PERLEMBED(1) Perl Programmers Reference Guide PERLEMBED(1)
NAME
perlembed - how to embed perl in your C program
DESCRIPTION
PREAMBLE
Do you want to:
Use C from Perl?
Read perlxstut, perlxs, h2xs, perlguts, and perlapi.
Use a Unix program from Perl?
Read about back-quotes and about "system" and "exec" in perlfunc.
Use Perl from Perl?
Read about "do" in perlfunc and "eval" in perlfunc and "require" in perlfunc and "use" in perl-func. perlfunc.
func.
Use C from C?
Rethink your design.
Use Perl from C?
Read on...
ROADMAP
Compiling your C program
Adding a Perl interpreter to your C program
Calling a Perl subroutine from your C program
Evaluating a Perl statement from your C program
Performing Perl pattern matches and substitutions from your C program
Fiddling with the Perl stack from your C program
Maintaining a persistent interpreter
Maintaining multiple interpreter instances
Using Perl modules, which themselves use C libraries, from your C program
Embedding Perl under Win32
Compiling your C program
If you have trouble compiling the scripts in this documentation, you're not alone. The cardinal
rule: COMPILE THE PROGRAMS IN EXACTLY THE SAME WAY THAT YOUR PERL WAS COMPILED. (Sorry for yelling.)
Also, every C program that uses Perl must link in the perl library. What's that, you ask? Perl is
itself written in C; the perl library is the collection of compiled C programs that were used to cre-ate create
ate your perl executable (/usr/bin/perl or equivalent). (Corollary: you can't use Perl from your C
program unless Perl has been compiled on your machine, or installed properly--that's why you
shouldn't blithely copy Perl executables from machine to machine without also copying the lib direc-tory.) directory.)
tory.)
When you use Perl from C, your C program will--usually--allocate, "run", and deallocate a PerlInter-preter PerlInterpreter
preter object, which is defined by the perl library.
If your copy of Perl is recent enough to contain this documentation (version 5.002 or later), then
the perl library (and EXTERN.h and perl.h, which you'll also need) will reside in a directory that
looks like this:
/usr/local/lib/perl5/your_architecture_here/CORE
or perhaps just
/usr/local/lib/perl5/CORE
or maybe something like
/usr/opt/perl5/CORE
Execute this statement for a hint about where to find CORE:
perl -MConfig -e 'print $Config{archlib}'
Here's how you'd compile the example in the next section, "Adding a Perl interpreter to your C pro-gram", program",
gram", on my Linux box:
% gcc -O2 -Dbool=char -DHAS_BOOL -I/usr/local/include
-I/usr/local/lib/perl5/i586-linux/5.003/CORE
-L/usr/local/lib/perl5/i586-linux/5.003/CORE
-o interp interp.c -lperl -lm
(That's all one line.) On my DEC Alpha running old 5.003_05, the incantation is a bit different:
% cc -O2 -Olimit 2900 -DSTANDARD_C -I/usr/local/include
-I/usr/local/lib/perl5/alpha-dec_osf/5.00305/CORE
-L/usr/local/lib/perl5/alpha-dec_osf/5.00305/CORE -L/usr/local/lib
-D__LANGUAGE_C__ -D_NO_PROTO -o interp interp.c -lperl -lm
How can you figure out what to add? Assuming your Perl is post-5.001, execute a "perl -V" command
and pay special attention to the "cc" and "ccflags" information.
You'll have to choose the appropriate compiler (cc, gcc, et al.) for your machine: "perl -MConfig -e
'print $Config{cc}'" will tell you what to use.
You'll also have to choose the appropriate library directory (/usr/local/lib/...) for your machine.
If your compiler complains that certain functions are undefined, or that it can't locate -lperl, then
you need to change the path following the "-L". If it complains that it can't find EXTERN.h and
perl.h, you need to change the path following the "-I".
You may have to add extra libraries as well. Which ones? Perhaps those printed by
perl -MConfig -e 'print $Config{libs}'
Provided your perl binary was properly configured and installed the ExtUtils::Embed module will
determine all of this information for you:
% cc -o interp interp.c `perl -MExtUtils::Embed -e ccopts -e ldopts`
If the ExtUtils::Embed module isn't part of your Perl distribution, you can retrieve it from
http://www.perl.com/perl/CPAN/modules/by-module/ExtUtils/ (If this documentation came from your Perl
distribution, then you're running 5.004 or better and you already have it.)
The ExtUtils::Embed kit on CPAN also contains all source code for the examples in this document,
tests, additional examples and other information you may find useful.
Adding a Perl interpreter to your C program
In a sense, perl (the C program) is a good example of embedding Perl (the language), so I'll demon-
strate embedding with miniperlmain.c, included in the source distribution. Here's a bastardized,
nonportable version of miniperlmain.c containing the essentials of embedding:
#include <EXTERN.h> /* from the Perl distribution */
#include <perl.h> /* from the Perl distribution */
static PerlInterpreter *my_perl; /*** The Perl interpreter ***/
int main(int argc, char **argv, char **env)
{
PERL_SYS_INIT3(&argc,&argv,&env);
my_perl = perl_alloc();
perl_construct(my_perl);
PL_exit_flags |= PERL_EXIT_DESTRUCT_END;
perl_parse(my_perl, NULL, argc, argv, (char **)NULL);
perl_run(my_perl);
perl_destruct(my_perl);
perl_free(my_perl);
PERL_SYS_TERM();
}
Notice that we don't use the "env" pointer. Normally handed to "perl_parse" as its final argument,
"env" here is replaced by "NULL", which means that the current environment will be used. The macros
PERL_SYS_INIT3() and PERL_SYS_TERM() provide system-specific tune up of the C runtime environment
necessary to run Perl interpreters; since PERL_SYS_INIT3() may change "env", it may be more appropri-
ate to provide "env" as an argument to perl_parse().
Now compile this program (I'll call it interp.c) into an executable:
% cc -o interp interp.c `perl -MExtUtils::Embed -e ccopts -e ldopts`
After a successful compilation, you'll be able to use interp just like perl itself:
% interp
print "Pretty Good Perl \n";
print "10890 - 9801 is ", 10890 - 9801;
<CTRL-D>
Pretty Good Perl
10890 - 9801 is 1089
or
% interp -e 'printf("%x", 3735928559)'
deadbeef
You can also read and execute Perl statements from a file while in the midst of your C program, by
placing the filename in argv[1] before calling perl_run.
Calling a Perl subroutine from your C program
To call individual Perl subroutines, you can use any of the call_* functions documented in perlcall.
In this example we'll use "call_argv".
That's shown below, in a program I'll call showtime.c.
#include <EXTERN.h>
#include <perl.h>
static PerlInterpreter *my_perl;
int main(int argc, char **argv, char **env)
{
char *args[] = { NULL };
PERL_SYS_INIT3(&argc,&argv,&env);
my_perl = perl_alloc();
perl_construct(my_perl);
perl_parse(my_perl, NULL, argc, argv, NULL);
PL_exit_flags |= PERL_EXIT_DESTRUCT_END;
/*** skipping perl_run() ***/
call_argv("showtime", G_DISCARD | G_NOARGS, args);
perl_destruct(my_perl);
perl_free(my_perl);
PERL_SYS_TERM();
}
where showtime is a Perl subroutine that takes no arguments (that's the G_NOARGS) and for which I'll
ignore the return value (that's the G_DISCARD). Those flags, and others, are discussed in perlcall.
I'll define the showtime subroutine in a file called showtime.pl:
print "I shan't be printed.";
sub showtime {
print time;
}
Simple enough. Now compile and run:
% cc -o showtime showtime.c `perl -MExtUtils::Embed -e ccopts -e ldopts`
% showtime showtime.pl
818284590
yielding the number of seconds that elapsed between January 1, 1970 (the beginning of the Unix
epoch), and the moment I began writing this sentence.
In this particular case we don't have to call perl_run, as we set the PL_exit_flag
PERL_EXIT_DESTRUCT_END which executes END blocks in perl_destruct.
If you want to pass arguments to the Perl subroutine, you can add strings to the "NULL"-terminated
"args" list passed to call_argv. For other data types, or to examine return values, you'll need to
manipulate the Perl stack. That's demonstrated in "Fiddling with the Perl stack from your C pro-
gram".
Evaluating a Perl statement from your C program
Perl provides two API functions to evaluate pieces of Perl code. These are "eval_sv" in perlapi and
"eval_pv" in perlapi.
Arguably, these are the only routines you'll ever need to execute snippets of Perl code from within
your C program. Your code can be as long as you wish; it can contain multiple statements; it can
employ "use" in perlfunc, "require" in perlfunc, and "do" in perlfunc to include external Perl files.
eval_pv lets us evaluate individual Perl strings, and then extract variables for coercion into C
types. The following program, string.c, executes three Perl strings, extracting an "int" from the
first, a "float" from the second, and a "char *" from the third.
#include <EXTERN.h>
#include <perl.h>
static PerlInterpreter *my_perl;
main (int argc, char **argv, char **env)
{
STRLEN n_a;
char *embedding[] = { "", "-e", "0" };
PERL_SYS_INIT3(&argc,&argv,&env);
my_perl = perl_alloc();
perl_construct( my_perl );
perl_parse(my_perl, NULL, 3, embedding, NULL);
PL_exit_flags |= PERL_EXIT_DESTRUCT_END;
perl_run(my_perl);
/** Treat $a as an integer **/
eval_pv("$a = 3; $a **= 2", TRUE);
printf("a = %d\n", SvIV(get_sv("a", FALSE)));
/** Treat $a as a float **/
eval_pv("$a = 3.14; $a **= 2", TRUE);
printf("a = %f\n", SvNV(get_sv("a", FALSE)));
/** Treat $a as a string **/
eval_pv("$a = 'rekcaH lreP rehtonA tsuJ'; $a = reverse($a);", TRUE);
printf("a = %s\n", SvPV(get_sv("a", FALSE), n_a));
perl_destruct(my_perl);
perl_free(my_perl);
PERL_SYS_TERM();
}
All of those strange functions with sv in their names help convert Perl scalars to C types. They're
described in perlguts and perlapi.
If you compile and run string.c, you'll see the results of using SvIV() to create an "int", SvNV() to
create a "float", and SvPV() to create a string:
a = 9
a = 9.859600
a = Just Another Perl Hacker
In the example above, we've created a global variable to temporarily store the computed value of our
eval'd expression. It is also possible and in most cases a better strategy to fetch the return value
from eval_pv() instead. Example:
...
STRLEN n_a;
SV *val = eval_pv("reverse 'rekcaH lreP rehtonA tsuJ'", TRUE);
printf("%s\n", SvPV(val,n_a));
...
This way, we avoid namespace pollution by not creating global variables and we've simplified our code
as well.
Performing Perl pattern matches and substitutions from your C program
The eval_sv() function lets us evaluate strings of Perl code, so we can define some functions that
use it to "specialize" in matches and substitutions: match(), substitute(), and matches().
I32 match(SV *string, char *pattern);
Given a string and a pattern (e.g., "m/clasp/" or "/\b\w*\b/", which in your C program might appear
as "/\\b\\w*\\b/"), match() returns 1 if the string matches the pattern and 0 otherwise.
int substitute(SV **string, char *pattern);
Given a pointer to an "SV" and an "=~" operation (e.g., "s/bob/robert/g" or "tr[A-Z][a-z]"), substi-
tute() modifies the string within the "SV" as according to the operation, returning the number of
substitutions made.
int matches(SV *string, char *pattern, AV **matches);
Given an "SV", a pattern, and a pointer to an empty "AV", matches() evaluates "$string =~ $pattern"
in a list context, and fills in matches with the array elements, returning the number of matches
found.
Here's a sample program, match.c, that uses all three (long lines have been wrapped here):
#include <EXTERN.h>
#include <perl.h>
static PerlInterpreter *my_perl;
/** my_eval_sv(code, error_check)
** kinda like eval_sv(),
** but we pop the return value off the stack
**/
SV* my_eval_sv(SV *sv, I32 croak_on_error)
{
dSP;
SV* retval;
STRLEN n_a;
PUSHMARK(SP);
eval_sv(sv, G_SCALAR);
SPAGAIN;
retval = POPs;
PUTBACK;
if (croak_on_error && SvTRUE(ERRSV))
croak(SvPVx(ERRSV, n_a));
return retval;
}
/** match(string, pattern)
**
** Used for matches in a scalar context.
**
** Returns 1 if the match was successful; 0 otherwise.
**/
I32 match(SV *string, char *pattern)
{
SV *command = NEWSV(1099, 0), *retval;
STRLEN n_a;
sv_setpvf(command, "my $string = '%s'; $string =~ %s",
SvPV(string,n_a), pattern);
retval = my_eval_sv(command, TRUE);
SvREFCNT_dec(command);
return SvIV(retval);
}
/** substitute(string, pattern)
**
** Used for =~ operations that modify their left-hand side (s/// and tr///)
**
** Returns the number of successful matches, and
** modifies the input string if there were any.
**/
I32 substitute(SV **string, char *pattern)
{
SV *command = NEWSV(1099, 0), *retval;
STRLEN n_a;
sv_setpvf(command, "$string = '%s'; ($string =~ %s)",
SvPV(*string,n_a), pattern);
retval = my_eval_sv(command, TRUE);
SvREFCNT_dec(command);
*string = get_sv("string", FALSE);
return SvIV(retval);
}
/** matches(string, pattern, matches)
**
** Used for matches in a list context.
**
** Returns the number of matches,
** and fills in **matches with the matching substrings
**/
I32 matches(SV *string, char *pattern, AV **match_list)
{
SV *command = NEWSV(1099, 0);
I32 num_matches;
STRLEN n_a;
sv_setpvf(command, "my $string = '%s'; @array = ($string =~ %s)",
SvPV(string,n_a), pattern);
my_eval_sv(command, TRUE);
SvREFCNT_dec(command);
*match_list = get_av("array", FALSE);
num_matches = av_len(*match_list) + 1; /** assume $[ is 0 **/
return num_matches;
}
main (int argc, char **argv, char **env)
{
char *embedding[] = { "", "-e", "0" };
AV *match_list;
I32 num_matches, i;
SV *text;
STRLEN n_a;
PERL_SYS_INIT3(&argc,&argv,&env);
my_perl = perl_alloc();
perl_construct(my_perl);
perl_parse(my_perl, NULL, 3, embedding, NULL);
PL_exit_flags |= PERL_EXIT_DESTRUCT_END;
text = NEWSV(1099,0);
sv_setpv(text, "When he is at a convenience store and the "
"bill comes to some amount like 76 cents, Maynard is "
"aware that there is something he *should* do, something "
"that will enable him to get back a quarter, but he has "
"no idea *what*. He fumbles through his red squeezey "
"changepurse and gives the boy three extra pennies with "
"his dollar, hoping that he might luck into the correct "
"amount. The boy gives him back two of his own pennies "
"and then the big shiny quarter that is his prize. "
"-RICHH");
if (match(text, "m/quarter/")) /** Does text contain 'quarter'? **/
printf("match: Text contains the word 'quarter'.\n\n");
else
printf("match: Text doesn't contain the word 'quarter'.\n\n");
if (match(text, "m/eighth/")) /** Does text contain 'eighth'? **/
printf("match: Text contains the word 'eighth'.\n\n");
else
printf("match: Text doesn't contain the word 'eighth'.\n\n");
/** Match all occurrences of /wi../ **/
num_matches = matches(text, "m/(wi..)/g", &match_list);
printf("matches: m/(wi..)/g found %d matches...\n", num_matches);
for (i = 0; i < num_matches; i++)
printf("match: %s\n", SvPV(*av_fetch(match_list, i, FALSE),n_a));
printf("\n");
/** Remove all vowels from text **/
num_matches = substitute(&text, "s/[aeiou]//gi");
if (num_matches) {
printf("substitute: s/[aeiou]//gi...%d substitutions made.\n",
num_matches);
printf("Now text is: %s\n\n", SvPV(text,n_a));
}
/** Attempt a substitution **/
if (!substitute(&text, "s/Perl/C/")) {
printf("substitute: s/Perl/C...No substitution made.\n\n");
}
SvREFCNT_dec(text);
PL_perl_destruct_level = 1;
perl_destruct(my_perl);
perl_free(my_perl);
PERL_SYS_TERM();
}
which produces the output (again, long lines have been wrapped here)
match: Text contains the word 'quarter'.
match: Text doesn't contain the word 'eighth'.
matches: m/(wi..)/g found 2 matches...
match: will
match: with
substitute: s/[aeiou]//gi...139 substitutions made.
Now text is: Whn h s t cnvnnc str nd th bll cms t sm mnt lk 76 cnts,
Mynrd s wr tht thr s smthng h *shld* d, smthng tht wll nbl hm t gt bck
qrtr, bt h hs n d *wht*. H fmbls thrgh hs rd sqzy chngprs nd gvs th by
thr xtr pnns wth hs dllr, hpng tht h mght lck nt th crrct mnt. Th by gvs
hm bck tw f hs wn pnns nd thn th bg shny qrtr tht s hs prz. -RCHH
substitute: s/Perl/C...No substitution made.
Fiddling with the Perl stack from your C program
When trying to explain stacks, most computer science textbooks mumble something about spring-loaded
columns of cafeteria plates: the last thing you pushed on the stack is the first thing you pop off.
That'll do for our purposes: your C program will push some arguments onto "the Perl stack", shut its
eyes while some magic happens, and then pop the results--the return value of your Perl subrou-
tine--off the stack.
First you'll need to know how to convert between C types and Perl types, with newSViv() and
sv_setnv() and newAV() and all their friends. They're described in perlguts and perlapi.
Then you'll need to know how to manipulate the Perl stack. That's described in perlcall.
Once you've understood those, embedding Perl in C is easy.
Because C has no builtin function for integer exponentiation, let's make Perl's ** operator available
to it (this is less useful than it sounds, because Perl implements ** with C's pow() function).
First I'll create a stub exponentiation function in power.pl:
sub expo {
my ($a, $b) = @_;
return $a ** $b;
}
Now I'll create a C program, power.c, with a function PerlPower() that contains all the perlguts nec-
essary to push the two arguments into expo() and to pop the return value out. Take a deep breath...
#include <EXTERN.h>
#include <perl.h>
static PerlInterpreter *my_perl;
static void
PerlPower(int a, int b)
{
dSP; /* initialize stack pointer */
ENTER; /* everything created after here */
SAVETMPS; /* ...is a temporary variable. */
PUSHMARK(SP); /* remember the stack pointer */
XPUSHs(sv_2mortal(newSViv(a))); /* push the base onto the stack */
XPUSHs(sv_2mortal(newSViv(b))); /* push the exponent onto stack */
PUTBACK; /* make local stack pointer global */
call_pv("expo", G_SCALAR); /* call the function */
SPAGAIN; /* refresh stack pointer */
/* pop the return value from stack */
printf ("%d to the %dth power is %d.\n", a, b, POPi);
PUTBACK;
FREETMPS; /* free that return value */
LEAVE; /* ...and the XPUSHed "mortal" args.*/
}
int main (int argc, char **argv, char **env)
{
char *my_argv[] = { "", "power.pl" };
PERL_SYS_INIT3(&argc,&argv,&env);
my_perl = perl_alloc();
perl_construct( my_perl );
perl_parse(my_perl, NULL, 2, my_argv, (char **)NULL);
PL_exit_flags |= PERL_EXIT_DESTRUCT_END;
perl_run(my_perl);
PerlPower(3, 4); /*** Compute 3 ** 4 ***/
perl_destruct(my_perl);
perl_free(my_perl);
PERL_SYS_TERM();
}
Compile and run:
% cc -o power power.c `perl -MExtUtils::Embed -e ccopts -e ldopts`
% power
3 to the 4th power is 81.
Maintaining a persistent interpreter
When developing interactive and/or potentially long-running applications, it's a good idea to main-
tain a persistent interpreter rather than allocating and constructing a new interpreter multiple
times. The major reason is speed: since Perl will only be loaded into memory once.
However, you have to be more cautious with namespace and variable scoping when using a persistent
interpreter. In previous examples we've been using global variables in the default package "main".
We knew exactly what code would be run, and assumed we could avoid variable collisions and outrageous
symbol table growth.
Let's say your application is a server that will occasionally run Perl code from some arbitrary file.
Your server has no way of knowing what code it's going to run. Very dangerous.
If the file is pulled in by "perl_parse()", compiled into a newly constructed interpreter, and subse-
quently cleaned out with "perl_destruct()" afterwards, you're shielded from most namespace troubles.
One way to avoid namespace collisions in this scenario is to translate the filename into a guaran-
teed-unique package name, and then compile the code into that package using "eval" in perlfunc. In
the example below, each file will only be compiled once. Or, the application might choose to clean
out the symbol table associated with the file after it's no longer needed. Using "call_argv" in per-
lapi, We'll call the subroutine "Embed::Persistent::eval_file" which lives in the file "persis-
tent.pl" and pass the filename and boolean cleanup/cache flag as arguments.
Note that the process will continue to grow for each file that it uses. In addition, there might be
"AUTOLOAD"ed subroutines and other conditions that cause Perl's symbol table to grow. You might want
to add some logic that keeps track of the process size, or restarts itself after a certain number of
requests, to ensure that memory consumption is minimized. You'll also want to scope your variables
with "my" in perlfunc whenever possible.
package Embed::Persistent;
#persistent.pl
use strict;
our %Cache;
use Symbol qw(delete_package);
sub valid_package_name {
my($string) = @_;
$string =~ s/([^A-Za-z0-9\/])/sprintf("_%2x",unpack("C",$1))/eg;
# second pass only for words starting with a digit
$string =~ s|/(\d)|sprintf("/_%2x",unpack("C",$1))|eg;
# Dress it up as a real package name
$string =~ s|/|::|g;
return "Embed" . $string;
}
sub eval_file {
my($filename, $delete) = @_;
my $package = valid_package_name($filename);
my $mtime = -M $filename;
if(defined $Cache{$package}{mtime}
&&
$Cache{$package}{mtime} <= $mtime)
{
# we have compiled this subroutine already,
# it has not been updated on disk, nothing left to do
print STDERR "already compiled $package->handler\n";
}
else {
local *FH;
open FH, $filename or die "open '$filename' $!";
local($/) = undef;
my $sub = <FH>;
close FH;
#wrap the code into a subroutine inside our unique package
my $eval = qq{package $package; sub handler { $sub; }};
{
# hide our variables within this block
my($filename,$mtime,$package,$sub);
eval $eval;
}
die $@ if $@;
#cache it unless we're cleaning out each time
$Cache{$package}{mtime} = $mtime unless $delete;
}
eval {$package->handler;};
die $@ if $@;
delete_package($package) if $delete;
#take a look if you want
#print Devel::Symdump->rnew($package)->as_string, $/;
}
1;
__END__
/* persistent.c */
#include <EXTERN.h>
#include <perl.h>
/* 1 = clean out filename's symbol table after each request, 0 = don't */
#ifndef DO_CLEAN
#define DO_CLEAN 0
#endif
#define BUFFER_SIZE 1024
static PerlInterpreter *my_perl = NULL;
int
main(int argc, char **argv, char **env)
{
char *embedding[] = { "", "persistent.pl" };
char *args[] = { "", DO_CLEAN, NULL };
char filename[BUFFER_SIZE];
int exitstatus = 0;
STRLEN n_a;
PERL_SYS_INIT3(&argc,&argv,&env);
if((my_perl = perl_alloc()) == NULL) {
fprintf(stderr, "no memory!");
exit(1);
}
perl_construct(my_perl);
exitstatus = perl_parse(my_perl, NULL, 2, embedding, NULL);
PL_exit_flags |= PERL_EXIT_DESTRUCT_END;
if(!exitstatus) {
exitstatus = perl_run(my_perl);
while(printf("Enter file name: ") &&
fgets(filename, BUFFER_SIZE, stdin)) {
filename[strlen(filename)-1] = '\0'; /* strip \n */
/* call the subroutine, passing it the filename as an argument */
args[0] = filename;
call_argv("Embed::Persistent::eval_file",
G_DISCARD | G_EVAL, args);
/* check $@ */
if(SvTRUE(ERRSV))
fprintf(stderr, "eval error: %s\n", SvPV(ERRSV,n_a));
}
}
PL_perl_destruct_level = 0;
perl_destruct(my_perl);
perl_free(my_perl);
PERL_SYS_TERM();
exit(exitstatus);
}
Now compile:
% cc -o persistent persistent.c `perl -MExtUtils::Embed -e ccopts -e ldopts`
Here's an example script file:
#test.pl
my $string = "hello";
foo($string);
sub foo {
print "foo says: @_\n";
}
Now run:
% persistent
Enter file name: test.pl
foo says: hello
Enter file name: test.pl
already compiled Embed::test_2epl->handler
foo says: hello
Enter file name: ^C
Execution of END blocks
Traditionally END blocks have been executed at the end of the perl_run. This causes problems for
applications that never call perl_run. Since perl 5.7.2 you can specify "PL_exit_flags |=
PERL_EXIT_DESTRUCT_END" to get the new behaviour. This also enables the running of END blocks if the
perl_parse fails and "perl_destruct" will return the exit value.
Maintaining multiple interpreter instances
Some rare applications will need to create more than one interpreter during a session. Such an
application might sporadically decide to release any resources associated with the interpreter.
The program must take care to ensure that this takes place before the next interpreter is con-
structed. By default, when perl is not built with any special options, the global variable
"PL_perl_destruct_level" is set to 0, since extra cleaning isn't usually needed when a program only
ever creates a single interpreter in its entire lifetime.
Setting "PL_perl_destruct_level" to 1 makes everything squeaky clean:
while(1) {
...
/* reset global variables here with PL_perl_destruct_level = 1 */
PL_perl_destruct_level = 1;
perl_construct(my_perl);
...
/* clean and reset _everything_ during perl_destruct */
PL_perl_destruct_level = 1;
perl_destruct(my_perl);
perl_free(my_perl);
...
/* let's go do it again! */
}
When perl_destruct() is called, the interpreter's syntax parse tree and symbol tables are cleaned up,
and global variables are reset. The second assignment to "PL_perl_destruct_level" is needed because
perl_construct resets it to 0.
Now suppose we have more than one interpreter instance running at the same time. This is feasible,
but only if you used the Configure option "-Dusemultiplicity" or the options "-Dusethreads -Dusei-
threads" when building perl. By default, enabling one of these Configure options sets the per-inter-
preter global variable "PL_perl_destruct_level" to 1, so that thorough cleaning is automatic and
interpreter variables are initialized correctly. Even if you don't intend to run two or more inter-
preters at the same time, but to run them sequentially, like in the above example, it is recommended
to build perl with the "-Dusemultiplicity" option otherwise some interpreter variables may not be
initialized correctly between consecutive runs and your application may crash.
Using "-Dusethreads -Duseithreads" rather than "-Dusemultiplicity" is more appropriate if you intend
to run multiple interpreters concurrently in different threads, because it enables support for link-
ing in the thread libraries of your system with the interpreter.
Let's give it a try:
#include <EXTERN.h>
#include <perl.h>
/* we're going to embed two interpreters */
/* we're going to embed two interpreters */
#define SAY_HELLO "-e", "print qq(Hi, I'm $^X\n)"
int main(int argc, char **argv, char **env)
{
PerlInterpreter *one_perl, *two_perl;
char *one_args[] = { "one_perl", SAY_HELLO };
char *two_args[] = { "two_perl", SAY_HELLO };
PERL_SYS_INIT3(&argc,&argv,&env);
one_perl = perl_alloc();
two_perl = perl_alloc();
PERL_SET_CONTEXT(one_perl);
perl_construct(one_perl);
PERL_SET_CONTEXT(two_perl);
perl_construct(two_perl);
PERL_SET_CONTEXT(one_perl);
perl_parse(one_perl, NULL, 3, one_args, (char **)NULL);
PERL_SET_CONTEXT(two_perl);
perl_parse(two_perl, NULL, 3, two_args, (char **)NULL);
PERL_SET_CONTEXT(one_perl);
perl_run(one_perl);
PERL_SET_CONTEXT(two_perl);
perl_run(two_perl);
PERL_SET_CONTEXT(one_perl);
perl_destruct(one_perl);
PERL_SET_CONTEXT(two_perl);
perl_destruct(two_perl);
PERL_SET_CONTEXT(one_perl);
perl_free(one_perl);
PERL_SET_CONTEXT(two_perl);
perl_free(two_perl);
PERL_SYS_TERM();
}
Note the calls to PERL_SET_CONTEXT(). These are necessary to initialize the global state that tracks
which interpreter is the "current" one on the particular process or thread that may be running it.
It should always be used if you have more than one interpreter and are making perl API calls on both
interpreters in an interleaved fashion.
PERL_SET_CONTEXT(interp) should also be called whenever "interp" is used by a thread that did not
create it (using either perl_alloc(), or the more esoteric perl_clone()).
Compile as usual:
% cc -o multiplicity multiplicity.c `perl -MExtUtils::Embed -e ccopts -e ldopts`
Run it, Run it:
% multiplicity
Hi, I'm one_perl
Hi, I'm two_perl
Using Perl modules, which themselves use C libraries, from your C program
If you've played with the examples above and tried to embed a script that use()s a Perl module (such
as Socket) which itself uses a C or C++ library, this probably happened:
Can't load module Socket, dynamic loading not available in this perl.
(You may need to build a new perl executable which either supports
dynamic loading or has the Socket module statically linked into it.)
What's wrong?
Your interpreter doesn't know how to communicate with these extensions on its own. A little glue
will help. Up until now you've been calling perl_parse(), handing it NULL for the second argument:
perl_parse(my_perl, NULL, argc, my_argv, NULL);
That's where the glue code can be inserted to create the initial contact between Perl and linked
C/C++ routines. Let's take a look some pieces of perlmain.c to see how Perl does this:
static void xs_init (pTHX);
EXTERN_C void boot_DynaLoader (pTHX_ CV* cv);
EXTERN_C void boot_Socket (pTHX_ CV* cv);
EXTERN_C void
xs_init(pTHX)
{
char *file = __FILE__;
/* DynaLoader is a special case */
newXS("DynaLoader::boot_DynaLoader", boot_DynaLoader, file);
newXS("Socket::bootstrap", boot_Socket, file);
}
Simply put: for each extension linked with your Perl executable (determined during its initial con-
figuration on your computer or when adding a new extension), a Perl subroutine is created to incorpo-
rate the extension's routines. Normally, that subroutine is named Module::bootstrap() and is invoked
when you say use Module. In turn, this hooks into an XSUB, boot_Module, which creates a Perl coun-
terpart for each of the extension's XSUBs. Don't worry about this part; leave that to the xsubpp and
extension authors. If your extension is dynamically loaded, DynaLoader creates Module::bootstrap()
for you on the fly. In fact, if you have a working DynaLoader then there is rarely any need to link
in any other extensions statically.
Once you have this code, slap it into the second argument of perl_parse():
perl_parse(my_perl, xs_init, argc, my_argv, NULL);
Then compile:
% cc -o interp interp.c `perl -MExtUtils::Embed -e ccopts -e ldopts`
% interp
use Socket;
use SomeDynamicallyLoadedModule;
print "Now I can use extensions!\n"'
ExtUtils::Embed can also automate writing the xs_init glue code.
% perl -MExtUtils::Embed -e xsinit -- -o perlxsi.c
% cc -c perlxsi.c `perl -MExtUtils::Embed -e ccopts`
% cc -c interp.c `perl -MExtUtils::Embed -e ccopts`
% cc -o interp perlxsi.o interp.o `perl -MExtUtils::Embed -e ldopts`
Consult perlxs, perlguts, and perlapi for more details.
Embedding Perl under Win32
In general, all of the source code shown here should work unmodified under Windows.
However, there are some caveats about the command-line examples shown. For starters, backticks won't
work under the Win32 native command shell. The ExtUtils::Embed kit on CPAN ships with a script
called genmake, which generates a simple makefile to build a program from a single C source file. It
can be used like this:
C:\ExtUtils-Embed\eg> perl genmake interp.c
C:\ExtUtils-Embed\eg> nmake
C:\ExtUtils-Embed\eg> interp -e "print qq{I'm embedded in Win32!\n}"
You may wish to use a more robust environment such as the Microsoft Developer Studio. In this case,
run this to generate perlxsi.c:
perl -MExtUtils::Embed -e xsinit
Create a new project and Insert -> Files into Project: perlxsi.c, perl.lib, and your own source
files, e.g. interp.c. Typically you'll find perl.lib in C:\perl\lib\CORE, if not, you should see the
CORE directory relative to "perl -V:archlib". The studio will also need this path so it knows where
to find Perl include files. This path can be added via the Tools -> Options -> Directories menu.
Finally, select Build -> Build interp.exe and you're ready to go.
Hiding Perl_
If you completely hide the short forms forms of the Perl public API, add -DPERL_NO_SHORT_NAMES to the
compilation flags. This means that for example instead of writing
warn("%d bottles of beer on the wall", bottlecount);
you will have to write the explicit full form
Perl_warn(aTHX_ "%d bottles of beer on the wall", bottlecount);
(See "Background and PERL_IMPLICIT_CONTEXT for the explanation of the "aTHX_"." in perlguts ) Hiding
the short forms is very useful for avoiding all sorts of nasty (C preprocessor or otherwise) con-
flicts with other software packages (Perl defines about 2400 APIs with these short names, take or
leave few hundred, so there certainly is room for conflict.)
MORAL
You can sometimes write faster code in C, but you can always write code faster in Perl. Because you
can use each from the other, combine them as you wish.
AUTHOR
Jon Orwant <orwant@media.mit.edu> and Doug MacEachern <dougm@covalent.net>, with small contributions
from Tim Bunce, Tom Christiansen, Guy Decoux, Hallvard Furuseth, Dov Grobgeld, and Ilya Zakharevich.
Doug MacEachern has an article on embedding in Volume 1, Issue 4 of The Perl Journal (
http://www.tpj.com/ ). Doug is also the developer of the most widely-used Perl embedding: the
mod_perl system (perl.apache.org), which embeds Perl in the Apache web server. Oracle, Binary Evolu-
tion, ActiveState, and Ben Sugars's nsapi_perl have used this model for Oracle, Netscape and Internet
Information Server Perl plugins.
COPYRIGHT
Copyright (C) 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998 Doug MacEachern and Jon Orwant. All Rights Reserved.
Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this documentation provided the copy-
right notice and this permission notice are preserved on all copies.
Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this documentation under the condi-
tions for verbatim copying, provided also that they are marked clearly as modified versions, that the
authors' names and title are unchanged (though subtitles and additional authors' names may be added),
and that the entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a permission notice
identical to this one.
Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this documentation into another lan-
guage, under the above conditions for modified versions.
perl v5.8.8 2006-01-07 PERLEMBED(1)
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