Provided by: critcl_3.1.18.1+dfsg-3_amd64 bug

NAME

       critcl-cproc-types - Critcl - cproc Type Reference

SYNOPSIS

       package require Tcl  8.4

       package require critcl  ?3.1.18?

       ::critcl::has-resulttype name

       ::critcl::resulttype name body ?ctype?

       ::critcl::resulttype name = origname

       ::critcl::has-argtype name

       ::critcl::argtype name body ?ctype? ?ctypefun?

       ::critcl::argtype name = origname

       ::critcl::argtypesupport name code ?guard?

       ::critcl::argtyperelease name code

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

DESCRIPTION

       C  Runtime  In  Tcl,  or  CriTcl , is a system for compiling C code embedded in Tcl on the fly and either
       loading the resulting objects into Tcl for immediate use or packaging them for distribution.  Use  CriTcl
       to improve performance by rewriting in C those routines that are performance bottlenecks.

       This document is a breakout of the descriptions for the predefined argument- and result-types usable with
       the  critcl::cproc  command,  as  detailed  in  the  reference  manpage  for the critcl package, plus the
       information on how to extend the predefined set with custom types. The breakout was  made  to  make  this
       information easier to find (toplevel document vs. having to search the large main reference).

       Its intended audience are developers wishing to write Tcl packages with embedded C code.

STANDARD ARGUMENT TYPES

       Before going into the details first a quick overview:

              Critcl type | C type         | Tcl type  | Notes
              ----------- | -------------- | --------- | ------------------------------
              Tcl_Interp* | Tcl_Interp*    | n/a       | Special, only first
              ----------- | -------------- | --------- | ------------------------------
              Tcl_Obj*    | Tcl_Obj*       | Any       | Read-only
              object      |                |           | Alias of Tcl_Obj* above
              list        | critcl_list    | List      | Read-only
              ----------- | -------------- | --------- | ------------------------------
              char*       | const char*    | Any       | Read-only, string rep
              pstring     | critcl_pstring | Any       | Read-only
              bytes       | critcl_bytes   | ByteArray | Read-only
              ----------- | -------------- | --------- | ------------------------------
              int         | int            | Int       |
              long        | long           | Long      |
              wideint     | Tcl_WideInt    | WideInt   |
              double      | double         | Double    |
              float       | float          | Double    |
              ----------- | -------------- | --------- | ------------------------------
              X > 0       |                |           | For X in int ... float above.
              X >= 0      |                |           | C types as per the base type X.
              X < 0       |                |           | Allowed argument values are
              X <= 0      |                |           | restricted as per the shown
              X > 1       |                |           | relation
              X >= 1      |                |           |
              X < 1       |                |           | This is not a general mechanism
              X <= 1      |                |           | open to other values. Only 0/1.
              ----------- | -------------- | --------- | ------------------------------
              boolean     | int            | Boolean   |
              bool        |                |           | Alias of boolean above
              ----------- | -------------- | --------- | ------------------------------
              bytearray   |                |           | DEPRECATED
              rawchar     |                |           | DEPRECATED
              rawchar*    |                |           | DEPRECATED
              double*     |                |           | DEPRECATED
              float*      |                |           | DEPRECATED
              int*        |                |           | DEPRECATED
              void*       |                |           | DEPRECATED

       And now the details:

       Tcl_Interp*
              Attention:  This  is  a  special  argument  type.  It  can only be used by the first argument of a
              function.  Any other argument using it will cause critcl to throw an error.

              When used, the argument will contain a reference to the current interpreter that the function body
              may use. Furthermore the argument will not be an argument of the Tcl command for the function.

              This is useful when the function has to do more than simply returning a value. Examples  would  be
              setting up error messages on failure, or querying the interpreter for variables and other data.

       Tcl_Obj*

       object The  function  takes  an  argument of type Tcl_Obj*.  No argument checking is done.  The Tcl level
              word is passed to the argument as-is.  Note that this value must be treated as  read-only  (except
              for hidden changes to its intrep, i.e. shimmering).

       pstring
              The  function  takes an argument of type critcl_pstring containing the original Tcl_Obj* reference
              of the Tcl argument, plus the length of the string and a pointer to the character array.

              typedef struct critcl_pstring {
                  Tcl_Obj*    o;
                  const char* s;
                  int         len;
              } critcl_pstring;

              Note the const. The string is read-only. Any modification can have arbitrary effects, from pulling
              out the rug under the script because of string value  and  internal  representation  not  matching
              anymore, up to crashes anytime later.

       list   The  function  takes an argument of type critcl_list containing the original Tcl_Obj* reference of
              the Tcl argument, plus the length of the Tcl list and a pointer to the array of the list elements.

              typedef struct critcl_list {
                  Tcl_Obj*        o;
                  Tcl_Obj* const* v;
                  int             c;
              } critcl_list;

              The Tcl argument must be convertible to List, an error is thrown otherwise.

              Note the const. The list is read-only.  Any modification can have arbitrary effects, from  pulling
              out  the  rug  under  the  script because of string value and internal representation not matching
              anymore, up to crashes anytime later.

       bytearray

       rawchar*

       rawchar
              The function takes an argument of type char*.  The Tcl argument must be convertible to  ByteArray,
              an  error  is  thrown  otherwise.   Note  that  the  length  of the ByteArray is not passed to the
              function, making this type not very usable.

              Attention: These types are considered DEPRECATED.  It is planned to remove their documentation  in
              release 3.2, and their implementation in release 3.3.  Their deprecation can be undone if good use
              cases are shown.

       bytes  This is the new and usable ByteArray type.

              The  function takes an argument of type critcl_bytes containing the original Tcl_Obj* reference of
              the Tcl argument, plus the length of the byte array and a pointer to the byte data.

              typedef struct critcl_bytes {
                  Tcl_Obj*             o;
                  const unsigned char* s;
                  int                len;
              } critcl_list;

              The Tcl argument must be convertible to ByteArray, an error is thrown otherwise.

              Note the const. The bytes are read-only.   Any  modification  can  have  arbitrary  effects,  from
              pulling  out  the  rug  under  the  script because of string value and internal representation not
              matching anymore, up to crashes anytime later.

       char*  The function takes an argument of type const char*.  The string representation of the Tcl argument
              is passed in.

              Note the const. The string is read-only. Any modification can have arbitrary effects, from pulling
              out the rug under the script because of string value  and  internal  representation  not  matching
              anymore, up to crashes anytime later.

       double The function takes an argument of type double.  The Tcl argument must be convertible to Double, an
              error is thrown otherwise.

       double > 0

       double >= 0

       double < 0

       double <= 0

       double > 1

       double >= 1

       double < 1

       double <= 1
              These are variants of double above, restricting the argument value to the shown relation. An error
              is  thrown  for  Tcl  arguments outside of the specified range.  Note: This is not a general range
              specification syntax. Only the listed types exist.

       float  The function takes an argument of type float.  The Tcl argument must be convertible to Double,  an
              error is thrown otherwise.

       float > 0

       float >= 0

       float < 0

       float <= 0

       float > 1

       float >= 1

       float < 1

       float <= 1
              These  are variants of float above, restricting the argument value to the shown relation. An error
              is thrown for Tcl arguments outside of the specified range.  Note: This is  not  a  general  range
              specification syntax. Only the listed types exist.

       boolean

       bool   The  function  takes an argument of type int.  The Tcl argument must be convertible to Boolean, an
              error is thrown otherwise.

       channel
              The function takes an argument of type Tcl_Channel.  The Tcl argument must be convertible to  type
              Channel,  an  error  is thrown otherwise.  The channel is further assumed to be already registered
              with the interpreter.

       unshared-channel
              This type is an extension of channel above.  All of the information above applies.

              Beyond that the channel must not be shared by multiple interpreters, an error is thrown otherwise.

       take-channel
              This type is an extension of unshared-channel above.  All of the information above applies.

              Beyond that the code removes the channel from the current  interpreter  without  closing  it,  and
              disables all pre-existing event handling for it.

              With  this  the  function takes full ownership of the channel in question, taking it away from the
              interpreter invoking it. It is then responsible for the  lifecycle  of  the  channel,  up  to  and
              including closing it.

              Should  the  system  the  function  is a part of wish to return control of the channel back to the
              interpeter it then has to use the result type return-channel.  This  will  undo  the  registration
              changes  made by this argument type.  Note however that the removal of pre-existing event handling
              done here cannot be undone.

              Attention Removal from the interpreter without closing the channel is effected by incrementing the
              channel's reference count without providing an interpreter, before decrementing the same  for  the
              current  interpreter.  This leaves the overall reference count intact without causing Tcl to close
              it when it is removed from the interpreter structures. At this point the channel is effectively  a
              globally-owned part of the system not associated with any interpreter.

              The  complementary  result  type  then  runs this sequence in reverse. And if the channel is never
              returned to Tcl either the function or the system it is a part of have to  unregister  the  global
              reference when they are done with it.

       int    The function takes an argument of type int.  The Tcl argument must be convertible to Int, an error
              is thrown otherwise.

       int > 0

       int >= 0

       int < 0

       int <= 0

       int > 1

       int >= 1

       int < 1

       int <= 1
              These are variants of int above, restricting the argument value to the shown relation. An error is
              thrown  for  Tcl  arguments  outside  of  the  specified range.  Note: This is not a general range
              specification syntax. Only the listed types exist.

       long   The function takes an argument of type long int.  The Tcl argument must be convertible to Long, an
              error is thrown otherwise.

       long > 0

       long >= 0

       long < 0

       long <= 0

       long > 1

       long >= 1

       long < 1

       long <= 1
              These are variants of long above, restricting the argument value to the shown relation.  An  error
              is  thrown  for  Tcl  arguments outside of the specified range.  Note: This is not a general range
              specification syntax. Only the listed types exist.

       wideint
              The function takes an argument of type Tcl_WideInt.  The  Tcl  argument  must  be  convertible  to
              WideInt, an error is thrown otherwise.

       wideint > 0

       wideint >= 0

       wideint < 0

       wideint <= 0

       wideint > 1

       wideint >= 1

       wideint < 1

       wideint <= 1
              These  are  variants  of  wideint  above, restricting the argument value to the shown relation. An
              error is thrown for Tcl arguments outside of the specified range.  Note: This  is  not  a  general
              range specification syntax. Only the listed types exist.

       void*

       double*

       float*

       int*   The  function takes an argument of the same-named C type.  The Tcl argument must be convertible to
              ByteArray, an error is thrown otherwise.  The bytes in the ByteArray are  then  re-interpreted  as
              the raw representation of a single C pointer of the given type which is then passed as argument to
              the  function.  In other words, this is for Tcl values somehow holding raw C pointers, i.e. memory
              addresses.

              Attention: These types are considered DEPRECATED.  It is planned to remove their documentation  in
              release 3.2, and their implementation in release 3.3.  Their deprecation can be undone if good use
              cases are shown.

STANDARD RESULT TYPES

       Before going into the details first a quick overview:

              Critcl type   | C type         | Tcl type  | Notes
              ------------- | -------------- | --------- | ------------------------------
              void          | n/a            | n/a       | Always OK. Body sets result
              ok            | int            | n/a       | Result code. Body sets result
              ------------- | -------------- | --------- | ------------------------------
              int           | int            | Int       |
              boolean       |                |           | Alias of int above
              bool          |                |           | Alias of int above
              long          | long           | Long      |
              wideint       | Tcl_WideInt    | WideInt   |
              double        | double         | Double    |
              float         | float          | Double    |
              ------------- | -------------- | --------- | ------------------------------
              char*         | char*          | String    | Makes a copy
              vstring       |                |           | Alias of char* above
              const char*   | const char*    |           | Behavior of char* above
              ------------- | -------------- | --------- | ------------------------------
              string        |                | String    | Freeable string set directly
                            |                |           | No copy is made
              dstring       |                |           | Alias of string above
              ------------- | -------------- | --------- | ------------------------------
                            |                |           | For all below: Null is ERROR
                            |                |           | Body has to set any message
              Tcl_Obj*      | Tcl_Obj*       | Any       | refcount --
              object        |                |           | Alias of Tcl_Obj* above
              Tcl_Obj*0     |                | Any       | refcount unchanged
              object0       |                |           | Alias of Tcl_Obj*0 above
              ------------- | -------------- | --------- | ------------------------------
              known-channel | Tcl_Channel    | String    | Assumes to already be registered
              new-channel   | Tcl_Channel    | String    | New channel, will be registered

       And now the details:

       Tcl_Obj*

       object If  the returned Tcl_Obj* is NULL, the Tcl return code is TCL_ERROR and the function should set an
              error mesage [https://www.tcl-lang.org/man/tcl/TclLib/SetResult.htm] as  the  interpreter  result.
              Otherwise, the returned Tcl_Obj* is set as the interpreter result.

              Note  that  setting  an error message requires the function body to have access to the interpreter
              the function is running in. See the argument type Tcl_Interp* for the details on how to make  that
              happen.

              Note  further  that  the  returned  Tcl_Obj* should have a reference count greater than 0. This is
              because the converter decrements the reference count  to  release  possession  after  setting  the
              interpreter  result.  It assumes that the function incremented the reference count of the returned
              Tcl_Obj*.  If a Tcl_Obj* with a reference count of 0 were  returned,  the  reference  count  would
              become 1 when set as the interpreter result, and immediately thereafter be decremented to 0 again,
              causing the memory to be freed.  The system is then likely to crash at some point after the return
              due to reuse of the freed memory.

       Tcl_Obj*0

       object0
              Like Tcl_Obj* except that this conversion assumes that the returned value has a reference count of
              0  and  does  not  decrement  it.  Returning  a  value  whose reference count is greater than 0 is
              therefore likely to cause a memory leak.

              Note that setting an error message requires the function body to have access  to  the  interpreter
              the  function is running in. See the argument type Tcl_Interp* for the details on how to make that
              happen.

       new-channel
              A String Tcl_Obj holding the name of the returned Tcl_Channel is set as  the  interpreter  result.
              The channel is further assumed to be new, and therefore registered with the interpreter to make it
              known.

       known-channel
              A  String  Tcl_Obj  holding the name of the returned Tcl_Channel is set as the interpreter result.
              The channel is further assumed to be already registered with the interpreter.

       return-channel
              This type is a variant of new-channel above.  It varies  slightly  from  it  in  the  registration
              sequence to be properly complementary to the argument type take-channel.  A String Tcl_Obj holding
              the  name  of  the  returned Tcl_Channel is set as the interpreter result.  The channel is further
              assumed to be new, and therefore registered with the interpreter to make it known.

       char*

       vstring
              A String Tcl_Obj holding a copy of the returned char* is set as the  interpreter  result.  If  the
              value  is allocated then the function itself and the extension it is a part of are responsible for
              releasing the memory when the data is not in use any longer.

       const char*
              Like char* above, except that the returned string is const-qualified.

       string

       dstring
              The returned char* is directly set as the interpreter result without making a copy.  Therefore  it
              must  be  dynamically  allocated via Tcl_Alloc. Release happens automatically when the Interpreter
              finds that the value is not required any longer.

       double

       float  The returned double or float is converted to a Double Tcl_Obj and set as the interpreter result.

       boolean

       bool   The returned int value is converted to an Int Tcl_Obj and set as the interpreter result.

       int    The returned int value is converted to an Int Tcl_Obj and set as the interpreter result.

       long   The returned long int value is converted to a Long Tcl_Obj and set as the interpreter result.

       wideint
              The returned Tcl_WideInt value is converted to a  WideInt  Tcl_Obj  and  set  as  the  interpreter
              result.

       ok     The  returned int value becomes the Tcl return code.  The interpreter result is left untouched and
              can be set by the function if desired. Note that doing this requires the  function  body  to  have
              access  to  the  interpreter the function is running in. See the argument type Tcl_Interp* for the
              details on how to make that happen.

       void   The function does not return a value.  The interpreter result is left untouched and can be set  by
              the function if desired.

ADVANCED: ADDING TYPES

       While  the  critcl::cproc  command  understands the most common C types (as per the previous 2 sections),
       sometimes this is not enough.

       To get around this limitation the commands in this section enable users of critcl to extend  the  set  of
       argument  and  result  types understood by critcl::cproc. In other words, they allow them to define their
       own, custom, types.

       ::critcl::has-resulttype name
              This command tests if the named result-type is known or not.  It returns a boolean value, true  if
              the type is known and false otherwise.

       ::critcl::resulttype name body ?ctype?
              This  command defines the result type name, and associates it with the C code doing the conversion
              (body) from C to Tcl.  The C return type of the associated function, also the C type of the result
              variable, is ctype. This type defaults to name if it is not specified.

              If name is already declared an error is thrown.  Attention!  The  standard  result  type  void  is
              special  as  it  has  no  accompanying result variable. This cannot be expressed by this extension
              command.

              The body's responsibility is the conversion of the functions result into a Tcl result  and  a  Tcl
              status. The first has to be set into the interpreter we are in, and the second has to be returned.

              The C code of body is guaranteed to be called last in the wrapper around the actual implementation
              of the cproc in question and has access to the following environment:

              interp A  Tcl_Interp*  typed  C  variable  referencing the interpreter the result has to be stored
                     into.

              rv     The C variable holding the result to convert, of type ctype.

              As examples here are the definitions of two standard result types:

                  resulttype int {
                Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewIntObj(rv));
                return TCL_OK;
                  }

                  resulttype ok {
                /* interp result must be set by cproc body */
                return rv;
                  } int

       ::critcl::resulttype name = origname
              This form of the resulttype command declares name as an alias of result type origname,  which  has
              to be defined already. If this is not the case an error is thrown.

       ::critcl::has-argtype name
              This  command  tests if the named argument-type is known or not.  It returns a boolean value, true
              if the type is known and false otherwise.

       ::critcl::argtype name body ?ctype? ?ctypefun?
              This command defines the argument type  name,  and  associates  it  with  the  C  code  doing  the
              conversion  (body)  from  Tcl  to  C.   ctype is the C type of the variable to hold the conversion
              result and ctypefun is the type of the function argument itself.  Both types default  to  name  if
              they are the empty string or are not provided.

              If name is already declared an error is thrown.

              body  is  a  C  code  fragment that converts a Tcl_Obj* into a C value which is stored in a helper
              variable in the underlying function.

              body is called inside its own code block to isolate local variables, and the following  items  are
              in scope:

              interp A variable of type Tcl_Interp* which is the interpreter the code is running in.

              @@     A placeholder for an expression that evaluates to the Tcl_Obj* to convert.

              @A     A placeholder for the name of the variable to store the converted argument into.

              As examples, here are the definitions of two standard argument types:

                  argtype int {
                if (Tcl_GetIntFromObj(interp, @@, &@A) != TCL_OK) return TCL_ERROR;
                  }

                  argtype float {
                double t;
                if (Tcl_GetDoubleFromObj(interp, @@, &t) != TCL_OK) return TCL_ERROR;
                @A = (float) t;
                  }

       ::critcl::argtype name = origname
              This form of the argtype command declares name as an alias of argument type origname, which has to
              be defined already. If this is not the case an error is thrown.

       ::critcl::argtypesupport name code ?guard?
              This  command  defines  a  C  code  fragment  for  the already defined argument type name which is
              inserted before all functions using that type. Its purpose is the definition of any  supporting  C
              types  needed by the argument type.  If the type is used by many functions the system ensures that
              only the first of the multiple insertions of the code fragment is active, and the others disabled.
              The guard identifier is normally derived from name, but can also be  set  explicitly,  via  guard.
              This  latter  allows  different custom types to share a common support structure without having to
              perform their own guarding.

       ::critcl::argtyperelease name code
              This command defines a C code fragment for  the  already  defined  argument  type  name  which  is
              inserted  whenever  the  worker  function  of  a  critcl::cproc  returns  to  the  shim. It is the
              responsibility of this fragment to  unconditionally  release  any  resources  the  critcl::argtype
              conversion  code  allocated.   An  example  of  this are the variadic types for the support of the
              special, variadic args argument to critcl::cproc's.  They allocate a C  array  for  the  collected
              arguments  which  has  to be released when the worker returns. This command defines the C code for
              doing that.

EXAMPLES

       The examples shown here have been drawn from section "Embedding C" in the document  about  Using  CriTcl.
       Please see that document for many more examples.

   A SIMPLE PROCEDURE
       Starting simple, let us assume that the Tcl code in question is something like

                  proc math {x y z} {
                      return [expr {(sin($x)*rand())/$y**log($z)}]
                  }

       with the expression pretending to be something very complex and slow. Converting this to C we get:

                  critcl::cproc math {double x double y double z} double {
                      double up   = rand () * sin (x);
                      double down = pow(y, log (z));
                      return up/down;
                  }

       Notable about this translation:

       [1]    All  the arguments got type information added to them, here "double".  Like in C the type precedes
              the argument name. Other than that it is pretty much  a  Tcl  dictionary,  with  keys  and  values
              swapped.

       [2]    We now also have to declare the type of the result, here "double", again.

       [3]    The reference manpage lists all the legal C types supported as arguments and results.

   CUSTOM TYPES, INTRODUCTION
       When  writing  bindings to external libraries critcl::cproc is usually the most convenient way of writing
       the lower layers. This is however hampered by the fact that  critcl  on  its  own  only  supports  a  few
       standard  (arguably the most import) standard types, whereas the functions we wish to bind most certainly
       will use much more, specific to the library's function.

       The critcl commands argtype, resulttype and their adjuncts are provided  to  help  here,  by  allowing  a
       developer to extend critcl's type system with custom conversions.

       This and the three following sections will demonstrate this, from trivial to complex.

       The  most  trivial  use  is to create types which are aliases of existing types, standard or other. As an
       alias it simply copies and uses the conversion code from the referenced types.

       Our example is pulled from an incomplete project of mine, a binding to Jeffrey Kegler's libmarpa  library
       managing  Earley  parsers. Several custom types simply reflect the typedef's done by the library, to make
       the critcl::cprocs as self-documenting as the underlying library functions themselves.

                  critcl::argtype Marpa_Symbol_ID     = int
                  critcl::argtype Marpa_Rule_ID       = int
                  critcl::argtype Marpa_Rule_Int      = int
                  critcl::argtype Marpa_Rank          = int
                  critcl::argtype Marpa_Earleme       = int
                  critcl::argtype Marpa_Earley_Set_ID = int

                  ...

                  method sym-rank: proc {
                      Marpa_Symbol_ID sym
                      Marpa_Rank      rank
                  } Marpa_Rank {
                      return marpa_g_symbol_rank_set (instance->grammar, sym, rank);
                  }

                  ...

   CUSTOM TYPES, SEMI-TRIVIAL
       A more involved custom argument type would be to map from Tcl strings to  some  internal  representation,
       like an integer code.

       The first example is taken from the tclyaml package, a binding to the libyaml library. In a few places we
       have to map readable names for block styles, scalar styles, etc. to the internal enumeration.

                  critcl::argtype yaml_sequence_style_t {
                      if (!encode_sequence_style (interp, @@, &@A)) return TCL_ERROR;
                  }

                  ...

                  critcl::ccode {
                      static const char* ty_block_style_names [] = {
                          "any", "block", "flow", NULL
                      };

                      static int
                      encode_sequence_style (Tcl_Interp* interp, Tcl_Obj* style,
                                             yaml_sequence_style_t* estyle)
                      {
                          int value;
                          if (Tcl_GetIndexFromObj (interp, style, ty_block_style_names,
                                                   "sequence style", 0, &value) != TCL_OK) {
                              return 0;
                          }
                          *estyle = value;
                          return 1;
                      }
                  }

                  ...

                  method sequence_start proc {
                      pstring anchor
                      pstring tag
                      int implicit
                      yaml_sequence_style_t style
                  } ok {
                      /* Syntax: <instance> seq_start <anchor> <tag> <implicit> <style> */
                      ...
                  }

                  ...

       It  should  be noted that this code precedes the advent of the supporting generator package critcl::emap.
       using the generator the definition of the mapping becomes much simpler:

                  critcl::emap::def yaml_sequence_style_t {
                      any   0
                      block 1
                      flow  2
                  }

       Note that the generator will not only provide the conversions, but also define the  argument  and  result
       types needed for their use by critcl::cproc.  Another example of such a semi-trivial argument type can be
       found  in the CRIMP package, which defines a Tcl_ObjType for image values. This not only provides a basic
       argument type for any image, but also derived types which check that the image  has  a  specific  format.
       Here  we  see  for  the  first  time  non-integer  arguments, and the need to define the C types used for
       variables holding the C level value, and the type of function parameters (Due to C promotion rules we may
       need different types).

                  critcl::argtype image {
                      if (crimp_get_image_from_obj (interp, @@, &@A) != TCL_OK) {
                          return TCL_ERROR;
                      }
                  } crimp_image* crimp_image*

                  ...

                      set map [list <<type>> $type]
                      critcl::argtype image_$type [string map $map {
                          if (crimp_get_image_from_obj (interp, @@, &@A) != TCL_OK) {
                              return TCL_ERROR;
                          }
                          if (@A->itype != crimp_imagetype_find ("crimp::image::<<type>>")) {
                              Tcl_SetObjResult (interp,
                                                Tcl_NewStringObj ("expected image type <<type>>",
                                                                  -1));
                              return TCL_ERROR;
                          }
                      }] crimp_image* crimp_image*

                  ...

   CUSTOM TYPES, SUPPORT STRUCTURES
       The adjunct command critcl::argtypesupport is for when the conversion needs additional  definitions,  for
       example a helper structure.

       An  example  of  this can be found among the standard types of critcl itself, the pstring type. This type
       provides the C function with not only the string pointer, but also the string length,  and  the  Tcl_Obj*
       this  data  came  from. As critcl::cproc's calling conventions allow us only one argument for the data of
       the parameter a structure is needed to convey these three pieces of information.

       Thus the argument type is defined as

                  critcl::argtype pstring {
                      @A.s = Tcl_GetStringFromObj(@@, &(@A.len));
                      @A.o = @@;
                  } critcl_pstring critcl_pstring

                  critcl::argtypesupport pstring {
                      typedef struct critcl_pstring {
                          Tcl_Obj*    o;
                          const char* s;
                          int         len;
                      } critcl_pstring;
                  }

       In the case of such a structure being large we may wish to allocate it on the heap instead of  having  it
       taking  space  on  the stack. If we do that we need another adjunct command, critcl::argtyperelease. This
       command specifies the code required to release dynamically allocated resources when the  worker  function
       returns, before the shim returns to the caller in Tcl.  To keep things simple our example is synthetic, a
       modification  of  pstring above, to demonstrate the technique. An actual, but more complex example is the
       code to support the variadic args argument of critcl::cproc.

                  critcl::argtype pstring {
                      @A = (critcl_pstring*) ckalloc(sizeof(critcl_pstring));
                      @A->s = Tcl_GetStringFromObj(@@, &(@A->len));
                      @A->o = @@;
                  } critcl_pstring* critcl_pstring*

                  critcl::argtypesupport pstring {
                      typedef struct critcl_pstring {
                          Tcl_Obj*    o;
                          const char* s;
                          int         len;
                      } critcl_pstring;
                  }

                  critcl::argtyperelease pstring {
                      ckfree ((char*)) @A);
                  }

       Note, the above example shows only the most simple case of an allocated argument, with a conversion  that
       cannot  fail  (namely, string retrieval). If the conversion can fail then either the allocation has to be
       defered to happen only on successful conversion, or the conversion code  has  to  release  the  allocated
       memory   itself   in   the   failure   path,   because   it   will  never  reach  the  code  defined  via
       critcl::argtyperelease in that case.

   CUSTOM TYPES, RESULTS
       All of the previous sections dealt with argument conversions, i.e. going from Tcl into C.  Custom  result
       types  are  for the reverse direction, from C to Tcl.  This is usually easier, as most of the time errors
       should not be possible. Supporting structures, or allocating them on the heap are not really required and
       therefore not supported.

       The example of a result type shown below was pulled from KineTcl. It is a variant of the  builtin  result
       type  Tcl_Obj*, aka object. The builtin conversion assumes that the object returned by the function has a
       refcount of 1 (or higher), with the function having held the reference, and releases that reference after
       placing the value into the interp result. The conversion below on the other hand assumes that  the  value
       has  a  refcount  of 0 and thus that decrementing it is forbidden, lest it be released much to early, and
       crashing the system.

                  critcl::resulttype KTcl_Obj* {
                      if (rv == NULL) { return TCL_ERROR; }
                      Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, rv);
                      /* No refcount adjustment */
                      return TCL_OK;
                  } Tcl_Obj*

       This type of definition is also found in Marpa and recent hacking hacking on CRIMP introduced it there as
       well. Which is why this definition became a builtin type starting with version 3.1.16,  under  the  names
       Tcl_Obj*0 and object0.

       Going  back  to errors and their handling, of course, if a function we are wrapping signals them in-band,
       then the conversion of such results has to deal with that. This happens for example in KineTcl, where  we
       find

                  critcl::resulttype XnStatus {
                      if (rv != XN_STATUS_OK) {
                          Tcl_AppendResult (interp, xnGetStatusString (rv), NULL);
                          return TCL_ERROR;
                      }
                      return TCL_OK;
                  }

                  critcl::resulttype XnDepthPixel {
                      if (rv == ((XnDepthPixel) -1)) {
                          Tcl_AppendResult (interp,
                                            "Inheritance error: Not a depth generator",
                                            NULL);
                          return TCL_ERROR;
                      }
                      Tcl_SetObjResult (interp, Tcl_NewIntObj (rv));
                      return TCL_OK;
                  }

AUTHORS

       Jean Claude Wippler, Steve Landers, Andreas Kupries

BUGS, IDEAS, FEEDBACK

       This  document,  and  the package it describes, will undoubtedly contain bugs and other problems.  Please
       report them at https://github.com/andreas-kupries/critcl/issues.  Ideas for enhancements you may have for
       either package, application, and/or the documentation are also very welcome and  should  be  reported  at
       https://github.com/andreas-kupries/critcl/issues as well.

KEYWORDS

       C  code,  Embedded  C  Code,  code  generator,  compile & run, compiler, dynamic code generation, dynamic
       compilation, generate package, linker, on demand compilation, on-the-fly compilation

CATEGORY

       Glueing/Embedded C code

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright (c) Jean-Claude Wippler
       Copyright (c) Steve Landers
       Copyright (c) 2011-2018 Andreas Kupries

doc                                                  3.1.18                             critcl-cproc-types(3tcl)