add further clarification about modules

git-svn-id: https://swig.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/swig/trunk@11285 626c5289-ae23-0410-ae9c-e8d60b6d4f22
This commit is contained in:
William S Fulton 2009-06-18 22:36:39 +00:00
commit 1a2e3a6653
3 changed files with 54 additions and 21 deletions

View file

@ -488,6 +488,7 @@
<!-- INDEX -->
<div class="sectiontoc">
<ul>
<li><a href="Modules.html#Modules_introduction">Modules Introduction</a>
<li><a href="Modules.html#Modules_nn1">Basics</a>
<li><a href="Modules.html#Modules_nn2">The SWIG runtime code</a>
<li><a href="Modules.html#external_run_time">External access to the runtime</a>

View file

@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
<!-- INDEX -->
<div class="sectiontoc">
<ul>
<li><a href="#Modules_introduction">Modules Introduction</a>
<li><a href="#Modules_nn1">Basics</a>
<li><a href="#Modules_nn2">The SWIG runtime code</a>
<li><a href="#external_run_time">External access to the runtime</a>
@ -22,11 +23,48 @@
<H2><a name="Modules_introduction"></a>15.1 Modules Introduction</H2>
<p>
Each invocation of SWIG requires a module name to be specified.
The module name is used to name the resulting target language extension module.
Exactly what this means and and what the name is used for
depends on the target language, for example the name can define
a target language namespace or merely be a useful name for naming files or helper classes.
</p>
<p>
The module name can be supplied in one of two ways.
The first is to specify it with the special <tt>%module</tt>
directive. This directive must appear at the beginning of the interface file.
The general form of this directive is:
</p>
<div class="code"><pre>
<tt>%module(option1="value1",option2="value2",...) modulename</tt>
</pre></div>
<p>
where the modulename is mandatory and the options add one or more optional additional features.
Typically no options are specified, for example:
</p>
<div class="code"><pre>
<tt>%module mymodule</tt>
</pre></div>
<p>
The second way to specify the module name is with the <tt>-module</tt> command line option, for example <tt>-module mymodule</tt>.
If the module name is supplied on the command line, it overrides the name specified by the
<tt>%module</tt> directive.
</p>
<p>
When first working with SWIG, users commonly start by creating a
single module. That is, you might define a single SWIG interface that
wraps some set of C/C++ code. You then compile all of the generated
wrapper code into a module and use it. For large applications, however,
wrapper code together and use it. For large applications, however,
this approach is problematic---the size of the generated wrapper code
can be rather large. Moreover, it is probably easier to manage the
target language interface when it is broken up into smaller pieces.
@ -34,10 +72,11 @@ target language interface when it is broken up into smaller pieces.
<p>
This chapter describes the problem of using SWIG in programs
where you want to create a collection of modules.
where you want to create a collection of modules.
Each module in the collection is created via separate invocations of SWIG.
</p>
<H2><a name="Modules_nn1"></a>15.1 Basics</H2>
<H2><a name="Modules_nn1"></a>15.2 Basics</H2>
<p>
@ -135,7 +174,7 @@ in parallel from multiple threads as SWIG provides no locking - for more on that
issue, read on.
</p>
<H2><a name="Modules_nn2"></a>15.2 The SWIG runtime code</H2>
<H2><a name="Modules_nn2"></a>15.3 The SWIG runtime code</H2>
<p>
@ -201,7 +240,7 @@ can peacefully coexist. So the type structures are separated by the
is empty. Only modules compiled with the same pair will share type information.
</p>
<H2><a name="external_run_time"></a>15.3 External access to the runtime</H2>
<H2><a name="external_run_time"></a>15.4 External access to the runtime</H2>
<p>As described in <a href="Typemaps.html#runtime_type_checker">The run-time type checker</a>,
@ -238,7 +277,7 @@ SWIG_TYPE_TABLE to be the same as the module whose types you are trying to
access.
</p>
<H2><a name="Modules_nn4"></a>15.4 A word of caution about static libraries</H2>
<H2><a name="Modules_nn4"></a>15.5 A word of caution about static libraries</H2>
<p>
@ -249,7 +288,7 @@ into it. This is very often <b>NOT</b> what you want and it can lead to unexpect
behavior. When working with dynamically loadable modules, you should try to work exclusively with shared libraries.
</p>
<H2><a name="Modules_nn5"></a>15.5 References</H2>
<H2><a name="Modules_nn5"></a>15.6 References</H2>
<p>
@ -257,7 +296,7 @@ Due to the complexity of working with shared libraries and multiple modules, it
an outside reference. John Levine's "Linkers and Loaders" is highly recommended.
</p>
<H2><a name="Modules_nn6"></a>15.6 Reducing the wrapper file size</H2>
<H2><a name="Modules_nn6"></a>15.7 Reducing the wrapper file size</H2>
<p>

View file

@ -174,15 +174,8 @@ int bar(int x);
...
</pre></div>
<p>
The name of the module is supplied using the special <tt>%module</tt>
directive (or the <tt>-module</tt> command line option). This
directive must appear at the beginning of the file and is used to name
the resulting target language extension module. Exactly what this results
in depends on the target language, eg the module name can define
a target language namespace or merely be a useful name for naming files or helper classes.
If the module name is supplied on the
command line, it overrides the name specified with the
<tt>%module</tt> directive.
The module name is supplied using the special <tt>%module</tt>
directive. Modules are described further in the <a href="Modules.html#Modules_introduction">Modules Introduction</a> section.
</p>
<p>
@ -2889,12 +2882,12 @@ source/header file.
<li>Make sure all necessary `<tt>typedef</tt>' declarations and
type-information is available in the interface file.
In particular, ensure that the type information is specified in the correct order as required by a C compiler.
In particular, define a type before it is used! A C compiler will tell you
if the full type information is not available when it is needed, whereas
In particular, ensure that the type information is specified in the correct order as required by a C/C++ compiler.
Most importantly, define a type before it is used! A C compiler will tell you
if the full type information is not available if it is needed, whereas
SWIG will usually not warn or error out as it is designed to work without
full type information. However, if type information is not specified
correctly, the wrappers can be sub-optimal.
correctly, the wrappers can be sub-optimal and even result in uncompileable C/C++ code.
<li>If your program has a main() function, you may need to rename it
(read on).