\chapter{Interfacing\label{c:intf-c} C with OCaml}
%HEVEA\cutname{intfc.html}

This chapter describes how user-defined primitives, written in C, can
be linked with OCaml code and called from OCaml functions, and how
these C functions can call back to OCaml code.

\section{s:c-overview}{Overview and compilation information}

\subsection{ss:c-prim-decl}{Declaring primitives}

\begin{syntax}
definition: ...
            | 'external' value-name ':' typexpr '=' external-declaration
;
external-declaration: string-literal [ string-literal [ string-literal ] ]
\end{syntax}

User primitives are declared in an implementation file or
@"struct"\ldots"end"@ module expression using the @"external"@ keyword:
\begin{alltt}
        external \var{name} : \var{type} = \var{C-function-name}
\end{alltt}
This defines the value name \var{name} as a function with type
\var{type} that executes by calling the given C function.
For instance, here is how the "seek_in" primitive is declared in the
standard library module "Stdlib":
\begin{verbatim}
        external seek_in : in_channel -> int -> unit = "caml_ml_seek_in"
\end{verbatim}
Primitives with several arguments are always curried. The C function
does not necessarily have the same name as the ML function.

External functions thus defined can be specified in interface files or
@"sig"\ldots"end"@ signatures either as regular values
\begin{alltt}
        val \var{name} : \var{type}
\end{alltt}
thus hiding their implementation as C functions, or explicitly as
``manifest'' external functions
\begin{alltt}
        external \var{name} : \var{type} = \var{C-function-name}
\end{alltt}
The latter is slightly more efficient, as it allows clients of the
module to call directly the C function instead of going through the
corresponding OCaml function. On the other hand, it should not be used
in library modules if they have side-effects at toplevel, as this
direct call interferes with the linker's algorithm for removing unused
modules from libraries at link-time.

The arity (number of arguments) of a primitive is automatically
determined from its OCaml type in the "external" declaration, by
counting the number of function arrows in the type.  For instance,
"seek_in" above has arity 2, and the "caml_ml_seek_in" C function
is called with two arguments.  Similarly,
\begin{verbatim}
    external seek_in_pair: in_channel * int -> unit = "caml_ml_seek_in_pair"
\end{verbatim}
has arity 1, and the "caml_ml_seek_in_pair" C function receives one argument
(which is a pair of OCaml values).

Type abbreviations are not expanded when determining the arity of a
primitive.  For instance,
\begin{verbatim}
        type int_endo = int -> int
        external f : int_endo -> int_endo = "f"
        external g : (int -> int) -> (int -> int) = "f"
\end{verbatim}
"f" has arity 1, but "g" has arity 2.  This allows a primitive to
return a functional value (as in the "f" example above): just remember
to name the functional return type in a type abbreviation.

The language accepts external declarations with one or two
flag strings in addition to the C function's name.  These flags are
reserved for the implementation of the standard library.

\subsection{ss:c-prim-impl}{Implementing primitives}

User primitives with arity $n \leq 5$ are implemented by C functions
that take $n$ arguments of type "value", and return a result of type
"value". The type "value" is the type of the representations for OCaml
values. It encodes objects of several base types (integers,
floating-point numbers, strings,~\ldots) as well as OCaml data
structures. The type "value" and the associated conversion
functions and macros are described in detail below.  For instance,
here is the declaration for the C function implementing the "In_channel.input"
primitive, which takes 4 arguments:
\begin{verbatim}
CAMLprim value input(value channel, value buffer, value offset, value length)
{
  ...
}
\end{verbatim}
When the primitive function is applied in an OCaml program, the C
function is called with the values of the expressions to which the
primitive is applied as arguments. The value returned by the function is
passed back to the OCaml program as the result of the function
application.

User primitives with arity greater than 5 should be implemented by two
C functions. The first function, to be used in conjunction with the
bytecode compiler "ocamlc", receives two arguments: a pointer to an
array of OCaml values (the values for the arguments), and an
integer which is the number of arguments provided. The other function,
to be used in conjunction with the native-code compiler "ocamlopt",
takes its arguments directly. For instance, here are the two C
functions for the 7-argument primitive "Nat.add_nat":
\begin{verbatim}
CAMLprim value add_nat_native(value nat1, value ofs1, value len1,
                              value nat2, value ofs2, value len2,
                              value carry_in)
{
  ...
}
CAMLprim value add_nat_bytecode(value * argv, int argn)
{
  return add_nat_native(argv[0], argv[1], argv[2], argv[3],
                        argv[4], argv[5], argv[6]);
}
\end{verbatim}
The names of the two C functions must be given in the primitive
declaration, as follows:
\begin{alltt}
        external \var{name} : \var{type} =
                 \var{bytecode-C-function-name} \var{native-code-C-function-name}
\end{alltt}
For instance, in the case of "add_nat", the declaration is:
\begin{verbatim}
        external add_nat: nat -> int -> int -> nat -> int -> int -> int -> int
                        = "add_nat_bytecode" "add_nat_native"
\end{verbatim}

Implementing a user primitive is actually two separate tasks: on the
one hand, decoding the arguments to extract C values from the given
OCaml values, and encoding the return value as an OCaml
value; on the other hand, actually computing the result from the arguments.
Except for very simple primitives, it is often preferable to have two
distinct C functions to implement these two tasks. The first function
actually implements the primitive, taking native C values as
arguments and returning a native C value. The second function,
often called the ``stub code'', is a simple wrapper around the first
function that converts its arguments from OCaml values to C values,
calls the first function, and converts the returned C value to an OCaml
value. For instance, here is the stub code for the "Int64.float_of_bits"
primitive:
\begin{verbatim}
CAMLprim value caml_int64_float_of_bits(value vi)
{
  return caml_copy_double(caml_int64_float_of_bits_unboxed(Int64_val(vi)));
}
\end{verbatim}
(Here, "caml_copy_double" and "Int64_val" are conversion functions and
macros for the type "value", that will be described later.  The "CAMLprim" macro
expands to the required compiler directives to ensure that the
function is exported and accessible from OCaml.)
The hard work is performed by the function "caml_int64_float_of_bits_unboxed", which is
declared as:
\begin{verbatim}
double caml_int64_float_of_bits_unboxed(int64_t i)
{
  ...
}
\end{verbatim}

To write C code that operates on OCaml values, the following
include files are provided:
\begin{tableau}{|l|p{12cm}|}{Include file}{Provides}
\entree{"caml/mlvalues.h"}{definition of the "value" type, and conversion
macros}
\entree{"caml/alloc.h"}{allocation functions (to create structured OCaml
objects)}
\entree{"caml/memory.h"}{miscellaneous memory-related functions
and macros (for GC interface, in-place modification of structures, etc).}
\entree{"caml/fail.h"}{functions for raising exceptions
(see section~\ref{ss:c-exceptions})}
\entree{"caml/callback.h"}{callback from C to OCaml (see
section~\ref{s:c-callback}).}
\entree{"caml/custom.h"}{operations on custom blocks (see
section~\ref{s:c-custom}).}
\entree{"caml/intext.h"}{operations for writing user-defined
serialization and deserialization functions for custom blocks
(see section~\ref{s:c-custom}).}
\entree{"caml/threads.h"}{operations for interfacing in the presence
  of multiple threads (see section~\ref{s:C-multithreading}).}
\end{tableau}
These files reside in the "caml/" subdirectory of the OCaml
standard library directory, which is returned by the command
"ocamlc -where" (usually "/usr/local/lib/ocaml" or "/usr/lib/ocaml").

\subsection{ss:staticlink-c-code}{Statically linking C code with OCaml code}

The OCaml runtime system comprises three main parts: the bytecode
interpreter, the memory manager, and a set of C functions that
implement the primitive operations. Some bytecode instructions are
provided to call these C functions, designated by their offset in a
table of functions (the table of primitives).

In the default mode, the OCaml linker produces bytecode for the
standard runtime system, with a standard set of primitives. References
to primitives that are not in this standard set result in the
``unavailable C primitive'' error.  (Unless dynamic loading of C
libraries is supported -- see section~\ref{ss:dynlink-c-code} below.)

In the ``custom runtime'' mode, the OCaml linker scans the
object files and determines the set of required primitives. Then, it
builds a suitable runtime system, by calling the native code linker with:
\begin{itemize}
\item the table of the required primitives;
\item a library that provides the bytecode interpreter, the
memory manager, and the standard primitives;
\item libraries and object code files (".o" files) mentioned on the
command line for the OCaml linker, that provide implementations
for the user's primitives.
\end{itemize}
This builds a runtime system with the required primitives. The OCaml
linker generates bytecode for this custom runtime system. The
bytecode is appended to the end of the custom runtime system, so that
it will be automatically executed when the output file (custom
runtime + bytecode) is launched.

To link in ``custom runtime'' mode, execute the "ocamlc" command with:
\begin{itemize}
\item the "-custom" option;
\item the names of the desired OCaml object files (".cmo" and ".cma" files) ;
\item the names of the C object files and libraries (".o" and ".a"
files) that implement the required primitives. Under Unix and Windows,
a library named "lib"\var{name}".a" (respectively, ".lib") residing in one of
the standard library directories can also be specified as "-cclib -l"\var{name}.
\end{itemize}

If you are using the native-code compiler "ocamlopt", the "-custom"
flag is not needed, as the final linking phase of "ocamlopt" always
builds a standalone executable.  To build a mixed OCaml/C executable,
execute the "ocamlopt" command with:
\begin{itemize}
\item the names of the desired OCaml native object files (".cmx" and
".cmxa" files);
\item the names of the C object files and libraries (".o", ".a",
".so" or ".dll" files) that implement the required primitives.
\end{itemize}

Starting with Objective Caml 3.00, it is possible to record the
"-custom" option as well as the names of C libraries in an OCaml
library file ".cma" or ".cmxa".  For instance, consider an OCaml library
"mylib.cma", built from the OCaml object files "a.cmo" and "b.cmo",
which reference C code in "libmylib.a".  If the library is
built as follows:
\begin{alltt}
        ocamlc -a -o mylib.cma -custom a.cmo b.cmo -cclib -lmylib
\end{alltt}
users of the library can simply link with "mylib.cma":
\begin{alltt}
        ocamlc -o myprog mylib.cma ...
\end{alltt}
and the system will automatically add the "-custom" and "-cclib
-lmylib" options, achieving the same effect as
\begin{alltt}
        ocamlc -o myprog -custom a.cmo b.cmo ... -cclib -lmylib
\end{alltt}
The alternative is of course to build the library without extra
options:
\begin{alltt}
        ocamlc -a -o mylib.cma a.cmo b.cmo
\end{alltt}
and then ask users to provide the "-custom" and "-cclib -lmylib"
options themselves at link-time:
\begin{alltt}
        ocamlc -o myprog -custom mylib.cma ... -cclib -lmylib
\end{alltt}
The former alternative is more convenient for the final users of the
library, however.

\subsection{ss:dynlink-c-code}{Dynamically linking C code with OCaml code}

Starting with Objective Caml 3.03, an alternative to static linking of C code
using the "-custom" code is provided.  In this mode, the OCaml linker
generates a pure bytecode executable (no embedded custom runtime
system) that simply records the names of dynamically-loaded libraries
containing the C code.  The standard OCaml runtime system "ocamlrun"
then loads dynamically these libraries, and resolves references to the
required primitives, before executing the bytecode.

This facility is currently available on all platforms supported by
OCaml except Cygwin 64 bits.

To dynamically link C code with OCaml code, the C code must first be
compiled into a shared library (under Unix) or DLL (under Windows).
This involves 1- compiling the C files with appropriate C compiler
flags for producing position-independent code (when required by the
operating system), and 2- building a
shared library from the resulting object files.  The resulting shared
library or DLL file must be installed in a place where "ocamlrun" can
find it later at program start-up time (see
section~\ref{s:ocamlrun-dllpath}).
Finally (step 3), execute the "ocamlc" command with
\begin{itemize}
\item the names of the desired OCaml object files (".cmo" and ".cma" files) ;
\item the names of the C shared libraries (".so" or ".dll" files) that
implement the required primitives.  Under Unix and Windows,
a library named "dll"\var{name}".so" (respectively, ".dll") residing
in one of the standard library directories can also be specified as
"-dllib -l"\var{name}.
\end{itemize}
Do {\em not} set the "-custom" flag, otherwise you're back to static linking
as described in section~\ref{ss:staticlink-c-code}.
The "ocamlmklib" tool (see section~\ref{s:ocamlmklib})
automates steps 2 and 3.

As in the case of static linking, it is possible (and recommended) to
record the names of C libraries in an OCaml ".cma" library archive.
Consider again an OCaml library
"mylib.cma", built from the OCaml object files "a.cmo" and "b.cmo",
which reference C code in "dllmylib.so".  If the library is
built as follows:
\begin{alltt}
        ocamlc -a -o mylib.cma a.cmo b.cmo -dllib -lmylib
\end{alltt}
users of the library can simply link with "mylib.cma":
\begin{alltt}
        ocamlc -o myprog mylib.cma ...
\end{alltt}
and the system will automatically add the "-dllib -lmylib" option,
achieving the same effect as
\begin{alltt}
        ocamlc -o myprog a.cmo b.cmo ... -dllib -lmylib
\end{alltt}
Using this mechanism, users of the library "mylib.cma" do not need to
know that it references C code, nor whether this C code must be
statically linked (using "-custom") or dynamically linked.

\subsection{ss:c-static-vs-dynamic}{Choosing between static linking and dynamic linking}

After having described two different ways of linking C code with OCaml
code, we now review the pros and cons of each, to help developers of
mixed OCaml/C libraries decide.

The main advantage of dynamic linking is that it preserves the
platform-independence of bytecode executables.  That is, the bytecode
executable contains no machine code, and can therefore be compiled on
platform $A$ and executed on other platforms $B$, $C$, \ldots, as long
as the required shared libraries are available on all these
platforms.  In contrast, executables generated by "ocamlc -custom" run
only on the platform on which they were created, because they embark a
custom-tailored runtime system specific to that platform.  In
addition, dynamic linking results in smaller executables.

Another advantage of dynamic linking is that the final users of the
library do not need to have a C compiler, C linker, and C runtime
libraries installed on their machines.  This is no big deal under
Unix and Cygwin, but many Windows users are reluctant to install
Microsoft Visual C just to be able to do "ocamlc -custom".

There are two drawbacks to dynamic linking.  The first is that the
resulting executable is not stand-alone: it requires the shared
libraries, as well as "ocamlrun", to be installed on the machine
executing the code.  If you wish to distribute a stand-alone
executable, it is better to link it statically, using "ocamlc -custom
-ccopt -static" or "ocamlopt -ccopt -static".  Dynamic linking also
raises the ``DLL hell'' problem: some care must be taken to ensure
that the right versions of the shared libraries are found at start-up
time.

The second drawback of dynamic linking is that it complicates the
construction of the library.  The C compiler and linker flags to
compile to position-independent code and build a shared library vary
wildly between different Unix systems.  Also, dynamic linking is not
supported on all Unix systems, requiring a fall-back case to static
linking in the Makefile for the library.  The "ocamlmklib" command
(see section~\ref{s:ocamlmklib}) tries to hide some of these system
dependencies.

In conclusion: dynamic linking is highly recommended under the native
Windows port, because there are no portability problems and it is much
more convenient for the end users.  Under Unix, dynamic linking should
be considered for mature, frequently used libraries because it
enhances platform-independence of bytecode executables.  For new or
rarely-used libraries, static linking is much simpler to set up in a
portable way.

\subsection{ss:custom-runtime}{Building standalone custom runtime systems}

It is sometimes inconvenient to build a custom runtime system each
time OCaml code is linked with C libraries, like "ocamlc -custom" does.
For one thing, the building of the runtime system is slow on some
systems (that have bad linkers or slow remote file systems); for
another thing, the platform-independence of bytecode files is lost,
forcing to perform one "ocamlc -custom" link per platform of interest.

An alternative to "ocamlc -custom" is to build separately a custom
runtime system integrating the desired C libraries, then generate
``pure'' bytecode executables (not containing their own runtime
system) that can run on this custom runtime.  This is achieved by the
"-make-runtime" and "-use-runtime" flags to "ocamlc".  For example,
to build a custom runtime system integrating the C parts of the
``Unix'' and ``Threads'' libraries, do:
\begin{verbatim}
        ocamlc -make-runtime -o /home/me/ocamlunixrun unix.cma threads.cma
\end{verbatim}
To generate a bytecode executable that runs on this runtime system,
do:
\begin{alltt}
        ocamlc -use-runtime /home/me/ocamlunixrun -o myprog \char92
                unix.cma threads.cma {\it{your .cmo and .cma files}}
\end{alltt}
The bytecode executable "myprog" can then be launched as usual:
"myprog" \var{args} or "/home/me/ocamlunixrun myprog" \var{args}.

Notice that the bytecode libraries "unix.cma" and "threads.cma" must
be given twice: when building the runtime system (so that "ocamlc"
knows which C primitives are required) and also when building the
bytecode executable (so that the bytecode from "unix.cma" and
"threads.cma" is actually linked in).

\section{s:c-value}{The \texttt{value} type}

All OCaml objects are represented by the C type "value",
defined in the include file "caml/mlvalues.h", along with macros to
manipulate values of that type. An object of type "value" is either:
\begin{itemize}
\item an unboxed integer;
\item or a pointer to a block inside the heap,
allocated through one of the \verb"caml_alloc_*" functions described
in section~\ref{ss:c-block-allocation}.
\end{itemize}

\subsection{ss:c-int}{Integer values}

Integer values encode 63-bit signed integers (31-bit on 32-bit
architectures). They are unboxed (unallocated).

\subsection{ss:c-blocks}{Blocks}

Blocks in the heap are garbage-collected, and therefore have strict
structure constraints. Each block includes a header containing the
size of the block (in words), and the tag of the block.
The tag governs how the contents of the blocks are structured. A tag
lower than "No_scan_tag" indicates a structured block, containing
well-formed values, which is recursively traversed by the garbage
collector. A tag greater than or equal to "No_scan_tag" indicates a
raw block, whose contents are not scanned by the garbage collector.
For the benefit of ad-hoc polymorphic primitives such as equality and
structured input-output, structured and raw blocks are further
classified according to their tags as follows:
\begin{tableau}{|l|p{10cm}|}{Tag}{Contents of the block}
\entree{0 to $\hbox{"No_scan_tag"}-1$}{A structured block (an array of
OCaml objects). Each field is a "value".}
\entree{"Closure_tag"}{A closure representing a functional value. The first
word is a pointer to a piece of code, the remaining words are
"value" containing the environment.}
\entree{"String_tag"}{A character string or a byte sequence.}
\entree{"Double_tag"}{A double-precision floating-point number.}
\entree{"Double_array_tag"}{An array or record of double-precision
floating-point numbers.}
\entree{"Abstract_tag"}{A block representing an abstract datatype.}
\entree{"Custom_tag"}{A block representing an abstract datatype
              with user-defined finalization, comparison, hashing,
              serialization and deserialization functions attached.}
\end{tableau}

\subsection{ss:c-outside-head}{Pointers outside the heap}

In earlier versions of OCaml, it was possible to use
word-aligned pointers to addresses outside the heap as OCaml values,
just by casting the pointer to type "value".  This usage is no longer
supported since OCaml 5.0.

A correct way to manipulate pointers to out-of-heap blocks from
OCaml is to store those pointers in OCaml blocks with tag
"Abstract_tag" or "Custom_tag", then use the blocks as the OCaml
values.

Here is an example of encapsulation of out-of-heap pointers of C type
"ty *" inside "Abstract_tag" blocks.  Section~\ref{s:c-intf-example}
gives a more complete example using "Custom_tag" blocks.
\begin{verbatim}
/* Create an OCaml value encapsulating the pointer p */
static value val_of_typtr(ty * p)
{
  value v = caml_alloc(1, Abstract_tag);
  *((ty **) Data_abstract_val(v)) = p;
  return v;
}

/* Extract the pointer encapsulated in the given OCaml value */
static ty * typtr_of_val(value v)
{
  return *((ty **) Data_abstract_val(v));
}
\end{verbatim}
Alternatively, out-of-heap pointers can be treated as ``native''
integers, that is, boxed 32-bit integers on a 32-bit platform and
boxed 64-bit integers on a 64-bit platform.
\begin{verbatim}
/* Create an OCaml value encapsulating the pointer p */
static value val_of_typtr(ty * p)
{
  return caml_copy_nativeint((intnat) p);
}

/* Extract the pointer encapsulated in the given OCaml value */
static ty * typtr_of_val(value v)
{
  return (ty *) Nativeint_val(v);
}
\end{verbatim}
For pointers that are at least 2-aligned (the low bit is guaranteed to
be zero), we have yet another valid representation as an OCaml tagged
integer.
\begin{verbatim}
/* Create an OCaml value encapsulating the pointer p */
static value val_of_typtr(ty * p)
{
  assert (((uintptr_t) p & 1) == 0);  /* check correct alignment */
  return (value) p | 1;
}

/* Extract the pointer encapsulated in the given OCaml value */
static ty * typtr_of_val(value v)
{
  return (ty *) (v & ~1);
}
\end{verbatim}


\section{s:c-ocaml-datatype-repr}{Representation of OCaml data types}

This section describes how OCaml data types are encoded in the
"value" type.

\subsection{ss:c-atomic}{Atomic types}

\begin{tableau}{|l|l|}{OCaml type}{Encoding}
\entree{"int"}{Unboxed integer values.}
\entree{"char"}{Unboxed integer values (ASCII code).}
\entree{"float"}{Blocks with tag "Double_tag".}
\entree{"bytes"}{Blocks with tag "String_tag".}
\entree{"string"}{Blocks with tag "String_tag".}
\entree{"int32"}{Blocks with tag "Custom_tag".}
\entree{"int64"}{Blocks with tag "Custom_tag".}
\entree{"nativeint"}{Blocks with tag "Custom_tag".}
\end{tableau}

\subsection{ss:c-tuples-and-records}{Tuples and records}

Tuples are represented by pointers to blocks, with tag~0.

Records are also represented by zero-tagged blocks. The ordering of
labels in the record type declaration determines the layout of
the record fields: the value associated to the label
declared first is stored in field~0 of the block, the value associated
to the second label goes in field~1, and so on.

As an optimization, records whose fields all have static type "float"
are represented as arrays of floating-point numbers, with tag
"Double_array_tag". (See the section below on arrays.)

As another optimization, unboxable record types are represented
specially; unboxable record types are the immutable record types that
have only one field. An unboxable type will be represented in one of
two ways: boxed or unboxed. Boxed record types are represented as
described above (by a block with tag 0 or "Double_array_tag"). An
unboxed record type is represented directly by the value of its field
(i.e. there is no block to represent the record itself).

The representation is chosen according to the following, in decreasing
order of priority:
\begin{itemize}
\item An attribute ("[\@\@boxed]" or "[\@\@unboxed]") on the type declaration.
\item A compiler option ("-unboxed-types" or "-no-unboxed-types").
\item The default representation. In the present version of OCaml, the
default is the boxed representation.
\end{itemize}

\subsection{ss:c-arrays}{Arrays}

Arrays of integers and pointers are represented like tuples and records,
that is, as pointers to blocks tagged~0.  They are accessed with the
"Field" macro for reading and the "caml_modify" function for writing.

Values of type "floatarray" (as manipulated by the "Float.Array"
module), as well as records whose declaration contains only float
fields, use an efficient unboxed representation: blocks with tag
"Double_array_tag" whose content consist of raw double values, which are
not themselves valid OCaml values. They should be accessed using the
"Double_flat_field" and "Store_double_flat_field" macros.

Finally, arrays of type "float array" may use either the boxed or the
unboxed representation depending on the how the compiler is
configured. They currently use the unboxed representation by default,
but can be made to use the boxed representation by passing the
"--disable-flat-float-array" flag to the `configure` script. They should
be accessed using the "Double_array_field" and
"Store_double_array_field" macros, which will work correctly under both
modes.

\subsection{ss:c-concrete-datatypes}{Concrete data types}

Constructed terms are represented either by unboxed integers (for
constant constructors) or by blocks whose tag encode the constructor
(for non-constant constructors). The constant constructors and the
non-constant constructors for a given concrete type are numbered
separately, starting from 0, in the order in which they appear in the
concrete type declaration. A constant constructor is represented by
the unboxed integer equal to its constructor number. A non-constant
constructor declared with $n$ arguments is represented by
a block of size $n$, tagged with the constructor number; the $n$
fields contain its arguments. Example:

\begin{tableau}{|l|p{8cm}|}{Constructed term}{Representation}
\entree{"()"}{"Val_int(0)"}
\entree{"false"}{"Val_int(0)"}
\entree{"true"}{"Val_int(1)"}
\entree{"[]"}{"Val_int(0)"}
\entree{"h::t"}{Block with size = 2 and tag = 0; first field
contains "h", second field "t".}
\end{tableau}

As a convenience, "caml/mlvalues.h" defines the macros "Val_unit",
"Val_false", "Val_true" and "Val_emptylist" to refer to "()",
"false", "true" and "[]".

The following example illustrates the assignment of
integers and block tags to constructors:
\begin{verbatim}
type t =
  | A             (* First constant constructor -> integer "Val_int(0)" *)
  | B of string   (* First non-constant constructor -> block with tag 0 *)
  | C             (* Second constant constructor -> integer "Val_int(1)" *)
  | D of bool     (* Second non-constant constructor -> block with tag 1 *)
  | E of t * t    (* Third non-constant constructor -> block with tag 2 *)
\end{verbatim}


As an optimization, unboxable concrete data types are represented
specially; a concrete data type is unboxable if it has exactly one
constructor and this constructor has exactly one argument. Unboxable
concrete data types are represented in the same ways as unboxable
record types: see the description in
section~\ref{ss:c-tuples-and-records}.

\subsection{ss:c-objects}{Objects}

Objects are represented as blocks with tag "Object_tag". The first
field of the block refers to the object's class and associated method
suite, in a format that cannot easily be exploited from C. The second
field contains a unique object ID, used for comparisons. The remaining
fields of the object contain the values of the instance variables of
the object. It is unsafe to access directly instance variables, as the
type system provides no guarantee about the instance variables
contained by an object.
% Instance variables are stored in the order in which they
% appear in the class definition (taking inherited classes into
% account).

One may extract a public method from an object using the C function
"caml_get_public_method" (declared in "<caml/mlvalues.h>".)
Since public method tags are hashed in the same way as variant tags,
and methods are functions taking self as first argument, if you want
to do the method call "foo#bar" from the C side, you should call:
\begin{verbatim}
  callback(caml_get_public_method(foo, hash_variant("bar")), foo);
\end{verbatim}

\subsection{ss:c-polyvar}{Polymorphic variants}

Like constructed terms, polymorphic variant values are represented either
as integers (for polymorphic variants without argument), or as blocks
(for polymorphic variants with an argument).  Unlike constructed
terms, variant constructors are not numbered starting from 0, but
identified by a hash value (an OCaml integer), as computed by the C function
"hash_variant" (declared in "<caml/mlvalues.h>"):
the hash value for a variant constructor named, say, "VConstr"
is "hash_variant(\"VConstr\")".

The variant value "`VConstr" is represented by
"hash_variant(\"VConstr\")".  The variant value "`VConstr("\var{v}")" is
represented by a block of size 2 and tag 0, with field number 0
containing "hash_variant(\"VConstr\")" and field number 1 containing
\var{v}.

Unlike constructed values, polymorphic variant values taking several
arguments are not flattened.
That is, "`VConstr("\var{v}", "\var{w}")" is represented by a block
of size 2, whose field number 1 contains the representation of the
pair "("\var{v}", "\var{w}")", rather than a block of size 3
containing \var{v} and \var{w} in fields 1 and 2.

\section{s:c-ops-on-values}{Operations on values}

\subsection{ss:c-kind-tests}{Kind tests}

\begin{itemize}
\item "Is_long("\var{v}")" is true if value \var{v} is an immediate integer,
false otherwise
\item "Is_block("\var{v}")" is true if value \var{v} is a pointer to a block,
and false if it is an immediate integer.
\item "Is_none("\var{v}")" is true if value \var{v} is "None".
\item "Is_some("\var{v}")" is true if value \var{v} (assumed to be of option
type) corresponds to the "Some" constructor.
\end{itemize}

\subsection{ss:c-int-ops}{Operations on integers}

\begin{itemize}
\item "Val_long("\var{l}")" returns the value encoding the "long int" \var{l}.
\item "Long_val("\var{v}")" returns the "long int" encoded in value \var{v}.
\item "Val_int("\var{i}")" returns the value encoding the "int" \var{i}.
\item "Int_val("\var{v}")" returns the "int" encoded in value \var{v}.
\item "Val_bool("\var{x}")" returns the OCaml boolean representing the
truth value of the C integer \var{x}.
\item "Bool_val("\var{v}")" returns 0 if \var{v} is the OCaml boolean
"false", 1 if \var{v} is "true".
\item "Val_true", "Val_false" represent the OCaml booleans "true" and "false".
\item "Val_emptylist", "Val_emptylist" represents the empty list.
\item "Val_none" represents the OCaml value "None".
\end{itemize}

\subsection{ss:c-block-access}{Accessing blocks}

\begin{itemize}
\item "Wosize_val("\var{v}")" returns the size of the block \var{v}, in words,
excluding the header.
\item "Tag_val("\var{v}")" returns the tag of the block \var{v}.
\item "Field("\var{v}", "\var{n}")" returns the value contained in the
$n\th$ field of the structured block \var{v}. Fields are numbered from 0 to
$\hbox{"Wosize_val"}(v)-1$.
\item "Store_field("\var{b}", "\var{n}", "\var{v}")" stores the value
\var{v} in the field number \var{n} of value \var{b}, which must be a
structured block.
\item "Code_val("\var{v}")" returns the code part of the closure \var{v}.
\item "caml_string_length("\var{v}")" returns the length (number of bytes)
of the string or byte sequence \var{v}.
\item "Byte("\var{v}", "\var{n}")" returns the $n\th$ byte of the string
or byte sequence \var{v}, with type "char". Bytes are numbered from 0 to
$\hbox{"string_length"}(v)-1$.
\item "Byte_u("\var{v}", "\var{n}")" returns the $n\th$ byte of the string
or byte sequence \var{v}, with type "unsigned char". Bytes are
numbered from 0 to $\hbox{"string_length"}(v)-1$.
\item "String_val("\var{v}")" returns a pointer to the first byte of the string
\var{v}, with type "const char *".
This pointer is a valid C string: there is a null byte after the last
byte in the string. However, OCaml strings can contain embedded null bytes,
which will confuse the usual C functions over strings.
\item "Bytes_val("\var{v}")" returns a pointer to the first byte of the
byte sequence \var{v}, with type "unsigned char *".
\item "Double_val("\var{v}")" returns the floating-point number contained in
value \var{v}, with type "double".
\item "Double_array_field("\var{v}", "\var{n}")" returns
the $n\th$ element of a "float array" \var{v}.
\item "Store_double_array_field("\var{v}", "\var{n}",
"\var{d}")" stores the double precision floating-point number \var{d}
in the $n\th$ element of a "float array" \var{v}.
\item "Double_flat_field("\var{v}", "\var{n}")" returns
the $n\th$ element of a "floatarray" or a record of floats \var{v}
(an unboxed block tagged "Double_array_tag").
\item "Store_double_flat_field("\var{v}", "\var{n}",
"\var{d}")" stores the double precision floating-point number \var{d}
in the $n\th$ element of a "floatarray" or a record of floats \var{v}.
\item "Data_custom_val("\var{v}")" returns a pointer to the data part
of the custom block \var{v}.  This pointer has type "void *" and must
be cast to the type of the data contained in the custom block.
\item "Int32_val("\var{v}")" returns the 32-bit integer contained
in the "int32" \var{v}.
\item "Int64_val("\var{v}")" returns the 64-bit integer contained
in the "int64" \var{v}.
\item "Nativeint_val("\var{v}")" returns the long integer contained
in the "nativeint" \var{v}.
\item "caml_field_unboxed("\var{v}")" returns the value of the field
of a value \var{v} of any unboxed type (record or concrete data type).
\item "caml_field_boxed("\var{v}")" returns the value of the field
of a value \var{v} of any boxed type (record or concrete data type).
\item "caml_field_unboxable("\var{v}")" calls either
"caml_field_unboxed" or "caml_field_boxed" according to the default
representation of unboxable types in the current version of OCaml.
\item "Some_val("\var{v}")" returns the argument "\var{x}" of a value \var{v} of
the form "Some("\var{x}")".
\end{itemize}
The expressions "Field("\var{v}", "\var{n}")",
"Byte("\var{v}", "\var{n}")" and
"Byte_u("\var{v}", "\var{n}")"
are valid l-values. Hence, they can be assigned to, resulting in an
in-place modification of value \var{v}.
Assigning directly to "Field("\var{v}", "\var{n}")" must
be done with care to avoid confusing the garbage collector (see
below).

\subsection{ss:c-block-allocation}{Allocating blocks}

\subsubsection{sss:c-simple-allocation}{Simple interface}

\begin{itemize}
\item
"Atom("\var{t}")" returns an ``atom'' (zero-sized block) with tag \var{t}.
Zero-sized blocks are preallocated outside of the heap. It is
incorrect to try and allocate a zero-sized block using the functions below.
For instance, "Atom(0)" represents the empty array.
\item
"caml_alloc("\var{n}", "\var{t}")" returns a fresh block of size \var{n}
with tag \var{t}.  If \var{t} is less than "No_scan_tag", then the
fields of the block are initialized with a valid value in order to
satisfy the GC constraints.
\item
"caml_alloc_tuple("\var{n}")" returns a fresh block of size
\var{n} words, with tag 0.
\item
"caml_alloc_string("\var{n}")" returns a byte sequence (or string) value of
length \var{n} bytes. The sequence initially contains uninitialized bytes.
\item
"caml_alloc_initialized_string("\var{n}", "\var{p}")" returns a byte sequence
(or string) value of length \var{n} bytes.  The value is initialized from the
\var{n} bytes starting at address \var{p}.
\item
"caml_copy_string("\var{s}")" returns a string or byte sequence value
containing a copy of the null-terminated C string \var{s} (a "char *").
\item
"caml_copy_double("\var{d}")" returns a floating-point value initialized
with the "double" \var{d}.
\item
"caml_copy_int32("\var{i}")", "caml_copy_int64("\var{i}")" and
"caml_copy_nativeint("\var{i}")" return a value of OCaml type "int32",
"int64" and "nativeint", respectively, initialized with the integer
\var{i}.
\item
"caml_alloc_array("\var{f}", "\var{a}")" allocates an array of values, calling
function \var{f} over each element of the input array \var{a} to transform it
into a value. The array \var{a} is an array of pointers terminated by the
null pointer. The function \var{f} receives each pointer as argument, and
returns a value. The zero-tagged block returned by
"alloc_array("\var{f}", "\var{a}")" is filled with the values returned by the
successive calls to \var{f}.  (This function must not be used to build
an array of floating-point numbers.)
\item
"caml_copy_string_array("\var{p}")" allocates an array of strings or byte
sequences, copied from the pointer to a string array \var{p}
(a "char **").  \var{p} must be NULL-terminated.
\item "caml_alloc_float_array("\var{n}")" allocates an array of floating point
  numbers of size \var{n}. The array initially contains uninitialized values.
\item "caml_alloc_unboxed("\var{v}")" returns the value (of any unboxed
type) whose field is the value \var{v}.
\item "caml_alloc_boxed("\var{v}")" allocates and returns a value  (of
any boxed type) whose field is the value \var{v}.
\item "caml_alloc_unboxable("\var{v}")" calls either
"caml_alloc_unboxed" or "caml_alloc_boxed" according to the default
representation of unboxable types in the current version of OCaml.
\item "caml_alloc_some("\var{v}")" allocates a block representing
"Some("\var{v}")".
\end{itemize}

\subsubsection{sss:c-low-level-alloc}{Low-level interface}

The following functions are slightly more efficient than "caml_alloc", but
also much more difficult to use.

From the standpoint of the allocation functions, blocks are divided
according to their size as zero-sized blocks, small blocks (with size
less than or equal to \verb"Max_young_wosize"), and large blocks (with
size greater than \verb"Max_young_wosize"). The constant
\verb"Max_young_wosize" is declared in the include file "mlvalues.h". It
is guaranteed to be at least 64 (words), so that any block with
constant size less than or equal to 64 can be assumed to be small. For
blocks whose size is computed at run-time, the size must be compared
against \verb"Max_young_wosize" to determine the correct allocation procedure.

\begin{itemize}
\item
"caml_alloc_small("\var{n}", "\var{t}")" returns a fresh small block of size
$n \leq \hbox{"Max_young_wosize"}$ words, with tag \var{t}.
If this block is a structured block (i.e. if $t < \hbox{"No_scan_tag"}$), then
the fields of the block (initially containing garbage) must be initialized
with legal values (using direct assignment to the fields of the block)
before the next allocation.
\item
"caml_alloc_shr("\var{n}", "\var{t}")" returns a fresh block of size
\var{n}, with tag \var{t}.
The size of the block can be greater than \verb"Max_young_wosize". (It
can also be smaller, but in this case it is more efficient to call
"caml_alloc_small" instead of "caml_alloc_shr".)
If this block is a structured block (i.e. if $t < \hbox{"No_scan_tag"}$), then
the fields of the block (initially containing garbage) must be initialized
with legal values (using the "caml_initialize" function described below)
before the next allocation.
\end{itemize}

\subsection{ss:c-exceptions}{Raising exceptions}

Two functions are provided to raise two standard exceptions:
\begin{itemize}
\item "caml_failwith("\var{s}")", where \var{s} is a null-terminated C string (with
type \verb"char *"), raises exception "Failure" with argument \var{s}.
\item "caml_invalid_argument("\var{s}")", where \var{s} is a null-terminated C
string (with type \verb"char *"), raises exception "Invalid_argument"
with argument \var{s}.
\end{itemize}

Raising arbitrary exceptions from C is more delicate: the
exception identifier is dynamically allocated by the OCaml program, and
therefore must be communicated to the C function using the
registration facility described below in section~\ref{ss:c-register-exn}.
Once the exception identifier is recovered in C, the following
functions actually raise the exception:
\begin{itemize}
\item "caml_raise_constant("\var{id}")" raises the exception \var{id} with
no argument;
\item "caml_raise_with_arg("\var{id}", "\var{v}")" raises the exception
\var{id} with the OCaml value \var{v} as argument;
\item "caml_raise_with_args("\var{id}", "\var{n}", "\var{v}")"
raises the exception \var{id} with the OCaml values
\var{v}"[0]", \ldots, \var{v}"["\var{n}"-1]" as arguments;
\item "caml_raise_with_string("\var{id}", "\var{s}")", where \var{s} is a
null-terminated C string, raises the exception \var{id} with a copy of
the C string \var{s} as argument.
\end{itemize}

\section{s:c-gc-harmony}{Living in harmony with the garbage collector}

Unused blocks in the heap are automatically reclaimed by the garbage
collector. This requires some cooperation from C code that
manipulates heap-allocated blocks.

\subsection{ss:c-simple-gc-harmony}{Simple interface}

All the macros described in this section are declared in the
"memory.h" header file.

\begin{gcrule}
A function that has parameters or local variables of type "value" must
begin with a call to one of the "CAMLparam" macros and return with
"CAMLreturn", "CAMLreturn0", or "CAMLreturnT".
\end{gcrule}

There are six "CAMLparam" macros: "CAMLparam0" to "CAMLparam5", which
take zero to five arguments respectively.  If your function has no more
than 5 parameters of type "value", use the corresponding macros
with these parameters as arguments.  If your function has more than 5
parameters of type "value", use "CAMLparam5" with five of these
parameters, and use one or more calls to the "CAMLxparam" macros for
the remaining parameters ("CAMLxparam1" to "CAMLxparam5").

The macros "CAMLreturn", "CAMLreturn0", and "CAMLreturnT" are used to
replace the C keyword "return"; any function using a "CAMLparam" macro
on entry should use "CAMLreturn" on all exit points. C functions
exported as OCaml externals must return a "value", and they should use
"CAMLreturn (x)" instead of "return x". Some helper functions may
manipulate OCaml values yet return "void" or another
datatype. "void"-returning procedures should explicitly use
"CAMLreturn0", and not have any implicit return. Helper functions
returning C data of some type "t" should use "CAMLreturnT (t, x)"
instead of "return x".

\paragraph{Note:} Some C compilers give bogus warnings about unused
variables "caml__dummy_xxx" at each use of "CAMLparam" and
"CAMLlocal".  You should ignore them.

\goodbreak

Examples:
\begin{verbatim}
CAMLprim value my_external (value v1, value v2, value v3)
{
  CAMLparam3 (v1, v2, v3);
  ...
  CAMLreturn (Val_unit);
}


static void helper_procedure (value v1, value v2)
{
  CAMLparam2 (v1, v2);
  ...
  CAMLreturn0;
}

static int helper_function (value v1, value v2)
{
  CAMLparam2 (v1, v2);
  ...
  CAMLreturnT (int, 0);
}
\end{verbatim}

\paragraph{Note:} If your function is a primitive with more than 5 arguments
for use with the byte-code runtime, its arguments are not "value"s and
must not be declared (they have types "value *" and "int").

\paragraph{Warning:} "CAMLreturn0" should only be used for internal procedures that return void.
"CAMLreturn(Val_unit)" should be used for functions that return an OCaml unit value.
Primitives (C functions that can be called from OCaml) should never return void.

\begin{gcrule}
Local variables of type "value" must be declared with one of the
"CAMLlocal" macros.  Arrays of "value"s are declared with
"CAMLlocalN".  These macros must be used at the beginning of the
function, not in a nested block.  Temporaries are equivalent to
local variables, but they cannot be registered with the garbage
collector, so a temporary of type "value" must not be live when
a garbage collection may occur.
\end{gcrule}

The macros "CAMLlocal1" to "CAMLlocal5" declare and initialize one to
five local variables of type "value".  The variable names are given as
arguments to the macros.  "CAMLlocalN("\var{x}", "\var{n}")" declares
and initializes a local variable of type "value ["\var{n}"]".  You can
use several calls to these macros if you have more than 5 local
variables.

Example:
\begin{verbatim}
CAMLprim value bar (value v1, value v2, value v3)
{
  CAMLparam3 (v1, v2, v3);
  CAMLlocal1 (result);
  result = caml_alloc (3, 0);
  ...
  CAMLreturn (result);
}
\end{verbatim}

\paragraph{Warning:} "CAMLlocal" (and "CAMLxparam") can only be called
\emph{after} "CAMLparam". If a function declares local values but
takes no value argument, it should start with "CAMLparam0 ()".

\begin{verbatim}
static value foo (int n)
{
  CAMLparam0 ();;
  CAMLlocal (result);
  ...
  CAMLreturn (result);
}
\end{verbatim}

\begin{gcrule}
Assignments to the fields of structured blocks must be done with the
"Store_field" macro (for normal blocks), "Store_double_array_field" macro (for
"float array" values) or "Store_double_flat_field" (for "floatarray" values and
records of floating-point numbers).  Other assignments must not use
"Store_field", "Store_double_array_field" nor "Store_double_flat_field".
\end{gcrule}

"Store_field ("\var{b}", "\var{n}", "\var{v}")" stores the value
\var{v} in the field number \var{n} of value \var{b}, which must be a
block (i.e. "Is_block("\var{b}")" must be true).

Example:
\begin{verbatim}
CAMLprim value bar (value v1, value v2, value v3)
{
  CAMLparam3 (v1, v2, v3);
  CAMLlocal1 (result);
  result = caml_alloc (3, 0);
  Store_field (result, 0, v1);
  Store_field (result, 1, v2);
  Store_field (result, 2, v3);
  CAMLreturn (result);
}
\end{verbatim}

\paragraph{Warning:} The first argument of "Store_field" and
"Store_double_field" must be a variable declared by "CAMLparam*" or
a parameter declared by "CAMLlocal*" to ensure that a garbage
collection triggered by the evaluation of the other arguments will not
invalidate the first argument after it is computed.

\paragraph{Use with CAMLlocalN:} Arrays of values declared using
"CAMLlocalN" must not be written to using "Store_field".
Use the normal C array syntax instead.

\begin{gcrule} Global variables containing values must be registered
with the garbage collector using the "caml_register_global_root" function,
save that global variables and locations that will only ever contain OCaml
integers (and never pointers) do not have to be registered.

The same is true for any memory location outside the OCaml heap that contains a
value and is not guaranteed to be reachable---for as long as it contains such
value---from either another registered global variable or location, local
variable declared with "CAMLlocal" or function parameter declared with
"CAMLparam".
\end{gcrule}

Registration of a global variable "v" is achieved by calling
"caml_register_global_root(&v)" just before or just after a valid value is
stored in "v" for the first time; likewise, registration of an arbitrary
location "p" is achieved by calling "caml_register_global_root(p)".

You must not call any of the OCaml runtime functions or macros between
registering and storing the value. Neither must you store anything in the
variable "v" (likewise, the location "p") that is not a valid value.

The registration causes the contents of the variable or memory location to be
updated by the garbage collector whenever the value in such variable or location
is moved within the OCaml heap. In the presence of threads care must be taken to
ensure appropriate synchronisation with the OCaml runtime to avoid a race
condition against the garbage collector when reading or writing the value. (See
section
\ref{ss:parallel-execution-long-running-c-code}.)

A registered global variable "v" can be un-registered by calling
"caml_remove_global_root(&v)".

If the contents of the global variable "v" are seldom modified after
registration, better performance can be achieved by calling
"caml_register_generational_global_root(&v)" to register "v" (after
its initialization with a valid "value", but before any allocation or
call to the GC functions),
and "caml_remove_generational_global_root(&v)" to un-register it. In
this case, you must not modify the value of "v" directly, but you must
use "caml_modify_generational_global_root(&v,x)" to set it to "x".
The garbage collector takes advantage of the guarantee that "v" is not
modified between calls to "caml_modify_generational_global_root" to scan it
less often. This improves performance if the
modifications of "v" happen less often than minor collections.

\paragraph{Note:} The "CAML" macros use identifiers (local variables, type
identifiers, structure tags) that start with "caml__".  Do not use any
identifier starting with "caml__" in your programs.

\subsection{ss:c-low-level-gc-harmony}{Low-level interface}

% Il faudrait simplifier violemment ce qui suit.
% En gros, dire quand on n'a pas besoin de declarer les variables
% et dans quels cas on peut se passer de "Store_field".

We now give the GC rules corresponding to the low-level allocation
functions "caml_alloc_small" and "caml_alloc_shr".  You can ignore those rules
if you stick to the simplified allocation function "caml_alloc".

\begin{gcrule} After a structured block (a block with tag less than
"No_scan_tag") is allocated with the low-level functions, all fields
of this block must be filled with well-formed values before the next
allocation operation. If the block has been allocated with
"caml_alloc_small", filling is performed by direct assignment to the fields
of the block:
\begin{alltt}
        Field(\var{v}, \var{n}) = \nth{v}{n};
\end{alltt}
If the block has been allocated with "caml_alloc_shr", filling is performed
through the "caml_initialize" function:
\begin{alltt}
        caml_initialize(&Field(\var{v}, \var{n}), \nth{v}{n});
\end{alltt}
\end{gcrule}

The next allocation can trigger a garbage collection. The garbage
collector assumes that all structured blocks contain well-formed
values. Newly created blocks contain random data, which generally do
not represent well-formed values.

If you really need to allocate before the fields can receive their
final value,  first initialize with a constant value (e.g.
"Val_unit"), then allocate, then modify the fields with the correct
value (see rule~6).

%% \begin{gcrule} Local variables and function parameters containing
%% values must be registered with the garbage collector (using the
%% "Begin_roots" and "End_roots" macros), if they are to survive a call
%% to an allocation function.
%% \end{gcrule}
%%
%% Registration is performed with the "Begin_roots" set of macros.
%% "Begin_roots1("\var{v}")" registers variable \var{v} with the garbage
%% collector.  Generally, \var{v} will be a local variable or a
%% parameter of your function.  It must be initialized to a valid value
%% (e.g. "Val_unit") before the first allocation.  Likewise,
%% "Begin_roots2", \ldots, "Begin_roots5"
%% let you register up to 5 variables at the same time.  "Begin_root" is
%% the same as "Begin_roots1".  "Begin_roots_block("\var{ptr}","\var{size}")"
%% allows you to register an array of roots.  \var{ptr} is a pointer to
%% the first element, and \var{size} is the number of elements in the
%% array.
%%
%% Once registered, each of your variables (or array element) has the
%% following properties: if it points to a heap-allocated block, this
%% block (and its contents) will not be reclaimed; moreover, if this
%% block is relocated by the garbage collector, the variable is updated
%% to point to the new location for the block.
%%
%% Each of the "Begin_roots" macros open a C block that must be closed
%% with a matching "End_roots" at the same nesting level.  The block must
%% be exited normally (i.e. not with "return" or "goto").  However, the
%% roots are automatically un-registered if an OCaml exception is raised,
%% so you can exit the block with "failwith", "invalid_argument", or one
%% of the "raise" functions.
%%
%% {\bf Note:} The "Begin_roots" macros use a local variable and a
%% structure tag named "caml__roots_block".  Do not use this identifier
%% in your programs.

\begin{gcrule} Direct assignment to a field of a block, as in
\begin{alltt}
        Field(\var{v}, \var{n}) = \var{w};
\end{alltt}
is safe only if \var{v} is a block newly allocated by "caml_alloc_small";
that is, if no allocation took place between the
allocation of \var{v} and the assignment to the field. In all other cases,
never assign directly. If the block has just been allocated by "caml_alloc_shr",
use "caml_initialize" to assign a value to a field for the first time:
\begin{alltt}
        caml_initialize(&Field(\var{v}, \var{n}), \var{w});
\end{alltt}
Otherwise, you are updating a field that previously contained a
well-formed value; then, call the "caml_modify" function:
\begin{alltt}
        caml_modify(&Field(\var{v}, \var{n}), \var{w});
\end{alltt}
\end{gcrule}

To illustrate the rules above, here is a C function that builds and
returns a list containing the two integers given as parameters.
First, we write it using the simplified allocation functions:
\begin{verbatim}
value alloc_list_int(int i1, int i2)
{
  CAMLparam0 ();
  CAMLlocal2 (result, r);

  r = caml_alloc(2, 0);                   /* Allocate a cons cell */
  Store_field(r, 0, Val_int(i2));         /* car = the integer i2 */
  Store_field(r, 1, Val_emptylist);       /* cdr = the empty list [] */
  result = caml_alloc(2, 0);              /* Allocate the other cons cell */
  Store_field(result, 0, Val_int(i1));    /* car = the integer i1 */
  Store_field(result, 1, r);              /* cdr = the first cons cell */
  CAMLreturn (result);
}
\end{verbatim}
Here, the registering of "result" is not strictly needed, because no
allocation takes place after it gets its value, but it's easier and
safer to simply register all the local variables that have type "value".

Here is the same function written using the low-level allocation
functions.  We notice that the cons cells are small blocks and can be
allocated with "caml_alloc_small", and filled by direct assignments on
their fields.
\begin{verbatim}
value alloc_list_int(int i1, int i2)
{
  CAMLparam0 ();
  CAMLlocal2 (result, r);

  r = caml_alloc_small(2, 0);             /* Allocate a cons cell */
  Field(r, 0) = Val_int(i2);              /* car = the integer i2 */
  Field(r, 1) = Val_emptylist;            /* cdr = the empty list [] */
  result = caml_alloc_small(2, 0);        /* Allocate the other cons cell */
  Field(result, 0) = Val_int(i1);         /* car = the integer i1 */
  Field(result, 1) = r;                   /* cdr = the first cons cell */
  CAMLreturn (result);
}
\end{verbatim}
In the two examples above, the list is built bottom-up. Here is an
alternate way, that proceeds top-down. It is less efficient, but
illustrates the use of "caml_modify".
\begin{verbatim}
value alloc_list_int(int i1, int i2)
{
  CAMLparam0 ();
  CAMLlocal2 (tail, r);

  r = caml_alloc_small(2, 0);             /* Allocate a cons cell */
  Field(r, 0) = Val_int(i1);              /* car = the integer i1 */
  Field(r, 1) = Val_int(0);               /* A dummy value
  tail = caml_alloc_small(2, 0);          /* Allocate the other cons cell */
  Field(tail, 0) = Val_int(i2);           /* car = the integer i2 */
  Field(tail, 1) = Val_emptylist;         /* cdr = the empty list [] */
  caml_modify(&Field(r, 1), tail);        /* cdr of the result = tail */
  CAMLreturn (r);
}
\end{verbatim}
It would be incorrect to perform
"Field(r, 1) = tail" directly, because the allocation of "tail"
has taken place since "r" was allocated.


\subsection{ss:c-process-pending-actions}{Pending actions and asynchronous exceptions}

Since 4.10, allocation functions are guaranteed not to run any OCaml
code, including finalisers, signal handlers and other threads running
on the same domain. Instead, their execution is delayed to a later
safe point.

The function \verb"caml_process_pending_actions" from
"<caml/signals.h>" executes any pending signal handlers and
finalisers, Memprof callbacks, preemptive systhread switching, and
requested minor and major garbage collections. In particular, it can
raise asynchronous exceptions and cause mutations on the OCaml heap
from the same domain. It is recommended to call it regularly at safe
points inside long-running non-blocking C code.

The variant \verb"caml_process_pending_actions_exn" is provided, that
returns the exception instead of raising it directly into OCaml code.
Its result must be tested using {\tt Is_exception_result}, and
followed by {\tt Extract_exception} if appropriate. It is typically
used for clean up before re-raising:

\begin{verbatim}
    CAMLlocal1(exn);
    ...
    exn = caml_process_pending_actions_exn();
    if(Is_exception_result(exn)) {
      exn = Extract_exception(exn);
      ...cleanup...
      caml_raise(exn);
    }
\end{verbatim}

Correct use of exceptional return, in particular in the presence of
garbage collection, is further detailed in Section~\ref{ss:c-callbacks}.

\section{s:c-intf-example}{A complete example}

This section outlines how the functions from the Unix "curses" library
can be made available to OCaml programs. First of all, here is
the interface "curses.ml" that declares the "curses" primitives and
data types:
\begin{verbatim}
(* File curses.ml -- declaration of primitives and data types *)
type window                   (* The type "window" remains abstract *)
external initscr: unit -> window = "caml_curses_initscr"
external endwin: unit -> unit = "caml_curses_endwin"
external refresh: unit -> unit = "caml_curses_refresh"
external wrefresh : window -> unit = "caml_curses_wrefresh"
external newwin: int -> int -> int -> int -> window = "caml_curses_newwin"
external addch: char -> unit = "caml_curses_addch"
external mvwaddch: window -> int -> int -> char -> unit = "caml_curses_mvwaddch"
external addstr: string -> unit = "caml_curses_addstr"
external mvwaddstr: window -> int -> int -> string -> unit
         = "caml_curses_mvwaddstr"
(* lots more omitted *)
\end{verbatim}
To compile this interface:
\begin{verbatim}
        ocamlc -c curses.ml
\end{verbatim}

To implement these functions, we just have to provide the stub code;
the core functions are already implemented in the "curses" library.
The stub code file, "curses_stubs.c", looks like this:
\begin{verbatim}
/* File curses_stubs.c -- stub code for curses */
#include <curses.h>
#include <caml/mlvalues.h>
#include <caml/memory.h>
#include <caml/alloc.h>
#include <caml/custom.h>

/* Encapsulation of opaque window handles (of type WINDOW *)
   as OCaml custom blocks. */

static struct custom_operations curses_window_ops = {
  "fr.inria.caml.curses_windows",
  custom_finalize_default,
  custom_compare_default,
  custom_hash_default,
  custom_serialize_default,
  custom_deserialize_default,
  custom_compare_ext_default,
  custom_fixed_length_default
};

/* Accessing the WINDOW * part of an OCaml custom block */
#define Window_val(v) (*((WINDOW **) Data_custom_val(v)))

/* Allocating an OCaml custom block to hold the given WINDOW * */
static value alloc_window(WINDOW * w)
{
  value v = caml_alloc_custom(&curses_window_ops, sizeof(WINDOW *), 0, 1);
  Window_val(v) = w;
  return v;
}

CAMLprim value caml_curses_initscr(value unit)
{
  CAMLparam1 (unit);
  CAMLreturn (alloc_window(initscr()));
}

CAMLprim value caml_curses_endwin(value unit)
{
  CAMLparam1 (unit);
  endwin();
  CAMLreturn (Val_unit);
}

CAMLprim value caml_curses_refresh(value unit)
{
  CAMLparam1 (unit);
  refresh();
  CAMLreturn (Val_unit);
}

CAMLprim value caml_curses_wrefresh(value win)
{
  CAMLparam1 (win);
  wrefresh(Window_val(win));
  CAMLreturn (Val_unit);
}

CAMLprim value caml_curses_newwin(value nlines, value ncols, value x0, value y0)
{
  CAMLparam4 (nlines, ncols, x0, y0);
  CAMLreturn (alloc_window(newwin(Int_val(nlines), Int_val(ncols),
                                  Int_val(x0), Int_val(y0))));
}

CAMLprim value caml_curses_addch(value c)
{
  CAMLparam1 (c);
  addch(Int_val(c));            /* Characters are encoded like integers */
  CAMLreturn (Val_unit);
}

CAMLprim value caml_curses_mvwaddch(value win, value x, value y, value c)
{
  CAMLparam4 (win, x, y, c);
  mvwaddch(Window_val(win), Int_val(x), Int_val(y), Int_val(c));
  CAMLreturn (Val_unit);
}

CAMLprim value caml_curses_addstr(value s)
{
  CAMLparam1 (s);
  addstr(String_val(s));
  CAMLreturn (Val_unit);
}

CAMLprim value caml_curses_mvwaddstr(value win, value x, value y, value s)
{
  CAMLparam4 (win, x, y, s);
  mvwaddstr(Window_val(win), Int_val(x), Int_val(y), String_val(s));
  CAMLreturn (Val_unit);
}

/* This goes on for pages. */
\end{verbatim}

The file "curses_stubs.c" can be compiled with:
\begin{verbatim}
        cc -c -I`ocamlc -where` curses_stubs.c
\end{verbatim}
or, even simpler,
\begin{verbatim}
        ocamlc -c curses_stubs.c
\end{verbatim}
(When passed a ".c" file, the "ocamlc" command simply calls the C
compiler on that file, with the right "-I" option.)

Now, here is a sample OCaml program "prog.ml" that uses the "curses"
module:
\begin{verbatim}
(* File prog.ml -- main program using curses *)
open Curses;;
let main_window = initscr () in
let small_window = newwin 10 5 20 10 in
  mvwaddstr main_window 10 2 "Hello";
  mvwaddstr small_window 4 3 "world";
  refresh();
  Unix.sleep 5;
  endwin()
\end{verbatim}
To compile and link this program, run:
\begin{verbatim}
       ocamlc -custom -o prog unix.cma curses.cmo prog.ml curses_stubs.o -cclib -lcurses
\end{verbatim}
(On some machines, you may need to put
"-cclib -lcurses -cclib -ltermcap" or "-cclib -ltermcap"
instead of "-cclib -lcurses".)

%% Note by Damien: when I launch the program, it only displays "Hello"
%% and not "world". Why?

\section{s:c-callback}{Advanced topic: callbacks from C to OCaml}

So far, we have described how to call C functions from OCaml. In this
section, we show how C functions can call OCaml functions, either as
callbacks (OCaml calls C which calls OCaml), or with the main program
written in C.

\subsection{ss:c-callbacks}{Applying OCaml closures from C}

C functions can apply OCaml function values (closures) to OCaml values.
The following functions are provided to perform the applications:
\begin{itemize}
\item "caml_callback("\var{f, a}")" applies the functional value \var{f} to
the value \var{a} and returns the value returned by~\var{f}.
\item "caml_callback2("\var{f, a, b}")" applies the functional value \var{f}
(which is assumed to be a curried OCaml function with two arguments) to
\var{a} and \var{b}.
\item "caml_callback3("\var{f, a, b, c}")" applies the functional value \var{f}
(a curried OCaml function with three arguments) to \var{a}, \var{b} and \var{c}.
\item "caml_callbackN("\var{f, n, args}")" applies the functional value \var{f}
to the \var{n} arguments contained in the C array of values \var{args}.
\end{itemize}
If the function \var{f} does not return, but raises an exception that
escapes the scope of the application, then this exception is
propagated to the next enclosing OCaml code, skipping over the C
code. That is, if an OCaml function \var{f} calls a C function \var{g} that
calls back an OCaml function \var{h} that raises a stray exception, then the
execution of \var{g} is interrupted and the exception is propagated back
into \var{f}.

If the C code wishes to catch exceptions escaping the OCaml function,
it can use the functions "caml_callback_exn", "caml_callback2_exn",
"caml_callback3_exn", "caml_callbackN_exn".  These functions take the same
arguments as their non-"_exn" counterparts, but catch escaping
exceptions and return them to the C code.  The return value \var{v} of the
"caml_callback*_exn" functions must be tested with the macro
"Is_exception_result("\var{v}")".  If the macro returns ``false'', no
exception occurred, and \var{v} is the value returned by the OCaml
function.  If "Is_exception_result("\var{v}")" returns ``true'',
an exception escaped, and its value (the exception descriptor) can be
recovered using "Extract_exception("\var{v}")".

\paragraph{Warning:} If the OCaml function returned with an exception,
"Extract_exception" should be applied to the exception result prior
to calling a function that may trigger garbage collection.
Otherwise, if \var{v} is reachable during garbage collection, the runtime
can crash since \var{v} does not contain a valid value.

Example:
\begin{verbatim}
    CAMLprim value call_caml_f_ex(value closure, value arg)
    {
      CAMLparam2(closure, arg);
      CAMLlocal2(res, tmp);
      res = caml_callback_exn(closure, arg);
      if(Is_exception_result(res)) {
        res = Extract_exception(res);
        tmp = caml_alloc(3, 0); /* Safe to allocate: res contains valid value. */
        ...
      }
      CAMLreturn (res);
    }
\end{verbatim}

\subsection{ss:c-closures}{Obtaining or registering OCaml closures for use in C functions}

There are two ways to obtain OCaml function values (closures) to
be passed to the "callback" functions described above.  One way is to
pass the OCaml function as an argument to a primitive function.  For
example, if the OCaml code contains the declaration
\begin{verbatim}
    external apply : ('a -> 'b) -> 'a -> 'b = "caml_apply"
\end{verbatim}
the corresponding C stub can be written as follows:
\begin{verbatim}
    CAMLprim value caml_apply(value vf, value vx)
    {
      CAMLparam2(vf, vx);
      CAMLlocal1(vy);
      vy = caml_callback(vf, vx);
      CAMLreturn(vy);
    }
\end{verbatim}

Another possibility is to use the registration mechanism provided by
OCaml.  This registration mechanism enables OCaml code to register
OCaml functions under some global name, and C code to retrieve the
corresponding closure by this global name.

On the OCaml side, registration is performed by evaluating
"Callback.register" \var{n} \var{v}. Here, \var{n} is the global name
(an arbitrary string) and \var{v} the OCaml value. For instance:
\begin{verbatim}
    let f x = print_string "f is applied to "; print_int x; print_newline()
    let _ = Callback.register "test function" f
\end{verbatim}

On the C side, a pointer to the value registered under name \var{n} is
obtained by calling "caml_named_value("\var{n}")". The returned
pointer must then be dereferenced to recover the actual OCaml value.
If no value is registered under the name \var{n}, the null pointer is
returned. For example, here is a C wrapper that calls the OCaml function "f"
above:
\begin{verbatim}
    void call_caml_f(int arg)
    {
        caml_callback(*caml_named_value("test function"), Val_int(arg));
    }
\end{verbatim}

The pointer returned by "caml_named_value" is constant and can safely
be cached in a C variable to avoid repeated name lookups. The value
pointed to cannot be changed from C. However, it might change during
garbage collection, so must always be recomputed at the point of
use. Here is a more efficient variant of "call_caml_f" above that
calls "caml_named_value" only once:
\begin{verbatim}
    void call_caml_f(int arg)
    {
        static const value * closure_f = NULL;
        if (closure_f == NULL) {
            /* First time around, look up by name */
            closure_f = caml_named_value("test function");
        }
        caml_callback(*closure_f, Val_int(arg));
    }
\end{verbatim}

\subsection{ss:c-register-exn}{Registering OCaml exceptions for use in C functions}

The registration mechanism described above can also be used to
communicate exception identifiers from OCaml to C. The OCaml code
registers the exception by evaluating
"Callback.register_exception" \var{n} \var{exn}, where \var{n} is an
arbitrary name and \var{exn} is an exception value of the
exception to register. For example:
\begin{verbatim}
    exception Error of string
    let _ = Callback.register_exception "test exception" (Error "any string")
\end{verbatim}
The C code can then recover the exception identifier using
"caml_named_value" and pass it as first argument to the functions
"raise_constant", "raise_with_arg", and "raise_with_string" (described
in section~\ref{ss:c-exceptions}) to actually raise the exception. For
example, here is a C function that raises the "Error" exception with
the given argument:
\begin{verbatim}
    void raise_error(char * msg)
    {
        caml_raise_with_string(*caml_named_value("test exception"), msg);
    }
\end{verbatim}

\subsection{ss:main-c}{Main program in C}

In normal operation, a mixed OCaml/C program starts by executing the
OCaml initialization code, which then may proceed to call C
functions. We say that the main program is the OCaml code. In some
applications, it is desirable that the C code plays the role of the
main program, calling OCaml functions when needed. This can be achieved as
follows:
\begin{itemize}
\item The C part of the program must provide a "main" function,
which will override the default "main" function provided by the OCaml
runtime system. Execution will start in the user-defined "main" function
just like for a regular C program.

\item At some point, the C code must call "caml_main(argv)" to
initialize the OCaml code. The "argv" argument is a C array of strings
(type "char **"), terminated with a "NULL" pointer,
which represents the command-line arguments, as
passed as second argument to "main". The OCaml array "Sys.argv" will
be initialized from this parameter. For the bytecode compiler,
"argv[0]" and "argv[1]" are also consulted to find the file containing
the bytecode.

\item The call to "caml_main" initializes the OCaml runtime system,
loads the bytecode (in the case of the bytecode compiler), and
executes the initialization code of the OCaml program. Typically, this
initialization code registers callback functions using "Callback.register".
Once the OCaml initialization code is complete, control returns to the
C code that called "caml_main".

\item The C code can then invoke OCaml functions using the callback
mechanism (see section~\ref{ss:c-callbacks}).
\end{itemize}

\subsection{ss:c-embedded-code}{Embedding the OCaml code in the C code}

The bytecode compiler in custom runtime mode ("ocamlc -custom")
normally appends the bytecode to the executable file containing the
custom runtime. This has two consequences. First, the final linking
step must be performed by "ocamlc". Second, the OCaml runtime library
must be able to find the name of the executable file from the
command-line arguments. When using "caml_main(argv)" as in
section~\ref{ss:main-c}, this means that "argv[0]" or "argv[1]" must
contain the executable file name.

An alternative is to embed the bytecode in the C code. The
"-output-obj" and "-output-complete-obj" options to "ocamlc" are
provided for this purpose. They cause the "ocamlc" compiler to output a
C object file (".o" file, ".obj" under Windows) containing the
bytecode for the OCaml part of the program, as well as a
"caml_startup" function. The C object file produced by "ocamlc
-output-complete-obj" also contains the runtime and autolink
libraries. The C object file produced by "ocamlc -output-obj" or
"ocamlc -output-complete-obj" can then be linked with C code using the
standard C compiler, or stored in a C library.

The "caml_startup" function must be called from the main C program in
order to initialize the OCaml runtime and execute the OCaml
initialization code. Just like "caml_main", it takes one "argv"
parameter containing the command-line parameters. Unlike "caml_main",
this "argv" parameter is used only to initialize "Sys.argv", but not
for finding the name of the executable file.

The "caml_startup" function calls the uncaught exception handler (or
enters the debugger, if running under ocamldebug) if an exception escapes
from a top-level module initialiser.  Such exceptions may be caught in the
C code by instead using the "caml_startup_exn" function and testing the result
using {\tt Is_exception_result} (followed by {\tt Extract_exception} if
appropriate).

The "-output-obj" and "-output-complete-obj" options can also be used to
obtain the C source file.
More interestingly, these options can also produce
directly a shared library (".so" file, ".dll" under Windows) that
contains the OCaml code, the OCaml runtime system and any other static
C code given to "ocamlc" (".o", ".a", respectively, ".obj", ".lib").
This use of "-output-obj" and "-output-complete-obj"
is very similar to a normal linking
step, but instead of producing a main program that automatically runs
the OCaml code, it produces a shared library that can run the OCaml
code on demand. The three possible behaviors of "-output-obj"
and "-output-complete-obj"
(to produce a C source code ".c", a C object file ".o", a shared library ".so"),
are selected according to the extension of the resulting file (given
with "-o").

The native-code compiler "ocamlopt" also supports the "-output-obj"
and "-output-complete-obj" options, causing it to output a C object
file or a shared library containing the native code for all OCaml
modules on the command-line, as well as the OCaml startup code.
Initialization is performed by calling "caml_startup" (or
"caml_startup_exn") as in the case of the bytecode compiler. The file
produced by "ocamlopt -output-complete-obj" also contains the runtime
and autolink libraries.

For the final linking phase, in addition to the object file produced
by "-output-obj", you will have to provide the OCaml runtime
library ("libcamlrun.a" for bytecode, "libasmrun.a" for native-code),
as well as all C libraries that are required by the OCaml libraries
used.  For instance, assume the OCaml part of your program uses the
Unix library.  With "ocamlc", you should do:
\begin{alltt}
        ocamlc -output-obj -o camlcode.o unix.cma {\it{other}} .cmo {\it{and}} .cma {\it{files}}
        cc -o myprog {\it{C objects and libraries}} \char92
           camlcode.o -L`ocamlc -where` -lunix -lcamlrun
\end{alltt}
With "ocamlopt", you should do:
\begin{alltt}
        ocamlopt -output-obj -o camlcode.o unix.cmxa {\it{other}} .cmx {\it{and}} .cmxa {\it{files}}
        cc -o myprog {\it{C objects and libraries}} \char92
           camlcode.o -L`ocamlc -where` -lunix -lasmrun
\end{alltt}

% -- This seems completely wrong -- Damien
% The shared libraries produced by "ocamlc -output-obj" or by "ocamlopt
% -output-obj" already contains the OCaml runtime library as
% well as all the needed C libraries.

For the final linking phase, in addition to the object file produced
by "-output-complete-obj", you will have only to provide the C
libraries required by the OCaml runtime.

For instance, assume the OCaml part of your program uses the
Unix library.  With "ocamlc", you should do:
\begin{alltt}
        ocamlc -output-complete-obj -o camlcode.o unix.cma {\it{other}} .cmo {\it{and}} .cma {\it{files}}
        cc -o myprog {\it{C objects and libraries}} \char92
           camlcode.o {\it{C libraries required by the runtime, eg -lm  -ldl -lcurses -lpthread}}
\end{alltt}
With "ocamlopt", you should do:
\begin{alltt}
        ocamlopt -output-complete-obj -o camlcode.o unix.cmxa {\it{other}} .cmx {\it{and}} .cmxa {\it{files}}
        cc -o myprog {\it{C objects and libraries}} \char92
           camlcode.o {\it{C libraries required by the runtime, eg -lm -ldl}}
\end{alltt}

\paragraph{Warning:} On some ports, special options are required on the final
linking phase that links together the object file produced by the
"-output-obj" and "-output-complete-obj" options and the remainder of the program.  Those options
are shown in the configuration file "Makefile.config" generated during
compilation of OCaml, as the variable "OC_LDFLAGS".
\begin{itemize}
\item Windows with the MSVC compiler: the object file produced by
OCaml have been compiled with the "/MD" flag, and therefore
all other object files linked with it should also be compiled with
"/MD".
\item other systems: you may have to add one or both of
"-lm" and "-ldl", depending on your OS and C compiler.
\end{itemize}

\paragraph{Stack backtraces.}  When OCaml bytecode produced by
"ocamlc -g" is embedded in a C program, no debugging information is
included, and therefore it is impossible to print stack backtraces on
uncaught exceptions.  This is not the case when native code produced
by "ocamlopt -g" is embedded in a C program: stack backtrace
information is available, but the backtrace mechanism needs to be
turned on programmatically.   This can be achieved from the OCaml side
by calling "Printexc.record_backtrace true" in the initialization of
one of the OCaml modules.  This can also be achieved from the C side
by calling "caml_record_backtraces(1);" in the OCaml-C glue code.
("caml_record_backtraces" is declared in "backtrace.h")

\paragraph{Unloading the runtime.}

In case the shared library produced with "-output-obj" is to be loaded and
unloaded repeatedly by a single process, care must be taken to unload the
OCaml runtime explicitly, in order to avoid various system resource leaks.

Since 4.05, "caml_shutdown" function can be used to shut the runtime down
gracefully, which equals the following:
\begin{itemize}
\item Running the functions that were registered with "Stdlib.at_exit".
\item Triggering finalization of allocated custom blocks (see
section~\ref{s:c-custom}). For example, "Stdlib.in_channel" and
"Stdlib.out_channel" are represented by custom blocks that enclose file
descriptors, which are to be released.
\item Unloading the dependent shared libraries that were loaded by the runtime,
including "dynlink" plugins.
\item Freeing the memory blocks that were allocated by the runtime with
"malloc". Inside C primitives, it is advised to use "caml_stat_*" functions
from "memory.h" for managing static (that is, non-moving) blocks of heap
memory, as all the blocks allocated with these functions are automatically
freed by "caml_shutdown". For ensuring compatibility with legacy C stubs that
have used "caml_stat_*" incorrectly, this behaviour is only enabled if the
runtime is started with a specialized "caml_startup_pooled" function.
\end{itemize}

As a shared library may have several clients simultaneously, it is made for
convenience that "caml_startup" (and "caml_startup_pooled") may be called
multiple times, given that each such call is paired with a corresponding call
to "caml_shutdown" (in a nested fashion). The runtime will be unloaded once
there are no outstanding calls to "caml_startup".

Once a runtime is unloaded, it cannot be started up again without reloading the
shared library and reinitializing its static data. Therefore, at the moment, the
facility is only useful for building reloadable shared libraries.

\paragraph{Unix signal handling.}  Depending on the target platform and
operating system, the native-code runtime system may install signal
handlers for one or several of the "SIGSEGV", "SIGTRAP" and "SIGFPE"
signals when "caml_startup" is called, and reset these signals to
their default behaviors when "caml_shutdown" is called.  The main
program written in~C should not try to handle these signals itself.

\section{s:c-advexample}{Advanced example with callbacks}

This section illustrates the callback facilities described in
section~\ref{s:c-callback}. We are going to package some OCaml functions
in such a way that they can be linked with C code and called from C
just like any C functions. The OCaml functions are defined in the
following "mod.ml" OCaml source:

\begin{verbatim}
(* File mod.ml -- some "useful" OCaml functions *)

let rec fib n = if n < 2 then 1 else fib(n-1) + fib(n-2)

let format_result n = Printf.sprintf "Result is: %d\n" n

(* Export those two functions to C *)

let _ = Callback.register "fib" fib
let _ = Callback.register "format_result" format_result
\end{verbatim}

Here is the C stub code for calling these functions from C:

\begin{verbatim}
/* File modwrap.c -- wrappers around the OCaml functions */

#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <caml/mlvalues.h>
#include <caml/callback.h>

int fib(int n)
{
  static const value * fib_closure = NULL;
  if (fib_closure == NULL) fib_closure = caml_named_value("fib");
  return Int_val(caml_callback(*fib_closure, Val_int(n)));
}

char * format_result(int n)
{
  static const value * format_result_closure = NULL;
  if (format_result_closure == NULL)
    format_result_closure = caml_named_value("format_result");
  return strdup(String_val(caml_callback(*format_result_closure, Val_int(n))));
  /* We copy the C string returned by String_val to the C heap
     so that it remains valid after garbage collection. */
}
\end{verbatim}

We now compile the OCaml code to a C object file and put it in a C
library along with the stub code in "modwrap.c" and the OCaml runtime system:
\begin{verbatim}
        ocamlc -custom -output-obj -o modcaml.o mod.ml
        ocamlc -c modwrap.c
        cp `ocamlc -where`/libcamlrun.a mod.a && chmod +w mod.a
        ar r mod.a modcaml.o modwrap.o
\end{verbatim}
(One can also use "ocamlopt -output-obj" instead of "ocamlc -custom
-output-obj".  In this case, replace "libcamlrun.a" (the bytecode
runtime library) by "libasmrun.a" (the native-code runtime library).)

Now, we can use the two functions "fib" and "format_result" in any C
program, just like regular C functions. Just remember to call
"caml_startup" (or "caml_startup_exn") once before.

\begin{verbatim}
/* File main.c -- a sample client for the OCaml functions */

#include <stdio.h>
#include <caml/callback.h>

extern int fib(int n);
extern char * format_result(int n);

int main(int argc, char ** argv)
{
  int result;

  /* Initialize OCaml code */
  caml_startup(argv);
  /* Do some computation */
  result = fib(10);
  printf("fib(10) = %s\n", format_result(result));
  return 0;
}
\end{verbatim}

To build the whole program, just invoke the C compiler as follows:
\begin{verbatim}
        cc -o prog -I `ocamlc -where` main.c mod.a -lcurses
\end{verbatim}
(On some machines, you may need to put "-ltermcap" or
"-lcurses -ltermcap" instead of "-lcurses".)

\section{s:c-custom}{Advanced topic: custom blocks}

Blocks with tag "Custom_tag" contain both arbitrary user data and a
pointer to a C struct, with type "struct custom_operations", that
associates user-provided finalization, comparison, hashing,
serialization and deserialization functions to this block.

\subsection{ss:c-custom-ops}{The "struct custom_operations"}

The "struct custom_operations" is defined in "<caml/custom.h>" and
contains the following fields:
\begin{itemize}
\item "char *identifier" \\
A zero-terminated character string serving as an identifier for
serialization and deserialization operations.

\item "void  (*finalize)(value v)" \\
The "finalize" field contains a pointer to a C function that is called
when the block becomes unreachable and is about to be reclaimed.
The block is passed as first argument to the function.
The "finalize" field can also be "custom_finalize_default" to indicate that no
finalization function is associated with the block.

\item "int (*compare)(value v1, value v2)" \\
The "compare" field contains a pointer to a C function that is
called whenever two custom blocks are compared using OCaml's generic
comparison operators ("=", "<>", "<=", ">=", "<", ">" and
"compare").  The C function should return 0 if the data contained in
the two blocks are structurally equal, a negative integer if the data
from the first block is less than the data from the second block, and
a positive integer if the data from the first block is greater than
the data from the second block.

The "compare" field can be set to "custom_compare_default"; this
default comparison function simply raises "Failure".

\item "int (*compare_ext)(value v1, value v2)" \\
(Since 3.12.1)
The "compare_ext" field contains a pointer to a C function that is
called whenever one custom block and one unboxed integer are compared using OCaml's generic
comparison operators ("=", "<>", "<=", ">=", "<", ">" and
"compare").  As in the case of the "compare" field, the C function
should return 0 if the two arguments are structurally equal, a
negative integer if the first argument compares less than the second
argument, and a positive integer if the first argument compares
greater than the second argument.

The "compare_ext" field can be set to "custom_compare_ext_default"; this
default comparison function simply raises "Failure".

\item "intnat (*hash)(value v)" \\
The "hash" field contains a pointer to a C function that is called
whenever OCaml's generic hash operator (see module \stdmoduleref{Hashtbl}) is
applied to a custom block.  The C function can return an arbitrary
integer representing the hash value of the data contained in the
given custom block.  The hash value must be compatible with the
"compare" function, in the sense that two structurally equal data
(that is, two custom blocks for which "compare" returns 0) must have
the same hash value.

The "hash" field can be set to "custom_hash_default", in which case
the custom block is ignored during hash computation.

\item "void (*serialize)(value v, uintnat * bsize_32, uintnat * bsize_64)" \\
The "serialize" field contains a pointer to a C function that is
called whenever the custom block needs to be serialized (marshaled)
using the OCaml functions "output_value" or "Marshal.to_...".
For a custom block, those functions first write the identifier of the
block (as given by the "identifier" field) to the output stream,
then call the user-provided "serialize" function.  That function is
responsible for writing the data contained in the custom block, using
the "serialize_..." functions defined in "<caml/intext.h>" and listed
in section~\ref{ss:c-custom-serialization}.  The user-provided "serialize"
function must then store in its "bsize_32" and "bsize_64" parameters the sizes
in bytes of the data part of the custom block on a 32-bit architecture and on a
64-bit architecture, respectively.

The "serialize" field can be set to "custom_serialize_default",
in which case the "Failure" exception is raised when attempting to
serialize the custom block.

\item "uintnat (*deserialize)(void * dst)" \\
The "deserialize" field contains a pointer to a C function that is
called whenever a custom block with identifier "identifier" needs to
be deserialized (un-marshaled) using the OCaml functions "input_value"
or "Marshal.from_...".  This user-provided function is responsible for
reading back the data written by the "serialize" operation, using the
"deserialize_..." functions defined in "<caml/intext.h>" and listed
in section~\ref{ss:c-custom-serialization}. It must then rebuild the data part
of the custom block and store it at the pointer given as the "dst" argument.
Finally, it returns the size in bytes of the data part of the custom block.
This size must be identical to the "wsize_32" result of the "serialize"
operation if the architecture is 32 bits, or "wsize_64" if the architecture is
64 bits.

The "deserialize" field can be set to "custom_deserialize_default"
to indicate that deserialization is not supported.  In this case,
do not register the "struct custom_operations" with the deserializer
using "register_custom_operations" (see below).

\item "const struct custom_fixed_length* fixed_length" \\
(Since 4.08.0)
Normally, space in the serialized output is reserved to write the
"bsize_32" and "bsize_64" fields returned by "serialize". However, for
very short custom blocks, this space can be larger than the data
itself! As a space optimisation, if "serialize" always returns the
same values for "bsize_32" and "bsize_64", then these values may be
specified in the "fixed_length" structure, and do not consume space in
the serialized output.
\end{itemize}

Note: the "finalize", "compare", "hash", "serialize", and "deserialize"
functions attached to custom blocks descriptors are only allowed limited
interactions with the OCaml runtime. Within these functions, do not call any of
the OCaml allocation functions, and do not perform any callback into OCaml
code. Do not use "CAMLparam" to register the parameters to these functions, and
do not use "CAMLreturn" to return the result. Do not raise exceptions (to
signal an error during deserialization, use "caml_deserialize_error"). Do not
remove global roots. When in doubt, err on the side of caution. Within
"serialize" and "deserialize" functions, use of the corresponding functions
from section~\ref{ss:c-custom-serialization} is allowed (and even recommended).

\subsection{ss:c-custom-alloc}{Allocating custom blocks}

Custom blocks must be allocated via "caml_alloc_custom" or
"caml_alloc_custom_mem":
\begin{center}
"caml_alloc_custom("\var{ops}", "\var{size}", "\var{used}", "\var{max}")"
\end{center}
returns a fresh custom block, with room for \var{size} bytes of user
data, and whose associated operations are given by \var{ops} (a
pointer to a "struct custom_operations", usually statically allocated
as a C global variable).

The two parameters \var{used} and \var{max} are used to control the
speed of garbage collection when the finalized object contains
pointers to out-of-heap resources.  Generally speaking, the
OCaml incremental major collector adjusts its speed relative to the
allocation rate of the program.  The faster the program allocates, the
harder the GC works in order to reclaim quickly unreachable blocks
and avoid having large amount of ``floating garbage'' (unreferenced
objects that the GC has not yet collected).

Normally, the allocation rate is measured by counting the in-heap size
of allocated blocks.  However, it often happens that finalized
objects contain pointers to out-of-heap memory blocks and other resources
(such as file descriptors, X Windows bitmaps, etc.).  For those
blocks, the in-heap size of blocks is not a good measure of the
quantity of resources allocated by the program.

The two arguments \var{used} and \var{max} give the GC an idea of how
much out-of-heap resources are consumed by the finalized block
being allocated: you give the amount of resources allocated to this
object as parameter \var{used}, and the maximum amount that you want
to see in floating garbage as parameter \var{max}.  The units are
arbitrary: the GC cares only about the ratio $\var{used} / \var{max}$.

For instance, if you are allocating a finalized block holding an X
Windows bitmap of \var{w} by \var{h} pixels, and you'd rather not
have more than 1 mega-pixels of unreclaimed bitmaps, specify
$\var{used} = \var{w} * \var{h}$ and $\var{max} = 1000000$.

Another way to describe the effect of the \var{used} and \var{max}
parameters is in terms of full GC cycles.  If you allocate many custom
blocks with $\var{used} / \var{max} = 1 / \var{N}$, the GC will then do one
full cycle (examining every object in the heap and calling
finalization functions on those that are unreachable) every \var{N}
allocations.  For instance, if $\var{used} = 1$ and $\var{max} = 1000$,
the GC will do one full cycle at least every 1000 allocations of
custom blocks.

If your finalized blocks contain no pointers to out-of-heap resources,
or if the previous discussion made little sense to you, just take
$\var{used} = 0$ and $\var{max} = 1$.  But if you later find that the
finalization functions are not called ``often enough'', consider
increasing the $\var{used} / \var{max}$ ratio.

\begin{center}
"caml_alloc_custom_mem("\var{ops}", "\var{size}", "\var{used}")"
\end{center}
Use this function when your custom block holds only out-of-heap memory
(memory allocated with "malloc" or "caml_stat_alloc") and no other
resources. "used" should be the number of bytes of out-of-heap
memory that are held by your custom block. This function works like
"caml_alloc_custom" except that the "max" parameter is under the
control of the user (via the "custom_major_ratio",
"custom_minor_ratio", and "custom_minor_max_size" parameters) and
proportional to the heap sizes. It has been available since OCaml 4.08.0.

\subsection{ss:c-custom-access}{Accessing custom blocks}

The data part of a custom block \var{v} can be
accessed via the pointer "Data_custom_val("\var{v}")".  This pointer
has type "void *" and should be cast to the actual type of the data
stored in the custom block.

The contents of custom blocks are not scanned by the garbage
collector, and must therefore not contain any pointer inside the OCaml
heap.  In other terms, never store an OCaml "value" in a custom block,
and do not use "Field", "Store_field" nor "caml_modify" to access the data
part of a custom block.  Conversely, any C data structure (not
containing heap pointers) can be stored in a custom block.

\subsection{ss:c-custom-serialization}{Writing custom serialization and deserialization functions}

The following functions, defined in "<caml/intext.h>", are provided to
write and read back the contents of custom blocks in a portable way.
Those functions handle endianness conversions when e.g. data is
written on a little-endian machine and read back on a big-endian machine.

\begin{tableau}{|l|p{10cm}|}{Function}{Action}
\entree{"caml_serialize_int_1"}{Write a 1-byte integer}
\entree{"caml_serialize_int_2"}{Write a 2-byte integer}
\entree{"caml_serialize_int_4"}{Write a 4-byte integer}
\entree{"caml_serialize_int_8"}{Write a 8-byte integer}
\entree{"caml_serialize_float_4"}{Write a 4-byte float}
\entree{"caml_serialize_float_8"}{Write a 8-byte float}
\entree{"caml_serialize_block_1"}{Write an array of 1-byte quantities}
\entree{"caml_serialize_block_2"}{Write an array of 2-byte quantities}
\entree{"caml_serialize_block_4"}{Write an array of 4-byte quantities}
\entree{"caml_serialize_block_8"}{Write an array of 8-byte quantities}
\entree{"caml_deserialize_uint_1"}{Read an unsigned 1-byte integer}
\entree{"caml_deserialize_sint_1"}{Read a signed 1-byte integer}
\entree{"caml_deserialize_uint_2"}{Read an unsigned 2-byte integer}
\entree{"caml_deserialize_sint_2"}{Read a signed 2-byte integer}
\entree{"caml_deserialize_uint_4"}{Read an unsigned 4-byte integer}
\entree{"caml_deserialize_sint_4"}{Read a signed 4-byte integer}
\entree{"caml_deserialize_uint_8"}{Read an unsigned 8-byte integer}
\entree{"caml_deserialize_sint_8"}{Read a signed 8-byte integer}
\entree{"caml_deserialize_float_4"}{Read a 4-byte float}
\entree{"caml_deserialize_float_8"}{Read an 8-byte float}
\entree{"caml_deserialize_block_1"}{Read an array of 1-byte quantities}
\entree{"caml_deserialize_block_2"}{Read an array of 2-byte quantities}
\entree{"caml_deserialize_block_4"}{Read an array of 4-byte quantities}
\entree{"caml_deserialize_block_8"}{Read an array of 8-byte quantities}
\entree{"caml_deserialize_error"}{Signal an error during deserialization;
"input_value" or "Marshal.from_..." raise a "Failure" exception after
cleaning up their internal data structures}
\end{tableau}

Serialization functions are attached to the custom blocks to which
they apply.  Obviously, deserialization functions cannot be attached
this way, since the custom block does not exist yet when
deserialization begins!  Thus, the "struct custom_operations" that
contain deserialization functions must be registered with the
deserializer in advance, using the "register_custom_operations"
function declared in "<caml/custom.h>".  Deserialization proceeds by
reading the identifier off the input stream, allocating a custom block
of the size specified in the input stream, searching the registered
"struct custom_operation" blocks for one with the same identifier, and
calling its "deserialize" function to fill the data part of the custom block.

\subsection{ss:c-custom-idents}{Choosing identifiers}

Identifiers in "struct custom_operations" must be chosen carefully,
since they must identify uniquely the data structure for serialization
and deserialization operations.  In particular, consider including a
version number in the identifier; this way, the format of the data can
be changed later, yet backward-compatible deserialisation functions
can be provided.

Identifiers starting with "_" (an underscore character) are reserved
for the OCaml runtime system; do not use them for your custom
data.  We recommend to use a URL
("http://mymachine.mydomain.com/mylibrary/version-number")
or a Java-style package name
("com.mydomain.mymachine.mylibrary.version-number")
as identifiers, to minimize the risk of identifier collision.

\subsection{ss:c-finalized}{Finalized blocks}

Custom blocks generalize the finalized blocks that were present in
OCaml prior to version 3.00. For backwards compatibility, the format
of custom blocks is compatible with that of finalized blocks, and the
"caml_alloc_final" function is still available to allocate a custom
block with a given finalization function, but default comparison,
hashing and serialization functions. (In particular, the finalization
function must not access the OCaml runtime.)

"caml_alloc_final("\var{n}", "\var{f}", "\var{used}", "\var{max}")"
returns a fresh custom block of size \var{n}+1 words, with
finalization function \var{f}. The first word is reserved for storing
the custom operations; the other \var{n} words are available for your
data. The two parameters \var{used} and \var{max} are used to control
the speed of garbage collection, as described for "caml_alloc_custom".

\section{s:C-Bigarrays}{Advanced topic: Bigarrays and the OCaml-C interface}

This section explains how C stub code that interfaces C or Fortran
code with OCaml code can use Bigarrays.

\subsection{ss:C-Bigarrays-include}{Include file}

The include file "<caml/bigarray.h>" must be included in the C stub
file.  It declares the functions, constants and macros discussed
below.

\subsection{ss:C-Bigarrays-access}{Accessing an OCaml bigarray from C or Fortran}

If \var{v} is a OCaml "value" representing a Bigarray, the expression
"Caml_ba_data_val("\var{v}")" returns a pointer to the data part of the array.
This pointer is of type "void *" and can be cast to the appropriate C
type for the array (e.g. "double []", "char [][10]", etc).

Various characteristics of the OCaml Bigarray can be consulted from C
as follows:
\begin{tableau}{|l|l|}{C expression}{Returns}
\entree{"Caml_ba_array_val("\var{v}")->num_dims"}{number of dimensions}
\entree{"Caml_ba_array_val("\var{v}")->dim["\var{i}"]"}{\var{i}-th dimension}
\entree{"Caml_ba_array_val("\var{v}")->flags & CAML_BA_KIND_MASK"}{kind of array elements}
\end{tableau}
The kind of array elements is one of the following constants:
\begin{tableau}{|l|l|}{Constant}{Element kind}
\entree{"CAML_BA_FLOAT16"}{16-bit half-precision floats}
\entree{"CAML_BA_FLOAT32"}{32-bit single-precision floats}
\entree{"CAML_BA_FLOAT64"}{64-bit double-precision floats}
\entree{"CAML_BA_SINT8"}{8-bit signed integers}
\entree{"CAML_BA_UINT8"}{8-bit unsigned integers}
\entree{"CAML_BA_SINT16"}{16-bit signed integers}
\entree{"CAML_BA_UINT16"}{16-bit unsigned integers}
\entree{"CAML_BA_INT32"}{32-bit signed integers}
\entree{"CAML_BA_INT64"}{64-bit signed integers}
\entree{"CAML_BA_CAML_INT"}{31- or 63-bit signed integers}
\entree{"CAML_BA_NATIVE_INT"}{32- or 64-bit (platform-native) integers}
\entree{"CAML_BA_COMPLEX32"}{32-bit single-precision complex numbers}
\entree{"CAML_BA_COMPLEX64"}{64-bit double-precision complex numbers}
\entree{"CAML_BA_CHAR"}{8-bit characters}
\end{tableau}
%
\paragraph{Warning:}
"Caml_ba_array_val("\var{v}")" must always be dereferenced immediately and not stored
anywhere, including local variables.
It resolves to a derived pointer: it is not a valid OCaml value but points to
a memory region managed by the GC. For this reason this value must not be
stored in any memory location that could be live cross a GC.

The following example shows the passing of a two-dimensional Bigarray
to a C function and a Fortran function.
\begin{verbatim}
    extern void my_c_function(double * data, int dimx, int dimy);
    extern void my_fortran_function_(double * data, int * dimx, int * dimy);

    CAMLprim value caml_stub(value bigarray)
    {
      int dimx = Caml_ba_array_val(bigarray)->dim[0];
      int dimy = Caml_ba_array_val(bigarray)->dim[1];
      /* C passes scalar parameters by value */
      my_c_function(Caml_ba_data_val(bigarray), dimx, dimy);
      /* Fortran passes all parameters by reference */
      my_fortran_function_(Caml_ba_data_val(bigarray), &dimx, &dimy);
      return Val_unit;
    }
\end{verbatim}

\subsection{ss:C-Bigarrays-wrap}{Wrapping a C or Fortran array as an OCaml Bigarray}

A pointer \var{p} to an already-allocated C or Fortran array can be
wrapped and returned to OCaml as a Bigarray using the "caml_ba_alloc"
or "caml_ba_alloc_dims" functions.
\begin{itemize}
\item
"caml_ba_alloc("\var{kind} "|" \var{layout}, \var{numdims}, \var{p}, \var{dims}")"

Return an OCaml Bigarray wrapping the data pointed to by \var{p}.
\var{kind} is the kind of array elements (one of the "CAML_BA_"
kind constants above).  \var{layout} is "CAML_BA_C_LAYOUT" for an
array with C layout and "CAML_BA_FORTRAN_LAYOUT" for an array with
Fortran layout.  \var{numdims} is the number of dimensions in the
array.  \var{dims} is an array of \var{numdims} long integers, giving
the sizes of the array in each dimension.

\item
"caml_ba_alloc_dims("\var{kind} "|" \var{layout}, \var{numdims},
\var{p}, "(long) "\nth{dim}{1}, "(long) "\nth{dim}{2}, \ldots, "(long) "\nth{dim}{numdims}")"

Same as "caml_ba_alloc", but the sizes of the array in each dimension
are listed as extra arguments in the function call, rather than being
passed as an array.
\end{itemize}
%
The following example illustrates how statically-allocated C and
Fortran arrays can be made available to OCaml.
\begin{verbatim}
    extern long my_c_array[100][200];
    extern float my_fortran_array_[300][400];

    CAMLprim value caml_get_c_array(value unit)
    {
      long dims[2];
      dims[0] = 100; dims[1] = 200;
      return caml_ba_alloc(CAML_BA_NATIVE_INT | CAML_BA_C_LAYOUT,
                           2, my_c_array, dims);
    }

    CAMLprim value caml_get_fortran_array(value unit)
    {
      return caml_ba_alloc_dims(CAML_BA_FLOAT32 | CAML_BA_FORTRAN_LAYOUT,
                                2, my_fortran_array_, 300L, 400L);
    }
\end{verbatim}

\section{s:C-cheaper-call}{Advanced topic: cheaper C call}

This section describe how to make calling C functions cheaper.

{\bf Note:} This only applies to the native compiler. So whenever you
use any of these methods, you have to provide an alternative byte-code
stub that ignores all the special annotations.

\subsection{ss:c-unboxed}{Passing unboxed values}

We said earlier that all OCaml objects are represented by the C type
"value", and one has to use macros such as "Int_val" to decode data from
the "value" type.  It is however possible to tell the OCaml native-code
compiler to do this for us and pass arguments unboxed to the C function.
Similarly it is possible to tell OCaml to expect the result unboxed and box
it for us.

The motivation is that, by letting `ocamlopt` deal with boxing, it can
often decide to suppress it entirely.

For instance let's consider this example:

\begin{verbatim}
external foo : float -> float -> float = "foo"

let f a b =
  let len = Array.length a in
  assert (Array.length b = len);
  let res = Array.make len 0. in
  for i = 0 to len - 1 do
    res.(i) <- foo a.(i) b.(i)
  done
\end{verbatim}

Float arrays are unboxed in OCaml, however the C function "foo" expect
its arguments as boxed floats and returns a boxed float. Hence the
OCaml compiler has no choice but to box "a.(i)" and "b.(i)" and unbox
the result of "foo".  This results in the allocation of "3 * len"
temporary float values.

Now if we annotate the arguments and result with "[\@unboxed]", the
native-code compiler will be able to avoid all these allocations:

\begin{verbatim}
external foo
  :  (float [@unboxed])
  -> (float [@unboxed])
  -> (float [@unboxed])
  = "foo_byte" "foo"
\end{verbatim}

In this case the C functions must look like:

\begin{verbatim}
CAMLprim double foo(double a, double b)
{
  ...
}

CAMLprim value foo_byte(value a, value b)
{
  return caml_copy_double(foo(Double_val(a), Double_val(b)))
}
\end{verbatim}

For convenience, when all arguments and the result are annotated with
"[\@unboxed]", it is possible to put the attribute only once on the
declaration itself. So we can also write instead:

\begin{verbatim}
external foo : float -> float -> float = "foo_byte" "foo" [@@unboxed]
\end{verbatim}

The following table summarize what OCaml types can be unboxed, and
what C types should be used in correspondence:

\begin{tableau}{|l|l|}{OCaml type}{C type}
\entree{"float"}{"double"}
\entree{"int32"}{"int32_t"}
\entree{"int64"}{"int64_t"}
\entree{"nativeint"}{"intnat"}
\end{tableau}

Similarly, it is possible to pass untagged OCaml integers between
OCaml and C. This is done by annotating the arguments and/or result
with "[\@untagged]":

\begin{verbatim}
external f : string -> (int [@untagged]) = "f_byte" "f"
\end{verbatim}

The corresponding C type must be "intnat".

{\bf Note:} Do not use the C "int" type in correspondence with "(int
[\@untagged])". This is because they often differ in size.

It is possible to annotate with "[\@untagged]" any immediate type, i.e. types
that are represented like "int". This includes "bool", "char", any variant
type with only constant constructors. Note: this does not include
"Unix.file_descr" which is not represented as an interger on all platforms.

\subsection{ss:c-direct-call}{Direct C call}

In order to be able to run the garbage collector in the middle of
a C function, the OCaml native-code compiler generates some bookkeeping
code around C calls.  Technically it wraps every C call with the C function
"caml_c_call" which is part of the OCaml runtime.

For small functions that are called repeatedly, this indirection can have
a big impact on performances.  However this is not needed if we know that
the C function doesn't allocate, doesn't raise exceptions, and doesn't release
the domain lock (see section~\ref{ss:parallel-execution-long-running-c-code}).
We can instruct the OCaml native-code compiler of this fact by annotating the
external declaration with the attribute "[\@\@noalloc]":

\begin{verbatim}
external bar : int -> int -> int = "foo" [@@noalloc]
\end{verbatim}

In this case calling "bar" from OCaml is as cheap as calling any other
OCaml function, except for the fact that the OCaml compiler can't
inline C functions...

\subsection{ss:c-direct-call-example}{Example: calling C library functions without indirection}

Using these attributes, it is possible to call C library functions
with no indirection. For instance many math functions are defined this
way in the OCaml standard library:

\begin{verbatim}
external sqrt : float -> float = "caml_sqrt_float" "sqrt"
  [@@unboxed] [@@noalloc]
(** Square root. *)

external exp : float -> float = "caml_exp_float" "exp" [@@unboxed] [@@noalloc]
(** Exponential. *)

external log : float -> float = "caml_log_float" "log" [@@unboxed] [@@noalloc]
(** Natural logarithm. *)
\end{verbatim}

\section{s:C-multithreading}{Advanced topic: multithreading}

Using multiple threads (shared-memory concurrency) in a mixed OCaml/C
application requires special precautions, which are described in this
section.

\subsection{ss:c-thread-register}{Registering threads created from C}

Callbacks from C to OCaml are possible only if the calling thread is
known to the OCaml run-time system.  Threads created from OCaml (through
the "Thread.create" function of the system threads library) are
automatically known to the run-time system.  If the application
creates additional threads from C and wishes to callback into OCaml
code from these threads, it must first register them with the run-time
system.  The following functions are declared in the include file
"<caml/threads.h>".

\begin{itemize}
\item
"caml_c_thread_register()" registers the calling thread with the OCaml
run-time system.  Returns 1 on success, 0 on error.  Registering an
already-registered thread does nothing and returns 0.
\item
"caml_c_thread_unregister()"  must be called before the thread
  terminates, to unregister it from the OCaml run-time system.
Returns 1 on success, 0 on error.  If the calling thread was not
previously registered, does nothing and returns 0.
\end{itemize}

\subsection{ss:parallel-execution-long-running-c-code}{Parallel execution of long-running C code with systhreads}

Domains are the unit of parallelism for OCaml programs. When using
the systhreads library, multiple threads might be attached to the same
domain. However, at any time, at most one of those thread can be executing
OCaml code or C code that uses the OCaml run-time system by domain.
Technically, this is enforced by a ``domain lock''
that any thread must hold while executing such code within a domain.

When OCaml calls the C code implementing a primitive, the domain lock
is held, therefore the C code has full access to the facilities of the
run-time system.  However, no other thread in the same domain can execute
OCaml code concurrently with the C code of the primitive.
See also chapter~\ref{s:par_c_bindings} for the behaviour with multiple domains.

If a C primitive runs for a long time or performs potentially blocking
input-output operations, it can explicitly release the domain lock,
enabling other OCaml threads in the same domain to run concurrently with
its operations.
The C code must re-acquire the domain lock before returning to OCaml.
This is achieved with the following functions, declared in
the include file "<caml/threads.h>".

\begin{itemize}
\item
"caml_release_runtime_system()"
The calling thread releases the domain lock and other OCaml resources,
enabling other threads to run OCaml code in parallel with the execution
of the calling thread.
\item
"caml_acquire_runtime_system()"
The calling thread re-acquires the domain lock and other OCaml
resources.  It may block until no other thread in the same domain uses
the OCaml run-time system.
\end{itemize}

These functions poll for pending signals by calling asynchronous
callbacks (section~\ref{ss:c-process-pending-actions}) before releasing and
after acquiring the lock. They can therefore execute arbitrary OCaml
code including raising an asynchronous exception.

After "caml_release_runtime_system()" was called and until
"caml_acquire_runtime_system()" is called, the C code must not access
any OCaml data, nor call any function of the run-time system, nor call
back into OCaml code.  Consequently, arguments provided by OCaml to the
C primitive must be copied into C data structures before calling
"caml_release_runtime_system()", and results to be returned to OCaml
must be encoded as OCaml values after "caml_acquire_runtime_system()"
returns.

Example: the following C primitive invokes "gethostbyname" to find the
IP address of a host name.  The "gethostbyname" function can block for
a long time, so we choose to release the OCaml run-time system while it
is running.
\begin{verbatim}
CAMLprim stub_gethostbyname(value vname)
{
  CAMLparam1 (vname);
  CAMLlocal1 (vres);
  struct hostent * h;
  char * name;

  /* Copy the string argument to a C string, allocated outside the
     OCaml heap. */
  name = caml_stat_strdup(String_val(vname));
  /* Release the OCaml run-time system */
  caml_release_runtime_system();
  /* Resolve the name */
  h = gethostbyname(name);
  /* Free the copy of the string, which we might as well do before
     acquiring the runtime system to benefit from parallelism. */
  caml_stat_free(name);
  /* Re-acquire the OCaml run-time system */
  caml_acquire_runtime_system();
  /* Encode the relevant fields of h as the OCaml value vres */
  ... /* Omitted */
  /* Return to OCaml */
  CAMLreturn (vres);
}
\end{verbatim}

The macro "Caml_state" evaluates to the domain state variable, and
checks in debug mode that the domain lock is held. Such a check is
also placed in normal mode at key entry points of the C API; this is
why calling some of the runtime functions and macros without correctly
owning the domain lock can result in a fatal error: "no domain lock
held". The variant "Caml_state_opt" does not perform any check but
evaluates to "NULL" when the domain lock is not held. This lets you
determine whether a thread belonging to a domain currently holds its
domain lock, for various purposes.

Callbacks from C to OCaml must be performed while holding the domain
lock to the OCaml run-time system.  This is naturally the case if the
callback is performed by a C primitive that did not release the
run-time system.  If the C primitive released the run-time system
previously, or the callback is performed from other C code that was
not invoked from OCaml (e.g. an event loop in a GUI application), the
run-time system must be acquired before the callback and released
after:
\begin{verbatim}
  caml_acquire_runtime_system();
  /* Resolve OCaml function vfun to be invoked */
  /* Build OCaml argument varg to the callback */
  vres = callback(vfun, varg);
  /* Copy relevant parts of result vres to C data structures */
  caml_release_runtime_system();
\end{verbatim}

Note: the "acquire" and "release" functions described above were
introduced in OCaml 3.12.  Older code uses the following historical
names, declared in "<caml/signals.h>":
\begin{itemize}
\item "caml_enter_blocking_section" as an alias for
  "caml_release_runtime_system"
\item "caml_leave_blocking_section" as an alias for
  "caml_acquire_runtime_system"
\end{itemize}
Intuition: a ``blocking section'' is a piece of C code that does not
use the OCaml run-time system, typically a blocking input/output operation.

\section{s:interfacing-windows-unicode-apis}{Advanced topic: interfacing with Windows Unicode APIs}

This section contains some general guidelines for writing C stubs that use
Windows Unicode APIs.

The OCaml system under Windows can be configured at build time in one of two
modes:

\begin{itemize}

\item {\bf legacy mode:} All path names, environment variables, command line
arguments, etc. on the OCaml side are assumed to be encoded using the current
8-bit code page of the system.

\item {\bf Unicode mode:} All path names, environment variables, command line
arguments, etc. on the OCaml side are assumed to be encoded using UTF-8.

\end{itemize}

In what follows, we say that a string has the \emph{OCaml encoding} if it is
encoded in UTF-8 when in Unicode mode, in the current code page in legacy mode,
or is an arbitrary string under Unix. A string has the \emph{platform encoding}
if it is encoded in UTF-16 under Windows or is an arbitrary string under Unix.

From the point of view of the writer of C stubs, the challenges of interacting
with Windows Unicode APIs are twofold:

\begin{itemize}

\item The Windows API uses the UTF-16 encoding to support Unicode. The runtime
system performs the necessary conversions so that the OCaml programmer only
needs to deal with the OCaml encoding. C stubs that call Windows Unicode APIs
need to use specific runtime functions to perform the necessary conversions in a
compatible way.

\item When writing stubs that need to be compiled under both Windows and Unix,
the stubs need to be written in a way that allow the necessary conversions under
Windows but that also work under Unix, where typically nothing particular needs
to be done to support Unicode.

\end{itemize}

The native C character type under Windows is "WCHAR", two bytes wide, while
under Unix it is "char", one byte wide. A type "char_os" is defined in
"<caml/misc.h>" that stands for the concrete C character type of each
platform. Strings in the platform encoding are of type "char_os *".

The following functions are exposed to help write compatible C stubs. To use
them, you need to include both "<caml/misc.h>" and "<caml/osdeps.h>".

\begin{itemize}

\item "char_os* caml_stat_strdup_to_os(const char *)" copies the argument while
translating from OCaml encoding to the platform encoding. This function is
typically used to convert the "char *" underlying an OCaml string before passing
it to an operating system API that takes a Unicode argument. Under Unix, it is
equivalent to "caml_stat_strdup".

{\bf Note:} For maximum backwards compatibility in Unicode mode, if the argument
is not a valid UTF-8 string, this function will fall back to assuming that it is
encoded in the current code page.

\item "char* caml_stat_strdup_of_os(const char_os *)" copies the argument while
translating from the platform encoding to the OCaml encoding. It is the inverse
of "caml_stat_strdup_to_os". This function is typically used to convert a string
obtained from the operating system before passing it on to OCaml code. Under
Unix, it is equivalent to "caml_stat_strdup".

\item "value caml_copy_string_of_os(char_os *)" allocates an OCaml string with
contents equal to the argument string converted to the OCaml encoding.  This
function is essentially equivalent to "caml_stat_strdup_of_os" followed by
"caml_copy_string", except that it avoids the allocation of the intermediate
string returned by "caml_stat_strdup_of_os". Under Unix, it is equivalent to
"caml_copy_string".

\end{itemize}

{\bf Note:} The strings returned by "caml_stat_strdup_to_os" and
"caml_stat_strdup_of_os" are allocated using "caml_stat_alloc", so they need to
be deallocated using "caml_stat_free" when they are no longer needed.

\paragraph{Example} We want to bind the function "getenv" in a way that works
both under Unix and Windows.  Under Unix this function has the prototype:

\begin{verbatim}
    char *getenv(const char *);
\end{verbatim}
While the Unicode version under Windows has the prototype:
\begin{verbatim}
    WCHAR *_wgetenv(const WCHAR *);
\end{verbatim}

In terms of "char_os", both functions take an argument of type "char_os *" and
return a result of the same type. We begin by choosing the right implementation
of the function to bind:

\begin{verbatim}
#ifdef _WIN32
#define getenv_os _wgetenv
#else
#define getenv_os getenv
#endif
\end{verbatim}

The rest of the binding is the same for both platforms:

\begin{verbatim}
#include <caml/mlvalues.h>
#include <caml/misc.h>
#include <caml/alloc.h>
#include <caml/fail.h>
#include <caml/osdeps.h>
#include <stdlib.h>

CAMLprim value stub_getenv(value var_name)
{
  CAMLparam1(var_name);
  CAMLlocal1(var_value);
  char_os *var_name_os, *var_value_os;

  var_name_os = caml_stat_strdup_to_os(String_val(var_name));
  var_value_os = getenv_os(var_name_os);
  caml_stat_free(var_name_os);

  if (var_value_os == NULL)
    caml_raise_not_found();

  var_value = caml_copy_string_of_os(var_value_os);

  CAMLreturn(var_value);
}
\end{verbatim}

\section{s:ocamlmklib}{Building mixed C/OCaml libraries: \texttt{ocamlmklib}}

The "ocamlmklib" command facilitates the construction of libraries
containing both OCaml code and C code, and usable both in static
linking and dynamic linking modes.  This command is available under
Windows since Objective Caml 3.11 and under other operating systems since
Objective Caml 3.03.

The "ocamlmklib" command takes three kinds of arguments:
\begin{itemize}
\item OCaml source files and object files (".cmo", ".cmx", ".ml")
comprising the OCaml part of the library;
\item C object files (".o", ".a", respectively, ".obj", ".lib")
  comprising the C part of the library;
\item Support libraries for the C part ("-l"\var{lib}).
\end{itemize}
It generates the following outputs:
\begin{itemize}
\item An OCaml bytecode library ".cma" incorporating the ".cmo" and
".ml" OCaml files given as arguments, and automatically referencing the
C library generated with the C object files.
\item An OCaml native-code library ".cmxa" incorporating the ".cmx" and
".ml" OCaml files given as arguments, and automatically referencing the
C library generated with the C object files.
\item If dynamic linking is supported on the target platform, a
".so" (respectively, ".dll") shared library built from the C object files given as arguments,
and automatically referencing the support libraries.
\item A C static library ".a"(respectively, ".lib") built from the C object files.
\end{itemize}
In addition, the following options are recognized:
\begin{options}
\item["-cclib", "-ccopt", "-I", "-linkall"]
These options are passed as is to "ocamlc" or "ocamlopt".
See the documentation of these commands.
\item["-rpath", "-R", "-Wl,-rpath", "-Wl,-R"]
These options are passed as is to the C compiler.  Refer to the
documentation of the C compiler.
\item["-custom"] Force the construction of a statically linked library
only, even if dynamic linking is supported.
\item["-failsafe"] Fall back to building a statically linked library
if a problem occurs while building the shared library (e.g. some of
the support libraries are not available as shared libraries).
\item["-L"\var{dir}] Add \var{dir} to the search path for support
libraries ("-l"\var{lib}).
\item["-ocamlc" \var{cmd}] Use \var{cmd} instead of "ocamlc" to call
the bytecode compiler.
\item["-ocamlopt" \var{cmd}] Use \var{cmd} instead of "ocamlopt" to call
the native-code compiler.
\item["-o" \var{output}] Set the name of the generated OCaml library.
"ocamlmklib" will generate \var{output}".cma" and/or \var{output}".cmxa".
If not specified, defaults to "a".
\item["-oc" \var{outputc}] Set the name of the generated C library.
"ocamlmklib" will generate "lib"\var{outputc}".so" (if shared
libraries are supported) and "lib"\var{outputc}".a".
If not specified, defaults to the output name given with "-o".
\end{options}

\paragraph{Example} Consider an OCaml interface to the standard "libz"
C library for reading and writing compressed files.  Assume this
library resides in "/usr/local/zlib".  This interface is
composed of an OCaml part "zip.cmo"/"zip.cmx" and a C part "zipstubs.o"
containing the stub code around the "libz" entry points.  The
following command builds the OCaml libraries "zip.cma" and "zip.cmxa",
as well as the companion C libraries "dllzip.so" and "libzip.a":
\begin{verbatim}
ocamlmklib -o zip zip.cmo zip.cmx zipstubs.o -lz -L/usr/local/zlib
\end{verbatim}
If shared libraries are supported, this performs the following
commands:
\begin{verbatim}
ocamlc -a -o zip.cma zip.cmo -dllib -lzip \
        -cclib -lzip -cclib -lz -ccopt -L/usr/local/zlib
ocamlopt -a -o zip.cmxa zip.cmx -cclib -lzip \
        -cclib -lzip -cclib -lz -ccopt -L/usr/local/zlib
gcc -shared -o dllzip.so zipstubs.o -lz -L/usr/local/zlib
ar rc libzip.a zipstubs.o
\end{verbatim}
Note: This example is on a Unix system. The exact command lines
may be different on other systems.

If shared libraries are not supported, the following commands are
performed instead:
\begin{verbatim}
ocamlc -a -custom -o zip.cma zip.cmo -cclib -lzip \
        -cclib -lz -ccopt -L/usr/local/zlib
ocamlopt -a -o zip.cmxa zip.cmx -lzip \
        -cclib -lz -ccopt -L/usr/local/zlib
ar rc libzip.a zipstubs.o
\end{verbatim}
Instead of building simultaneously the bytecode library, the
native-code library and the C libraries, "ocamlmklib" can be called
three times to build each separately.  Thus,
\begin{verbatim}
ocamlmklib -o zip zip.cmo -lz -L/usr/local/zlib
\end{verbatim}
builds the bytecode library "zip.cma", and
\begin{verbatim}
ocamlmklib -o zip zip.cmx -lz -L/usr/local/zlib
\end{verbatim}
builds the native-code library "zip.cmxa", and
\begin{verbatim}
ocamlmklib -o zip zipstubs.o -lz -L/usr/local/zlib
\end{verbatim}
builds the C libraries "dllzip.so" and "libzip.a".  Notice that the
support libraries ("-lz") and the corresponding options
("-L/usr/local/zlib") must be given on all three invocations of "ocamlmklib",
because they are needed at different times depending on whether shared
libraries are supported.


\section{s:c-internal-guidelines}{Cautionary words: the internal runtime API}

Not all header available in the "caml/" directory were described in previous
sections. All those unmentioned headers are part of the internal runtime API,
for which there is \emph{no} stability guarantee. If you really need access
to this internal runtime API, this section provides some guidelines
that may help you to write code that might not break on every new version
of OCaml.
\paragraph{Note} Programmers which come to rely on the internal API
for a use-case which they find realistic and useful are encouraged to open
a request for improvement on the bug tracker.

\subsection{ss:c-internals}{Internal variables and CAML_INTERNALS}
Since OCaml 4.04, it is possible to get access to every part of the internal
runtime API by defining the "CAML_INTERNALS" macro before loading caml header files.
If this macro is not defined, parts of the internal runtime API are hidden.

If you are using internal C variables, do not redefine them by hand. You should
import those variables by including the corresponding header files. The
representation of those variables has already changed once in OCaml 4.10, and is
still under evolution.
If your code relies on such internal and brittle properties, it will be broken
at some point in time.

For instance, rather than redefining "caml_young_limit":
\begin{verbatim}
extern int caml_young_limit;
\end{verbatim}
which breaks in OCaml $\ge$ 4.10, you should include the "minor_gc" header:
\begin{verbatim}
#include <caml/minor_gc.h>
\end{verbatim}

\subsection{ss:c-internal-macros}{OCaml version macros}
Finally, if including the right headers is not enough, or if you need to support
version older than OCaml 4.04, the header file "caml/version.h" should help
you to define your own compatibility layer.
This file provides few macros defining the current OCaml version.
In particular, the "OCAML_VERSION" macro describes the current version,
its format is "MmmPP".
For example, if you need some specific handling for versions older than 4.10.0,
you could write
\begin{verbatim}
#include <caml/version.h>
#if OCAML_VERSION >= 41000
...
#else
...
#endif
\end{verbatim}
