PERLGUTS(1) Perl Programmers Reference Guide PERLGUTS(1)
NAME
perlguts - Introduction to the Perl API
DESCRIPTION
This document attempts to describe how to use the Perl API, as well as
to provide some info on the basic workings of the Perl core. It is far
from complete and probably contains many errors. Please refer any ques
tions or comments to the author below.
Variables
Datatypes
Perl has three typedefs that handle Perls three main data types:
SV Scalar Value
AV Array Value
HV Hash Value
Each typedef has specific routines that manipulate the various data
types.
What is an "IV"?
Perl uses a special typedef IV which is a simple signed integer type
that is guaranteed to be large enough to hold a pointer (as well as an
integer). Additionally, there is the UV, which is simply an unsigned
IV.
Perl also uses two special typedefs, I32 and I16, which will always be
at least 32-bits and 16-bits long, respectively. (Again, there are U32
and U16, as well.) They will usually be exactly 32 and 16 bits long,
but on Crays they will both be 64 bits.
Working with SVs
An SV can be created and loaded with one command. There are five types
of values that can be loaded: an integer value (IV), an unsigned inte
ger value (UV), a double (NV), a string (PV), and another scalar (SV).
The seven routines are:
SV* newSViv(IV);
SV* newSVuv(UV);
SV* newSVnv(double);
SV* newSVpv(const char*, STRLEN);
SV* newSVpvn(const char*, STRLEN);
SV* newSVpvf(const char*, ...);
SV* newSVsv(SV*);
"STRLEN" is an integer type (Size_t, usually defined as size_t in con
fig.h) guaranteed to be large enough to represent the size of any
string that perl can handle.
In the unlikely case of a SV requiring more complex initialisation, you
can create an empty SV with newSV(len). If "len" is 0 an empty SV of
type NULL is returned, else an SV of type PV is returned with len + 1
(for the NUL) bytes of storage allocated, accessible via SvPVX. In
both cases the SV has value undef.
SV *sv = newSV(0); /* no storage allocated */
SV *sv = newSV(10); /* 10 (+1) bytes of uninitialised storage allocated */
To change the value of an already-existing SV, there are eight rou
tines:
void sv_setiv(SV*, IV);
void sv_setuv(SV*, UV);
void sv_setnv(SV*, double);
void sv_setpv(SV*, const char*);
void sv_setpvn(SV*, const char*, STRLEN)
void sv_setpvf(SV*, const char*, ...);
void sv_vsetpvfn(SV*, const char*, STRLEN, va_list *, SV **, I32, bool *);
void sv_setsv(SV*, SV*);
Notice that you can choose to specify the length of the string to be
assigned by using "sv_setpvn", "newSVpvn", or "newSVpv", or you may
allow Perl to calculate the length by using "sv_setpv" or by specifying
0 as the second argument to "newSVpv". Be warned, though, that Perl
will determine the strings length by using "strlen", which depends on
the string terminating with a NUL character.
The arguments of "sv_setpvf" are processed like "sprintf", and the for
matted output becomes the value.
"sv_vsetpvfn" is an analogue of "vsprintf", but it allows you to spec
ify either a pointer to a variable argument list or the address and
length of an array of SVs. The last argument points to a boolean; on
return, if that boolean is true, then locale-specific information has
been used to format the string, and the strings contents are therefore
untrustworthy (see perlsec). This pointer may be NULL if that informa
tion is not important. Note that this function requires you to specify
the length of the format.
The "sv_set*()" functions are not generic enough to operate on values
that have "magic". See "Magic Virtual Tables" later in this document.
All SVs that contain strings should be terminated with a NUL character.
If it is not NUL-terminated there is a risk of core dumps and corrup
tions from code which passes the string to C functions or system calls
which expect a NUL-terminated string. Perls own functions typically
add a trailing NUL for this reason. Nevertheless, you should be very
careful when you pass a string stored in an SV to a C function or sys
tem call.
To access the actual value that an SV points to, you can use the
macros:
SvIV(SV*)
SvUV(SV*)
SvNV(SV*)
SvPV(SV*, STRLEN len)
SvPV_nolen(SV*)
which will automatically coerce the actual scalar type into an IV, UV,
double, or string.
In the "SvPV" macro, the length of the string returned is placed into
the variable "len" (this is a macro, so you do not use &len). If you
do not care what the length of the data is, use the "SvPV_nolen" macro.
Historically the "SvPV" macro with the global variable "PL_na" has been
used in this case. But that can be quite inefficient because "PL_na"
must be accessed in thread-local storage in threaded Perl. In any
case, remember that Perl allows arbitrary strings of data that may both
contain NULs and might not be terminated by a NUL.
Also remember that C doesnt allow you to safely say "foo(SvPV(s, len),
len);". It might work with your compiler, but it wont work for every
one. Break this sort of statement up into separate assignments:
SV *s;
STRLEN len;
char * ptr;
ptr = SvPV(s, len);
foo(ptr, len);
If you want to know if the scalar value is TRUE, you can use:
SvTRUE(SV*)
Although Perl will automatically grow strings for you, if you need to
force Perl to allocate more memory for your SV, you can use the macro
SvGROW(SV*, STRLEN newlen)
which will determine if more memory needs to be allocated. If so, it
will call the function "sv_grow". Note that "SvGROW" can only
increase, not decrease, the allocated memory of an SV and that it does
not automatically add a byte for the a trailing NUL (perls own string
functions typically do "SvGROW(sv, len + 1)").
If you have an SV and want to know what kind of data Perl thinks is
stored in it, you can use the following macros to check the type of SV
you have.
SvIOK(SV*)
SvNOK(SV*)
SvPOK(SV*)
You can get and set the current length of the string stored in an SV
with the following macros:
SvCUR(SV*)
SvCUR_set(SV*, I32 val)
You can also get a pointer to the end of the string stored in the SV
with the macro:
SvEND(SV*)
But note that these last three macros are valid only if "SvPOK()" is
true.
If you want to append something to the end of string stored in an
"SV*", you can use the following functions:
void sv_catpv(SV*, const char*);
void sv_catpvn(SV*, const char*, STRLEN);
void sv_catpvf(SV*, const char*, ...);
void sv_vcatpvfn(SV*, const char*, STRLEN, va_list *, SV **, I32, bool);
void sv_catsv(SV*, SV*);
The first function calculates the length of the string to be appended
by using "strlen". In the second, you specify the length of the string
yourself. The third function processes its arguments like "sprintf"
and appends the formatted output. The fourth function works like
"vsprintf". You can specify the address and length of an array of SVs
instead of the va_list argument. The fifth function extends the string
stored in the first SV with the string stored in the second SV. It
also forces the second SV to be interpreted as a string.
The "sv_cat*()" functions are not generic enough to operate on values
that have "magic". See "Magic Virtual Tables" later in this document.
If you know the name of a scalar variable, you can get a pointer to its
SV by using the following:
SV* get_sv("package::varname", FALSE);
This returns NULL if the variable does not exist.
If you want to know if this variable (or any other SV) is actually
"defined", you can call:
SvOK(SV*)
The scalar "undef" value is stored in an SV instance called
"PL_sv_undef".
Its address can be used whenever an "SV*" is needed. Make sure that you
dont try to compare a random sv with &PL_sv_undef. For example when
interfacing Perl code, itll work correctly for:
foo(undef);
But wont work when called as:
$x = undef;
foo($x);
So to repeat always use SvOK() to check whether an sv is defined.
Also you have to be careful when using &PL_sv_undef as a value in AVs
or HVs (see "AVs, HVs and undefined values").
There are also the two values "PL_sv_yes" and "PL_sv_no", which contain
boolean TRUE and FALSE values, respectively. Like "PL_sv_undef", their
addresses can be used whenever an "SV*" is needed.
Do not be fooled into thinking that "(SV *) 0" is the same as
&PL_sv_undef. Take this code:
SV* sv = (SV*) 0;
if (I-am-to-return-a-real-value) {
sv = sv_2mortal(newSViv(42));
}
sv_setsv(ST(0), sv);
This code tries to return a new SV (which contains the value 42) if it
should return a real value, or undef otherwise. Instead it has
returned a NULL pointer which, somewhere down the line, will cause a
segmentation violation, bus error, or just weird results. Change the
zero to &PL_sv_undef in the first line and all will be well.
To free an SV that youve created, call "SvREFCNT_dec(SV*)". Normally
this call is not necessary (see "Reference Counts and Mortality").
Offsets
Perl provides the function "sv_chop" to efficiently remove characters
from the beginning of a string; you give it an SV and a pointer to
somewhere inside the PV, and it discards everything before the pointer.
The efficiency comes by means of a little hack: instead of actually
removing the characters, "sv_chop" sets the flag "OOK" (offset OK) to
signal to other functions that the offset hack is in effect, and it
puts the number of bytes chopped off into the IV field of the SV. It
then moves the PV pointer (called "SvPVX") forward that many bytes, and
adjusts "SvCUR" and "SvLEN".
Hence, at this point, the start of the buffer that we allocated lives
at "SvPVX(sv) - SvIV(sv)" in memory and the PV pointer is pointing into
the middle of this allocated storage.
This is best demonstrated by example:
% ./perl -Ilib -MDevel::Peek -le $a="12345"; $a=~s/.//; Dump($a)
SV = PVIV(0x8128450) at 0x81340f0
REFCNT = 1
FLAGS = (POK,OOK,pPOK)
IV = 1 (OFFSET)
PV = 0x8135781 ( "1" . ) "2345"\0
CUR = 4
LEN = 5
Here the number of bytes chopped off (1) is put into IV, and
"Devel::Peek::Dump" helpfully reminds us that this is an offset. The
portion of the string between the "real" and the "fake" beginnings is
shown in parentheses, and the values of "SvCUR" and "SvLEN" reflect the
fake beginning, not the real one.
Something similar to the offset hack is performed on AVs to enable
efficient shifting and splicing off the beginning of the array; while
"AvARRAY" points to the first element in the array that is visible from
Perl, "AvALLOC" points to the real start of the C array. These are usu
ally the same, but a "shift" operation can be carried out by increasing
"AvARRAY" by one and decreasing "AvFILL" and "AvLEN". Again, the loca
tion of the real start of the C array only comes into play when freeing
the array. See "av_shift" in av.c.
Whats Really Stored in an SV?
Recall that the usual method of determining the type of scalar you have
is to use "Sv*OK" macros. Because a scalar can be both a number and a
string, usually these macros will always return TRUE and calling the
"Sv*V" macros will do the appropriate conversion of string to inte
ger/double or integer/double to string.
If you really need to know if you have an integer, double, or string
pointer in an SV, you can use the following three macros instead:
SvIOKp(SV*)
SvNOKp(SV*)
SvPOKp(SV*)
These will tell you if you truly have an integer, double, or string
pointer stored in your SV. The "p" stands for private.
The are various ways in which the private and public flags may differ.
For example, a tied SV may have a valid underlying value in the IV slot
(so SvIOKp is true), but the data should be accessed via the FETCH rou
tine rather than directly, so SvIOK is false. Another is when numeric
conversion has occurred and precision has been lost: only the private
flag is set on lossy values. So when an NV is converted to an IV with
loss, SvIOKp, SvNOKp and SvNOK will be set, while SvIOK wont be.
In general, though, its best to use the "Sv*V" macros.
Working with AVs
There are two ways to create and load an AV. The first method creates
an empty AV:
AV* newAV();
The second method both creates the AV and initially populates it with
SVs:
AV* av_make(I32 num, SV **ptr);
The second argument points to an array containing "num" "SV*"s. Once
the AV has been created, the SVs can be destroyed, if so desired.
Once the AV has been created, the following operations are possible on
AVs:
void av_push(AV*, SV*);
SV* av_pop(AV*);
SV* av_shift(AV*);
void av_unshift(AV*, I32 num);
These should be familiar operations, with the exception of
"av_unshift". This routine adds "num" elements at the front of the
array with the "undef" value. You must then use "av_store" (described
below) to assign values to these new elements.
Here are some other functions:
I32 av_len(AV*);
SV** av_fetch(AV*, I32 key, I32 lval);
SV** av_store(AV*, I32 key, SV* val);
The "av_len" function returns the highest index value in array (just
like $#array in Perl). If the array is empty, -1 is returned. The
"av_fetch" function returns the value at index "key", but if "lval" is
non-zero, then "av_fetch" will store an undef value at that index. The
"av_store" function stores the value "val" at index "key", and does not
increment the reference count of "val". Thus the caller is responsible
for taking care of that, and if "av_store" returns NULL, the caller
will have to decrement the reference count to avoid a memory leak.
Note that "av_fetch" and "av_store" both return "SV**"s, not "SV*"s
as their return value.
void av_clear(AV*);
void av_undef(AV*);
void av_extend(AV*, I32 key);
The "av_clear" function deletes all the elements in the AV* array, but
does not actually delete the array itself. The "av_undef" function
will delete all the elements in the array plus the array itself. The
"av_extend" function extends the array so that it contains at least
"key+1" elements. If "key+1" is less than the currently allocated
length of the array, then nothing is done.
If you know the name of an array variable, you can get a pointer to its
AV by using the following:
AV* get_av("package::varname", FALSE);
This returns NULL if the variable does not exist.
See "Understanding the Magic of Tied Hashes and Arrays" for more infor
mation on how to use the array access functions on tied arrays.
Working with HVs
To create an HV, you use the following routine:
HV* newHV();
Once the HV has been created, the following operations are possible on
HVs:
SV** hv_store(HV*, const char* key, U32 klen, SV* val, U32 hash);
SV** hv_fetch(HV*, const char* key, U32 klen, I32 lval);
The "klen" parameter is the length of the key being passed in (Note
that you cannot pass 0 in as a value of "klen" to tell Perl to measure
the length of the key). The "val" argument contains the SV pointer to
the scalar being stored, and "hash" is the precomputed hash value (zero
if you want "hv_store" to calculate it for you). The "lval" parameter
indicates whether this fetch is actually a part of a store operation,
in which case a new undefined value will be added to the HV with the
supplied key and "hv_fetch" will return as if the value had already
existed.
Remember that "hv_store" and "hv_fetch" return "SV**"s and not just
"SV*". To access the scalar value, you must first dereference the
return value. However, you should check to make sure that the return
value is not NULL before dereferencing it.
These two functions check if a hash table entry exists, and deletes it.
bool hv_exists(HV*, const char* key, U32 klen);
SV* hv_delete(HV*, const char* key, U32 klen, I32 flags);
If "flags" does not include the "G_DISCARD" flag then "hv_delete" will
create and return a mortal copy of the deleted value.
And more miscellaneous functions:
void hv_clear(HV*);
void hv_undef(HV*);
Like their AV counterparts, "hv_clear" deletes all the entries in the
hash table but does not actually delete the hash table. The "hv_undef"
deletes both the entries and the hash table itself.
Perl keeps the actual data in linked list of structures with a typedef
of HE. These contain the actual key and value pointers (plus extra
administrative overhead). The key is a string pointer; the value is an
"SV*". However, once you have an "HE*", to get the actual key and
value, use the routines specified below.
I32 hv_iterinit(HV*);
/* Prepares starting point to traverse hash table */
HE* hv_iternext(HV*);
/* Get the next entry, and return a pointer to a
structure that has both the key and value */
char* hv_iterkey(HE* entry, I32* retlen);
/* Get the key from an HE structure and also return
the length of the key string */
SV* hv_iterval(HV*, HE* entry);
/* Return an SV pointer to the value of the HE
structure */
SV* hv_iternextsv(HV*, char** key, I32* retlen);
/* This convenience routine combines hv_iternext,
hv_iterkey, and hv_iterval. The key and retlen
arguments are return values for the key and its
length. The value is returned in the SV* argument */
If you know the name of a hash variable, you can get a pointer to its
HV by using the following:
HV* get_hv("package::varname", FALSE);
This returns NULL if the variable does not exist.
The hash algorithm is defined in the "PERL_HASH(hash, key, klen)"
macro:
hash = 0;
while (klen--)
hash = (hash * 33) + *key++;
hash = hash + (hash >> 5); /* after 5.6 */
The last step was added in version 5.6 to improve distribution of lower
bits in the resulting hash value.
See "Understanding the Magic of Tied Hashes and Arrays" for more infor
mation on how to use the hash access functions on tied hashes.
Hash API Extensions
Beginning with version 5.004, the following functions are also sup
ported:
HE* hv_fetch_ent (HV* tb, SV* key, I32 lval, U32 hash);
HE* hv_store_ent (HV* tb, SV* key, SV* val, U32 hash);
bool hv_exists_ent (HV* tb, SV* key, U32 hash);
SV* hv_delete_ent (HV* tb, SV* key, I32 flags, U32 hash);
SV* hv_iterkeysv (HE* entry);
Note that these functions take "SV*" keys, which simplifies writing of
extension code that deals with hash structures. These functions also
allow passing of "SV*" keys to "tie" functions without forcing you to
stringify the keys (unlike the previous set of functions).
They also return and accept whole hash entries ("HE*"), making their
use more efficient (since the hash number for a particular string
doesnt have to be recomputed every time). See perlapi for detailed
descriptions.
The following macros must always be used to access the contents of hash
entries. Note that the arguments to these macros must be simple vari
ables, since they may get evaluated more than once. See perlapi for
detailed descriptions of these macros.
HePV(HE* he, STRLEN len)
HeVAL(HE* he)
HeHASH(HE* he)
HeSVKEY(HE* he)
HeSVKEY_force(HE* he)
HeSVKEY_set(HE* he, SV* sv)
These two lower level macros are defined, but must only be used when
dealing with keys that are not "SV*"s:
HeKEY(HE* he)
HeKLEN(HE* he)
Note that both "hv_store" and "hv_store_ent" do not increment the ref
erence count of the stored "val", which is the callers responsibility.
If these functions return a NULL value, the caller will usually have to
decrement the reference count of "val" to avoid a memory leak.
AVs, HVs and undefined values
Sometimes you have to store undefined values in AVs or HVs. Although
this may be a rare case, it can be tricky. Thats because youre used
to using &PL_sv_undef if you need an undefined SV.
For example, intuition tells you that this XS code:
AV *av = newAV();
av_store( av, 0, &PL_sv_undef );
is equivalent to this Perl code:
my @av;
$av[0] = undef;
Unfortunately, this isnt true. AVs use &PL_sv_undef as a marker for
indicating that an array element has not yet been initialized. Thus,
"exists $av[0]" would be true for the above Perl code, but false for
the array generated by the XS code.
Other problems can occur when storing &PL_sv_undef in HVs:
hv_store( hv, "key", 3, &PL_sv_undef, 0 );
This will indeed make the value "undef", but if you try to modify the
value of "key", youll get the following error:
Modification of non-creatable hash value attempted
In perl 5.8.0, &PL_sv_undef was also used to mark placeholders in
restricted hashes. This caused such hash entries not to appear when
iterating over the hash or when checking for the keys with the
"hv_exists" function.
You can run into similar problems when you store &PL_sv_true or
&PL_sv_false into AVs or HVs. Trying to modify such elements will give
you the following error:
Modification of a read-only value attempted
To make a long story short, you can use the special variables
&PL_sv_undef, &PL_sv_true and &PL_sv_false with AVs and HVs, but you
have to make sure you know what youre doing.
Generally, if you want to store an undefined value in an AV or HV, you
should not use &PL_sv_undef, but rather create a new undefined value
using the "newSV" function, for example:
av_store( av, 42, newSV(0) );
hv_store( hv, "foo", 3, newSV(0), 0 );
References
References are a special type of scalar that point to other data types
(including references).
To create a reference, use either of the following functions:
SV* newRV_inc((SV*) thing);
SV* newRV_noinc((SV*) thing);
The "thing" argument can be any of an "SV*", "AV*", or "HV*". The
functions are identical except that "newRV_inc" increments the refer
ence count of the "thing", while "newRV_noinc" does not. For histori
cal reasons, "newRV" is a synonym for "newRV_inc".
Once you have a reference, you can use the following macro to derefer
ence the reference:
SvRV(SV*)
then call the appropriate routines, casting the returned "SV*" to
either an "AV*" or "HV*", if required.
To determine if an SV is a reference, you can use the following macro:
SvROK(SV*)
To discover what type of value the reference refers to, use the follow
ing macro and then check the return value.
SvTYPE(SvRV(SV*))
The most useful types that will be returned are:
SVt_IV Scalar
SVt_NV Scalar
SVt_PV Scalar
SVt_RV Scalar
SVt_PVAV Array
SVt_PVHV Hash
SVt_PVCV Code
SVt_PVGV Glob (possible a file handle)
SVt_PVMG Blessed or Magical Scalar
See the sv.h header file for more details.
Blessed References and Class Objects
References are also used to support object-oriented programming. In
perls OO lexicon, an object is simply a reference that has been
blessed into a package (or class). Once blessed, the programmer may
now use the reference to access the various methods in the class.
A reference can be blessed into a package with the following function:
SV* sv_bless(SV* sv, HV* stash);
The "sv" argument must be a reference value. The "stash" argument
specifies which class the reference will belong to. See "Stashes and
Globs" for information on converting class names into stashes.
/* Still under construction */
Upgrades rv to reference if not already one. Creates new SV for rv to
point to. If "classname" is non-null, the SV is blessed into the spec
ified class. SV is returned.
SV* newSVrv(SV* rv, const char* classname);
Copies integer, unsigned integer or double into an SV whose reference
is "rv". SV is blessed if "classname" is non-null.
SV* sv_setref_iv(SV* rv, const char* classname, IV iv);
SV* sv_setref_uv(SV* rv, const char* classname, UV uv);
SV* sv_setref_nv(SV* rv, const char* classname, NV iv);
Copies the pointer value (the address, not the string!) into an SV
whose reference is rv. SV is blessed if "classname" is non-null.
SV* sv_setref_pv(SV* rv, const char* classname, PV iv);
Copies string into an SV whose reference is "rv". Set length to 0 to
let Perl calculate the string length. SV is blessed if "classname" is
non-null.
SV* sv_setref_pvn(SV* rv, const char* classname, PV iv, STRLEN length);
Tests whether the SV is blessed into the specified class. It does not
check inheritance relationships.
int sv_isa(SV* sv, const char* name);
Tests whether the SV is a reference to a blessed object.
int sv_isobject(SV* sv);
Tests whether the SV is derived from the specified class. SV can be
either a reference to a blessed object or a string containing a class
name. This is the function implementing the "UNIVERSAL::isa" function
ality.
bool sv_derived_from(SV* sv, const char* name);
To check if youve got an object derived from a specific class you have
to write:
if (sv_isobject(sv) && sv_derived_from(sv, class)) { ... }
Creating New Variables
To create a new Perl variable with an undef value which can be accessed
from your Perl script, use the following routines, depending on the
variable type.
SV* get_sv("package::varname", TRUE);
AV* get_av("package::varname", TRUE);
HV* get_hv("package::varname", TRUE);
Notice the use of TRUE as the second parameter. The new variable can
now be set, using the routines appropriate to the data type.
There are additional macros whose values may be bitwise ORed with the
"TRUE" argument to enable certain extra features. Those bits are:
GV_ADDMULTI
Marks the variable as multiply defined, thus preventing the:
Name used only once: possible typo
warning.
GV_ADDWARN
Issues the warning:
Had to create unexpectedly
if the variable did not exist before the function was called.
If you do not specify a package name, the variable is created in the
current package.
Reference Counts and Mortality
Perl uses a reference count-driven garbage collection mechanism. SVs,
AVs, or HVs (xV for short in the following) start their life with a
reference count of 1. If the reference count of an xV ever drops to 0,
then it will be destroyed and its memory made available for reuse.
This normally doesnt happen at the Perl level unless a variable is
undefed or the last variable holding a reference to it is changed or
overwritten. At the internal level, however, reference counts can be
manipulated with the following macros:
int SvREFCNT(SV* sv);
SV* SvREFCNT_inc(SV* sv);
void SvREFCNT_dec(SV* sv);
However, there is one other function which manipulates the reference
count of its argument. The "newRV_inc" function, you will recall, cre
ates a reference to the specified argument. As a side effect, it
increments the arguments reference count. If this is not what you
want, use "newRV_noinc" instead.
For example, imagine you want to return a reference from an XSUB func
tion. Inside the XSUB routine, you create an SV which initially has a
reference count of one. Then you call "newRV_inc", passing it the
just-created SV. This returns the reference as a new SV, but the ref
erence count of the SV you passed to "newRV_inc" has been incremented
to two. Now you return the reference from the XSUB routine and forget
about the SV. But Perl hasnt! Whenever the returned reference is
destroyed, the reference count of the original SV is decreased to one
and nothing happens. The SV will hang around without any way to access
it until Perl itself terminates. This is a memory leak.
The correct procedure, then, is to use "newRV_noinc" instead of
"newRV_inc". Then, if and when the last reference is destroyed, the
reference count of the SV will go to zero and it will be destroyed,
stopping any memory leak.
There are some convenience functions available that can help with the
destruction of xVs. These functions introduce the concept of "mortal
ity". An xV that is mortal has had its reference count marked to be
decremented, but not actually decremented, until "a short time later".
Generally the term "short time later" means a single Perl statement,
such as a call to an XSUB function. The actual determinant for when
mortal xVs have their reference count decremented depends on two
macros, SAVETMPS and FREETMPS. See perlcall and perlxs for more
details on these macros.
"Mortalization" then is at its simplest a deferred "SvREFCNT_dec".
However, if you mortalize a variable twice, the reference count will
later be decremented twice.
"Mortal" SVs are mainly used for SVs that are placed on perls stack.
For example an SV which is created just to pass a number to a called
sub is made mortal to have it cleaned up automatically when its popped
off the stack. Similarly, results returned by XSUBs (which are pushed
on the stack) are often made mortal.
To create a mortal variable, use the functions:
SV* sv_newmortal()
SV* sv_2mortal(SV*)
SV* sv_mortalcopy(SV*)
The first call creates a mortal SV (with no value), the second converts
an existing SV to a mortal SV (and thus defers a call to "SvRE
FCNT_dec"), and the third creates a mortal copy of an existing SV.
Because "sv_newmortal" gives the new SV no value,it must normally be
given one via "sv_setpv", "sv_setiv", etc. :
SV *tmp = sv_newmortal();
sv_setiv(tmp, an_integer);
As that is multiple C statements it is quite common so see this idiom
instead:
SV *tmp = sv_2mortal(newSViv(an_integer));
You should be careful about creating mortal variables. Strange things
can happen if you make the same value mortal within multiple contexts,
or if you make a variable mortal multiple times. Thinking of "Mortal
ization" as deferred "SvREFCNT_dec" should help to minimize such prob
lems. For example if you are passing an SV which you know has high
enough REFCNT to survive its use on the stack you need not do any mor
talization. If you are not sure then doing an "SvREFCNT_inc" and
"sv_2mortal", or making a "sv_mortalcopy" is safer.
The mortal routines are not just for SVs -- AVs and HVs can be made
mortal by passing their address (type-casted to "SV*") to the "sv_2mor
tal" or "sv_mortalcopy" routines.
Stashes and Globs
A stash is a hash that contains all variables that are defined within a
package. Each key of the stash is a symbol name (shared by all the
different types of objects that have the same name), and each value in
the hash table is a GV (Glob Value). This GV in turn contains refer
ences to the various objects of that name, including (but not limited
to) the following:
Scalar Value
Array Value
Hash Value
I/O Handle
Format
Subroutine
There is a single stash called "PL_defstash" that holds the items that
exist in the "main" package. To get at the items in other packages,
append the string "::" to the package name. The items in the "Foo"
package are in the stash "Foo::" in PL_defstash. The items in the
"Bar::Baz" package are in the stash "Baz::" in "Bar::"s stash.
To get the stash pointer for a particular package, use the function:
HV* gv_stashpv(const char* name, I32 create)
HV* gv_stashsv(SV*, I32 create)
The first function takes a literal string, the second uses the string
stored in the SV. Remember that a stash is just a hash table, so you
get back an "HV*". The "create" flag will create a new package if it
is set.
The name that "gv_stash*v" wants is the name of the package whose sym
bol table you want. The default package is called "main". If you have
multiply nested packages, pass their names to "gv_stash*v", separated
by "::" as in the Perl language itself.
Alternately, if you have an SV that is a blessed reference, you can
find out the stash pointer by using:
HV* SvSTASH(SvRV(SV*));
then use the following to get the package name itself:
char* HvNAME(HV* stash);
If you need to bless or re-bless an object you can use the following
function:
SV* sv_bless(SV*, HV* stash)
where the first argument, an "SV*", must be a reference, and the second
argument is a stash. The returned "SV*" can now be used in the same
way as any other SV.
For more information on references and blessings, consult perlref.
Double-Typed SVs
Scalar variables normally contain only one type of value, an integer,
double, pointer, or reference. Perl will automatically convert the
actual scalar data from the stored type into the requested type.
Some scalar variables contain more than one type of scalar data. For
example, the variable $! contains either the numeric value of "errno"
or its string equivalent from either "strerror" or "sys_errlist[]".
To force multiple data values into an SV, you must do two things: use
the "sv_set*v" routines to add the additional scalar type, then set a
flag so that Perl will believe it contains more than one type of data.
The four macros to set the flags are:
SvIOK_on
SvNOK_on
SvPOK_on
SvROK_on
The particular macro you must use depends on which "sv_set*v" routine
you called first. This is because every "sv_set*v" routine turns on
only the bit for the particular type of data being set, and turns off
all the rest.
For example, to create a new Perl variable called "dberror" that con
tains both the numeric and descriptive string error values, you could
use the following code:
extern int dberror;
extern char *dberror_list;
SV* sv = get_sv("dberror", TRUE);
sv_setiv(sv, (IV) dberror);
sv_setpv(sv, dberror_list[dberror]);
SvIOK_on(sv);
If the order of "sv_setiv" and "sv_setpv" had been reversed, then the
macro "SvPOK_on" would need to be called instead of "SvIOK_on".
Magic Variables
[This section still under construction. Ignore everything here. Post
no bills. Everything not permitted is forbidden.]
Any SV may be magical, that is, it has special features that a normal
SV does not have. These features are stored in the SV structure in a
linked list of "struct magic"s, typedefed to "MAGIC".
struct magic {
MAGIC* mg_moremagic;
MGVTBL* mg_virtual;
U16 mg_private;
char mg_type;
U8 mg_flags;
SV* mg_obj;
char* mg_ptr;
I32 mg_len;
};
Note this is current as of patchlevel 0, and could change at any time.
Assigning Magic
Perl adds magic to an SV using the sv_magic function:
void sv_magic(SV* sv, SV* obj, int how, const char* name, I32 namlen);
The "sv" argument is a pointer to the SV that is to acquire a new magi
cal feature.
If "sv" is not already magical, Perl uses the "SvUPGRADE" macro to con
vert "sv" to type "SVt_PVMG". Perl then continues by adding new magic
to the beginning of the linked list of magical features. Any prior
entry of the same type of magic is deleted. Note that this can be
overridden, and multiple instances of the same type of magic can be
associated with an SV.
The "name" and "namlen" arguments are used to associate a string with
the magic, typically the name of a variable. "namlen" is stored in the
"mg_len" field and if "name" is non-null then either a "savepvn" copy
of "name" or "name" itself is stored in the "mg_ptr" field, depending
on whether "namlen" is greater than zero or equal to zero respectively.
As a special case, if "(name && namlen == HEf_SVKEY)" then "name" is
assumed to contain an "SV*" and is stored as-is with its REFCNT incre
mented.
The sv_magic function uses "how" to determine which, if any, predefined
"Magic Virtual Table" should be assigned to the "mg_virtual" field.
See the "Magic Virtual Tables" section below. The "how" argument is
also stored in the "mg_type" field. The value of "how" should be chosen
from the set of macros "PERL_MAGIC_foo" found in perl.h. Note that
before these macros were added, Perl internals used to directly use
character literals, so you may occasionally come across old code or
documentation referring to U magic rather than "PERL_MAGIC_uvar" for
example.
The "obj" argument is stored in the "mg_obj" field of the "MAGIC"
structure. If it is not the same as the "sv" argument, the reference
count of the "obj" object is incremented. If it is the same, or if the
"how" argument is "PERL_MAGIC_arylen", or if it is a NULL pointer, then
"obj" is merely stored, without the reference count being incremented.
See also "sv_magicext" in perlapi for a more flexible way to add magic
to an SV.
There is also a function to add magic to an "HV":
void hv_magic(HV *hv, GV *gv, int how);
This simply calls "sv_magic" and coerces the "gv" argument into an
"SV".
To remove the magic from an SV, call the function sv_unmagic:
void sv_unmagic(SV *sv, int type);
The "type" argument should be equal to the "how" value when the "SV"
was initially made magical.
Magic Virtual Tables
The "mg_virtual" field in the "MAGIC" structure is a pointer to an
"MGVTBL", which is a structure of function pointers and stands for
"Magic Virtual Table" to handle the various operations that might be
applied to that variable.
The "MGVTBL" has five pointers to the following routine types:
int (*svt_get)(SV* sv, MAGIC* mg);
int (*svt_set)(SV* sv, MAGIC* mg);
U32 (*svt_len)(SV* sv, MAGIC* mg);
int (*svt_clear)(SV* sv, MAGIC* mg);
int (*svt_free)(SV* sv, MAGIC* mg);
This MGVTBL structure is set at compile-time in perl.h and there are
currently 19 types (or 21 with overloading turned on). These different
structures contain pointers to various routines that perform additional
actions depending on which function is being called.
Function pointer Action taken
---------------- ------------
svt_get Do something before the value of the SV is retrieved.
svt_set Do something after the SV is assigned a value.
svt_len Report on the SVs length.
svt_clear Clear something the SV represents.
svt_free Free any extra storage associated with the SV.
For instance, the MGVTBL structure called "vtbl_sv" (which corresponds
to an "mg_type" of "PERL_MAGIC_sv") contains:
{ magic_get, magic_set, magic_len, 0, 0 }
Thus, when an SV is determined to be magical and of type
"PERL_MAGIC_sv", if a get operation is being performed, the routine
"magic_get" is called. All the various routines for the various magi
cal types begin with "magic_". NOTE: the magic routines are not con
sidered part of the Perl API, and may not be exported by the Perl
library.
The current kinds of Magic Virtual Tables are:
mg_type
(old-style char and macro) MGVTBL Type of magic
-------------------------- ------ ----------------------------
\0 PERL_MAGIC_sv vtbl_sv Special scalar variable
A PERL_MAGIC_overload vtbl_amagic %OVERLOAD hash
a PERL_MAGIC_overload_elem vtbl_amagicelem %OVERLOAD hash element
c PERL_MAGIC_overload_table (none) Holds overload table (AMT)
on stash
B PERL_MAGIC_bm vtbl_bm Boyer-Moore (fast string search)
D PERL_MAGIC_regdata vtbl_regdata Regex match position data
(@+ and @- vars)
d PERL_MAGIC_regdatum vtbl_regdatum Regex match position data
element
E PERL_MAGIC_env vtbl_env %ENV hash
e PERL_MAGIC_envelem vtbl_envelem %ENV hash element
f PERL_MAGIC_fm vtbl_fm Formline (compiled format)
g PERL_MAGIC_regex_global vtbl_mglob m//g target / study()ed string
I PERL_MAGIC_isa vtbl_isa @ISA array
i PERL_MAGIC_isaelem vtbl_isaelem @ISA array element
k PERL_MAGIC_nkeys vtbl_nkeys scalar(keys()) lvalue
L PERL_MAGIC_dbfile (none) Debugger %_ $c ---> + ---> $a ---> assign-to
But with the actual compile tree for "$a = $b + $c" it is different:
some nodes optimized away. As a corollary, though the actual tree con
tains more nodes than our simplified example, the execution order is
the same as in our example.
Examining the tree
If you have your perl compiled for debugging (usually done with "-DDE
BUGGING" on the "Configure" command line), you may examine the compiled
tree by specifying "-Dx" on the Perl command line. The output takes
several lines per node, and for "$b+$c" it looks like this:
5 TYPE = add ===> 6
TARG = 1
FLAGS = (SCALAR,KIDS)
{
TYPE = null ===> (4)
(was rv2sv)
FLAGS = (SCALAR,KIDS)
{
3 TYPE = gvsv ===> 4
FLAGS = (SCALAR)
GV = main::b
}
}
{
TYPE = null ===> (5)
(was rv2sv)
FLAGS = (SCALAR,KIDS)
{
4 TYPE = gvsv ===> 5
FLAGS = (SCALAR)
GV = main::c
}
}
This tree has 5 nodes (one per "TYPE" specifier), only 3 of them are
not optimized away (one per number in the left column). The immediate
children of the given node correspond to "{}" pairs on the same level
of indentation, thus this listing corresponds to the tree:
add
/ \
null null
| |
gvsv gvsv
The execution order is indicated by "===>" marks, thus it is "3 4 5 6"
(node 6 is not included into above listing), i.e., "gvsv gvsv add what
ever".
Each of these nodes represents an op, a fundamental operation inside
the Perl core. The code which implements each operation can be found in
the pp*.c files; the function which implements the op with type "gvsv"
is "pp_gvsv", and so on. As the tree above shows, different ops have
different numbers of children: "add" is a binary operator, as one would
expect, and so has two children. To accommodate the various different
numbers of children, there are various types of op data structure, and
they link together in different ways.
The simplest type of op structure is "OP": this has no children. Unary
operators, "UNOP"s, have one child, and this is pointed to by the
"op_first" field. Binary operators ("BINOP"s) have not only an
"op_first" field but also an "op_last" field. The most complex type of
op is a "LISTOP", which has any number of children. In this case, the
first child is pointed to by "op_first" and the last child by
"op_last". The children in between can be found by iteratively follow
ing the "op_sibling" pointer from the first child to the last.
There are also two other op types: a "PMOP" holds a regular expression,
and has no children, and a "LOOP" may or may not have children. If the
"op_children" field is non-zero, it behaves like a "LISTOP". To compli
cate matters, if a "UNOP" is actually a "null" op after optimization
(see "Compile pass 2: context propagation") it will still have children
in accordance with its former type.
Another way to examine the tree is to use a compiler back-end module,
such as B::Concise.
Compile pass 1: check routines
The tree is created by the compiler while yacc code feeds it the con
structions it recognizes. Since yacc works bottom-up, so does the first
pass of perl compilation.
What makes this pass interesting for perl developers is that some opti
mization may be performed on this pass. This is optimization by so-
called "check routines". The correspondence between node names and
corresponding check routines is described in opcode.pl (do not forget
to run "make regen_headers" if you modify this file).
A check routine is called when the node is fully constructed except for
the execution-order thread. Since at this time there are no back-links
to the currently constructed node, one can do most any operation to the
top-level node, including freeing it and/or creating new nodes
above/below it.
The check routine returns the node which should be inserted into the
tree (if the top-level node was not modified, check routine returns its
argument).
By convention, check routines have names "ck_*". They are usually
called from "new*OP" subroutines (or "convert") (which in turn are
called from perly.y).
Compile pass 1a: constant folding
Immediately after the check routine is called the returned node is
checked for being compile-time executable. If it is (the value is
judged to be constant) it is immediately executed, and a constant node
with the "return value" of the corresponding subtree is substituted
instead. The subtree is deleted.
If constant folding was not performed, the execution-order thread is
created.
Compile pass 2: context propagation
When a context for a part of compile tree is known, it is propagated
down through the tree. At this time the context can have 5 values
(instead of 2 for runtime context): void, boolean, scalar, list, and
lvalue. In contrast with the pass 1 this pass is processed from top to
bottom: a nodes context determines the context for its children.
Additional context-dependent optimizations are performed at this time.
Since at this moment the compile tree contains back-references (via
"thread" pointers), nodes cannot be free()d now. To allow optimized-
away nodes at this stage, such nodes are null()ified instead of
free()ing (i.e. their type is changed to OP_NULL).
Compile pass 3: peephole optimization
After the compile tree for a subroutine (or for an "eval" or a file) is
created, an additional pass over the code is performed. This pass is
neither top-down or bottom-up, but in the execution order (with addi
tional complications for conditionals). These optimizations are done
in the subroutine peep(). Optimizations performed at this stage are
subject to the same restrictions as in the pass 2.
Pluggable runops
The compile tree is executed in a runops function. There are two
runops functions, in run.c and in dump.c. "Perl_runops_debug" is used
with DEBUGGING and "Perl_runops_standard" is used otherwise. For fine
control over the execution of the compile tree it is possible to pro
vide your own runops function.
Its probably best to copy one of the existing runops functions and
change it to suit your needs. Then, in the BOOT section of your XS
file, add the line:
PL_runops = my_runops;
This function should be as efficient as possible to keep your programs
running as fast as possible.
Examining internal data structures with the "dump" functions
To aid debugging, the source file dump.c contains a number of functions
which produce formatted output of internal data structures.
The most commonly used of these functions is "Perl_sv_dump"; its used
for dumping SVs, AVs, HVs, and CVs. The "Devel::Peek" module calls
"sv_dump" to produce debugging output from Perl-space, so users of that
module should already be familiar with its format.
"Perl_op_dump" can be used to dump an "OP" structure or any of its
derivatives, and produces output similar to "perl -Dx"; in fact,
"Perl_dump_eval" will dump the main root of the code being evaluated,
exactly like "-Dx".
Other useful functions are "Perl_dump_sub", which turns a "GV" into an
op tree, "Perl_dump_packsubs" which calls "Perl_dump_sub" on all the
subroutines in a package like so: (Thankfully, these are all xsubs, so
there is no op tree)
(gdb) print Perl_dump_packsubs(PL_defstash)
SUB attributes::bootstrap = (xsub 0x811fedc 0)
SUB UNIVERSAL::can = (xsub 0x811f50c 0)
SUB UNIVERSAL::isa = (xsub 0x811f304 0)
SUB UNIVERSAL::VERSION = (xsub 0x811f7ac 0)
SUB DynaLoader::boot_DynaLoader = (xsub 0x805b188 0)
and "Perl_dump_all", which dumps all the subroutines in the stash and
the op tree of the main root.
How multiple interpreters and concurrency are supported
Background and PERL_IMPLICIT_CONTEXT
The Perl interpreter can be regarded as a closed box: it has an API for
feeding it code or otherwise making it do things, but it also has func
tions for its own use. This smells a lot like an object, and there are
ways for you to build Perl so that you can have multiple interpreters,
with one interpreter represented either as a C structure, or inside a
thread-specific structure. These structures contain all the context,
the state of that interpreter.
Two macros control the major Perl build flavors: MULTIPLICITY and
USE_5005THREADS. The MULTIPLICITY build has a C structure that pack
ages all the interpreter state, and there is a similar thread-specific
data structure under USE_5005THREADS. In both cases,
PERL_IMPLICIT_CONTEXT is also normally defined, and enables the support
for passing in a "hidden" first argument that represents all three data
structures.
All this obviously requires a way for the Perl internal functions to be
either subroutines taking some kind of structure as the first argument,
or subroutines taking nothing as the first argument. To enable these
two very different ways of building the interpreter, the Perl source
(as it does in so many other situations) makes heavy use of macros and
subroutine naming conventions.
First problem: deciding which functions will be public API functions
and which will be private. All functions whose names begin "S_" are
private (think "S" for "secret" or "static"). All other functions
begin with "Perl_", but just because a function begins with "Perl_"
does not mean it is part of the API. (See "Internal Functions".) The
easiest way to be sure a function is part of the API is to find its
entry in perlapi. If it exists in perlapi, its part of the API. If
it doesnt, and you think it should be (i.e., you need it for your
extension), send mail via perlbug explaining why you think it should
be.
Second problem: there must be a syntax so that the same subroutine dec
larations and calls can pass a structure as their first argument, or
pass nothing. To solve this, the subroutines are named and declared in
a particular way. Heres a typical start of a static function used
within the Perl guts:
STATIC void
S_incline(pTHX_ char *s)
STATIC becomes "static" in C, and may be #defined to nothing in some
configurations in future.
A public function (i.e. part of the internal API, but not necessarily
sanctioned for use in extensions) begins like this:
void
Perl_sv_setiv(pTHX_ SV* dsv, IV num)
"pTHX_" is one of a number of macros (in perl.h) that hide the details
of the interpreters context. THX stands for "thread", "this", or
"thingy", as the case may be. (And no, George Lucas is not involved.
:-) The first character could be p for a prototype, a for argument,
or d for declaration, so we have "pTHX", "aTHX" and "dTHX", and their
variants.
When Perl is built without options that set PERL_IMPLICIT_CONTEXT,
there is no first argument containing the interpreters context. The
trailing underscore in the pTHX_ macro indicates that the macro expan
sion needs a comma after the context argument because other arguments
follow it. If PERL_IMPLICIT_CONTEXT is not defined, pTHX_ will be
ignored, and the subroutine is not prototyped to take the extra argu
ment. The form of the macro without the trailing underscore is used
when there are no additional explicit arguments.
When a core function calls another, it must pass the context. This is
normally hidden via macros. Consider "sv_setiv". It expands into
something like this:
#ifdef PERL_IMPLICIT_CONTEXT
#define sv_setiv(a,b) Perl_sv_setiv(aTHX_ a, b)
/* cant do this for vararg functions, see below */
#else
#define sv_setiv Perl_sv_setiv
#endif
This works well, and means that XS authors can gleefully write:
sv_setiv(foo, bar);
and still have it work under all the modes Perl could have been com
piled with.
This doesnt work so cleanly for varargs functions, though, as macros
imply that the number of arguments is known in advance. Instead we
either need to spell them out fully, passing "aTHX_" as the first argu
ment (the Perl core tends to do this with functions like Perl_warner),
or use a context-free version.
The context-free version of Perl_warner is called Perl_warner_nocon
text, and does not take the extra argument. Instead it does dTHX; to
get the context from thread-local storage. We "#define warner
Perl_warner_nocontext" so that extensions get source compatibility at
the expense of performance. (Passing an arg is cheaper than grabbing
it from thread-local storage.)
You can ignore [pad]THXx when browsing the Perl headers/sources. Those
are strictly for use within the core. Extensions and embedders need
only be aware of [pad]THX.
So what happened to dTHR?
"dTHR" was introduced in perl 5.005 to support the older thread model.
The older thread model now uses the "THX" mechanism to pass context
pointers around, so "dTHR" is not useful any more. Perl 5.6.0 and
later still have it for backward source compatibility, but it is
defined to be a no-op.
How do I use all this in extensions?
When Perl is built with PERL_IMPLICIT_CONTEXT, extensions that call any
functions in the Perl API will need to pass the initial context argu
ment somehow. The kicker is that you will need to write it in such a
way that the extension still compiles when Perl hasnt been built with
PERL_IMPLICIT_CONTEXT enabled.
There are three ways to do this. First, the easy but inefficient way,
which is also the default, in order to maintain source compatibility
with extensions: whenever XSUB.h is #included, it redefines the aTHX
and aTHX_ macros to call a function that will return the context.
Thus, something like:
sv_setiv(sv, num);
in your extension will translate to this when PERL_IMPLICIT_CONTEXT is
in effect:
Perl_sv_setiv(Perl_get_context(), sv, num);
or to this otherwise:
Perl_sv_setiv(sv, num);
You have to do nothing new in your extension to get this; since the
Perl library provides Perl_get_context(), it will all just work.
The second, more efficient way is to use the following template for
your Foo.xs:
#define PERL_NO_GET_CONTEXT /* we want efficiency */
#include "EXTERN.h"
#include "perl.h"
#include "XSUB.h"
static my_private_function(int arg1, int arg2);
static SV *
my_private_function(int arg1, int arg2)
{
dTHX; /* fetch context */
... call many Perl API functions ...
}
[... etc ...]
MODULE = Foo PACKAGE = Foo
/* typical XSUB */
void
my_xsub(arg)
int arg
CODE:
my_private_function(arg, 10);
Note that the only two changes from the normal way of writing an exten
sion is the addition of a "#define PERL_NO_GET_CONTEXT" before includ
ing the Perl headers, followed by a "dTHX;" declaration at the start of
every function that will call the Perl API. (Youll know which func
tions need this, because the C compiler will complain that theres an
undeclared identifier in those functions.) No changes are needed for
the XSUBs themselves, because the XS() macro is correctly defined to
pass in the implicit context if needed.
The third, even more efficient way is to ape how it is done within the
Perl guts:
#define PERL_NO_GET_CONTEXT /* we want efficiency */
#include "EXTERN.h"
#include "perl.h"
#include "XSUB.h"
/* pTHX_ only needed for functions that call Perl API */
static my_private_function(pTHX_ int arg1, int arg2);
static SV *
my_private_function(pTHX_ int arg1, int arg2)
{
/* dTHX; not needed here, because THX is an argument */
... call Perl API functions ...
}
[... etc ...]
MODULE = Foo PACKAGE = Foo
/* typical XSUB */
void
my_xsub(arg)
int arg
CODE:
my_private_function(aTHX_ arg, 10);
This implementation never has to fetch the context using a function
call, since it is always passed as an extra argument. Depending on
your needs for simplicity or efficiency, you may mix the previous two
approaches freely.
Never add a comma after "pTHX" yourself--always use the form of the
macro with the underscore for functions that take explicit arguments,
or the form without the argument for functions with no explicit argu
ments.
Should I do anything special if I call perl from multiple threads?
If you create interpreters in one thread and then proceed to call them
in another, you need to make sure perls own Thread Local Storage (TLS)
slot is initialized correctly in each of those threads.
The "perl_alloc" and "perl_clone" API functions will automatically set
the TLS slot to the interpreter they created, so that there is no need
to do anything special if the interpreter is always accessed in the
same thread that created it, and that thread did not create or call any
other interpreters afterwards. If that is not the case, you have to
set the TLS slot of the thread before calling any functions in the Perl
API on that particular interpreter. This is done by calling the
"PERL_SET_CONTEXT" macro in that thread as the first thing you do:
/* do this before doing anything else with some_perl */
PERL_SET_CONTEXT(some_perl);
... other Perl API calls on some_perl go here ...
Future Plans and PERL_IMPLICIT_SYS
Just as PERL_IMPLICIT_CONTEXT provides a way to bundle up everything
that the interpreter knows about itself and pass it around, so too are
there plans to allow the interpreter to bundle up everything it knows
about the environment its running on. This is enabled with the
PERL_IMPLICIT_SYS macro. Currently it only works with USE_ITHREADS and
USE_5005THREADS on Windows (see inside iperlsys.h).
This allows the ability to provide an extra pointer (called the "host"
environment) for all the system calls. This makes it possible for all
the system stuff to maintain their own state, broken down into seven C
structures. These are thin wrappers around the usual system calls (see
win32/perllib.c) for the default perl executable, but for a more ambi
tious host (like the one that would do fork() emulation) all the extra
work needed to pretend that different interpreters are actually differ
ent "processes", would be done here.
The Perl engine/interpreter and the host are orthogonal entities.
There could be one or more interpreters in a process, and one or more
"hosts", with free association between them.
Internal Functions
All of Perls internal functions which will be exposed to the outside
world are prefixed by "Perl_" so that they will not conflict with XS
functions or functions used in a program in which Perl is embedded.
Similarly, all global variables begin with "PL_". (By convention,
static functions start with "S_".)
Inside the Perl core, you can get at the functions either with or with
out the "Perl_" prefix, thanks to a bunch of defines that live in
embed.h. This header file is generated automatically from embed.pl and
embed.fnc. embed.pl also creates the prototyping header files for the
internal functions, generates the documentation and a lot of other bits
and pieces. Its important that when you add a new function to the core
or change an existing one, you change the data in the table in
embed.fnc as well. Heres a sample entry from that table:
Apd |SV** |av_fetch |AV* ar|I32 key|I32 lval
The second column is the return type, the third column the name.
Columns after that are the arguments. The first column is a set of
flags:
A This function is a part of the public API. All such functions should
also have d, very few do not.
p This function has a "Perl_" prefix; i.e. it is defined as
"Perl_av_fetch".
d This function has documentation using the "apidoc" feature which
well look at in a second. Some functions have d but not A;
docs are good.
Other available flags are:
s This is a static function and is defined as "STATIC S_whatever", and
usually called within the sources as "whatever(...)".
n This does not need a interpreter context, so the definition has no
"pTHX", and it follows that callers dont use "aTHX". (See "Back
ground and PERL_IMPLICIT_CONTEXT" in perlguts.)
r This function never returns; "croak", "exit" and friends.
f This function takes a variable number of arguments, "printf" style.
The argument list should end with "...", like this:
Afprd |void |croak |const char* pat|...
M This function is part of the experimental development API, and may
change or disappear without notice.
o This function should not have a compatibility macro to define, say,
"Perl_parse" to "parse". It must be called as "Perl_parse".
x This function isnt exported out of the Perl core.
m This is implemented as a macro.
X This function is explicitly exported.
E This function is visible to extensions included in the Perl core.
b Binary backward compatibility; this function is a macro but also has
a "Perl_" implementation (which is exported).
others
See the comments at the top of "embed.fnc" for others.
If you edit embed.pl or embed.fnc, you will need to run "make
regen_headers" to force a rebuild of embed.h and other auto-generated
files.
Formatted Printing of IVs, UVs, and NVs
If you are printing IVs, UVs, or NVS instead of the stdio(3) style for
matting codes like %d, %ld, %f, you should use the following macros for
portability
IVdf IV in decimal
UVuf UV in decimal
UVof UV in octal
UVxf UV in hexadecimal
NVef NV %e-like
NVff NV %f-like
NVgf NV %g-like
These will take care of 64-bit integers and long doubles. For example:
printf("IV is %"IVdf"\n", iv);
The IVdf will expand to whatever is the correct format for the IVs.
If you are printing addresses of pointers, use UVxf combined with
PTR2UV(), do not use %lx or %p.
Pointer-To-Integer and Integer-To-Pointer
Because pointer size does not necessarily equal integer size, use the
follow macros to do it right.
PTR2UV(pointer)
PTR2IV(pointer)
PTR2NV(pointer)
INT2PTR(pointertotype, integer)
For example:
IV iv = ...;
SV *sv = INT2PTR(SV*, iv);
and
AV *av = ...;
UV uv = PTR2UV(av);
Source Documentation
Theres an effort going on to document the internal functions and auto
matically produce reference manuals from them - perlapi is one such
manual which details all the functions which are available to XS writ
ers. perlintern is the autogenerated manual for the functions which are
not part of the API and are supposedly for internal use only.
Source documentation is created by putting POD comments into the C
source, like this:
/*
=for apidoc sv_setiv
Copies an integer into the given SV. Does not handle set magic. See
C.
=cut
*/
Please try and supply some documentation if you add functions to the
Perl core.
Backwards compatibility
The Perl API changes over time. New functions are added or the inter
faces of existing functions are changed. The "Devel::PPPort" module
tries to provide compatibility code for some of these changes, so XS
writers dont have to code it themselves when supporting multiple ver
sions of Perl.
"Devel::PPPort" generates a C header file ppport.h that can also be run
as a Perl script. To generate ppport.h, run:
perl -MDevel::PPPort -eDevel::PPPort::WriteFile
Besides checking existing XS code, the script can also be used to
retrieve compatibility information for various API calls using the
"--api-info" command line switch. For example:
% perl ppport.h --api-info=sv_magicext
For details, see "perldoc ppport.h".
Unicode Support
Perl 5.6.0 introduced Unicode support. Its important for porters and
XS writers to understand this support and make sure that the code they
write does not corrupt Unicode data.
What is Unicode, anyway?
In the olden, less enlightened times, we all used to use ASCII. Most of
us did, anyway. The big problem with ASCII is that its American. Well,
no, thats not actually the problem; the problem is that its not par
ticularly useful for people who dont use the Roman alphabet. What used
to happen was that particular languages would stick their own alphabet
in the upper range of the sequence, between 128 and 255. Of course, we
then ended up with plenty of variants that werent quite ASCII, and the
whole point of it being a standard was lost.
Worse still, if youve got a language like Chinese or Japanese that has
hundreds or thousands of characters, then you really cant fit them
into a mere 256, so they had to forget about ASCII altogether, and
build their own systems using pairs of numbers to refer to one charac
ter.
To fix this, some people formed Unicode, Inc. and produced a new char
acter set containing all the characters you can possibly think of and
more. There are several ways of representing these characters, and the
one Perl uses is called UTF-8. UTF-8 uses a variable number of bytes to
represent a character, instead of just one. You can learn more about
Unicode at http://www.unicode.org/
How can I recognise a UTF-8 string?
You cant. This is because UTF-8 data is stored in bytes just like
non-UTF-8 data. The Unicode character 200, (0xC8 for you hex types)
capital E with a grave accent, is represented by the two bytes
"v196.172". Unfortunately, the non-Unicode string "chr(196).chr(172)"
has that byte sequence as well. So you cant tell just by looking -
this is what makes Unicode input an interesting problem.
The API function "is_utf8_string" can help; itll tell you if a string
contains only valid UTF-8 characters. However, it cant do the work for
you. On a character-by-character basis, "is_utf8_char" will tell you
whether the current character in a string is valid UTF-8.
How does UTF-8 represent Unicode characters?
As mentioned above, UTF-8 uses a variable number of bytes to store a
character. Characters with values 1...128 are stored in one byte, just
like good ol ASCII. Character 129 is stored as "v194.129"; this con
tinues up to character 191, which is "v194.191". Now weve run out of
bits (191 is binary 10111111) so we move on; 192 is "v195.128". And so
it goes on, moving to three bytes at character 2048.
Assuming you know youre dealing with a UTF-8 string, you can find out
how long the first character in it is with the "UTF8SKIP" macro:
char *utf = "\305\233\340\240\201";
I32 len;
len = UTF8SKIP(utf); /* len is 2 here */
utf += len;
len = UTF8SKIP(utf); /* len is 3 here */
Another way to skip over characters in a UTF-8 string is to use
"utf8_hop", which takes a string and a number of characters to skip
over. Youre on your own about bounds checking, though, so dont use it
lightly.
All bytes in a multi-byte UTF-8 character will have the high bit set,
so you can test if you need to do something special with this character
like this (the UTF8_IS_INVARIANT() is a macro that tests whether the
byte can be encoded as a single byte even in UTF-8):
U8 *utf;
UV uv; /* Note: a UV, not a U8, not a char */
if (!UTF8_IS_INVARIANT(*utf))
/* Must treat this as UTF-8 */
uv = utf8_to_uv(utf);
else
/* OK to treat this character as a byte */
uv = *utf;
You can also see in that example that we use "utf8_to_uv" to get the
value of the character; the inverse function "uv_to_utf8" is available
for putting a UV into UTF-8:
if (!UTF8_IS_INVARIANT(uv))
/* Must treat this as UTF8 */
utf8 = uv_to_utf8(utf8, uv);
else
/* OK to treat this character as a byte */
*utf8++ = uv;
You must convert characters to UVs using the above functions if youre
ever in a situation where you have to match UTF-8 and non-UTF-8 charac
ters. You may not skip over UTF-8 characters in this case. If you do
this, youll lose the ability to match hi-bit non-UTF-8 characters; for
instance, if your UTF-8 string contains "v196.172", and you skip that
character, you can never match a "chr(200)" in a non-UTF-8 string. So
dont do that!
How does Perl store UTF-8 strings?
Currently, Perl deals with Unicode strings and non-Unicode strings
slightly differently. If a string has been identified as being UTF-8
encoded, Perl will set a flag in the SV, "SVf_UTF8". You can check and
manipulate this flag with the following macros:
SvUTF8(sv)
SvUTF8_on(sv)
SvUTF8_off(sv)
This flag has an important effect on Perls treatment of the string: if
Unicode data is not properly distinguished, regular expressions,
"length", "substr" and other string handling operations will have unde
sirable results.
The problem comes when you have, for instance, a string that isnt
flagged is UTF-8, and contains a byte sequence that could be UTF-8 -
especially when combining non-UTF-8 and UTF-8 strings.
Never forget that the "SVf_UTF8" flag is separate to the PV value; you
need be sure you dont accidentally knock it off while youre manipu
lating SVs. More specifically, you cannot expect to do this:
SV *sv;
SV *nsv;
STRLEN len;
char *p;
p = SvPV(sv, len);
frobnicate(p);
nsv = newSVpvn(p, len);
The "char*" string does not tell you the whole story, and you cant
copy or reconstruct an SV just by copying the string value. Check if
the old SV has the UTF-8 flag set, and act accordingly:
p = SvPV(sv, len);
frobnicate(p);
nsv = newSVpvn(p, len);
if (SvUTF8(sv))
SvUTF8_on(nsv);
In fact, your "frobnicate" function should be made aware of whether or
not its dealing with UTF-8 data, so that it can handle the string
appropriately.
Since just passing an SV to an XS function and copying the data of the
SV is not enough to copy the UTF-8 flags, even less right is just pass
ing a "char *" to an XS function.
How do I convert a string to UTF-8?
If youre mixing UTF-8 and non-UTF-8 strings, you might find it neces
sary to upgrade one of the strings to UTF-8. If youve got an SV, the
easiest way to do this is:
sv_utf8_upgrade(sv);
However, you must not do this, for example:
if (!SvUTF8(left))
sv_utf8_upgrade(left);
If you do this in a binary operator, you will actually change one of
the strings that came into the operator, and, while it shouldnt be
noticeable by the end user, it can cause problems.
Instead, "bytes_to_utf8" will give you a UTF-8-encoded copy of its
string argument. This is useful for having the data available for com
parisons and so on, without harming the original SV. Theres also
"utf8_to_bytes" to go the other way, but naturally, this will fail if
the string contains any characters above 255 that cant be represented
in a single byte.
Is there anything else I need to know?
Not really. Just remember these things:
Theres no way to tell if a string is UTF-8 or not. You can tell if
an SV is UTF-8 by looking at is "SvUTF8" flag. Dont forget to set
the flag if something should be UTF-8. Treat the flag as part of the
PV, even though its not - if you pass on the PV to somewhere, pass
on the flag too.
If a string is UTF-8, always use "utf8_to_uv" to get at the value,
unless "UTF8_IS_INVARIANT(*s)" in which case you can use *s.
When writing a character "uv" to a UTF-8 string, always use
"uv_to_utf8", unless "UTF8_IS_INVARIANT(uv))" in which case you can
use "*s = uv".
Mixing UTF-8 and non-UTF-8 strings is tricky. Use "bytes_to_utf8" to
get a new string which is UTF-8 encoded. There are tricks you can
use to delay deciding whether you need to use a UTF-8 string until
you get to a high character - "HALF_UPGRADE" is one of those.
Custom Operators
Custom operator support is a new experimental feature that allows you
to define your own ops. This is primarily to allow the building of
interpreters for other languages in the Perl core, but it also allows
optimizations through the creation of "macro-ops" (ops which perform
the functions of multiple ops which are usually executed together, such
as "gvsv, gvsv, add".)
This feature is implemented as a new op type, "OP_CUSTOM". The Perl
core does not "know" anything special about this op type, and so it
will not be involved in any optimizations. This also means that you can
define your custom ops to be any op structure - unary, binary, list and
so on - you like.
Its important to know what custom operators wont do for you. They
wont let you add new syntax to Perl, directly. They wont even let you
add new keywords, directly. In fact, they wont change the way Perl
compiles a program at all. You have to do those changes yourself, after
Perl has compiled the program. You do this either by manipulating the
op tree using a "CHECK" block and the "B::Generate" module, or by
adding a custom peephole optimizer with the "optimize" module.
When you do this, you replace ordinary Perl ops with custom ops by cre
ating ops with the type "OP_CUSTOM" and the "pp_addr" of your own PP
function. This should be defined in XS code, and should look like the
PP ops in "pp_*.c". You are responsible for ensuring that your op takes
the appropriate number of values from the stack, and you are responsi
ble for adding stack marks if necessary.
You should also "register" your op with the Perl interpreter so that it
can produce sensible error and warning messages. Since it is possible
to have multiple custom ops within the one "logical" op type "OP_CUS
TOM", Perl uses the value of "o->op_ppaddr" as a key into the "PL_cus
tom_op_descs" and "PL_custom_op_names" hashes. This means you need to
enter a name and description for your op at the appropriate place in
the "PL_custom_op_names" and "PL_custom_op_descs" hashes.
Forthcoming versions of "B::Generate" (version 1.0 and above) should
directly support the creation of custom ops by name.
AUTHORS
Until May 1997, this document was maintained by Jeff Okamoto
. It is now maintained as part of Perl itself by
the Perl 5 Porters .
With lots of help and suggestions from Dean Roehrich, Malcolm Beattie,
Andreas Koenig, Paul Hudson, Ilya Zakharevich, Paul Marquess, Neil Bow
ers, Matthew Green, Tim Bunce, Spider Boardman, Ulrich Pfeifer, Stephen
McCamant, and Gurusamy Sarathy.
SEE ALSO
perlapi(1), perlintern(1), perlxs(1), perlembed(1)
perl v5.8.8 2008-04-25 PERLGUTS(1)
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