4 libffi-3.0.10 was released on XXXXXXXXXX, 2010. Check the libffi web
5 page for updates: <URL:http://sourceware.org/libffi/>.
11 Compilers for high level languages generate code that follow certain
12 conventions. These conventions are necessary, in part, for separate
13 compilation to work. One such convention is the "calling
14 convention". The "calling convention" is essentially a set of
15 assumptions made by the compiler about where function arguments will
16 be found on entry to a function. A "calling convention" also specifies
17 where the return value for a function is found.
19 Some programs may not know at the time of compilation what arguments
20 are to be passed to a function. For instance, an interpreter may be
21 told at run-time about the number and types of arguments used to call
22 a given function. Libffi can be used in such programs to provide a
23 bridge from the interpreter program to compiled code.
25 The libffi library provides a portable, high level programming
26 interface to various calling conventions. This allows a programmer to
27 call any function specified by a call interface description at run
30 FFI stands for Foreign Function Interface. A foreign function
31 interface is the popular name for the interface that allows code
32 written in one language to call code written in another language. The
33 libffi library really only provides the lowest, machine dependent
34 layer of a fully featured foreign function interface. A layer must
35 exist above libffi that handles type conversions for values passed
36 between the two languages.
42 Libffi has been ported to many different platforms.
43 For specific configuration details and testing status, please
44 refer to the wiki page here:
46 http://www.moxielogic.org/wiki/index.php?title=Libffi_3.0.10
48 At the time of release, the following basic configurations have been
51 |--------------+------------------|
52 | Architecture | Operating System |
53 |--------------+------------------|
80 | X86 | Windows/Cygwin |
81 | X86 | Windows/MingW |
85 | X86-64 | Windows/MingW |
86 |--------------+------------------|
88 Please send additional platform test results to
89 libffi-discuss@sourceware.org and feel free to update the wiki page
95 First you must configure the distribution for your particular
96 system. Go to the directory you wish to build libffi in and run the
97 "configure" program found in the root directory of the libffi source
100 You may want to tell configure where to install the libffi library and
101 header files. To do that, use the --prefix configure switch. Libffi
102 will install under /usr/local by default.
104 If you want to enable extra run-time debugging checks use the the
105 --enable-debug configure switch. This is useful when your program dies
106 mysteriously while using libffi.
108 Another useful configure switch is --enable-purify-safety. Using this
109 will add some extra code which will suppress certain warnings when you
110 are using Purify with libffi. Only use this switch when using
111 Purify, as it will slow down the library.
113 It's also possible to build libffi on Windows platforms with
114 Microsoft's Visual C++ compiler. In this case, use the msvcc.sh
115 wrapper script during configuration like so:
117 path/to/configure CC=path/to/msvcc.sh LD=link CPP=\"cl -nologo -EP\"
119 For 64-bit Windows builds, use CC="path/to/msvcc.sh -m64".
120 You may also need to specify --build appropriately. When building with MSVC
121 under a MingW environment, you may need to remove the line in configure
122 that sets 'fix_srcfile_path' to a 'cygpath' command. ('cygpath' is not
123 present in MingW, and is not required when using MingW-style paths.)
125 Configure has many other options. Use "configure --help" to see them all.
127 Once configure has finished, type "make". Note that you must be using
128 GNU make. You can ftp GNU make from prep.ai.mit.edu:/pub/gnu.
130 To ensure that libffi is working as advertised, type "make check".
131 This will require that you have DejaGNU installed.
133 To install the library and header files, type "make install".
139 See the ChangeLog files for details.
142 Fix the N64 build on mips-sgi-irix6.5.
143 Testsuite fixes for Tru64 Unix.
144 Enable builds with Microsoft's compiler.
145 Enable x86 builds with Sun's compiler.
148 Fix the N64 build on mips-sgi-irix6.5.
149 Testsuite fixes for Tru64 Unix.
152 Add AVR32 and win64 ports. Add ARM softfp support.
153 Many fixes for AIX, Solaris, HP-UX, *BSD.
154 Several PowerPC and x86-64 bug fixes.
155 Build DLL for windows.
158 Add *BSD, BeOS, and PA-Linux support.
162 (thanks to Andreas Tobler)
165 Fix for closures on sh.
166 Mark the sh/sh64 stack as non-executable.
167 (both thanks to Kaz Kojima)
171 Fix #define ARM for IcedTea users.
175 Fix x86 OpenBSD configury.
178 Enable x86 OpenBSD thanks to Thomas Heller, and
179 x86-64 FreeBSD thanks to Björn König and Andreas Tobler.
180 Clean up test instruction in README.
183 Improved x86 FreeBSD support.
184 Thanks to Björn König.
187 Fix instruction cache flushing bug on MIPS.
188 Thanks to David Daney.
191 Many changes, mostly thanks to the GCC project.
192 Cygnus Solutions is now Red Hat.
197 Raffaele Sena produces ARM port.
200 Fixed x86 long double and long long return support.
201 m68k bug fixes from Andreas Schwab.
202 Patch for DU assembler compatibility for the Alpha from Richard
206 Bug fixes and MIPS configuration changes.
209 Bug fixes and m68k port from Andreas Schwab. PowerPC port from
210 Geoffrey Keating. Various bug x86, Sparc and MIPS bug fixes.
213 Richard Henderson produces Alpha port.
216 Fixed an n32 ABI bug. New libtool, auto* support.
219 libtool is now used to generate shared and static libraries.
220 Fixed a minor portability problem reported by Russ McManus
224 Added --enable-purify-safety to keep Purify from complaining
225 about certain low level code.
226 Sparc fix for calling functions with < 6 args.
230 Added missing ffi_type_void, needed for supporting void return
231 types. Fixed test case for non MIPS machines. Cygnus Support
232 is now Cygnus Solutions.
235 Added notes about GNU make.
238 Added configuration fix for non GNU compilers.
241 Added --enable-debug configure switch. Clean-ups based on LCLint
242 feedback. ffi_mips.h is always installed. Many configuration
243 fixes. Fixed ffitest.c for sparc builds.
246 Fixed n32 problem. Many clean-ups.
249 Gordon Irlam rewrites v8.S again. Bug fixes.
252 Gordon Irlam improved the sparc port.
255 Interface changes based on feedback.
258 Sparc port complete (modulo struct passing bug).
261 Passing struct args, and returning struct values works for
262 all architectures/calling conventions. Expanded tests.
265 Added SGI n32 support. Fixed bugs in both o32 and Linux support.
269 Fixed float passing bug in mips version. Restructured some
270 of the code. Builds cleanly with SGI tools.
273 First release. No public announcement.
279 libffi was originally written by Anthony Green <green@redhat.com>.
281 The developers of the GNU Compiler Collection project have made
282 innumerable valuable contributions. See the ChangeLog file for
285 Some of the ideas behind libffi were inspired by Gianni Mariani's free
286 gencall library for Silicon Graphics machines.
288 The closure mechanism was designed and implemented by Kresten Krab
291 Major processor architecture ports were contributed by the following
294 alpha Richard Henderson
296 cris Simon Posnjak, Hans-Peter Nilsson
301 mips Anthony Green, Casey Marshall
303 pa Randolph Chung, Dave Anglin, Andreas Tobler
304 powerpc Geoffrey Keating, Andreas Tobler,
305 David Edelsohn, John Hornkvist
306 powerpc64 Jakub Jelinek
307 s390 Gerhard Tonn, Ulrich Weigand
310 sparc Anthony Green, Gordon Irlam
311 x86 Anthony Green, Jon Beniston
314 Jesper Skov and Andrew Haley both did more than their fair share of
315 stepping through the code and tracking down bugs.
317 Thanks also to Tom Tromey for bug fixes, documentation and
320 Thanks to Jim Blandy, who provided some useful feedback on the libffi
323 Andreas Tobler has done a tremendous amount of work on the testsuite.
325 Alex Oliva solved the executable page problem for SElinux.
327 The list above is almost certainly incomplete and inaccurate. I'm
328 happy to make corrections or additions upon request.
330 If you have a problem, or have found a bug, please send a note to