1 files changed, 79 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/com32/include/sys/exec.h b/com32/include/sys/exec.h
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+++ b/com32/include/sys/exec.h
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+/*
+ * exec.h
+ *
+ *  Created on: Aug 14, 2008
+ *      Author: Stefan Bucur <stefanb@zytor.com>
+ */
+
+#ifndef EXEC_H_
+#define EXEC_H_
+
+#include <sys/module.h>
+#include <stdlib.h>
+
+/**
+ * EXEC_ROOT_NAME - The name of the ELF module associated with the COM32 module.
+ *
+ * This is a shallow ELF module, that contains only the symbol table for
+ * the code and data sections of the loaded COM32 root module.
+ */
+#define EXEC_ROOT_NAME			"_root_.c32"
+
+/**
+ * spawn_load - Load a library module or executes an executable one
+ * @name	the name of the library/executable to use, including the extension
+ * 			(e.g. 'sort.c32')
+ * @argc:	the number of string arguments in @argv
+ * @argv:	a NULL-terminated vector of string arguments, starting with
+ * 			the program name.
+ *
+ * This procedure in essence loads takes the name of a module and checks to see what
+ * kind of module it is ( executable or library ), after which is performs the
+ * appropriate action, either spawning or simply loading the module into memory.
+ */
+extern int spawn_load(const char *name, int argc, char **argv);
+
+/**
+ * spawnv - Executes a program in the current environment.
+ * @name:	the name of the program to spawn, including the extension
+ * 			(e.g. 'hello.c32')
+ * @argv:	a NULL-terminated vector of string arguments, starting with
+ * 			the program name.
+ *
+ * A program is an ELF module that contains a main routine. A program is
+ * loaded into memory, executed, then unloaded, thus remaining in memory only
+ * while the main() function is executing. A program also defines a
+ * memory allocation context, and a simple garbage collection mechanism
+ * it thus provided. This is done by internally associating with the program
+ * module each pointer returned by malloc(). After the program finishes
+ * its execution, all the unallocated memory pertaining to the program
+ * is automatically cleaned up.
+ *
+ * Note that this association takes place both for the allocations happening
+ * directly in the program, or indirectly through a library function. Libraries
+ * do not create allocation contexts, thus each allocation they made belong
+ * to the innermost calling program.
+ */
+extern int spawnv(const char *name, const char **argv);
+
+/**
+ * spawnl - Executes a program in the current environment.
+ * @name:	the name of the program to spawn, including the extension
+ * 			(e.g. 'hello.c32')
+ * @arg:	the first argument (argv[0]) to be passed to the main function
+ * 			of the program
+ * @...:	optional subsequent arguments that are passed o the main function
+ * 			of the program
+ *
+ * This is another version of the spawn routine. Please see 'spawnv' for
+ * a full presentation.
+ */
+extern int spawnl(const char *name, const char *arg, ...);
+
+/**
+ * exec_term - Releases the resources of the execution environment.
+ */
+extern void exec_term(void);
+
+
+#endif /* EXEC_H_ */