ffi_prep_cif(3) [osx man page]

ffi_prep_cif(3) 					   BSD Library Functions Manual 					   ffi_prep_cif(3)

NAME

     ffi_prep_cif -- Prepare a ffi_cif structure for use with ffi_call or ffi_prep_closure.

SYNOPSIS

     #include <ffi/ffi.h>

     ffi_status
     ffi_prep_cif(ffi_cif *cif, ffi_abi abi, unsigned int nargs, ffi_type *rtype, ffi_type **atypes);

DESCRIPTION

     The ffi_prep_cif function prepares a ffi_cif structure for use with ffi_call or ffi_prep_closure.	abi specifies a set of calling conventions
     to use.  atypes is an array of nargs pointers to ffi_type structs that describe the data type, size and alignment of each argument.  rtype
     points to an ffi_type that describes the data type, size and alignment of the return value.

RETURN VALUES

     Upon successful completion, ffi_prep_cif returns FFI_OK.  It will return FFI_BAD_TYPEDEF if cif is NULL or atypes or rtype is malformed. If
     abi does not refer to a valid ABI, FFI_BAD_ABI will be returned. Available ABIs are defined in <ffi/ppc-ffitarget.h> and
     <ffi/x86-ffitarget.h>.

SEE ALSO

     ffi(3), ffi_call(3), ffi_prep_closure(3)

Darwin								   July 20, 2007							    Darwin

ffi_call(3)						   BSD Library Functions Manual 					       ffi_call(3)

NAME

     ffi_call -- Invoke a foreign function.

SYNOPSIS

     #include <ffi/ffi.h>

     void
     ffi_call(ffi_cif *cif, void (*fn)(void), void *rvalue, void **avalue);

DESCRIPTION

     The ffi_call function provides a simple mechanism for invoking a function without requiring knowledge of the function's interface at compile
     time.  fn is called with the values retrieved from the pointers in the avalue array. The return value from fn is placed in storage pointed to
     by rvalue.  cif contains information describing the data types, sizes and alignments of the arguments to and return value from fn, and must
     be initialized with ffi_prep_cif before it is used with ffi_call.

     rvalue must point to storage that is sizeof(long) or larger. For smaller return value sizes, the ffi_arg or ffi_sarg integral type must be
     used to hold the return value.

EXAMPLES

     #define MACOSX  // for fficonfig.h on Darwin

     #include <ffi/ffi.h>
     #include <stdio.h>

     unsigned char
     foo(unsigned int, float);

     int
     main(int argc, const char **argv)
     {
	 ffi_cif cif;
	 ffi_type *arg_types[2];
	 void *arg_values[2];
	 ffi_status status;

	 // Because the return value from foo() is smaller than sizeof(long), it
	 // must be passed as ffi_arg or ffi_sarg.
	 ffi_arg result;

	 // Specify the data type of each argument. Available types are defined
	 // in <ffi/ffi.h>.
	 arg_types[0] = &ffi_type_uint;
	 arg_types[1] = &ffi_type_float;

	 // Prepare the ffi_cif structure.
	 if ((status = ffi_prep_cif(&cif, FFI_DEFAULT_ABI,
	     2, &ffi_type_uint8, arg_types)) != FFI_OK)
	 {
	     // Handle the ffi_status error.
	 }

	 // Specify the values of each argument.
	 unsigned int arg1 = 42;
	 float arg2 = 5.1;

	 arg_values[0] = &arg1;
	 arg_values[1] = &arg2;

	 // Invoke the function.
	 ffi_call(&cif, FFI_FN(foo), &result, arg_values);

	 // The ffi_arg 'result' now contains the unsigned char returned from foo(),
	 // which can be accessed by a typecast.
	 printf("result is %hhu", (unsigned char)result);

	 return 0;
     }

     // The target function.
     unsigned char
     foo(unsigned int x, float y)
     {
	 unsigned char result = x - y;
	 return result;
     }

SEE ALSO

     ffi(3), ffi_prep_cif(3)

Darwin								   July 20, 2007							    Darwin