Implementing a C API in D

Question

So there's plenty of information about calling C APIs from within D, but how about the reverse? What do you need to do to write a library in D that works like a normal C shared library? Here's an easy case:

main.c

extern int foo(int x);
void main() {
    printf("foo(5)=%d\n",foo(5));
}

foo.d

extern(C)
{
    int foo(int x)
    {
         return x*x;
    }
}

Naively trying to build and link these with gcc and dmd just results in linker errors.

Linking with gcc main.o foo.o:

doFoo.o: In function `no symbol':
doFoo.d:(.text+0x7): undefined reference to `_Dmodule_ref'
collect2: ld returned 1 exit status

Linking with dmd main.o foo.o:

/usr/lib64/libphobos2.a(deh2_2eb_525.o): In function `_D2rt4deh213__eh_finddataFPvZPS2rt4deh213DHandlerTable':
src/rt/deh2.d:(.text._D2rt4deh213__eh_finddataFPvZPS2rt4deh213DHandlerTable+0xa): undefined reference to `_deh_beg'
src/rt/deh2.d:(.text._D2rt4deh213__eh_finddataFPvZPS2rt4deh213DHandlerTable+0x14): undefined reference to `_deh_beg'
src/rt/deh2.d:(.text._D2rt4deh213__eh_finddataFPvZPS2rt4deh213DHandlerTable+0x1e): undefined reference to `_deh_end'
src/rt/deh2.d:(.text._D2rt4deh213__eh_finddataFPvZPS2rt4deh213DHandlerTable+0x46): undefined reference to `_deh_end'
/usr/lib64/libphobos2.a(lifetime.o): In function `_D2rt8lifetime18_sharedStaticCtor9FZv':
src/rt/lifetime.d:(.text._D2rt8lifetime18_sharedStaticCtor9FZv+0x15): undefined reference to `_tlsend'
src/rt/lifetime.d:(.text._D2rt8lifetime18_sharedStaticCtor9FZv+0x29): undefined reference to `_tlsstart'
/usr/lib64/libphobos2.a(thread_a3_258.o): In function `_D4core6thread6Thread6__ctorMFPFZvmZC4core6thread6Thread':
src/core/thread.d:(.text._D4core6thread6Thread6__ctorMFPFZvmZC4core6thread6Thread+0x2b): undefined reference to `_tlsend'
src/core/thread.d:(.text._D4core6thread6Thread6__ctorMFPFZvmZC4core6thread6Thread+0x36): undefined reference to `_tlsstart'
/usr/lib64/libphobos2.a(thread_a3_258.o): In function `_D4core6thread6Thread6__ctorMFDFZvmZC4core6thread6Thread':
src/core/thread.d:(.text._D4core6thread6Thread6__ctorMFDFZvmZC4core6thread6Thread+0x28): undefined reference to `_tlsend'
src/core/thread.d:(.text._D4core6thread6Thread6__ctorMFDFZvmZC4core6thread6Thread+0x33): undefined reference to `_tlsstart'
/usr/lib64/libphobos2.a(thread_a3_258.o): In function `_D4core6thread6Thread6__ctorMFZC4core6thread6Thread':
src/core/thread.d:(.text._D4core6thread6Thread6__ctorMFZC4core6thread6Thread+0x26): undefined reference to `_tlsend'
src/core/thread.d:(.text._D4core6thread6Thread6__ctorMFZC4core6thread6Thread+0x31): undefined reference to `_tlsstart'
/usr/lib64/libphobos2.a(thread_a0_713.o): In function `thread_entryPoint':
src/core/thread.d:(.text.thread_entryPoint+0x36): undefined reference to `_tlsend'
src/core/thread.d:(.text.thread_entryPoint+0x41): undefined reference to `_tlsstart'
collect2: ld returned 1 exit status
--- errorlevel 1

Answer 1

My answer is about using D static libraries from C. Yes, this is a bit off topic, but shared libraries for Windows are described in D's documentation (http://www.d-programming-language.org/dll.html) and for Linux are still under construction (http://www.digitalmars.com/d/2.0/changelog.html). Working examples for both systems are attached.

• Win32: dmd+dmc works great. Example: test_d_from_c_win32.zip

• Linux32: dmd adds some required stuff once it has found D main function, so D's main is needed (tested for dmd2+gcc on Linux32). It's linkage name is "_Dmain" and it will not be mixed with C's one (real "main"). So one can just add the file dfakemain.d with text void main(){}. dmd -c dfakemain.d will create dfakemain.o with missing symbols. Link it with your object files and you will be happy. Example: test_d_from_c_linux32.tar.gz

Answer 2

According to a quick glance at the compiler source code, _Dmodule_ref is the linked list of module constructors. To fix the issue, add this to your main.c:

void* _Dmodule_ref;

The program now links and runs fine.

^{(At least, that's how I think it works.)}

Answer 3

If gcc is compiling as C++, the default linkage used for the extern will be C++, not C. Try this instead:

extern "C" int foo(int x);

There does not seem to be anything wrong with your D syntax. There is a paragraph confirming your approach here: http://www.digitalmars.com/d/2.0/interfaceToC.html