NAME
Inline - Use other languages inside your Perl scripts and modules.
SYNOPSIS
print "9 + 16 = ", add(9, 16), "\n";
print "9 - 16 = ", subtract(9, 16), "\n";
use Inline C => <<'END_OF_C_CODE';
int add(int x, int y) {
return x + y;
}
int subtract(int x, int y) {
return x - y;
}
END_OF_C_CODEDESCRIPTION
Overview
The Inline module allows you to put source code from other programming languages directly "Inline" in a Perl script or module. The code is automatically compiled as needed, and then loaded for immediate access from Perl.
Inline saves you from the hassle of having to write and compile your own glue code using facilities like XS or SWIG. Simply type the code where you want it and run your Perl as normal. All the hairy details are handled for you. The compilation and installation of your code chunks all happen transparently; all you will notice is the delay of compilation.
The Inline code only gets compiled the first time you run it (or whenever it is modified) so you only take the performance hit once. Code that is Inlined into distributed modules (like on the CPAN) will get compiled when the module is installed (during "make test"), so the end user will never notice the compilation time.
Why Inline?
Do you want to know "Why would I use other languages in Perl?" or "Why should I use Inline to do it?"? I'll try to answer both.
- Why would I use other languages in Perl?
-
The most obvious reason is performance. For an interpreted language, Perl is extremely fast. But like my co-workers say "Anything Perl can do, C can do faster". (They never mention the development time ;-) Anyway, you may be able to remove a bottleneck in your Perl code by using another language, without having to write the entire program in that language. This keeps your overall development time down, because you're using Perl for all of the non-critical code.
Another reason is to access functionality from existing API-s that use the language. Some of this code may only be available in binary form. But by creating small subroutines in the native language, you can "glue" existing libraries to your Perl. As a user of the CPAN, you know that code reuse is a good thing. So why throw away those Fortran libraries just yet?
Maybe the best reason is "Because you want to!". Diversity keeps the world interesting. TMTOWTDI!
- Why should I use
Inlineto do it? -
There are already two major facilities for extending Perl with C. They are XS and SWIG. Now if you're familiar with either, then I may be preaching to the choir. Well, here goes:
<SERMON>Greetings congregation. This morning I want to open your eyes to the virtues of Inline and the perils of XS. Let us compare the two.
---
Inline - You can use it from a regular script.
XS - Requires you to create a module and an XS file and a makefile, in addition to your regular script. Actually, the program
h2xsdoes a nice job of getting you started, but that's still a lot of junk to maintain.---
XS - You need rebuild every time you want to test a small change.
Inline - Perl programmers cannot be bothered with silly things like compiling. "Tweak, Run, Tweak, Run" is our way of life.
Inlinedoes all the dirty work for you.---
XS - There is a difficult learning curve involved with setting up and using the XS environment. (At least for a simple Perl preacher like me.) Read the following perldocs and man pages if you don't believe me:
* perlxs * perlxstut * perlapi * perlguts * perlmod * h2xs * xsubpp * ExtUtils::MakeMakerInline - Fuh-GED-ah-bow-dit!
---
XS - Only implements C and C++.
Inline - Plans to implement several languages. For now,
Inlineonly implements C and it uses XS to do it. (Dirty little secret) But this is the right thing to do. See "SUPPORTED LANGUAGES" below. I too believe in code reuse, and XS is good code. (as long as you don't actually need to write it yourself :^)---
Amen.
</SERMON>
In actuality, XS is quite powerful for all of its madness. Inline only generates a minimal subset of XS mappings. (See "C-Perl Bindings" below) But that should be enough to do what you need to. If not, give XS a try. Also, h2xs attempts to map header files to glue code which can be very handy when it works. Inline has no such facility.
I also think that its important to understand what's going on under the hood. It gives you the power to do more complicated things. So read all of those perldocs when you get a chance. In the meantime, just "use Inline"!
How it works
Inline performs the following steps:
- 1) Receive the Source Code
-
Inlinegets the source code from your script or module with a statement like the following:use Inline C => Source-Code;where
Cis the programming language of the source code, andSource-Codeis a string (most easily represented by using the "Here Document" quoting style; see "SYNOPSIS" above), a file name, an open file handle, or a reference to a subroutine (that will return source code).Since
Inlineis coded in a "use" statement, everything is done during Perl's compile time. If anything needs to be done that will affect theSource-Codestring, it needs to be done in aBEGINblock that is before the "use Inline ..." statement. This might include setting interpolated variables, or setting options in theInline::Configmodule. - 2) Check if the Source Code has been Compiled
-
Inlineonly needs to compile the source code if it has not yet been compiled. It accomplishes this seemingly magical task in an extremely simple and straightforward manner. It runs the source text through theDigest::MD5module to produce a 128-bit "fingerprint" which is virtually unique. The fingerprint (in hex) is combined with the current package name (and the script name, if the package is "main") to form a unique name for the executable module (shared object). If an executable with that name already exists, then proceed to step 8. (No compilation is necessary) - 3) Find a Place to Build and Install
-
At this point we know we need to compile the source code. The first thing to figure out is where to create the great big mess associated with compilation, and the second thing is where to put the module when its done.
By default
Inlinewill try to build under the first one of the following places that is a valid directory and is writable:- $ENV{PERL_INLINE} # the PERL_INLINE environment variable - ~/.blib_I/ - ~/blib_I/ - $bin/blib_I/ # the directory that the script is in - ./blib_I/ - /tmp/blib_I/ - $bin/blib_I/ # will mkdir if -w $bin/ - ./blib_I/ # will mkdir if -w ./(where
$binis the script directory returned byFindBin.pm)It will then try to install the executable under the same directory or in the
Config{installsitearch}directory if$Inline::Config::SITE_INSTALL=1.Optionally, you can configure
Inlineto build and install exactly where you want. See Inline::Config. - 4) Parse the Source for Semantic Cues
-
Inlineuses the moduleParse::RecDescentto parse through your chunks of source code and look for things that it can create run-time bindings to. For instance, inCit looks for all of the function definitions and breaks them down into names and data types. These elements are used to correctly bind theCfunction to aPerlsubroutine. - 5) Create the Build Environment
-
Now
Inlinecan take all of the gathered information and create an environment to build your source code into an executable. Without going into all the details, it just creates the appropriate directories, creates the appropriate source files including an XS file and aMakefile.PL. - 6) Compile the Code and Install the Executable
-
The planets are in alignment. Now for the easy part.
Inlinejust does what you would do to install a module. "perl Makefile.PL && make && make test && make install". If something goes awry,Inlinewill croak with a message indicating where to look for more info. - 7) Tidy Up
-
By default,
Inlinewill remove all of the mess created by the build process, assuming that everything worked. If the compile fails,Inlinewill leave everything intact, so that you can debug your errors. Setting$Inline::Config::CLEAN_AFTER_BUILD=0will also stopInlinefrom cleaning up. - 8) DynaLoad the Executable
-
Inlineuses theDynaLoader::bootstrapmethod to pull your external module intoPerlspace. Now you can call all of your external functions like Perl subroutines. Wheeee!
C-Perl Bindings
This section describes how the Perl variables get mapped to C variables and back again.
First, you need to know how Perl passes arguments back and forth to subroutines. Basically it uses a stack (also known as the Stack). When a sub is called, all of the parenthesized arguments get expanded into a list of scalars and pushed onto the Stack. The subroutine then pops all of its parameters off of the Stack. When the sub is done, it pushes all of its return values back onto the Stack.
The Stack is an array of scalars known internally as SV's. The Stack is actually an array of pointers to SV or SV*; therefore every element of the Stack is natively a SV*. For FMTYEWTK about this, read perlguts.
So back to variable mapping. XS uses a thing known as "typemaps" to turn each SV* into a C type and back again. This is done through various XS macro calls, casts and the Perl API. See perlapi. XS allows you to define your own typemaps as well for fancier non-standard types such as typedef-ed structs.
Inline uses a boiled down version of this approach. It parses your code for simple types and generates the XS code to map them. The currently supported types are:
- int
- long
- double
- char*
- void
- SV*If you need to deal with anything fancier, just use the generic SV* type in the function definition. Then inside your code, do the mapping yourself.
A return type of void has a special meaning to Inline. It means that you plan to push the values back onto the Stack yourself. This is what you need to do to return a list of values. If you really don't want to return anything (the traditional meaning of void) then simply don't push anything back.
If ellipsis or ... is used at the end of an argument list, it means that any number of SV*s may follow. Again you will need to pop the values off of the Stack yourself.
See "Examples In C" below.
Writing C Subroutines
The definitions of your C functions will fall into one of the following four categories. For each category there are special considerations.
-
int Foo(int arg1, char* arg2, SV* arg3) {This is the simplest case. You have a non
voidreturn type and a fixed length argument list. You don't need to worry about much. All the conversions will happen automatically. -
void Foo(int arg1, char* arg2, SV* arg3) {In this category you have a
voidreturn type. This means that either you want to return nothing, or that you want to return a list. In the latter case you'll need to push values onto the Stack yourself. There are a couple of XS macros that make this easy. Code something like this:int i, max; SV* my_sv[10]; dXSARGS; sp = mark; for (i = 0; i < max; i++) XPUSHs(my_sv[i]); PUTBACK;The
dXSARGSmacro definessp(stack pointer) andmark(stack base). You'll need to resetsptomarkyourself. Next use a series ofXPUSHscalls to add values to the Stack.spwill get incremented with each call. Finally, thePUTBACKmacro stores off the final value ofspso that your values will all get returned. See perlapi for more info.If you really want to return nothing, then don't use
dXSARGS. If you must usedXSARGS, then setsp = mark;and usePUTBACK;as well. -
char* Foo(SV* arg1, ...) {In this category you have an unfixed number of arguments. This means that you'll have to pop values off the Stack yourself. Do it like this:
int i; dSXSARGS; for (i = 0; i < items; i++) handle_sv(ST(i));dXSARGSalso defines an integeritems, which contains the number of arguments on the Stack. The macroST(i)returns the Stack argumentiwherei = 0is the first argument. The return type ofST(i)isSV*. -
void* Foo(SV* arg1, ...) {In this category you have both a
voidreturn type and an unfixed number of arguments. Just combine the techniques from Categories 3 and 4.
Configuration
Inline trys to do the right thing as often as possible. But sometimes you may need to override the default actions. This is where Inline::Config comes to the rescue. Inline::Config gives you a more fine-grained control over the entire process. The other side of that coin is "you need to know what you are doing".
An important point to remember is that the config settings must be done before the "use Inline" statement. Since a "use" happens at (Perl's) compile time, you need to something like this:
BEGIN {
use Inline;
$Inline::Config::OPTION_NUMBER_9 = 'Yes';
# or
Inline::Config->new->option_number_9('Yes');
# depending on your orientation :-)
}
use Inline C => "C code goes here...";See Inline::Config for more info.
Configuration from the Command Line
Inline lets you set many of the configuration options from the command line. This can be very handy, especially when you only want to set the options temporarily, for say, debugging.
For instance, to get some general information about your Inline code in the script Foo.pl, use the command:
perl -MInline=INFO Foo.plIf you want to force your code to compile, even if its already done, use:
perl -MInline=FORCE Foo.plIf you want to do both, use:
perl -MInline=INFO -MInline=FORCE Foo.plor better yet:
perl -MInline=INFO,FORCE Foo.plSee Inline::Config for more info.
Writing Modules with Inline
If you are writing a module to distribute on the CPAN, (say Foo.pm) and you want it to include Inlined code, then you should add the following line to the top of your test.pl file before the "use Foo;" line:
BEGIN {use Inline SITE_INSTALL;}When the installer does a "make test", the Inline module will compile Foo's Inlined code and attempt to install the executable code into the ./blib directory. Then when a "make install" is done, the module will be copied into Perl's $Config{installsitearch} directory (which is where an installed module should go).
Fancy Tricks
The Inline module opens up all sorts of possibilities regarding what you can do with Perl and C. Since everything happens at run time (depending on how you think of it) you can generate C code on the fly and effectively 'eval' it. (How this might be useful is left as an exercise to the reader :-)
Here is how you would code such a beast:
BEGIN {$c_code = &c_code_generator()}
use Inline C => $c_code; # will die if code doesn't compile
myfunc1();or
$c_code = &c_code_generator();
eval {use Inline C => $c_code};
if ($@) {
handle_error($@); # trap error if code doesn't compile
}
else {
myfunc1();
}Examples In C
Here is a series of examples. Each one is a complete program that you can try running yourself. In fact, each example is stored in the examples/ subdirectory of the Inline.pm distribution. They will start out simple and build in complexity.
Example #1 - Greetings
This example will take one string argument (a name) and print a greeting. The function is called with a string and with a number. In the second case the number is forced to a string.
Notice that you do not need to #include <stdio.h>. The perl.h header file which gets included by default, automatically loads the standard C header files for you.
greet('Ingy');
greet(42);
use Inline C => <<'END_OF_C_CODE';
void greet(char* name) {
printf("Hello %s!\n", name);
}
END_OF_C_CODE
__END__Example #2 - and Salutations
This is similar to the last example except that the name is passed in as a SV* (pointer to Scalar Value) rather than a string (char*). That means we need to convert the SV to a string ourselves. This is accomplished using the SvPVX function which is part of the Perl internal API. See perlapi for more info.
One problem is that SvPVX doesn't automatically convert strings to numbers, so we get a little surprise when we try to greet 42.
greet('Ingy');
greet(42);
use Inline C => <<'END_OF_C_CODE';
void greet(SV* sv_name) {
printf("Hello %s!\n", SvPVX(sv_name));
}
END_OF_C_CODE
__END__Example #3 - Fixing the problem
We can fix the problem in Example #2 by using the SvPV function instead. This function will stringify the SV if it does not contain a string. SvPV returns the length of the string as it's second parameter. Since we don't care about the length, we can just put PL_na there, which is a special variable designed for that purpose.
greet('Ingy');
greet(42);
use Inline C => <<'END_OF_C_CODE';
void greet(SV* sv_name) {
printf("Hello %s!\n", SvPV(sv_name, PL_na));
}
END_OF_C_CODE
__END__Example #4 - Return to Sender
In this example we will return the greeting to the caller, rather than printing it. This would seem mighty easy, except for the fact that we need to allocate a small buffer to create the greeting.
I would urge you to stay away from mallocing your own buffer. Just use Perl's built in memory management. In other words, just create a new Perl string scalar. The function newSVpv does just that. And newSVpvf includes sprintf functionality.
The other problem is getting rid of this new scalar. How will the ref count get decremented after we pass the scalar back? Perl also provides a function called sv_2mortal. Mortal variables die when the context goes out of scope. In other words, Perl will wait until the new scalar gets passed back and then decrement the ref count for you, thereby making it eligible for garbage collection. See perlguts.
In this example the sv_2mortal call gets done under the hood by XS, because we declared the return type to be SV*. Later, in Example #6, when we manage the return stack by hand, we'll need to call it ourselves.
To view the generated XS code, run the command "perl -MInline=INFO,FORCE,NOCLEAN example004.pl". This will leave the build directory intact and tell you where to find it.
If all that sounds difficult, its not. Take a look:
print greet('Ingy');
print greet(42);
use Inline C => <<'END_OF_C_CODE';
SV* greet(SV* sv_name) {
return (newSVpvf("Hello %s!\n", SvPV(sv_name, PL_na)));
}
END_OF_C_CODE
__END__Example #5 - The Welcome Wagon
Let's modify the greet function to handle a group of people, or more exactly, a list of names. We use the C ellipsis syntax: "...", since the list can be of any size.
Since there are no types or names associated with each argument, we can't expect XS to handle the conversions for us. We'll need to pop them off the Stack ourselves. Luckily there are two functions (macros) that make this a very easy task.
First, we need to begin our function with a "dXSARGS;" statement. This defines a few variables that we need to access the Stack. The variable we need in this example is "items", which is an integer containing the number of arguments passed to us.
NOTE: It is important to only use "dXSARGS;" when there is an ellipsis (...) in the argument list, or the function has a return type of void (See Example #6).
Second, we use the ST(x) function to access each argument where "0 <= x < items". Observe:
greet(qw(Brian Ingerson Ingy Me Myself I));
use Inline C => <<'END_OF_C_CODE';
void greet(SV* name1, ...) {
dXSARGS;
int i;
for (i = 0; i < items; i++)
printf("Hello %s!\n", SvPV(ST(i), PL_na));
}
END_OF_C_CODE
__END__NOTE: When using a variable length argument list, you have to specify at least one argument before the ellipsis. (On my compiler, anyway.) When XS does it's argument checking, it will complain if you pass in less than the number of defined arguments. Therefore, there is currently no way to pass an empty list when a variable length list is expected.
Example #6 - Stop Repeating Yourself
In this contrived example, we'll pass in the name to greet, and the number of times to do it. The greet(); function will return that number of greetings. The purpose is to demonstrate how to pass back a list of values.
The first thing to do is set the function return type to void. This has a special meaning to Inline (and XS). It means that you're going to handle the return stack yourself.
Now we first call "dXSARGS" again. This time, we are interested in the variables sp and mark, which dXSARGS will create. sp is the stack pointer and mark is the beginning of the stack. Upon entry, sp will not be pointing at the beginning, so we use "sp = mark" to reset it.
The XPUSHs function does a lot for us. It pushes an SV onto the Stack, and updates the value of sp. It also will extend the size of the Stack, if it needs to, thus avoiding segfaults.
Finally, PUTBACK stashes the new value of sp back to where it belongs. Don't forget it or your function won't work right. You'll get a return list equal in size to your input list, which in this case is 2.
print greet('Ingy', 42);
use Inline C => <<'END_OF_C_CODE';
void greet(char* name, int number) {
dXSARGS;
int i;
sp = mark;
for (i = 0; i < number; i++)
XPUSHs(sv_2mortal(newSVpvf("Hello %s!\n", name)));
PUTBACK;
}
END_OF_C_CODE
__END__Also notice that we used the sv_2mortal call that was discussed earlier. This will make sure that your newborn scalars get DESTROYed at the appointed time.
Example #7 - The Ugly
The world is not made of scalars alone, although they are definitely the easiest creatures to deal with, when doing this kind of stuff. Sometimes we need to deal with arrays, hashes, and code references, among other things.
Since Perl subroutine calls only pass scalars as arguments, we'll need to use the argument type SV* and pass references to more complex types.
Lets look a program that dumps the key/value pairs of a hash:
use Inline C => <<'END_OF_C_CODE';
void dump_hash(SV* hash_ref) {
HV* hash;
HE* hash_entry;
int num_keys, i;
SV* sv_key;
SV* sv_val;
if (! SvROK(hash_ref))
croak("hash_ref is not a reference");
hash = (HV*)SvRV(hash_ref);
num_keys = hv_iterinit(hash);
for (i = 0; i < num_keys; i++) {
hash_entry = hv_iternext(hash);
sv_key = hv_iterkeysv(hash_entry);
sv_val = hv_iterval(hash, hash_entry);
printf("%s => %s\n", SvPV(sv_key, PL_na), SvPV(sv_val, PL_na));
}
return;
}
END_OF_C_CODE
my %hash = (
Author => "Brian Ingerson",
Nickname => "INGY",
Module => "Inline.pm",
Version => "0.18",
Example => 7,
);
dump_hash(\%hash);
__END__To figure out this one, just curl up with perlapi for a couple hours. Actually, its fairly straight forward once you are familiar with the calls.
Note the croak function call. This is the proper way to die from your C extensions.
SUPPORTED LANGUAGES
Currently, "C" is the only supported language. This is obviously the most important language to support. That is because Perl itself is written in C. By giving a your Perl scripts access to C, you in effect give them access to the entire glorious internals of Perl. (Caveat scriptor :-)
C is also the easiest language to implement because the tools needed to do so, (like XS and ExtUtils::MakeMaker) have already been written and are very flexible and reliable. Inline makes use of these pre-existing tools.
But there is definitely no reason why Inline must or should stop with C. As long as sensible bindings can be defined between Perl and another language, that language could be a candidate for the Inline module. Current languages I am considering adding support for include:
- C++
- Fortran
- Pascal
- PythonNote: Since many C compilers allow the use of assembly code within C, you may want to consider Assembly Language as supported. Ready to start scripting out new device drivers?
SUPPORTED PLATFORMS
This module should work anywhere that CPAN extension modules (those that use XS) can be installed, using the typical install format of:
perl Makefile.PL
make
make test
make installInline has been tested on the following platforms:
V# OS OS V# Perl V# Human Email
0.22 Linux 2.2.13 5.00503 Brian Ingerson ingy@cpan.org
0.22 Linux 2.2.13 5.6 Brian Ingerson ingy@cpan.org
0.20 FreeBSD 3.4 5.00503 Timothy A Gregory tgregory@tarjema.com
0.20 FreeBSD 4.0 5.00503 Timothy A Gregory tgregory@tarjema.com
0.20 FreeBSD 4.0 5.6 Timothy A Gregory tgregory@tarjema.com
0.20 Linux 2.0.36 5.00503 Prakasa Bellam pbellam@cobaltgroup.com
0.20 HPUX B.10.20 5.00503 Jamie Shaffer jshaffer@chronology.com
0.20 SunOS 5.6 5.6.0 Jamie Shaffer jshaffer@chronology.com
0.20 SunOS 5.5.1 5.6.0 Jamie Shaffer jshaffer@chronology.com
0.22 OpenBSD 2.7 5.6.0 Jeremy Devenport jeremy@weezel.com
0.22 FreeBSD 3.1 5.00503 Doug Beaver dougb@scalar.orgIf Inline works on your Unix platform, please email me the info above. If it doesn't work, see "BUGS AND DEFICIENCIES" below.
I would like to port this to Win32 as soon as possible, but that's a big step for me. Any takers?
BUGS AND DEFICIENCIES
This is an early release of a fairly ambitious module. It is definitely ALPHA code. The bugs should be bountiful!
When reporting a bug, please do the following:
- Put "use Inline REPORTBUG;" at the top of your code, or
use the command line option "perl -MInline=REPORTBUG ...".
- Run your code.
- Follow the printed directions.Here are some things to watch out for:
The
Parse::RecDescentgrammar forCis fledgling. For example, it won't catch invalid type errors in your function definitions. It will just ignore those definitions altogether. It'll get better. For now be careful and examine the generated code when things don't work. Also, using "perl -MInline=INFO ..." will show you which function definitions did work.Inlinedoesn't currently handle output parameters (like XS does). I'm not sure whether to add them or not. They're not very Perl-like IMO.While
Inlinedoes attempt to clean up after itself, there is currently no functionality to remove a shared object when a new version is compiled. This shouldn't be hard to do, but I want to think about it a little more.
AUTHOR
Brian Ingerson <INGY@cpan.org>
COPYRIGHT
Copyright (c) 2000, Brian Ingerson. All Rights Reserved. This module is free software. It may be used, redistributed and/or modified under the terms of the Perl Artistic License (see http://www.perl.com/perl/misc/Artistic.html)