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authorLarry Wall <lwall@netlabs.com>1994-10-17 23:00:00 +0000
committerLarry Wall <lwall@netlabs.com>1994-10-17 23:00:00 +0000
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treefaca1018149b736b1142f487e44d1ff2de5cc1fa /ext/DynaLoader/README
parent85e6fe838fb25b257a1b363debf8691c0992ef71 (diff)
downloadperl-a0d0e21ea6ea90a22318550944fe6cb09ae10cda.tar.gz
perl 5.000perl-5.000
[editor's note: this commit combines approximate 4 months of furious releases of Andy Dougherty and Larry Wall - see pod/perlhist.pod for details. Andy notes that; Alas neither my "Irwin AccuTrack" nor my DC 600A quarter-inch cartridge backup tapes from that era seem to be readable anymore. I guess 13 years exceeds the shelf life for that backup technology :-(. ]
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+Perl 5 DynaLoader
+
+See DynaLoader.doc for detailed specification.
+
+This module is very similar to the other Perl 5 modules except that
+Configure selects which dl_*.xs file to use.
+
+After Configure has been run the Makefile.SH will generate a Makefile
+which will run xsubpp on a specific dl_*.xs file and write the output
+to DynaLoader.c
+
+After that the processing is the same as any other module.
+
+Note that, to be effective, the DynaLoader module must be _statically_
+linked into perl! Configure should arrange this.
+
+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 and others.
+
+The dl_*.xs files should either be named after the dynamic linking
+operating system interface used if that interface is available on more
+than one type of system, e.g.:
+ dlopen for dlopen()/dlsym() type functions (SunOS, BSD)
+ dld for the GNU dld library functions (linux, ?)
+or else the osname, e.g., hpux, next, vms etc.
+
+Both are determined by Configure and so only those specific names that
+Configure knows/uses will work.
+
+If porting the DynaLoader to a platform that has a core dynamic linking
+interface similar to an existing generic type, e.g., dlopen or dld,
+please try to port the corresponding dl_*.xs file (using #ifdef's if
+required).
+
+Otherwise, or if that proves too messy, create a new dl_*.xs file named
+after your osname. Configure will give preference to a dl_$osname.xs
+file if one exists.
+
+The file dl_dlopen.xs is a reference implementation by Paul Marquess
+which is a good place to start if porting from scratch. For more complex
+platforms take a look at dl_dld.xs. The dlutils.c file holds some
+common definitions that are #included into the dl_*.xs files.
+
+After the initial implementation of a new DynaLoader dl_*.xs file
+you may need to edit or create ext/MODULE/MODULE.bs files to reflect
+the needs of your platform and linking software.
+
+Refer to DynaLoader.doc, ext/utils/mkbootstrap and any existing
+ext/MODULE/MODULE.bs files for more information.
+
+Tim Bunce.
+August 1994