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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  return  val-
     ues.

     callback = alloc_callback(&function, data) allocates a callback. When call-
     back gets called, it arranges to call function, passing data as first argu-
     ment  and,  as  second argument, the entire sequence of arguments 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 deal-
     located when free_callback(callback) is called.

     is_callback(callback) checks whether the C function callback  was	produced
     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 argu-
     ment list and specify a return value:

     va_start_type(alist[, return_type]);
	    starts the walk through the argument list and specifies  the  return
	    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, depend-
     ing 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_return_type must
     be the same.

     The type in va_arg_type shall be one of 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
     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 prescribed by the  de-
     fault  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_longlong(),
     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 con-
     tain (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  memory
     considers only the struct's size and alignment. This is inaccurate: for ex-
     ample,  gcc  on  m68k-next  returns struct { char a,b,c; } in registers 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 pack-
     ages, then choosing a CPU register for passing the closure from  trampoline
     to  vacall.   This  register  is  normally  the register designated by STA-
     TIC_CHAIN_REGNUM in the gcc source, file gcc-2.7.2/config/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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