%\htmltitle{Mixing Scheme 48 and C} %\htmladdress{\begin{rawhtml}Mike % Sperber, Richard Kelsey\end{rawhtml}} % %\title{Using C code with Scheme 48} %\author{Mike Sperber\\\texttt{\small sperber@informatik.uni-tuebingen.de}\\ % Richard Kelsey\\\texttt{\small kelsey@research.nj.nec.com} % } % %\makeindex % %\begin{document} % %\maketitle % %\begin{abstract} % What is all this, you ask? % We provide three different titles: % - for the table of contents, which has the extra authors % - for links, which doesn't % - for the page, which does, but on two lines % The html \chapter command takes a second optional argument, which is the % title to use in the ToC. \texonly{ \chapter[Mixing Scheme 48 and C {\rm\ \ Mike Sperber and Richard Kelsey}] {Mixing Scheme 48 and C \\ {\large Mike Sperber and Richard Kelsey}} } \htmlonly{ \chapter[Mixing Scheme 48 and C]% [Mixing Scheme 48 and C % \htmlsym{nbsp}\htmlsym{nbsp} {\it Mike Sperber and Richard Kelsey}] {Mixing Scheme 48 and C \\ {\large Mike Sperber and Richard Kelsey}} } \label{external-chapter} This chapter describes an interface for calling C functions from Scheme, calling Scheme functions from C, and allocating storage in the Scheme heap.. Scheme~48 manages stub functions in C that negotiate between the calling conventions of Scheme and C and the memory allocation policies of both worlds. No stub generator is available yet, but writing stubs is a straightforward task. %\end{abstract} \section{Available facilities} \label{sec:facilities} The following facilities are available for interfacing between Scheme~48 and C: % \begin{itemize} \item Scheme code can call C functions. \item The external interface provides full introspection for all Scheme objects. External code may inspect, modify, and allocate Scheme objects arbitrarily. \item External code may raise exceptions back to Scheme~48 to signal errors. \item External code may call back into Scheme. Scheme~48 correctly unrolls the process stack on non-local exits. \item External modules may register bindings of names to values with a central registry accessible from Scheme. Conversely, Scheme code can register shared bindings for access by C code. \end{itemize} % %This section has three parts: the first describes how bindings are % moved from Scheme to C and vice versa, the second tells how to call % C functions from Scheme, and the third covers the C interface % to Scheme objects, including calling Scheme procedures, using the % Scheme heap, and so forth. \subsection{Scheme structures} The structure \code{external-calls} has most of the Scheme functions described here. The others are in \code{dynamic-externals}, which has the functions for dynamic loading and name lookup from \texonly{Section~\ref{dynamic-externals},} \htmlonly{the section on \link{Dynamic Loading}{dynamic-externals},} and \code{shared-bindings}, which has the additional shared-binding functions described in \texonly{Section~\ref{more-shared-bindings}.} \htmlonly{the section on the \link{complete shared-binding interface}{more-shared-bindings}.} \subsection{C naming conventions} The names of all of Scheme~48's visible C bindings begin with `\code{s48\_}' (for procedures and variables) or `\code{S48\_}' (for macros). Whenever a C name is derived from a Scheme identifier, we replace `\code{-}' with `\code{\_}' and convert letters to lowercase for procedures and uppercase for macros. A final `\code{?}' converted to `\code{\_p}' (`\code{\_P}' in C macro names). A final `\code{!}' is dropped. Thus the C macro for Scheme's \code{pair?} is \code{S48\_PAIR\_P} and the one for \code{set-car!} is \code{S48\_SET\_CAR}. Procedures and macros that do not check the types of their arguments have `\code{unsafe}' in their names. All of the C functions and macros described have prototypes or definitions in the file \code{c/scheme48.h}. The C type for Scheme values is defined there to be \code{s48\_value}. \subsection{Garbage collection} Scheme~48 uses a copying garbage collector. The collector must be able to locate all references to objects allocated in the Scheme~48 heap in order to ensure that storage is not reclaimed prematurely and to update references to objects moved by the collector. The garbage collector may run whenever an object is allocated in the heap. C variables whose values are Scheme~48 objects and which are live across heap allocation calls need to be registered with the \link{garbage collector} [garbage collector. See section~\Ref{} for more information]{gc}. \section{Shared bindings} \label{sec:shared-bindings} Shared bindings are the means by which named values are shared between Scheme code and C code. There are two separate tables of shared bindings, one for values defined in Scheme and accessed from C and the other for values going the other way. Shared bindings actually bind names to cells, to allow a name to be looked up before it has been assigned. This is necessary because C initialization code may be run before or after the corresponding Scheme code, depending on whether the Scheme code is in the resumed image or is run in the current session. \subsection{Exporting Scheme values to C} \begin{protos} \proto{define-exported-binding}{ name value}{shared-binding} \end{protos} \begin{protos} \cproto{s48\_value s48\_get\_imported\_binding(char *name)} \cproto{s48\_value S48\_SHARED\_BINDING\_REF(s48\_value shared\_binding)} \end{protos} \noindent\code{Define-exported-binding} makes \cvar{value} available to C code under as \cvar{name} which must be a \cvar{string}, creating a new shared binding if necessary. The C function \code{s48\_get\_imported\_binding} returns the shared binding defined for \code{name}, again creating it if necessary. The C macro \code{S48\_SHARED\_BINDING\_REF} dereferences a shared binding, returning its current value. \subsection{Exporting C values to Scheme} \begin{protos} \cproto{void s48\_define\_exported\_binding(char *name, s48\_value v)} \end{protos} \begin{protos} \proto{lookup-imported-binding}{ string}{shared-binding} \proto{shared-binding-ref}{ shared-binding}{value} \end{protos} \noindent These are used to define shared bindings from C and to access them from Scheme. Again, if a name is looked up before it has been defined, a new binding is created for it. The common case of exporting a C function to Scheme can be done using the macro \code{S48\_EXPORT\_FUNCTION(\cvar{name})}. This expands into \begin{example} s48\_define\_exported\_binding("\cvar{name}", s48\_enter\_pointer(\cvar{name})) \end{example} \noindent which boxes the function into a Scheme byte vector and then exports it. Note that \code{s48\_enter\_pointer} allocates space in the Scheme heap and might trigger a \link{garbage collection}[; see Section~\ref{gc}]{gc}. \begin{protos} \syntaxprotonoresult{import-definition}{ \cvar{name}} \syntaxprotonoresultnoindex{import-definition}{ \cvar{name c-name}} \end{protos} These macros simplify importing definitions from C to Scheme. They expand into \code{(define \cvar{name} (lookup-imported-binding \cvar{c-name}))} \noindent{}where \cvar{c-name} is as supplied for the second form. For the first form \cvar{c-name} is derived from \cvar{name} by replacing `\code{-}' with `\code{\_}' and converting letters to lowercase. For example, \code{(import-definition my-foo)} expands into \code{(define my-foo (lookup-imported-binding "my\_foo"))} \subsection{Complete shared binding interface} \label{more-shared-bindings} There are a number of other Scheme functions related to shared bindings; these are in the structure \code{shared-bindings}. \begin{protos} \proto{shared-binding?}{ x}{boolean} \proto{shared-binding-name}{ shared-binding}{string} \proto{shared-binding-is-import?}{ shared-binding}{boolean} \protonoresult{shared-binding-set!}{ shared-binding value} \protonoresult{define-imported-binding}{ string value} \protonoresult{lookup-exported-binding}{ string} \protonoresult{undefine-imported-binding}{ string}{} \protonoresult{undefine-exported-binding}{ string}{} \end{protos} \noindent\code{Shared-binding?} is the predicate for shared-bindings. \code{Shared-binding-name} returns the name of a binding. \code{Shared-binding-is-import?} is true if the binding was defined from C. \code{Shared-binding-set!} changes the value of a binding. \code{Define-imported-binding} and \code{lookup-exported-binding} are Scheme versions of \code{s48\_define\_exported\_binding} and \code{s48\_lookup\_imported\_binding}. The two \code{undefine-} procedures remove bindings from the two tables. They do nothing if the name is not found in the table. The following C macros correspond to the Scheme functions above. \begin{protos} \cproto{int\ \ \ \ \ \ \ S48\_SHARED\_BINDING\_P(x)} \cproto{int\ \ \ \ \ \ \ S48\_SHARED\_BINDING\_IS\_IMPORT\_P(s48\_value s\_b)} \cproto{s48\_value S48\_SHARED\_BINDING\_NAME(s48\_value s\_b)} \cproto{void\ \ \ \ \ \ S48\_SHARED\_BINDING\_SET(s48\_value s\_b, s48\_value v)} \end{protos} \section{Calling C functions from Scheme} \label{sec:external-call} There are three different ways to call C functions from Scheme, depending on how the C function was obtained. \begin{protos} \proto{call-imported-binding}{ binding arg$_0$ \ldots}{value} \proto{call-external}{ external arg$_0$ \ldots}{value} \proto{call-external-value}{ value name arg$_0$ \ldots}{value} \end{protos} \noindent Each of these applies its first argument, a C function, to the rest of the arguments. For \code{call-imported-binding} the function argument must be an imported binding. For \code{call-external} the function argument must be an external bound in the current process (see \texonly{Section~\ref{dynamic-externals}).} \htmlonly{the section on \link{Dynamic Loading}{dynamic-externals}).} For \code{call-external-value} \cvar{value} must be a byte vector whose contents is a pointer to a C function and \cvar{name} should be a string naming the function. The \cvar{name} argument is used only for printing error messages. For all of these, the C function is passed the \cvar{arg$_i$} values and the value returned is that returned by C procedure. No automatic representation conversion occurs for either arguments or return values. Up to twelve arguments may be passed. There is no method supplied for returning multiple values to Scheme from C (or vice versa) (mainly because C does not have multiple return values). Keyboard interrupts that occur during a call to a C function are ignored until the function returns to Scheme (this is clearly a problem; we are working on a solution). \begin{protos} \syntaxprotonoresult{import-lambda-definition} { \cvar{name} (\cvar{formal} \ldots)} \syntaxprotonoresultnoindex{import-lambda-definition} { \cvar{name} (\cvar{formal} \ldots)\ \cvar{c-name}} \end{protos} \noindent{}These macros simplify importing functions from C. They define \cvar{name} to be a function with the given formals that applies those formals to the corresponding C binding. \cvar{C-name}, if supplied, should be a string. These expand into \begin{example} (define temp (lookup-imported-binding \cvar{c-name})) (define \cvar{name} (lambda (\cvar{formal} \ldots) (external-apply temp \cvar{formal} \ldots))) \end{example} \noindent{} If \cvar{c-name} is not supplied, it is derived from \cvar{name} by converting all letters to lowercase and replacing `\code{-}' with `\code{\_}'. \section{Adding external modules to the {\tt Makefile}} \label{sec:external-modules} Getting access to C bindings from Scheme requires that the C code be compiled and linked in with the Scheme~48 virtual machine and that the relevant shared bindings be created. The Scheme~48 makefile has rules for compiling and linking external code and for specifying initialization functions that should be called on startup. There are three \code{Makefile} variables that control which external modules are included in the executable for the virtual machine (\code{scheme48vm}). \code{EXTERNAL\_OBJECTS} lists the object files to be included in \code{scheme48vm}, \code{EXTERNAL\_FLAGS} is a list of \code{ld} flags to be used when creating \code{scheme48vm}, and \code{EXTERNAL\_INITIALIZERS} is a list of C procedures to be called on startup. The procedures listed in \code{EXTERNAL\_INITIALIZERS} should take no arguments and have a return type of \code{void}. After changing the definitions of any of these variables you should do \code{make scheme48vm} to rebuild the virtual machine. \section{Dynamic loading} \label{dynamic-externals} External code can be loaded into a running Scheme~48 process and C object-file bindings can be dereferenced at runtime and their values called (although not all versions of Unix support all of this). The required Scheme functions are in the structure \code{dynamic-externals}. \begin{protos} \protonoresult{dynamic-load}{ string}{} \end{protos} \noindent \code{Dynamic-load} loads the named file into the current process, raising an exception if the file cannot be found or if dynamic loading is not supported by the operating system. The file must have been compiled and linked appropriately. For Linux, the following commands compile \code{foo.c} into a file \code{foo.so} that can be loaded dynamically. \begin{example} \% gcc -c -o foo.o foo.c \% ld -shared -o foo.so foo.o \end{example} \begin{protos} \proto{get-external}{ string}{external} \proto{external?}{ x}{boolean} \proto{external-name}{ external}{string} \proto{external-value}{ external}{byte-vector} \end{protos} \noindent These functions give access to values bound in the current process, and are used for retrieving values from dynamically-loaded files. \code{Get-external} returns an \var{external} object that contains the value of \cvar{name}, raising an exception if there is no such value in the current process. \code{External?} is the predicate for externals, and \code{external-name} and \code{external-value} return the name and value of an external. The value is returned as byte vector of length four (on 32-bit architectures). The value is that which was extant when \code{get-external} was called. The following two functions can be used to update the values of externals. \begin{protos} \proto{lookup-external}{ external}{boolean} \proto{lookup-all-externals}{}{boolean} \end{protos} \noindent \code{Lookup-external} updates the value of \cvar{external} by looking up its name in the current process, returning \code{\#t} if the name is bound and \code{\#f} if it is not. \code{Lookup-all-externals} calls \code{lookup-external} on all extant externals, returning \code{\#f} any are unbound. \begin{protos} \proto{call-external}{ external arg$_0$ \ldots}{value} \end{protos} \noindent An external whose value is a C procedure can be called using \code{call-external}. See \texonly{Section~\ref{sec:external-call}} \htmlonly{the section on \link{calling C functions from Scheme}{sec:external-call}} for more information. In some versions of Unix retrieving a value from the current process may require a non-trivial amount of computation. We recommend that a dynamically-loaded file contain a single initialization procedure that creates shared bindings for the values exported by the file. \section{Compatibility} % JAR says: give version number (I would if I knew what it was -RK) Scheme~48's old \code{external-call} function is still available in the structure \code{externals}, which now also includes \code{external-name} and \code{external-value}. The old \code{scheme48.h} file has been renamed \code{old-scheme48.h}. \section{Accessing Scheme data from C} \label{sec:scheme-data} The C header file \code{scheme48.h} provides access to Scheme~48 data structures. The type \code{s48\_value} is used for Scheme values. When the type of a value is known, such as the integer returned by \code{vector-length} or the boolean returned by \code{pair?}, the corresponding C procedure returns a C value of the appropriate type, and not a \code{s48\_value}. Predicates return \code{1} for true and \code{0} for false. \subsection{Constants} \label{sec:constants} The following macros denote Scheme constants: % \begin{itemize} \item \code{S48\_FALSE} is \verb|#f|. \item \code{S48\_TRUE} is \verb|#t|. \item \code{S48\_NULL} is the empty list. \item \code{S48\_UNSPECIFIC} is a value used for functions which have no meaningful return value (in Scheme~48 this value returned by the nullary procedure \code{unspecific} in the structure \code{util}). \item \code{S48\_EOF} is the end-of-file object (in Scheme~48 this value is returned by the nullary procedure \code{eof-object} in the structure \code{i/o-internal}). \end{itemize} \subsection{Converting values} The following macros and functions convert values between Scheme and C representations. The `extract' ones convert from Scheme to C and the `enter's go the other way. \begin{protos} \cproto{int \ \ \ \ \ \ S48\_EXTRACT\_BOOLEAN(s48\_value)} \cproto{unsigned char s48\_extract\_char(s48\_value)} \cproto{char * \ \ \ s48\_extract\_string(s48\_value)} \cproto{char * \ \ \ s48\_extract\_byte\_vector(s48\_value)} \cgcproto{long \ \ \ \ \ s48\_extract\_integer(s48\_value)} \cproto{double \ \ \ s48\_extract\_double(s48\_value)} \cproto{s48\_value S48\_ENTER\_BOOLEAN(int)} \cproto{s48\_value s48\_enter\_char(unsigned char)} \cgcproto{s48\_value s48\_enter\_string(char *)} \cgcproto{s48\_value s48\_enter\_byte\_vector(char *, long)} \cgcproto{s48\_value s48\_enter\_integer(long)} \cgcproto{s48\_value s48\_enter\_double(double)} \end{protos} \noindent{}\code{S48\_EXTRACT\_BOOLEAN} is false if its argument is \code{\#f} and true otherwise. \code{S48\_ENTER\_BOOLEAN} is \code{\#f} if its argument is zero and \code{\#t} otherwise. \code{s48\_extract\_string} and \code{s48\_extract\_byte\_vector} return pointers to the actual storage used by the string or byte vector. These pointers are valid only until the next \link{garbage collection}[; see Section~\ref{gc}]{gc}. The second argument to \code{s48\_enter\_byte\_vector} is the length of byte vector. \code{s48\_enter\_integer()} needs to allocate storage when its argument is too large to fit in a Scheme~48 fixnum. In cases where the number is known to fit within a fixnum (currently 30 bits including the sign), the following procedures can be used. These have the disadvantage of only having a limited range, but the advantage of never causing a garbage collection. \code{S48\_FIXNUM\_P} is a macro that true if its argument is a fixnum and false otherwise. \begin{protos} \cproto{int \ \ \ \ \ \ S48\_TRUE\_P(s48\_value)} \cproto{int \ \ \ \ \ \ S48\_FALSE\_P(s48\_value)} \end{protos} \noindent \code{S48\_TRUE\_P} is true if its argument is \code{S48\_TRUE} and \code{S48\_FALSE\_P} is true if its argument is \code{S48\_FALSE}. \begin{protos} \cproto{int \ \ \ \ \ \ S48\_FIXNUM\_P(s48\_value)} \cproto{long \ \ \ \ \ s48\_extract\_fixnum(s48\_value)} \cproto{s48\_value s48\_enter\_fixnum(long)} \cproto{long \ \ \ \ \ S48\_MAX\_FIXNUM\_VALUE} \cproto{long \ \ \ \ \ S48\_MIN\_FIXNUM\_VALUE} \end{protos} \noindent An error is signalled if \code{s48\_extract\_fixnum}'s argument is not a fixnum or if the argument to \code{s48\_enter\_fixnum} is less than \code{S48\_MIN\_FIXNUM\_VALUE} or greater than \code{S48\_MAX\_FIXNUM\_VALUE} ($-2^{29}$ and $2^{29}-1$ in the current system). \subsection{C versions of Scheme procedures} The following macros and procedures are C versions of Scheme procedures. The names were derived by replacing `\code{-}' with `\code{\_}', `\code{?}' with `\code{\_P}', and dropping `\code{!}. \begin{protos} \cproto{int \ \ \ \ \ \ S48\_EQ\_P(s48\_value, s48\_VALUE)} \cproto{int \ \ \ \ \ \ S48\_CHAR\_P(s48\_value)} \end{protos} \begin{protos} \cproto{int \ \ \ \ \ \ S48\_PAIR\_P(s48\_value)} \cproto{s48\_value S48\_CAR(s48\_value)} \cproto{s48\_value S48\_CDR(s48\_value)} \cproto{void \ \ \ \ \ S48\_SET\_CAR(s48\_value, s48\_value)} \cproto{void \ \ \ \ \ S48\_SET\_CDR(s48\_value, s48\_value)} \cgcproto{s48\_value s48\_cons(s48\_value, s48\_value)} \cproto{long \ \ \ \ \ s48\_length(s48\_value)} \end{protos} \begin{protos} \cproto{int \ \ \ \ \ \ S48\_VECTOR\_P(s48\_value)} \cproto{long \ \ \ \ \ S48\_VECTOR\_LENGTH(s48\_value)} \cproto{s48\_value S48\_VECTOR\_REF(s48\_value, long)} \cproto{void \ \ \ \ \ S48\_VECTOR\_SET(s48\_value, long, s48\_value)} \cgcproto{s48\_value s48\_make\_vector(long, s48\_value)} \end{protos} \begin{protos} \cproto{int \ \ \ \ \ \ S48\_STRING\_P(s48\_value)} \cproto{long \ \ \ \ \ S48\_STRING\_LENGTH(s48\_value)} \cproto{char \ \ \ \ \ S48\_STRING\_REF(s48\_value, long)} \cproto{void \ \ \ \ \ S48\_STRING\_SET(s48\_value, long, char)} \cgcproto{s48\_value s48\_make\_string(long, char)} \end{protos} \begin{protos} \cproto{int \ \ \ \ \ \ S48\_SYMBOL\_P(s48\_value)} \cproto{s48\_value s48\_SYMBOL\_TO\_STRING(s48\_value)} \end{protos} \begin{protos} \cproto{int \ \ \ \ \ \ S48\_BYTE\_VECTOR\_P(s48\_value)} \cproto{long \ \ \ \ \ S48\_BYTE\_VECTOR\_LENGTH(s48\_value)} \cproto{char \ \ \ \ \ S48\_BYTE\_VECTOR\_REF(s48\_value, long)} \cproto{void \ \ \ \ \ S48\_BYTE\_VECTOR\_SET(s48\_value, long, int)} \cgcproto{s48\_value s48\_make\_byte\_vector(long, int)} \end{protos} \section{Calling Scheme functions from C} \label{sec:external-callback} External code that has been called from Scheme can call back to Scheme procedures using the following function. \begin{protos} \cproto{scheme\_value s48\_call\_scheme(s48\_value p, long nargs, \ldots)} \end{protos} \noindent{}This calls the Scheme procedure \code{p} on \code{nargs} arguments, which are passed as additional arguments to \code{s48\_call\_scheme}. There may be at most twelve arguments. The value returned by the Scheme procedure is returned by the C procedure. Invoking any Scheme procedure may potentially cause a garbage collection. There are some complications that occur when mixing calls from C to Scheme with continuations and threads. C only supports downward continuations (via \code{longjmp()}). Scheme continuations that capture a portion of the C stack have to follow the same restriction. For example, suppose Scheme procedure \code{s0} captures continuation \code{a} and then calls C procedure \code{c0}, which in turn calls Scheme procedure \code{s1}. Procedure \code{s1} can safely call the continuation \code{a}, because that is a downward use. When \code{a} is called Scheme~48 will remove the portion of the C stack used by the call to \code{c0}. On the other hand, if \code{s1} captures a continuation, that continuation cannot be used from \code{s0}, because by the time control returns to \code{s0} the C stack used by \code{c0} will no longer be valid. An attempt to invoke an upward continuation that is closed over a portion of the C stack will raise an exception. In Scheme~48 threads are implemented using continuations, so the downward restriction applies to them as well. An attempt to return from Scheme to C at a time when the appropriate C frame is not on top of the C stack will cause the current thread to block until the frame is available. For example, suppose thread \code{t0} calls a C procedure which calls back to Scheme, at which point control switches to thread \code{t1}, which also calls C and then back to Scheme. At this point both \code{t0} and \code{t1} have active calls to C on the C stack, with \code{t1}'s C frame above \code{t0}'s. If thread \code{t0} attempts to return from Scheme to C it will block, as its frame is not accessible. Once \code{t1} has returned to C and from there to Scheme, \code{t0} will be able to resume. The return to Scheme is required because context switches can only occur while Scheme code is running. \code{T0} will also be able to resume if \code{t1} uses a continuation to throw past its call to C. \section{Interacting with the Scheme heap} \label{sec:heap-allocation} \label{gc} Scheme~48 uses a copying, precise garbage collector. Any procedure that allocates objects within the Scheme~48 heap may trigger a garbage collection. Variables bound to values in the Scheme~48 heap need to be registered with the garbage collector so that the value will be retained and so that the variables will be updated if the garbage collector moves the object. The garbage collector has no facility for updating pointers to the interiors of objects, so such pointers, for example the ones returned by \code{EXTRACT\_STRING}, will likely become invalid when a garbage collection occurs. \subsection{Registering objects with the GC} \label{sec:gc-register} A set of macros are used to manage the registration of local variables with the garbage collector. \begin{protos} \cproto{S48\_DECLARE\_GC\_PROTECT($n$)} \cproto{void S48\_GC\_PROTECT\_$n$(s48\_value$_1$, $\ldots$, s48\_value$_n$)} \cproto{void S48\_GC\_UNPROTECT()} \end{protos} \code{S48\_DECLARE\_GC\_PROTECT($n$)}, where $1\leq n\leq 9$, allocates storage for registering $n$ variables. % JAR says: what is a block? (How to describe it? -RK) At most one use of \code{S48\_DECLARE\_GC\_PROTECT} may occur in a block. \code{S48\_GC\_PROTECT\_$n$($v_1$, $\ldots$, $v_n$)} registers the $n$ variables (l-values) with the garbage collector. It must be within scope of a \code{S48\_DECLARE\_GC\_PROTECT($n$)} and be before any code which can cause a GC. \code{S48\_GC\_UNPROTECT} removes the block's protected variables from the garbage collector's list. It must be called at the end of the block after any code which may cause a garbage collection. Omitting any of the three may cause serious and hard-to-debug problems. Notably, the garbage collector may relocate an object and invalidate \code{s48\_value} variables which are not protected. A \code{gc-protection-mismatch} exception is raised if, when a C procedure returns to Scheme, the calls to \code{S48\_GC\_PROTECT()} have not been matched by an equal number of calls to \code{S48\_GC\_UNPROTECT()}. Global variables may also be registered with the garbage collector. \begin{protos} \cproto{void S48\_GC\_PROTECT\_GLOBAL(\cvar{value})} \end{protos} \noindent{}\code{S48\_GC\_PROTECT\_GLOBAL} permanently registers the variable \cvar{value} (an l-value) with the garbage collector. There is no way to unregister the variable. \subsection{Keeping C data structures in the Scheme heap} \label{sec:external-data} C data structures can be kept in the Scheme heap by embedding them inside byte vectors. The following macros can be used to create and access embedded C objects. \begin{protos} \cgcproto{s48\_value S48\_MAKE\_VALUE(type)} \cproto{type \ \ \ \ \ S48\_EXTRACT\_VALUE(s48\_value, type)} \cproto{type * \ \ \ S48\_EXTRACT\_VALUE\_POINTER(s48\_value, type)} \cproto{void \ \ \ \ \ S48\_SET\_VALUE(s48\_value, type, value)} \end{protos} \noindent{} \code{S48\_MAKE\_VALUE} makes a byte vector large enough to hold an object whose type is \cvar{type}. \code{S48\_EXTRACT\_VALUE} returns the contents of a byte vector cast to \cvar{type}, and \code{S48\_EXTRACT\_VALUE\_POINTER} returns a pointer to the contents of the byte vector. The value returned by \code{S48\_EXTRACT\_VALUE\_POINTER} is valid only until the next garbage collection. \code{S48\_SET\_VALUE} stores \code{value} into the byte vector. %There are some convenient macros for external objects that hold % arrays: % %\begin{itemize} %\item \code{S48\_MAKE\_ARRAY($b$, $s$)} returns an external object % which holds an array with base type $b$ and size $s$. %\item \code{S48\_EXTRACT\_ARRAY(\cvar{value}, $b$)} returns the address of the % array with base type $b$ inside external object \cvar{value}. It does not % check if \cvar{value} is actually an external object. Note that the address % returned by \code{S48\_EXTRACT\_ARRAY} is only valid until the next % \link{heap allocation}[ (see % Sec.~\ref{sec:heap-allocation})]{sec:heap-allocation}. %\end{itemize} \subsection{C code and heap images} \label{sec:hibernation} Scheme~48 uses dumped heap images to restore a previous system state. The Scheme~48 heap is written into a file in a machine-independent and operating-system-independent format. The procedures described above may be used to create objects in the Scheme heap that contain information specific to the current machine, operating system, or process. A heap image containing such objects may not work correctly when resumed. To address this problem, a record type may be given a `resumer' procedure. On startup, the resumer procedure for a type is applied to each record of that type in the image being restarted. This procedure can update the record in a manner appropriate to the machine, operating system, or process used to resume the image. \begin{protos} \protonoresult{define-record-resumer}{ record-type procedure} \end{protos} \noindent{}\code{Define-record-resumer} defines \cvar{procedure}, which should accept one argument, to be the resumer for \var{record-type}. The order in which resumer procedures are called is not specified. The \cvar{procedure} argument to \code{define-record-resumer} may be \code{\#f}, in which case records of the given type are not written out in heap images. When writing a heap image any reference to such a record is replaced by the value of the record's first field, and an exception is raised after the image is written. \section{Using Scheme records in C code} External modules can create records and access their slots positionally. \begin{protos} \cgcproto{s48\_value S48\_MAKE\_RECORD(s48\_value)} \cproto{int \ \ \ \ \ \ S48\_RECORD\_P(s48\_value)} \cproto{s48\_value S48\_RECORD\_TYPE(s48\_value)} \cproto{s48\_value S48\_RECORD\_REF(s48\_value, long)} \cproto{void \ \ \ \ \ S48\_RECORD\_SET(s48\_value, long, s48\_value)} \end{protos} % The argument to \code{S48\_MAKE\_RECORD} should be a shared binding whose value is a record type. In C the fields of Scheme records are only accessible via offsets, with the first field having offset zero, the second offset one, and so forth. If the order of the fields is changed in the Scheme definition of the record type the C code must be updated as well. For example, given the following record-type definition \begin{example} (define-record-type thing :thing (make-thing a b) thing? (a thing-a) (b thing-b)) \end{example} the identifier \code{:thing} is bound to the record type and can be exported to C: \begin{example} (define-exported-binding "thing-record-type" :thing) \end{example} \code{Thing} records can then be made in C: \begin{example} static scheme_value thing_record_type_binding = SCHFALSE; void initialize_things(void) \{ S48_GC_PROTECT_GLOBAL(thing_record_type_binding); thing_record_type_binding = s48_get_imported_binding("thing-record-type"); \} scheme_value make_thing(scheme_value a, scheme_value b) \{ s48_value thing; s48_DECLARE_GC_PROTECT(2); S48_GC_PROTECT_2(a, b); thing = s48_make_record(thing_record_type_binding); S48_RECORD_SET(thing, 0, a); S48_RECORD_SET(thing, 1, b); S48_GC_UNPROTECT(); return thing; \} \end{example} Note that the variables \code{a} and \code{b} must be protected against the possibility of a garbage collection occuring during the call to \code{s48\_make\_record()}. \section{Raising exceptions from external code} \label{sec:exceptions} The following macros explicitly raise certain errors, immediately returning to Scheme~48. Raising an exception performs all necessary clean-up actions to properly return to Scheme~48, including adjusting the stack of protected variables. \begin{protos} \cproto{s48\_raise\_scheme\_exception(int type, int nargs, \ldots)} \end{protos} \noindent{}\code{s48\_raise\_scheme\_exception} is the base procedure for raising exceptions. \code{type} is the type of exception, and should be one of the \code{S48\_EXCEPTION\_}\ldots constants defined in \code{scheme48arch.h}. \code{nargs} is the number of additional values to be included in the exception; these follow the \code{nargs} argument and should all have type \code{s48\_value}. \code{s48\_raise\_scheme\_exception} never returns. The following procedures are available for raising particular types of exceptions. Like \code{s48\_raise\_scheme\_exception} these never return. \begin{protos} \cproto{s48\_raise\_argument\_type\_error(scheme\_value)} \cproto{s48\_raise\_argument\_number\_error(int nargs, int min, int max)} \cproto{s48\_raise\_range\_error(long value, long min, long max)} \cproto{s48\_raise\_closed\_channel\_error()} \cproto{s48\_raise\_os\_error(int errno)} \cproto{s48\_raise\_out\_of\_memory\_error()} \end{protos} \noindent{}An argument type error indicates that the given value is of the wrong type. An argument number error is raised when the number of arguments, \code{nargs}, should be, but isn't, between \code{min} and \code{max}, inclusive. Similarly, a range error indicates that \code{value} is not between between \code{min} and \code{max}, inclusive. The following macros raise argument type errors if their argument does not have the required type. \code{S48\_CHECK\_BOOLEAN} raises an error if its argument is neither \code{\#t} or \code{\#f}. \begin{protos} \cproto{void S48\_CHECK\_BOOLEAN(s48\_value)} \cproto{void S48\_CHECK\_SYMBOL(s48\_value)} \cproto{void S48\_CHECK\_PAIR(s48\_value)} \cproto{void S48\_CHECK\_STRING(s48\_value)} \cproto{void S48\_CHECK\_INTEGER(s48\_value)} \cproto{void S48\_CHECK\_CHANNEL(s48\_value)} \cproto{void S48\_CHECK\_BYTE\_VECTOR(s48\_value)} \cproto{void S48\_CHECK\_RECORD(s48\_value)} \cproto{void S48\_CHECK\_SHARED\_BINDING(s48\_value)} \end{protos} \section{Unsafe functions and macros} All of the C procedures and macros described above check that their arguments have the appropriate types and that indexes are in range. The following procedures and macros are identical to those described above, except that they do not perform type and range checks. They are provided for the purpose of writing more efficient code; their general use is not recommended. \begin{protos} \cproto{char \ \ \ \ \ S48\_UNSAFE\_EXTRACT\_CHAR(s48\_value)} \cproto{char * \ \ \ S48\_UNSAFE\_EXTRACT\_STRING(s48\_value)} \cproto{long \ \ \ \ \ S48\_UNSAFE\_EXTRACT\_DOUBLE(s48\_value)} \end{protos} \begin{protos} \cproto{long \ \ \ \ \ S48\_UNSAFE\_EXTRACT\_FIXNUM(s48\_value)} \cproto{s48\_value S48\_UNSAFE\_ENTER\_FIXNUM(long)} \end{protos} \begin{protos} \cproto{s48\_value S48\_UNSAFE\_CAR(s48\_value)} \cproto{s48\_value S48\_UNSAFE\_CDR(s48\_value)} \cproto{void \ \ \ \ \ S48\_UNSAFE\_SET\_CAR(s48\_value, s48\_value)} \cproto{void \ \ \ \ \ S48\_UNSAFE\_SET\_CDR(s48\_value, s48\_value)} \end{protos} \begin{protos} \cproto{long \ \ \ \ \ S48\_UNSAFE\_VECTOR\_LENGTH(s48\_value)} \cproto{s48\_value S48\_UNSAFE\_VECTOR\_REF(s48\_value, long)} \cproto{void \ \ \ \ \ S48\_UNSAFE\_VECTOR\_SET(s48\_value, long, s48\_value)} \end{protos} \begin{protos} \cproto{long \ \ \ \ \ S48\_UNSAFE\_STRING\_LENGTH(s48\_value)} \cproto{char \ \ \ \ \ S48\_UNSAFE\_STRING\_REF(s48\_value, long)} \cproto{void \ \ \ \ \ S48\_UNSAFE\_STRING\_SET(s48\_value, long, char)} \end{protos} \begin{protos} \cproto{s48\_value S48\_UNSAFE\_SYMBOL\_TO\_STRING(s48\_value)} \end{protos} \begin{protos} \cproto{long \ \ \ \ \ S48\_UNSAFE\_BYTE\_VECTOR\_LENGTH(s48\_value)} \cproto{char \ \ \ \ \ S48\_UNSAFE\_BYTE\_VECTOR\_REF(s48\_value, long)} \cproto{void \ \ \ \ \ S48\_UNSAFE\_BYTE\_VECTOR\_SET(s48\_value, long, int)} \end{protos} \begin{protos} \cproto{s48\_value S48\_UNSAFE\_SHARED\_BINDING\_REF(s48\_value s\_b)} \cproto{int\ \ \ \ \ \ \ S48\_UNSAFE\_SHARED\_BINDING\_P(x)} \cproto{int\ \ \ \ \ \ \ S48\_UNSAFE\_SHARED\_BINDING\_IS\_IMPORT\_P(s48\_value s\_b)} \cproto{s48\_value S48\_UNSAFE\_SHARED\_BINDING\_NAME(s48\_value s\_b)} \cproto{void\ \ \ \ \ \ S48\_UNSAFE\_SHARED\_BINDING\_SET(s48\_value s\_b, s48\_value value)} \end{protos} \begin{protos} \cproto{s48\_value S48\_UNSAFE\_RECORD\_TYPE(s48\_value)} \cproto{s48\_value S48\_UNSAFE\_RECORD\_REF(s48\_value, long)} \cproto{void \ \ \ \ \ S48\_UNSAFE\_RECORD\_SET(s48\_value, long, s48\_value)} \end{protos} \begin{protos} \cproto{type \ \ \ \ \ S48\_UNSAFE\_EXTRACT\_VALUE(s48\_value, type)} \cproto{type * \ \ \ S48\_UNSAFE\_EXTRACT\_VALUE\_POINTER(s48\_value, type)} \cproto{void \ \ \ \ \ S48\_UNSAFE\_SET\_VALUE(s48\_value, type, value)} \end{protos}