https://perl5.git.perl.org / perl5.git / blame
| Commit | Line | Data |
|---|---|---|
| a0d0e21e LW |
1 | Perl 5 DynaLoader |
| 2 | ||
| 3b35bae3 | 3 | See DynaLoader.pm for detailed specification. |
| a0d0e21e LW |
4 | |
| 5 | This module is very similar to the other Perl 5 modules except that | |
| 6 | Configure selects which dl_*.xs file to use. | |
| 7 | ||
| 3b35bae3 | 8 | After Configure has been run the Makefile.PL will generate a Makefile |
| a0d0e21e LW |
9 | which will run xsubpp on a specific dl_*.xs file and write the output |
| 10 | to DynaLoader.c | |
| 11 | ||
| 12 | After that the processing is the same as any other module. | |
| 13 | ||
| 14 | Note that, to be effective, the DynaLoader module must be _statically_ | |
| 15 | linked into perl! Configure should arrange this. | |
| 16 | ||
| 17 | This interface is based on the work and comments of (in no particular | |
| 18 | order): Larry Wall, Robert Sanders, Dean Roehrich, Jeff Okamoto, Anno | |
| 19 | Siegel, Thomas Neumann, Paul Marquess, Charles Bailey and others. | |
| 20 | ||
| 21 | The dl_*.xs files should either be named after the dynamic linking | |
| 22 | operating system interface used if that interface is available on more | |
| 23 | than one type of system, e.g.: | |
| 24 | dlopen for dlopen()/dlsym() type functions (SunOS, BSD) | |
| a0d0e21e LW |
25 | or else the osname, e.g., hpux, next, vms etc. |
| 26 | ||
| 27 | Both are determined by Configure and so only those specific names that | |
| 28 | Configure knows/uses will work. | |
| 29 | ||
| 30 | If porting the DynaLoader to a platform that has a core dynamic linking | |
| 1e5d7f54 | 31 | interface similar to an existing generic type, e.g., dlopen, |
| a0d0e21e LW |
32 | please try to port the corresponding dl_*.xs file (using #ifdef's if |
| 33 | required). | |
| 34 | ||
| 35 | Otherwise, or if that proves too messy, create a new dl_*.xs file named | |
| 36 | after your osname. Configure will give preference to a dl_$osname.xs | |
| 37 | file if one exists. | |
| 38 | ||
| 39 | The file dl_dlopen.xs is a reference implementation by Paul Marquess | |
| 1e5d7f54 NC |
40 | which is a good place to start if porting from scratch. The dlutils.c file |
| 41 | holds some common definitions that are #included into the dl_*.xs files. | |
| a0d0e21e | 42 | |
| 3b35bae3 AD |
43 | After the initial implementation of a new DynaLoader dl_*.xs file you |
| 44 | may need to edit or create ext/MODULE/MODULE.bs files (library bootstrap | |
| 45 | files) to reflect the needs of your platform and linking software. | |
| a0d0e21e | 46 | |
| 3b35bae3 | 47 | Refer to DynaLoader.pm, lib/ExtUtils/MakeMaker.pm and any existing |
| a0d0e21e LW |
48 | ext/MODULE/MODULE.bs files for more information. |
| 49 | ||
| 50 | Tim Bunce. | |
| 51 | August 1994 |