1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442
443
444
445
446
447
448
449
450
451
452
453
454
455
456
457
458
459
460
461
462
463
464
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472
|
libffi-3.3 was released on November 23, 2019. Check the libffi web
page for updates: <URL:http://sourceware.org/libffi/>.
What is libffi?
===============
Compilers for high level languages generate code that follow certain
conventions. These conventions are necessary, in part, for separate
compilation to work. One such convention is the "calling
convention". The "calling convention" is essentially a set of
assumptions made by the compiler about where function arguments will
be found on entry to a function. A "calling convention" also specifies
where the return value for a function is found.
Some programs may not know at the time of compilation what arguments
are to be passed to a function. For instance, an interpreter may be
told at run-time about the number and types of arguments used to call
a given function. Libffi can be used in such programs to provide a
bridge from the interpreter program to compiled code.
The libffi library provides a portable, high level programming
interface to various calling conventions. This allows a programmer to
call any function specified by a call interface description at run
time.
FFI stands for Foreign Function Interface. A foreign function
interface is the popular name for the interface that allows code
written in one language to call code written in another language. The
libffi library really only provides the lowest, machine dependent
layer of a fully featured foreign function interface. A layer must
exist above libffi that handles type conversions for values passed
between the two languages.
Supported Platforms
===================
Libffi has been ported to many different platforms.
At the time of release, the following basic configurations have been
tested:
| Architecture | Operating System | Compiler |
| --------------- | ---------------- | ----------------------- |
| AArch64 (ARM64) | iOS | Clang |
| AArch64 | Linux | GCC |
| AArch64 | Windows | MSVC |
| Alpha | Linux | GCC |
| Alpha | Tru64 | GCC |
| ARC | Linux | GCC |
| ARM | Linux | GCC |
| ARM | iOS | GCC |
| ARM | Windows | MSVC |
| AVR32 | Linux | GCC |
| Blackfin | uClinux | GCC |
| HPPA | HPUX | GCC |
| IA-64 | Linux | GCC |
| M68K | FreeMiNT | GCC |
| M68K | Linux | GCC |
| M68K | RTEMS | GCC |
| M88K | OpenBSD/mvme88k | GCC |
| Meta | Linux | GCC |
| MicroBlaze | Linux | GCC |
| MIPS | IRIX | GCC |
| MIPS | Linux | GCC |
| MIPS | RTEMS | GCC |
| MIPS64 | Linux | GCC |
| Moxie | Bare metal | GCC |
| Nios II | Linux | GCC |
| OpenRISC | Linux | GCC |
| PowerPC 32-bit | AIX | IBM XL C |
| PowerPC 64-bit | AIX | IBM XL C |
| PowerPC | AMIGA | GCC |
| PowerPC | Linux | GCC |
| PowerPC | Mac OSX | GCC |
| PowerPC | FreeBSD | GCC |
| PowerPC 64-bit | FreeBSD | GCC |
| PowerPC 64-bit | Linux ELFv1 | GCC |
| PowerPC 64-bit | Linux ELFv2 | GCC |
| RISC-V 32-bit | Linux | GCC |
| RISC-V 64-bit | Linux | GCC |
| S390 | Linux | GCC |
| S390X | Linux | GCC |
| SPARC | Linux | GCC |
| SPARC | Solaris | GCC |
| SPARC | Solaris | Oracle Solaris Studio C |
| SPARC64 | Linux | GCC |
| SPARC64 | FreeBSD | GCC |
| SPARC64 | Solaris | Oracle Solaris Studio C |
| TILE-Gx/TILEPro | Linux | GCC |
| VAX | OpenBSD/vax | GCC |
| X86 | FreeBSD | GCC |
| X86 | GNU HURD | GCC |
| X86 | Interix | GCC |
| X86 | kFreeBSD | GCC |
| X86 | Linux | GCC |
| X86 | Mac OSX | GCC |
| X86 | OpenBSD | GCC |
| X86 | OS/2 | GCC |
| X86 | Solaris | GCC |
| X86 | Solaris | Oracle Solaris Studio C |
| X86 | Windows/Cygwin | GCC |
| X86 | Windows/MingW | GCC |
| X86-64 | FreeBSD | GCC |
| X86-64 | Linux | GCC |
| X86-64 | Linux/x32 | GCC |
| X86-64 | OpenBSD | GCC |
| X86-64 | Solaris | Oracle Solaris Studio C |
| X86-64 | Windows/Cygwin | GCC |
| X86-64 | Windows/MingW | GCC |
| X86-64 | Mac OSX | GCC |
| Xtensa | Linux | GCC |
Please send additional platform test results to
libffi-discuss@sourceware.org.
Installing libffi
=================
First you must configure the distribution for your particular
system. Go to the directory you wish to build libffi in and run the
"configure" program found in the root directory of the libffi source
distribution. Note that building libffi requires a C99 compatible
compiler.
If you're building libffi directly from git hosted sources, configure
won't exist yet; run ./autogen.sh first. This will require that you
install autoconf, automake and libtool.
You may want to tell configure where to install the libffi library and
header files. To do that, use the ``--prefix`` configure switch. Libffi
will install under /usr/local by default.
If you want to enable extra run-time debugging checks use the the
``--enable-debug`` configure switch. This is useful when your program dies
mysteriously while using libffi.
Another useful configure switch is ``--enable-purify-safety``. Using this
will add some extra code which will suppress certain warnings when you
are using Purify with libffi. Only use this switch when using
Purify, as it will slow down the library.
If you don't want to build documentation, use the ``--disable-docs``
configure switch.
It's also possible to build libffi on Windows platforms with
Microsoft's Visual C++ compiler. In this case, use the msvcc.sh
wrapper script during configuration like so:
path/to/configure CC=path/to/msvcc.sh CXX=path/to/msvcc.sh LD=link CPP="cl -nologo -EP" CPPFLAGS="-DFFI_BUILDING_DLL"
For 64-bit Windows builds, use ``CC="path/to/msvcc.sh -m64"`` and
``CXX="path/to/msvcc.sh -m64"``. You may also need to specify
``--build`` appropriately.
It is also possible to build libffi on Windows platforms with the LLVM
project's clang-cl compiler, like below:
path/to/configure CC="path/to/msvcc.sh -clang-cl" CXX="path/to/msvcc.sh -clang-cl" LD=link CPP="clang-cl -EP"
When building with MSVC under a MingW environment, you may need to
remove the line in configure that sets 'fix_srcfile_path' to a 'cygpath'
command. ('cygpath' is not present in MingW, and is not required when
using MingW-style paths.)
To build static library for ARM64 with MSVC using visual studio solution, msvc_build folder have
aarch64/Ffi_staticLib.sln
required header files in aarch64/aarch64_include/
SPARC Solaris builds require the use of the GNU assembler and linker.
Point ``AS`` and ``LD`` environment variables at those tool prior to
configuration.
For iOS builds, the ``libffi.xcodeproj`` Xcode project is available.
Configure has many other options. Use ``configure --help`` to see them all.
Once configure has finished, type "make". Note that you must be using
GNU make. You can ftp GNU make from ftp.gnu.org:/pub/gnu/make .
To ensure that libffi is working as advertised, type "make check".
This will require that you have DejaGNU installed.
To install the library and header files, type ``make install``.
History
=======
See the git log for details at http://github.com/libffi/libffi.
3.3 Nov-23-19
Add RISC-V support.
New API in support of GO closures.
Add IEEE754 binary128 long double support for 64-bit Power
Default to Microsoft's 64 bit long double ABI with Visual C++.
GNU compiler uses 80 bits (128 in memory) FFI_GNUW64 ABI.
Add Windows on ARM64 (WOA) support.
Add Windows 32-bit ARM support.
Raw java (gcj) API deprecated.
Add pre-built PDF documentation to source distribution.
Many new tests cases and bug fixes.
3.2.1 Nov-12-14
Build fix for non-iOS AArch64 targets.
3.2 Nov-11-14
Add C99 Complex Type support (currently only supported on
s390).
Add support for PASCAL and REGISTER calling conventions on x86
Windows/Linux.
Add OpenRISC and Cygwin-64 support.
Bug fixes.
3.1 May-19-14
Add AArch64 (ARM64) iOS support.
Add Nios II support.
Add m88k and DEC VAX support.
Add support for stdcall, thiscall, and fastcall on non-Windows
32-bit x86 targets such as Linux.
Various Android, MIPS N32, x86, FreeBSD and UltraSPARC IIi
fixes.
Make the testsuite more robust: eliminate several spurious
failures, and respect the $CC and $CXX environment variables.
Archive off the manually maintained ChangeLog in favor of git
log.
3.0.13 Mar-17-13
Add Meta support.
Add missing Moxie bits.
Fix stack alignment bug on 32-bit x86.
Build fix for m68000 targets.
Build fix for soft-float Power targets.
Fix the install dir location for some platforms when building
with GCC (OS X, Solaris).
Fix Cygwin regression.
3.0.12 Feb-11-13
Add Moxie support.
Add AArch64 support.
Add Blackfin support.
Add TILE-Gx/TILEPro support.
Add MicroBlaze support.
Add Xtensa support.
Add support for PaX enabled kernels with MPROTECT.
Add support for native vendor compilers on
Solaris and AIX.
Work around LLVM/GCC interoperability issue on x86_64.
3.0.11 Apr-11-12
Lots of build fixes.
Add support for variadic functions (ffi_prep_cif_var).
Add Linux/x32 support.
Add thiscall, fastcall and MSVC cdecl support on Windows.
Add Amiga and newer MacOS support.
Add m68k FreeMiNT support.
Integration with iOS' xcode build tools.
Fix Octeon and MC68881 support.
Fix code pessimizations.
3.0.10 Aug-23-11
Add support for Apple's iOS.
Add support for ARM VFP ABI.
Add RTEMS support for MIPS and M68K.
Fix instruction cache clearing problems on
ARM and SPARC.
Fix the N64 build on mips-sgi-irix6.5.
Enable builds with Microsoft's compiler.
Enable x86 builds with Oracle's Solaris compiler.
Fix support for calling code compiled with Oracle's Sparc
Solaris compiler.
Testsuite fixes for Tru64 Unix.
Additional platform support.
3.0.9 Dec-31-09
Add AVR32 and win64 ports. Add ARM softfp support.
Many fixes for AIX, Solaris, HP-UX, *BSD.
Several PowerPC and x86-64 bug fixes.
Build DLL for windows.
3.0.8 Dec-19-08
Add *BSD, BeOS, and PA-Linux support.
3.0.7 Nov-11-08
Fix for ppc FreeBSD.
(thanks to Andreas Tobler)
3.0.6 Jul-17-08
Fix for closures on sh.
Mark the sh/sh64 stack as non-executable.
(both thanks to Kaz Kojima)
3.0.5 Apr-3-08
Fix libffi.pc file.
Fix #define ARM for IcedTea users.
Fix x86 closure bug.
3.0.4 Feb-24-08
Fix x86 OpenBSD configury.
3.0.3 Feb-22-08
Enable x86 OpenBSD thanks to Thomas Heller, and
x86-64 FreeBSD thanks to Björn König and Andreas Tobler.
Clean up test instruction in README.
3.0.2 Feb-21-08
Improved x86 FreeBSD support.
Thanks to Björn König.
3.0.1 Feb-15-08
Fix instruction cache flushing bug on MIPS.
Thanks to David Daney.
3.0.0 Feb-15-08
Many changes, mostly thanks to the GCC project.
Cygnus Solutions is now Red Hat.
[10 years go by...]
1.20 Oct-5-98
Raffaele Sena produces ARM port.
1.19 Oct-5-98
Fixed x86 long double and long long return support.
m68k bug fixes from Andreas Schwab.
Patch for DU assembler compatibility for the Alpha from Richard
Henderson.
1.18 Apr-17-98
Bug fixes and MIPS configuration changes.
1.17 Feb-24-98
Bug fixes and m68k port from Andreas Schwab. PowerPC port from
Geoffrey Keating. Various bug x86, Sparc and MIPS bug fixes.
1.16 Feb-11-98
Richard Henderson produces Alpha port.
1.15 Dec-4-97
Fixed an n32 ABI bug. New libtool, auto* support.
1.14 May-13-97
libtool is now used to generate shared and static libraries.
Fixed a minor portability problem reported by Russ McManus
<mcmanr@eq.gs.com>.
1.13 Dec-2-96
Added --enable-purify-safety to keep Purify from complaining
about certain low level code.
Sparc fix for calling functions with < 6 args.
Linux x86 a.out fix.
1.12 Nov-22-96
Added missing ffi_type_void, needed for supporting void return
types. Fixed test case for non MIPS machines. Cygnus Support
is now Cygnus Solutions.
1.11 Oct-30-96
Added notes about GNU make.
1.10 Oct-29-96
Added configuration fix for non GNU compilers.
1.09 Oct-29-96
Added --enable-debug configure switch. Clean-ups based on LCLint
feedback. ffi_mips.h is always installed. Many configuration
fixes. Fixed ffitest.c for sparc builds.
1.08 Oct-15-96
Fixed n32 problem. Many clean-ups.
1.07 Oct-14-96
Gordon Irlam rewrites v8.S again. Bug fixes.
1.06 Oct-14-96
Gordon Irlam improved the sparc port.
1.05 Oct-14-96
Interface changes based on feedback.
1.04 Oct-11-96
Sparc port complete (modulo struct passing bug).
1.03 Oct-10-96
Passing struct args, and returning struct values works for
all architectures/calling conventions. Expanded tests.
1.02 Oct-9-96
Added SGI n32 support. Fixed bugs in both o32 and Linux support.
Added "make test".
1.01 Oct-8-96
Fixed float passing bug in mips version. Restructured some
of the code. Builds cleanly with SGI tools.
1.00 Oct-7-96
First release. No public announcement.
Authors & Credits
=================
libffi was originally written by Anthony Green <green@moxielogic.com>.
The developers of the GNU Compiler Collection project have made
innumerable valuable contributions. See the ChangeLog file for
details.
Some of the ideas behind libffi were inspired by Gianni Mariani's free
gencall library for Silicon Graphics machines.
The closure mechanism was designed and implemented by Kresten Krab
Thorup.
Major processor architecture ports were contributed by the following
developers:
aarch64 Marcus Shawcroft, James Greenhalgh
alpha Richard Henderson
arc Hackers at Synopsis
arm Raffaele Sena
avr32 Bradley Smith
blackfin Alexandre Keunecke I. de Mendonca
cris Simon Posnjak, Hans-Peter Nilsson
frv Anthony Green
ia64 Hans Boehm
m32r Kazuhiro Inaoka
m68k Andreas Schwab
m88k Miod Vallat
metag Hackers at Imagination Technologies
microblaze Nathan Rossi
mips Anthony Green, Casey Marshall
mips64 David Daney
moxie Anthony Green
nios ii Sandra Loosemore
openrisc Sebastian Macke
pa Randolph Chung, Dave Anglin, Andreas Tobler
powerpc Geoffrey Keating, Andreas Tobler,
David Edelsohn, John Hornkvist
powerpc64 Jakub Jelinek
riscv Michael Knyszek, Andrew Waterman, Stef O'Rear
s390 Gerhard Tonn, Ulrich Weigand
sh Kaz Kojima
sh64 Kaz Kojima
sparc Anthony Green, Gordon Irlam
tile-gx/tilepro Walter Lee
vax Miod Vallat
x86 Anthony Green, Jon Beniston
x86-64 Bo Thorsen
xtensa Chris Zankel
Jesper Skov and Andrew Haley both did more than their fair share of
stepping through the code and tracking down bugs.
Thanks also to Tom Tromey for bug fixes, documentation and
configuration help.
Thanks to Jim Blandy, who provided some useful feedback on the libffi
interface.
Andreas Tobler has done a tremendous amount of work on the testsuite.
Alex Oliva solved the executable page problem for SElinux.
The list above is almost certainly incomplete and inaccurate. I'm
happy to make corrections or additions upon request.
If you have a problem, or have found a bug, please send a note to the
author at green@moxielogic.com, or the project mailing list at
libffi-discuss@sourceware.org.
|
