Trying to write a plugin - how to store a pointer

Andreas Raab andreas.raab at gmx.de
Tue Jan 24 00:00:42 UTC 2006


Generally, it's safer to use indexes (handles) that the VM maps to 
appropriate pointers. That's because otherwise a restarted image might 
invoke the primitive with a pointer from a previous session.

Cheers,
   - Andreas

Todd Blanchard wrote:
> For various reasons, I'm wanting to build a plugin to a library that  
> requires me to hold onto pointers to things.  This means I need to  
> store the pointer in an ivar in a squeak object and use it on  
> subsequent calls.
> 
> Can I get away with using a SmallInteger for this?  Basically doing  
> something like:
> 
> primNewContext
>     | ctx |
> 
>     self export: true.
>     self primitive: 'primCreateContext' parameters: #().   
>     self var: #ctx type: 'int'.
>     ctx := self cCode: 'LIB_NewContext()'.
>     ^ctx.
> 
> primDestroyContext: ctx
>     self export: true.
>     self primitive: 'primDestroyContext' parameters: #(SmallInteger).   
>     self cCode: 'LIB_DestroyContext((void*)ctx)'.
> 
> Or is this evil and I should consider a different technique?
> If this is evil, what is the good way to store external addresses in  
> ivars?
> 
> Thanks
> 
> 



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