Terrible Trouble With Typemaps (XS Question)

Molt has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

I'm currently working on connecting Perl with C++ via XS, only I'm hitting a problem when it comes to typemaps.. or lack of same.

At the moment I'm handling C++'s method overloading with something with the following basic structure (plus extra error checking, removed here for clarity):

int
MyClass::countItemsIn (...)
  CODE:
    if (sv_derived_from(ST(0), 'MyList')) {
      RETVAL=THIS->countItemsIn(
        *(MyList *) SvIV((SV*)SvRV(ST(0)))
      );
    } elsif (sv_derived_from(ST(0), 'MyHash')) {
      RETVAL=THIS->countItemsIn(
        *(MyHash *) SvIV((SV*)SvRV(ST(0)))
      );
    }
  OUTPUT:
    RETVAL
[download]

..now I can happily write this kind of code, but what's worrying me is "Where are the typemaps?". If I were to do all of the conversions manually I'm a lot more likely to make mistakes, and basically mess it all up. I'm also considering wrapping things in a very different way so being able to change the effective mapping would be exceptionally useful.

What is the best way to approach this, is there a way to call typemap conversions as 'functions' in XS? If not, shall I wrap the XS code for the typemap conversion in a nice little method and call that?

EDIT: Changed wording slightly, this doesn't seem to be the 'best' version to me at all..

Comment on Terrible Trouble With Typemaps (XS Question) Download Code

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Re: Terrible Trouble With Typemaps (XS Question) by dragonchild (Archbishop) on Sep 07, 2004 at 12:25 UTC
(I've never written XS, so take me with a grain of salt.) When dealing with this kind of thing in C, we'd use a macro #define to make our lives easier. So, I could see something like: `#define CALL_COUNT_ITEMS_IF( type ) \ if (sv_derived_from(ST(0), type)) { \ RETVAL=THIS->countItemsIn( \ (type ) SvIV((SV)SvRV(ST(0))) \ ); \ } int MyClass::countItemsIn (...) CODE: CALL_COUNT_ITEMS_IF( 'MyList' ); CALL_COUNT_ITEMS_IF( 'MyHash' ); OUTPUT: RETVAL` [download] Again, I have no idea if XS provides for a pre-processor or not. Hope this helps! ------ We are the carpenters and bricklayers of the Information Age.* Then there are Damian modules.... sigh* ... that's not about being less-lazy -- that's about being on some really good drugs -- you know, there is no spoon.* - flyingmoose I shouldn't have to say this, but any code, unless otherwise stated, is untested	[reply] [d/l]
Re^2: Terrible Trouble With Typemaps (XS Question) by Molt (Chaplain) on Sep 07, 2004 at 14:38 UTC
Thanks for the help, to be honest I didn't consider the preprocessor since I tend to avoid it as much as possible in the interests of readability.. but in this case it may have a use. Just so you know, it will be more a case of: `int MyClass::countItemsIn (...) CODE: if (SV_IS_MYLIST(ST(0))) { THIS->countItemsIn ( CAST_SV_TO_MYLIST(ST(0)) ); } elsif (SV_IS_MYHASH(ST(0)) { THIS->countItemsIn ( CAST_SV_TO_MYHASH(ST(0)) ); }; OUTPUT: RETVAL` [download] ..where the SV_IS_MYLIST/CAST_SV_TO_MYLIST parts are all macros.	[reply] [d/l]
Re^3: Terrible Trouble With Typemaps (XS Question) by dragonchild (Archbishop) on Sep 07, 2004 at 16:41 UTC
What about the following: `CODE: if ( MY_SV_IS( ST(0), 'MyList' )) { THIS->count_Items_in( MY_CAST_SV( ST(0), 'MyList' ) } elsif (MY_SV_IS( ST(0), 'MyHash' )) { THIS->count_Items_in( MY_CAST_SV( ST(0), 'MyHash' ) }` [download] This way, you don't have a plethora of macros. Remember, a preprocessor macro is just a direct text substitution. So, you can put text in there, kinda like what I was doing in my first reply. ------ We are the carpenters and bricklayers of the Information Age. Then there are Damian modules.... sigh* ... that's not about being less-lazy -- that's about being on some really good drugs -- you know, there is no spoon.* - flyingmoose I shouldn't have to say this, but any code, unless otherwise stated, is untested	[reply] [d/l]
Re^4: Terrible Trouble With Typemaps (XS Question) by Molt (Chaplain) on Sep 09, 2004 at 11:03 UTC


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