed-byte 16))
957 LaTeX (equal type '(unsigned-byte 16)))
959 LaTeX ((or (equal type '(signed-byte 32))
960 LaTeX (equal type '(unsigned-byte 32)))
962 LaTeX ((equal type 'single-float)
964 LaTeX ((equal type 'double-float)
967 LaTeX (error "Unknown specialized array element type"))))))
968 LaTeX (declare (type (unsigned-byte 32) addr)
969 LaTeX (optimize (speed 3) (safety 0) (ext:inhibit-warnings 3)))
970 LaTeX (system:int-sap (the (unsigned-byte 32)
971 LaTeX (+ addr (* type-size start)))))))
974 LaTeX Assume we have the C function below that we wish to use:
975 LaTeX \begin{example}
976 LaTeX double dotprod(double* x, double* y, int n)
979 LaTeX double sum = 0;
981 LaTeX for (k = 0; k < n; ++k) \{
982 LaTeX sum += x[k] * y[k];
986 LaTeX The following example generates two large arrays in Lisp, and calls the C
987 LaTeX function to do the desired computation. This would not have been
988 LaTeX possible using \code{malloc} or \code{make-alien} since we need about
989 LaTeX 16 MB of memory to hold the two arrays.
990 LaTeX \begin{example}
991 LaTeX (define-alien-routine "dotprod" double
992 LaTeX (x (* double-float) :in)
993 LaTeX (y (* double-float) :in)
996 LaTeX (let ((x (make-array 1000000 :element-type 'double-float))
997 LaTeX (y (make-array 1000000 :element-type 'double-float)))
998 LaTeX ;; Initialize X and Y somehow
999 LaTeX (let ((x-addr (system:int-sap (array-data-address x)))
1000 LaTeX (y-addr (system:int-sap (array-data-address y))))
1001 LaTeX (dotprod x-addr y-addr 1000000)))
1003 LaTeX In this example, it may be useful to wrap the inner \code{let}
1004 LaTeX expression in an \code{unwind-protect} that first turns off garbage
1005 LaTeX collection and then turns garbage collection on afterwards. This will
1006 LaTeX prevent garbage collection from moving \code{x} and \code{y} after we
1007 LaTeX have obtained the (now erroneous) addresses but before the call to
1008 LaTeX \code{dotprod} is made.
1014 <sect1><title>Step-By-Step Example of the Foreign Function Interface</>
1017 This section presents a complete example of an interface to a somewhat
1018 complicated C function.
1022 Suppose you have the following C function which you want to be able to
1023 call from Lisp in the file <filename>test.c</>
1031 struct c_struct *c_function (i, s, r, a)
1038 struct c_struct *r2;
1040 printf("i = %d\n", i);
1041 printf("s = %s\n", s);
1042 printf("r->x = %d\n", r->x);
1043 printf("r->s = %s\n", r->s);
1044 for (j = 0; j < 10; j++) printf("a[%d] = %d.\n", j, a[j]);
1045 r2 = (struct c_struct *) malloc (sizeof(struct c_struct));
1047 r2->s = "a C string";
1053 It is possible to call this C function from Lisp using the file
1054 <filename>test.lisp</> containing
1056 (cl:defpackage "TEST-C-CALL" (:use "CL" "SB-ALIEN" "SB-C-CALL"))
1057 (cl:in-package "TEST-C-CALL")
1059 ;;; Define the record C-STRUCT in Lisp.
1060 (define-alien-type nil
1065 ;;; Define the Lisp function interface to the C routine. It returns a
1066 ;;; pointer to a record of type C-STRUCT. It accepts four parameters:
1067 ;;; I, an int; S, a pointer to a string; R, a pointer to a C-STRUCT
1068 ;;; record; and A, a pointer to the array of 10 ints.
1070 ;;; The INLINE declaration eliminates some efficiency notes about heap
1071 ;;; allocation of alien values.
1072 (declaim (inline c-function))
1073 (define-alien-routine c-function
1074 (* (struct c-struct))
1077 (r (* (struct c-struct)))
1080 ;;; a function which sets up the parameters to the C function and
1081 ;;; actually calls it
1083 (with-alien ((ar (array int 10))
1084 (c-struct (struct c-struct)))
1085 (dotimes (i 10) ; Fill array.
1086 (setf (deref ar i) i))
1087 (setf (slot c-struct 'x) 20)
1088 (setf (slot c-struct 's) "a Lisp string")
1090 (with-alien ((res (* (struct c-struct))
1091 (c-function 5 "another Lisp string" (addr c-struct) ar)))
1092 (format t "~&back from C function~%")
1093 (multiple-value-prog1
1094 (values (slot res 'x)
1097 ;; Deallocate result. (after we are done referring to it:
1098 ;; "Pillage, *then* burn.")
1099 (free-alien res)))))</programlisting>
1103 To execute the above example, it is necessary to compile the C routine,
1105 <userinput>cc -c test.c</>
1106 (In order to enable incremental loading with some linkers, you may need
1108 <userinput>cc -G 0 -c test.c</>)
1112 Once the C code has been compiled, you can start up Lisp and load it in:
1114 Lisp should start up with its normal prompt.</para>
1118 compile the Lisp file. (This step can be done separately. You don't
1119 have to recompile every time.)
1120 <userinput>(compile-file "test.lisp")</>
1123 Within Lisp, load the foreign object file to define the necessary
1125 <userinput>(load-foreign "test.o")</>.
1126 This must be done before loading any code that refers
1131 Now you can load the compiled Lisp ("fasl") file into Lisp:
1132 <userinput>(load "test.fasl")</>
1133 And once the Lisp file is loaded, you can call the
1134 Lisp routine that sets up the parameters and calls the C
1136 <userinput>(test-c-call::call-cfun)</>
1140 The C routine should print the following information to standard output:
1141 <!-- FIXME: What should be here is a verbatim environment for computer
1142 output, but since I don't know one in DocBook, I made do with
1143 PROGRAMLISTING for now... -->
1144 <programlisting>i = 5
1145 s = another Lisp string
1147 r->s = a Lisp string
1157 a[9] = 9.</programlisting>
1158 After return from the C function,
1159 the Lisp wrapper function should print the following output:
1160 <programlisting>back from C function</programlisting>
1161 And upon return from the Lisp wrapper function,
1162 before the next prompt is printed, the
1163 Lisp read-eval-print loop should print the following return values:
1164 <!-- FIXME: As above, it's not a program listing, but computer output... -->