Re: [Caml-list] C interface style question

[skaller <skaller@users.sourceforge.net>]

On Thu, 2006-01-19 at 09:39 +0900, Jacques Garrigue wrote:
> From: Thomas Fischbacher <Thomas.Fischbacher@Physik.Uni-Muenchen.DE>
> 
> > value-type parameters to C functions exported to OCaml should be 
> > registered with CAMLparamX(...). Does this hold in general, or is it 
> > considered acceptable/appropriate to just ignore this for "immediate" 
> > values that do not hold pointers, but, say, int, bool etc. values?
> 
> Registration is required to have the GC properly update the values.
> The GC may be called by any allocation.
> So it is only safe not to register a parameter (or a variable) in any
> of the following 4 cases.
> 1) you know that it can only hold a non-pointer value (int, bool, ...)
>    (i.e. the GC has nothing to update)
> 2) there are no allocations in your function
> 3) the parameter is not accessed after the first allocation
> 4) for a new variable whose contents is returned, there is no
>    allocation between the setting of the variable and return.
> 
> (1) and (2) are relatively easy to see, but (3) and (4) are a bit
> trickier (particularly with side-effecting expressions), so
> it is not a bad idea to register more parameters than strictly
> necessary.

Unless I'm mistaken, 'registration' with these macros 
is never required: these macros are simply a high level 
abstraction layer providing convenience and relative safety. 

The Ocaml manual explains all this fairly well IMHO,
the low level interface is well documented, Hendrik Tews 
version is cool:

http://wwwtcs.inf.tu-dresden.de/~tews/htmlman-3.09/manual032.html

See 18.5.2 -- IMHO the low level interface, whilst requiring
more work to apply, is actually easier to understand.

Just one 'BTW': I have seen some code using Field() macro
with incorrect C. You must NOT do this:

	MyType *p = ...
	(MyType*)Field(v,n) = p;

it isn't valid ISO C for *any* type MyType (not even 'value').
You would have to do it like this:

	*(MyType**)(void*)&Field(v,n) = p; // **

However I strongly recommend instead

	StoreField(v,n,(value)(void*)p);

The incorrect usage was not detected by older versions of gcc.
Gcc 4.x does detect this error. The workaround (**) is
the ONLY correct way to cast an lvalue in ISO C. This problem
arises in some larger codes where a macro has been used
to do the type conversion .. and it appeared to work
but was in fact invalid C. For example:

	#define MyThing(v) (MyType*)Field(v,2)

is not a good idea, since

	MyThing(v) = ...

is invalid ISO C but may not even produce a warning. You would
have to instead say:

	#define MyThing(v) (*(MyType**)(void*)&Field(v,2))

but it seems better to rewrite your code so values and
lvalues are distinguished by usage (eg 'get' and 'set' macros).
[The intention of the macros is usually to abstract away the
field number]

-- 
John Skaller <skaller at users dot sf dot net>
Felix, successor to C++: http://felix.sf.net