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1 | This directory contains the libffi package, which is not part of GCC but |
2 | shipped with GCC as convenience. | |
3 | ||
4 | Status | |
5 | ====== | |
63e5e3e0 | 6 | |
491e6ad1 AH |
7 | libffi-3.0.8 was released on December 19, 2008. Check the libffi web |
8 | page for updates: <URL:http://sourceware.org/libffi/>. | |
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9 | |
10 | ||
11 | What is libffi? | |
12 | =============== | |
13 | ||
14 | Compilers for high level languages generate code that follow certain | |
15 | conventions. These conventions are necessary, in part, for separate | |
16 | compilation to work. One such convention is the "calling | |
17 | convention". The "calling convention" is essentially a set of | |
18 | assumptions made by the compiler about where function arguments will | |
19 | be found on entry to a function. A "calling convention" also specifies | |
20 | where the return value for a function is found. | |
21 | ||
22 | Some programs may not know at the time of compilation what arguments | |
23 | are to be passed to a function. For instance, an interpreter may be | |
24 | told at run-time about the number and types of arguments used to call | |
25 | a given function. Libffi can be used in such programs to provide a | |
26 | bridge from the interpreter program to compiled code. | |
27 | ||
28 | The libffi library provides a portable, high level programming | |
29 | interface to various calling conventions. This allows a programmer to | |
30 | call any function specified by a call interface description at run | |
31 | time. | |
32 | ||
491e6ad1 | 33 | FFI stands for Foreign Function Interface. A foreign function |
63e5e3e0 AG |
34 | interface is the popular name for the interface that allows code |
35 | written in one language to call code written in another language. The | |
36 | libffi library really only provides the lowest, machine dependent | |
37 | layer of a fully featured foreign function interface. A layer must | |
38 | exist above libffi that handles type conversions for values passed | |
39 | between the two languages. | |
40 | ||
41 | ||
491e6ad1 AH |
42 | Supported Platforms |
43 | =================== | |
44 | ||
45 | Libffi has been ported to many different platforms, although this | |
46 | release was only tested on: | |
47 | ||
48 | arm oabi linux | |
49 | arm eabi linux | |
50 | hppa linux | |
51 | mips o32 linux (little endian) | |
52 | powerpc darwin | |
53 | powerpc freebsd | |
54 | powerpc64 linux | |
55 | sparc solaris | |
56 | sparc64 freebsd | |
57 | sparc64 solaris | |
58 | x86 cygwin | |
59 | x86 darwin | |
60 | x86 freebsd | |
61 | x86 linux | |
62 | x86 openbsd | |
63 | x86 solaris | |
062b8279 | 64 | x86-64 mingw |
491e6ad1 AH |
65 | x86-64 darwin |
66 | x86-64 linux | |
67 | x86-64 OS X | |
68 | x86-64 freebsd | |
69 | x86-64 solaris | |
70 | ||
71 | Please send additional platform test results to | |
72 | libffi-discuss@sourceware.org. | |
63e5e3e0 AG |
73 | |
74 | Installing libffi | |
75 | ================= | |
76 | ||
77 | [Note: before actually performing any of these installation steps, | |
78 | you may wish to read the "Platform Specific Notes" below.] | |
79 | ||
80 | First you must configure the distribution for your particular | |
81 | system. Go to the directory you wish to build libffi in and run the | |
82 | "configure" program found in the root directory of the libffi source | |
83 | distribution. | |
84 | ||
85 | You may want to tell configure where to install the libffi library and | |
86 | header files. To do that, use the --prefix configure switch. Libffi | |
87 | will install under /usr/local by default. | |
88 | ||
89 | If you want to enable extra run-time debugging checks use the the | |
90 | --enable-debug configure switch. This is useful when your program dies | |
91 | mysteriously while using libffi. | |
92 | ||
93 | Another useful configure switch is --enable-purify-safety. Using this | |
94 | will add some extra code which will suppress certain warnings when you | |
95 | are using Purify with libffi. Only use this switch when using | |
96 | Purify, as it will slow down the library. | |
97 | ||
98 | Configure has many other options. Use "configure --help" to see them all. | |
99 | ||
100 | Once configure has finished, type "make". Note that you must be using | |
491e6ad1 | 101 | GNU make. You can ftp GNU make from prep.ai.mit.edu:/pub/gnu. |
63e5e3e0 | 102 | |
491e6ad1 AH |
103 | To ensure that libffi is working as advertised, type "make check". |
104 | This will require that you have DejaGNU installed. | |
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105 | |
106 | To install the library and header files, type "make install". | |
107 | ||
108 | ||
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109 | Platform Specific Notes |
110 | ======================= | |
111 | ||
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112 | MIPS - Irix 5.3 & 6.x |
113 | --------------------- | |
114 | ||
115 | Irix 6.2 and better supports three different calling conventions: o32, | |
116 | n32 and n64. Currently, libffi only supports both o32 and n32 under | |
117 | Irix 6.x, but only o32 under Irix 5.3. Libffi will automatically be | |
118 | configured for whichever calling convention it was built for. | |
119 | ||
120 | By default, the configure script will try to build libffi with the GNU | |
121 | development tools. To build libffi with the SGI development tools, set | |
122 | the environment variable CC to either "cc -32" or "cc -n32" before | |
123 | running configure under Irix 6.x (depending on whether you want an o32 | |
124 | or n32 library), or just "cc" for Irix 5.3. | |
125 | ||
126 | With the n32 calling convention, when returning structures smaller | |
127 | than 16 bytes, be sure to provide an RVALUE that is 8 byte aligned. | |
128 | Here's one way of forcing this: | |
129 | ||
130 | double struct_storage[2]; | |
131 | my_small_struct *s = (my_small_struct *) struct_storage; | |
132 | /* Use s for RVALUE */ | |
133 | ||
134 | If you don't do this you are liable to get spurious bus errors. | |
135 | ||
136 | "long long" values are not supported yet. | |
137 | ||
138 | You must use GNU Make to build libffi on SGI platforms. | |
139 | ||
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140 | |
141 | PowerPC System V ABI | |
142 | -------------------- | |
143 | ||
144 | There are two `System V ABI's which libffi implements for PowerPC. | |
145 | They differ only in how small structures are returned from functions. | |
146 | ||
147 | In the FFI_SYSV version, structures that are 8 bytes or smaller are | |
148 | returned in registers. This is what GCC does when it is configured | |
149 | for solaris, and is what the System V ABI I have (dated September | |
150 | 1995) says. | |
151 | ||
152 | In the FFI_GCC_SYSV version, all structures are returned the same way: | |
153 | by passing a pointer as the first argument to the function. This is | |
154 | what GCC does when it is configured for linux or a generic sysv | |
155 | target. | |
156 | ||
157 | EGCS 1.0.1 (and probably other versions of EGCS/GCC) also has a | |
158 | inconsistency with the SysV ABI: When a procedure is called with many | |
159 | floating-point arguments, some of them get put on the stack. They are | |
160 | all supposed to be stored in double-precision format, even if they are | |
161 | only single-precision, but EGCS stores single-precision arguments as | |
162 | single-precision anyway. This causes one test to fail (the `many | |
163 | arguments' test). | |
164 | ||
165 | ||
63e5e3e0 AG |
166 | History |
167 | ======= | |
168 | ||
491e6ad1 AH |
169 | 3.0.7 Nov-11-08 |
170 | Fix for ppc FreeBSD. | |
171 | (thanks to Andreas Tobler) | |
172 | ||
173 | 3.0.6 Jul-17-08 | |
174 | Fix for closures on sh. | |
175 | Mark the sh/sh64 stack as non-executable. | |
176 | (both thanks to Kaz Kojima) | |
177 | ||
178 | 3.0.5 Apr-3-08 | |
179 | Fix libffi.pc file. | |
180 | Fix #define ARM for IcedTea users. | |
181 | Fix x86 closure bug. | |
182 | ||
183 | 3.0.4 Feb-24-08 | |
184 | Fix x86 OpenBSD configury. | |
185 | ||
186 | 3.0.3 Feb-22-08 | |
187 | Enable x86 OpenBSD thanks to Thomas Heller, and | |
188 | x86-64 FreeBSD thanks to Björn König and Andreas Tobler. | |
189 | Clean up test instruction in README. | |
190 | ||
191 | 3.0.2 Feb-21-08 | |
192 | Improved x86 FreeBSD support. | |
193 | Thanks to Björn König. | |
194 | ||
195 | 3.0.1 Feb-15-08 | |
196 | Fix instruction cache flushing bug on MIPS. | |
197 | Thanks to David Daney. | |
198 | ||
199 | 3.0.0 Feb-15-08 | |
200 | Many changes, mostly thanks to the GCC project. | |
201 | Cygnus Solutions is now Red Hat. | |
202 | ||
203 | [10 years go by...] | |
204 | ||
63e5e3e0 AG |
205 | 1.20 Oct-5-98 |
206 | Raffaele Sena produces ARM port. | |
207 | ||
208 | 1.19 Oct-5-98 | |
209 | Fixed x86 long double and long long return support. | |
210 | m68k bug fixes from Andreas Schwab. | |
211 | Patch for DU assembler compatibility for the Alpha from Richard | |
212 | Henderson. | |
213 | ||
214 | 1.18 Apr-17-98 | |
215 | Bug fixes and MIPS configuration changes. | |
216 | ||
217 | 1.17 Feb-24-98 | |
218 | Bug fixes and m68k port from Andreas Schwab. PowerPC port from | |
219 | Geoffrey Keating. Various bug x86, Sparc and MIPS bug fixes. | |
220 | ||
221 | 1.16 Feb-11-98 | |
222 | Richard Henderson produces Alpha port. | |
223 | ||
224 | 1.15 Dec-4-97 | |
225 | Fixed an n32 ABI bug. New libtool, auto* support. | |
226 | ||
227 | 1.14 May-13-97 | |
228 | libtool is now used to generate shared and static libraries. | |
229 | Fixed a minor portability problem reported by Russ McManus | |
230 | <mcmanr@eq.gs.com>. | |
231 | ||
232 | 1.13 Dec-2-96 | |
233 | Added --enable-purify-safety to keep Purify from complaining | |
234 | about certain low level code. | |
235 | Sparc fix for calling functions with < 6 args. | |
236 | Linux x86 a.out fix. | |
237 | ||
238 | 1.12 Nov-22-96 | |
239 | Added missing ffi_type_void, needed for supporting void return | |
240 | types. Fixed test case for non MIPS machines. Cygnus Support | |
241 | is now Cygnus Solutions. | |
242 | ||
243 | 1.11 Oct-30-96 | |
244 | Added notes about GNU make. | |
245 | ||
246 | 1.10 Oct-29-96 | |
247 | Added configuration fix for non GNU compilers. | |
248 | ||
249 | 1.09 Oct-29-96 | |
250 | Added --enable-debug configure switch. Clean-ups based on LCLint | |
251 | feedback. ffi_mips.h is always installed. Many configuration | |
252 | fixes. Fixed ffitest.c for sparc builds. | |
253 | ||
254 | 1.08 Oct-15-96 | |
255 | Fixed n32 problem. Many clean-ups. | |
256 | ||
257 | 1.07 Oct-14-96 | |
258 | Gordon Irlam rewrites v8.S again. Bug fixes. | |
259 | ||
260 | 1.06 Oct-14-96 | |
261 | Gordon Irlam improved the sparc port. | |
262 | ||
263 | 1.05 Oct-14-96 | |
264 | Interface changes based on feedback. | |
265 | ||
266 | 1.04 Oct-11-96 | |
267 | Sparc port complete (modulo struct passing bug). | |
268 | ||
269 | 1.03 Oct-10-96 | |
270 | Passing struct args, and returning struct values works for | |
271 | all architectures/calling conventions. Expanded tests. | |
272 | ||
273 | 1.02 Oct-9-96 | |
274 | Added SGI n32 support. Fixed bugs in both o32 and Linux support. | |
275 | Added "make test". | |
276 | ||
277 | 1.01 Oct-8-96 | |
278 | Fixed float passing bug in mips version. Restructured some | |
279 | of the code. Builds cleanly with SGI tools. | |
280 | ||
281 | 1.00 Oct-7-96 | |
282 | First release. No public announcement. | |
283 | ||
284 | ||
285 | Authors & Credits | |
286 | ================= | |
287 | ||
491e6ad1 AH |
288 | libffi was originally written by Anthony Green <green@redhat.com>. |
289 | ||
290 | The developers of the GNU Compiler Collection project have made | |
291 | innumerable valuable contributions. See the ChangeLog file for | |
292 | details. | |
63e5e3e0 | 293 | |
491e6ad1 AH |
294 | Some of the ideas behind libffi were inspired by Gianni Mariani's free |
295 | gencall library for Silicon Graphics machines. | |
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296 | |
297 | The closure mechanism was designed and implemented by Kresten Krab | |
298 | Thorup. | |
299 | ||
491e6ad1 AH |
300 | Major processor architecture ports were contributed by the following |
301 | developers: | |
302 | ||
303 | alpha Richard Henderson | |
304 | arm Raffaele Sena | |
305 | cris Simon Posnjak, Hans-Peter Nilsson | |
306 | frv Anthony Green | |
307 | ia64 Hans Boehm | |
308 | m32r Kazuhiro Inaoka | |
309 | m68k Andreas Schwab | |
310 | mips Anthony Green, Casey Marshall | |
311 | mips64 David Daney | |
312 | pa Randolph Chung, Dave Anglin, Andreas Tobler | |
313 | powerpc Geoffrey Keating, Andreas Tobler, | |
314 | David Edelsohn, John Hornkvist | |
315 | powerpc64 Jakub Jelinek | |
316 | s390 Gerhard Tonn, Ulrich Weigand | |
317 | sh Kaz Kojima | |
318 | sh64 Kaz Kojima | |
319 | sparc Anthony Green, Gordon Irlam | |
320 | x86 Anthony Green, Jon Beniston | |
321 | x86-64 Bo Thorsen | |
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322 | |
323 | Jesper Skov and Andrew Haley both did more than their fair share of | |
324 | stepping through the code and tracking down bugs. | |
325 | ||
491e6ad1 AH |
326 | Thanks also to Tom Tromey for bug fixes, documentation and |
327 | configuration help. | |
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328 | |
329 | Thanks to Jim Blandy, who provided some useful feedback on the libffi | |
330 | interface. | |
331 | ||
491e6ad1 AH |
332 | Andreas Tobler has done a tremendous amount of work on the testsuite. |
333 | ||
334 | Alex Oliva solved the executable page problem for SElinux. | |
335 | ||
336 | The list above is almost certainly incomplete and inaccurate. I'm | |
337 | happy to make corrections or additions upon request. | |
338 | ||
63e5e3e0 | 339 | If you have a problem, or have found a bug, please send a note to |
491e6ad1 | 340 | green@redhat.com. |