multiple packages using the same native code.

I would like to construct two packages (A, B) which utilize a number of 
common C functions. The most straightforward way to do this is just copy 
the relevant .c and .h files from one src directory to the next, but 
this is tedious especially in the face of multiple developers and
changes.

Hi Jim,

James Bullard <bullard at berkeley.edu> writes:
 

I would like to construct two packages (A, B) which utilize a number of 
common C functions. The most straightforward way to do this is just copy 
the relevant .c and .h files from one src directory to the next, but 
this is tedious especially in the face of multiple developers and
changes.
   

I'm not sure I understand what you are after.  One possible solution
would be to create a third package 'C' that contains the common C
code.  This would allow you to call C function defined in 'C' from the
C code in 'A' or 'B'.

Using a .onLoad hook and getNativeSymbolInfo(), you can pass C
function pointers to the code in packages A and B.

Suppose in 'C' you have a C function foo() that is registered in the
usual manner so that it can be called by .Call or .C.

Then in 'A' you could have (all untested, sorry, but hopefully it
sketches the idea for you):

A/src/A.c

  static DL_FUNC C_foo;

  void init_funcs_from_C(SEXP foo_info) {
      C_foo = R_ExternalPtrAddr(foo_info);
  }

  void bar(int *x) {
      ...
      z = C_foo();
      ...
  }


A/R/zzz.R

  .onLoad <- function(libname, pkgname) {
      foo_info <- getNativeSymbolInfo("foo", PACKAGE="C")
      .Call("init_funcs_from_C", foo_info$address)
  }


+ seth

Seth, thanks for the advice. This solution seems like it might work,
but then all errors occur at runtime rather than at compile time.

Seth, thanks for the advice. This solution seems like it might work, but 
then all errors occur at runtime rather than at compile time. This seems 
like I am exchanging one evil for another (run time segfaults versus 
code duplication) Lets say we have these three package A, B, and C 
defined more or less like this:

A/src/bar.c
int bar()
{
    foo();
}

B/src/baz.c
int baz()
{
    foo();
}

C/src/foo.c
int foo()
{
    return 1;
}


Now, the only way I can see to do this is to copy foo.c into both src 
directories of package A and B. This is not exactly what anyone wants, 
but rather I'd rather just say that both package A and B depend on 
package C. If I put them in a bundle then can I expect that the src will 
always simultaneously be available? In this way I can easily modify the 
configure script to handle this, but if I have no way to depend on the 
presence of the code (ie. users could download and install packages 
separately even if it's a bundle) then it seems like there is no way to 
generally modify the configure file to do this.


thanks, jim





Seth Falcon wrote:

Hi Jim,

James Bullard <bullard at berkeley.edu> writes:

I would like to construct two packages (A, B) which utilize a number of 
common C functions. The most straightforward way to do this is just copy 
the relevant .c and .h files from one src directory to the next, but 
this is tedious especially in the face of multiple developers and
changes.
  

I'm not sure I understand what you are after.  One possible solution
would be to create a third package 'C' that contains the common C
code.  This would allow you to call C function defined in 'C' from the
C code in 'A' or 'B'.

Using a .onLoad hook and getNativeSymbolInfo(), you can pass C
function pointers to the code in packages A and B.

Suppose in 'C' you have a C function foo() that is registered in the
usual manner so that it can be called by .Call or .C.

Then in 'A' you could have (all untested, sorry, but hopefully it
sketches the idea for you):

A/src/A.c

 static DL_FUNC C_foo;

 void init_funcs_from_C(SEXP foo_info) {
     C_foo = R_ExternalPtrAddr(foo_info);
 }

 void bar(int *x) {
     ...
     z = C_foo();
     ...
 }


A/R/zzz.R

 .onLoad <- function(libname, pkgname) {
     foo_info <- getNativeSymbolInfo("foo", PACKAGE="C")
     .Call("init_funcs_from_C", foo_info$address)
 }


+ seth