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CALLBACK(3)		   Library Functions Manual		   CALLBACK(3)

NAME
       callback	- closures with	variable arguments as first-class C functions

SYNOPSIS
       #include	<callback.h>

       void function (void* data, va_alist alist)
       {
	 va_start_type(alist[, return_type]);
	 arg = va_arg_type(alist[, arg_type]);
	 va_return_type(alist[[, return_type], return_value]);
       }

       callback	= alloc_callback(&function, data);

       free_callback(callback);

       is_callback(callback)
       callback_address(callback)
       callback_data(callback)

DESCRIPTION
       These  functions	 implement  closures with variable arguments as	first-
       class C functions.

       Closures	as first-class C functions means that they fit into a function
       pointer and can be called exactly like any other	C function.  Moreover,
       they  can be called with	variable arguments and can return variable re-
       turn values.

       callback	= alloc_callback(&function, data) allocates a  callback.  When
       callback	 gets  called,	it  arranges to	call function, passing data as
       first argument and, as second argument, the entire  sequence  of	 argu-
       ments passed to callback.

       Function	calling	conventions differ considerably	on different machines,
       therefore  the  arguments  are  accessed	and the	result value is	stored
       through the same	macros as used by the vacall package, see below.

       The callbacks are functions with	indefinite extent:  callback  is  only
       deallocated when	free_callback(callback)	is called.

       is_callback(callback)  checks  whether the C function callback was pro-
       duced by	a call to alloc_callback.  If this returns true, the arguments
       given to	alloc_callback can be retrieved:

	   callback_address(callback) returns &function,

	   callback_data(callback) returns data.

VACALL MACROS
       Within function,	the following macros can be used to walk  through  the
       argument	list and specify a return value:

       va_start_type(alist[, return_type]);
	      starts  the walk through the argument list and specifies the re-
	      turn type.

       arg = va_arg_type(alist[, arg_type]);
	      fetches the next argument	from the argument list.

       va_return_type(alist[[, return_type], return_value]);
	      ends the walk through the	argument list and specifies the	return
	      value.

       The type	in va_start_type and va_return_type shall be one of void, int,
       uint, long, ulong, longlong, ulonglong, double,	struct,	 ptr  or  (for
       ANSI  C	calling	 conventions  only) char, schar, uchar,	short, ushort,
       float, depending	on the class of	return_type.

       The type	specifiers in va_start_type and	 va_return_type	 must  be  the
       same.   The  return_type	 specifiers passed to va_start_type and	va_re-
       turn_type must be the same.

       The type	in va_arg_type shall be	one of int, uint, long,	 ulong,	 long-
       long, ulonglong,	double,	struct,	ptr or (for ANSI C calling conventions
       only)  char, schar, uchar, short, ushort, float,	depending on the class
       of arg_type.

       In va_start_struct(alist, return_type, splittable); the splittable flag
       specifies whether the struct return_type	can be returned	 in  registers
       such  that  every struct	field fits entirely in a single	register. This
       needs to	be specified for structs of size 2*sizeof(long).  For  structs
       of size <= sizeof(long),	splittable is ignored and assumed to be	1. For
       structs	of size	> 2*sizeof(long), splittable is	ignored	and assumed to
       be 0. There are some handy macros for this:
       va_word_splittable_1 (type1)
       va_word_splittable_2 (type1, type2)
       va_word_splittable_3 (type1, type2, type3)
       va_word_splittable_4 (type1, type2, type3, type4)
       For a struct with three slots
       struct {	type1 id1; type2 id2; type3 id3; }
       you can	specify	 splittable  as	 va_word_splittable_3  (type1,	type2,
       type3) .

NOTES
       Functions  which	 want  to  emulate Kernighan & Ritchie style functions
       (i.e., in ANSI C, functions without a typed argument list)  cannot  use
       the  type  values  char,	 schar,	 uchar,	short, ushort, float.  As pre-
       scribed by the default K&R C expression promotions, they	 have  to  use
       int  instead of char, schar, uchar, short, ushort and double instead of
       float.

       The macros va_start_longlong(),	va_start_ulonglong(),  va_return_long-
       long(), va_return_ulonglong(), va_arg_longlong()	and va_arg_ulonglong()
       work  only  if  the  C  compiler	has a working long long	64-bit integer
       type.

       The struct types	used in	va_start_struct() and  va_struct()  must  only
       contain	(signed	 or  unsigned) int, long, long long or pointer fields.
       Struct types containing (signed or unsigned) char, short, float,	double
       or other	structs	are not	supported.

SEE ALSO
       vacall(3), trampoline(3).

BUGS
       The current implementations have	been tested on a selection  of	common
       cases but there are probably still many bugs.

       There  are  typically built-in limits on	the size of the	argument-list,
       which may also include the size of any structure	arguments.

       The decision whether a struct is	to be returned in registers or in mem-
       ory considers only the struct's size and	alignment. This	is inaccurate:
       for example, gcc	on m68k-next returns struct { char a,b,c; } in	regis-
       ters  and struct	{ char a[3]; } in memory, although both	types have the
       same size and the same alignment.

       The argument list can only be walked once.

NON-BUGS
       All information is passed in CPU	registers and the stack. The  callback
       package is therefore multithread-safe.

PORTING
       Porting	callback  consists  in first porting the vacall	and trampoline
       packages, then choosing a CPU register for  passing  the	 closure  from
       trampoline  to  vacall.	 This register is normally the register	desig-
       nated by	STATIC_CHAIN_REGNUM in the  gcc	 source,  file	gcc-2.7.2/con-
       fig/cpu/cpu.h.

AUTHOR
       Bruno Haible <bruno@clisp.org>

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
       Many ideas were cribbed from the	gcc source.

				1 January 2017			   CALLBACK(3)

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