This document defines a standard generic interface to the
dynamic linking mechanisms available on many platforms. Its
primary purpose is to implement automatic dynamic loading of
Perl modules.
This document serves as both a specification for anyone
wishing to implement the DynaLoader for a new platform and
as a guide for anyone wishing to use the DynaLoader directly
in an application.
The DynaLoader is designed to be a very simple high-level
interface that is sufficiently general to cover the
requirements of SunOS, HP-UX, NeXT, Linux, VMS and other
platforms.
It is also hoped that the interface will cover the needs of
OS/2, NT etc and also allow pseudo-dynamic linking (using
`ld -A' at runtime).
It must be stressed that the DynaLoader, by itself, is
practically useless for accessing non-Perl libraries because
it provides almost no Perl-to-C 'glue'. There is, for
example, no mechanism for calling a C library function or
supplying arguments. A C::DynaLib module is available from
CPAN sites which performs that function for some common
system types.
DynaLoader Interface Summary
@dl_library_path
@dl_resolve_using
@dl_require_symbols
$dl_debug
@dl_librefs
@dl_modules
Implemented in:
bootstrap($modulename) Perl
@filepaths = dl_findfile(@names) Perl
$flags = $modulename->dl_load_flags Perl
$symref = dl_find_symbol_anywhere($symbol) Perl
$libref = dl_load_file($filename, $flags) C
$status = dl_unload_file($libref) C
$symref = dl_find_symbol($libref, $symbol) C
@symbols = dl_undef_symbols() C
dl_install_xsub($name, $symref [, $filename]) C
$message = dl_error C
@dl_library_path
The standard/default list of directories in which
dl_findfile() will search for libraries etc.
Directories are searched in order: $dl_library_path[0],
[1], ... etc
@dl_library_path is initialised to hold the list of
'normal' directories (/usr/lib, etc) determined by
Configure (`$Config{'libpth'}'). This should ensure
portability across a wide range of platforms.
@dl_library_path should also be initialised with any
other directories that can be determined from the
environment at runtime (such as LD_LIBRARY_PATH for
SunOS).
After initialisation @dl_library_path can be manipulated
by an application using push and unshift before calling
dl_findfile(). Unshift can be used to add directories
to the front of the search order either to save search
time or to override libraries with the same name in the
'normal' directories.
The load function that dl_load_file() calls may require
an absolute pathname. The dl_findfile() function and
@dl_library_path can be used to search for and return
the absolute pathname for the library/object that you
wish to load.
@dl_resolve_using
A list of additional libraries or other shared objects
which can be used to resolve any undefined symbols that
might be generated by a later call to load_file().
This is only required on some platforms which do not
handle dependent libraries automatically. For example
the Socket Perl extension library
(auto/Socket/Socket.so) contains references to many
socket functions which need to be resolved when it's
loaded. Most platforms will automatically know where to
find the 'dependent' library (e.g.,
/usr/lib/libsocket.so). A few platforms need to be told
the location of the dependent library explicitly. Use
@dl_resolve_using for this.
Example usage:
@dl_resolve_using = dl_findfile('-lsocket');
@dl_require_symbols
A list of one or more symbol names that are in the
library/object file to be dynamically loaded. This is
only required on some platforms.
@dl_librefs
An array of the handles returned by successful calls to
dl_load_file(), made by bootstrap, in the order in which
they were loaded. Can be used with dl_find_symbol() to
look for a symbol in any of the loaded files.
@dl_modules
An array of module (package) names that have been
bootstrap'ed.
dl_error()
Syntax:
$message = dl_error();
Error message text from the last failed DynaLoader
function. Note that, similar to errno in unix, a
successful function call does not reset this message.
Implementations should detect the error as soon as it
occurs in any of the other functions and save the
corresponding message for later retrieval. This will
avoid problems on some platforms (such as SunOS) where
the error message is very temporary (e.g., dlerror()).
$dl_debug
Internal debugging messages are enabled when $dl_debug
is set true. Currently setting $dl_debug only affects
the Perl side of the DynaLoader. These messages should
help an application developer to resolve any DynaLoader
usage problems.
$dl_debug is set to `$ENV{'PERL_DL_DEBUG'}' if defined.
For the DynaLoader developer/porter there is a similar
debugging variable added to the C code (see dlutils.c)
and enabled if Perl was built with the -DDEBUGGING flag.
This can also be set via the PERL_DL_DEBUG environment
variable. Set to 1 for minimal information or higher
for more.
dl_findfile()
Syntax:
@filepaths = dl_findfile(@names)
Determine the full paths (including file suffix) of one
or more loadable files given their generic names and
optionally one or more directories. Searches
directories in @dl_library_path by default and returns
an empty list if no files were found.
Names can be specified in a variety of platform
independent forms. Any names in the form -lname are
converted into libname.*, where .* is an appropriate
suffix for the platform.
If a name does not already have a suitable prefix and/or
suffix then the corresponding file will be searched for
by trying combinations of prefix and suffix appropriate
to the platform: "$name.o", "lib$name.*" and "$name".
If any directories are included in @names they are
searched before @dl_library_path. Directories may be
specified as -Ldir. Any other names are treated as
filenames to be searched for.
Using arguments of the form `-Ldir' and `-lname' is
recommended.
Example:
@dl_resolve_using = dl_findfile(qw(-L/usr/5lib -lposix));
dl_expandspec()
Syntax:
$filepath = dl_expandspec($spec)
Some unusual systems, such as VMS, require special
filename handling in order to deal with symbolic names
for files (i.e., VMS's Logical Names).
To support these systems a dl_expandspec() function can
be implemented either in the dl_*.xs file or code can be
added to the autoloadable dl_expandspec() function in
DynaLoader.pm. See DynaLoader.pm for more information.
dl_load_file()
Syntax:
$libref = dl_load_file($filename, $flags)
Dynamically load $filename, which must be the path to a
shared object or library. An opaque 'library reference'
is returned as a handle for the loaded object. Returns
undef on error.
The $flags argument to alters dl_load_file behaviour.
Assigned bits:
0x01 make symbols available for linking later dl_load_file's.
(only known to work on Solaris 2 using dlopen(RTLD_GLOBAL))
(ignored under VMS; this is a normal part of image linking)
(On systems that provide a handle for the loaded object
such as SunOS and HPUX, $libref will be that handle. On
other systems $libref will typically be $filename or a
pointer to a buffer containing $filename. The
application should not examine or alter $libref in any
way.)
This is the function that does the real work. It should
use the current values of @dl_require_symbols and
@dl_resolve_using if required.
SunOS: dlopen($filename)
HP-UX: shl_load($filename)
Linux: dld_create_reference(@dl_require_symbols); dld_link($filename)
NeXT: rld_load($filename, @dl_resolve_using)
VMS: lib$find_image_symbol($filename,$dl_require_symbols[0])
(The dlopen() function is also used by Solaris and some
versions of Linux, and is a common choice when providing
a "wrapper" on other mechanisms as is done in the OS/2
port.)
dl_unload_file()
Syntax:
$status = dl_unload_file($libref)
Dynamically unload $libref, which must be an opaque
'library reference' as returned from dl_load_file.
Returns one on success and zero on failure.
This function is optional and may not necessarily be
provided on all platforms. If it is defined, it is
called automatically when the interpreter exits for
every shared object or library loaded by
DynaLoader::bootstrap. All such library references are
stored in @dl_librefs by DynaLoader::Bootstrap as it
loads the libraries. The files are unloaded in last-in,
first-out order.
This unloading is usually necessary when embedding a
shared-object perl (e.g. one configured with
-Duseshrplib) within a larger application, and the perl
interpreter is created and destroyed several times
within the lifetime of the application. In this case it
is possible that the system dynamic linker will unload
and then subsequently reload the shared libperl without
relocating any references to it from any files
DynaLoaded by the previous incarnation of the
interpreter. As a result, any shared objects opened by
DynaLoader may point to a now invalid 'ghost' of the
libperl shared object, causing apparently random memory
corruption and crashes. This behaviour is most commonly
seen when using Apache and mod_perl built with the APXS
mechanism.
SunOS: dlclose($libref)
HP-UX: ???
Linux: ???
NeXT: ???
VMS: ???
(The dlclose() function is also used by Solaris and some
versions of Linux, and is a common choice when providing
a "wrapper" on other mechanisms as is done in the OS/2
port.)
dl_loadflags()
Syntax:
$flags = dl_loadflags $modulename;
Designed to be a method call, and to be overridden by a
derived class (i.e. a class which has DynaLoader in its
@ISA). The definition in DynaLoader itself returns 0,
which produces standard behavior from dl_load_file().
dl_find_symbol()
Syntax:
$symref = dl_find_symbol($libref, $symbol)
Return the address of the symbol $symbol or `undef' if
not found. If the target system has separate functions
to search for symbols of different types then
dl_find_symbol() should search for function symbols
first and then other types.
The exact manner in which the address is returned in
$symref is not currently defined. The only initial
requirement is that $symref can be passed to, and
understood by, dl_install_xsub().
SunOS: dlsym($libref, $symbol)
HP-UX: shl_findsym($libref, $symbol)
Linux: dld_get_func($symbol) and/or dld_get_symbol($symbol)
NeXT: rld_lookup("_$symbol")
VMS: lib$find_image_symbol($libref,$symbol)
dl_find_symbol_anywhere()
Syntax:
$symref = dl_find_symbol_anywhere($symbol)
Applies dl_find_symbol() to the members of @dl_librefs
and returns the first match found.
dl_undef_symbols()
Example
@symbols = dl_undef_symbols()
Return a list of symbol names which remain undefined
after load_file(). Returns `()' if not known. Don't
worry if your platform does not provide a mechanism for
this. Most do not need it and hence do not provide it,
they just return an empty list.
dl_install_xsub()
Syntax:
dl_install_xsub($perl_name, $symref [, $filename])
Create a new Perl external subroutine named $perl_name
using $symref as a pointer to the function which
implements the routine. This is simply a direct call to
newXSUB(). Returns a reference to the installed
function.
The $filename parameter is used by Perl to identify the
source file for the function if required by die(),
caller() or the debugger. If $filename is not defined
then "DynaLoader" will be used.
bootstrap()
Syntax:
bootstrap($module)
This is the normal entry point for automatic dynamic
loading in Perl.
It performs the following actions:
o locates an auto/$module directory by searching
@INC
o uses dl_findfile() to determine the filename to
load
o sets @dl_require_symbols to `("boot_$module")'
o executes an auto/$module/$module.bs file if it
exists (typically used to add to
@dl_resolve_using any files which are required
to load the module on the current platform)
o calls dl_load_flags() to determine how to load
the file.
o calls dl_load_file() to load the file
o calls dl_undef_symbols() and warns if any
symbols are undefined
o calls dl_find_symbol() for "boot_$module"
o calls dl_install_xsub() to install it as
"${module}::bootstrap"
o calls &{"${module}::bootstrap"} to bootstrap the
module (actually it uses the function reference
returned by dl_install_xsub for speed)
AUTHOR
Tim Bunce, 11 August 1994.
This interface is based on the work and comments of (in no
particular order): Larry Wall, Robert Sanders, Dean
Roehrich, Jeff Okamoto, Anno Siegel, Thomas Neumann, Paul
Marquess, Charles Bailey, myself and others.
Larry Wall designed the elegant inherited bootstrap
mechanism and implemented the first Perl 5 dynamic loader
using it.
Solaris global loading added by Nick Ing-Simmons with
design/coding assistance from Tim Bunce, January 1996.