mirror of https://github.com/python/cpython
138 lines
6.3 KiB
ReStructuredText
138 lines
6.3 KiB
ReStructuredText
.. highlight:: c
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.. _building-on-windows:
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****************************************
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Building C and C++ Extensions on Windows
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****************************************
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This chapter briefly explains how to create a Windows extension module for
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Python using Microsoft Visual C++, and follows with more detailed background
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information on how it works. The explanatory material is useful for both the
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Windows programmer learning to build Python extensions and the Unix programmer
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interested in producing software which can be successfully built on both Unix
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and Windows.
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Module authors are encouraged to use the distutils approach for building
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extension modules, instead of the one described in this section. You will still
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need the C compiler that was used to build Python; typically Microsoft Visual
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C++.
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.. note::
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This chapter mentions a number of filenames that include an encoded Python
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version number. These filenames are represented with the version number shown
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as ``XY``; in practice, ``'X'`` will be the major version number and ``'Y'``
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will be the minor version number of the Python release you're working with. For
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example, if you are using Python 2.2.1, ``XY`` will actually be ``22``.
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.. _win-cookbook:
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A Cookbook Approach
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===================
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There are two approaches to building extension modules on Windows, just as there
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are on Unix: use the :mod:`distutils` package to control the build process, or
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do things manually. The distutils approach works well for most extensions;
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documentation on using :mod:`distutils` to build and package extension modules
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is available in :ref:`distutils-index`. If you find you really need to do
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things manually, it may be instructive to study the project file for the
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:source:`winsound <PCbuild/winsound.vcxproj>` standard library module.
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.. _dynamic-linking:
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Differences Between Unix and Windows
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====================================
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.. sectionauthor:: Chris Phoenix <cphoenix@best.com>
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Unix and Windows use completely different paradigms for run-time loading of
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code. Before you try to build a module that can be dynamically loaded, be aware
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of how your system works.
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In Unix, a shared object (:file:`.so`) file contains code to be used by the
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program, and also the names of functions and data that it expects to find in the
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program. When the file is joined to the program, all references to those
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functions and data in the file's code are changed to point to the actual
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locations in the program where the functions and data are placed in memory.
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This is basically a link operation.
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In Windows, a dynamic-link library (:file:`.dll`) file has no dangling
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references. Instead, an access to functions or data goes through a lookup
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table. So the DLL code does not have to be fixed up at runtime to refer to the
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program's memory; instead, the code already uses the DLL's lookup table, and the
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lookup table is modified at runtime to point to the functions and data.
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In Unix, there is only one type of library file (:file:`.a`) which contains code
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from several object files (:file:`.o`). During the link step to create a shared
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object file (:file:`.so`), the linker may find that it doesn't know where an
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identifier is defined. The linker will look for it in the object files in the
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libraries; if it finds it, it will include all the code from that object file.
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In Windows, there are two types of library, a static library and an import
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library (both called :file:`.lib`). A static library is like a Unix :file:`.a`
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file; it contains code to be included as necessary. An import library is
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basically used only to reassure the linker that a certain identifier is legal,
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and will be present in the program when the DLL is loaded. So the linker uses
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the information from the import library to build the lookup table for using
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identifiers that are not included in the DLL. When an application or a DLL is
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linked, an import library may be generated, which will need to be used for all
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future DLLs that depend on the symbols in the application or DLL.
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Suppose you are building two dynamic-load modules, B and C, which should share
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another block of code A. On Unix, you would *not* pass :file:`A.a` to the
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linker for :file:`B.so` and :file:`C.so`; that would cause it to be included
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twice, so that B and C would each have their own copy. In Windows, building
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:file:`A.dll` will also build :file:`A.lib`. You *do* pass :file:`A.lib` to the
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linker for B and C. :file:`A.lib` does not contain code; it just contains
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information which will be used at runtime to access A's code.
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In Windows, using an import library is sort of like using ``import spam``; it
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gives you access to spam's names, but does not create a separate copy. On Unix,
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linking with a library is more like ``from spam import *``; it does create a
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separate copy.
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.. _win-dlls:
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Using DLLs in Practice
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======================
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.. sectionauthor:: Chris Phoenix <cphoenix@best.com>
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Windows Python is built in Microsoft Visual C++; using other compilers may or
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may not work (though Borland seems to). The rest of this section is MSVC++
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specific.
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When creating DLLs in Windows, you must pass :file:`pythonXY.lib` to the linker.
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To build two DLLs, spam and ni (which uses C functions found in spam), you could
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use these commands::
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cl /LD /I/python/include spam.c ../libs/pythonXY.lib
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cl /LD /I/python/include ni.c spam.lib ../libs/pythonXY.lib
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The first command created three files: :file:`spam.obj`, :file:`spam.dll` and
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:file:`spam.lib`. :file:`Spam.dll` does not contain any Python functions (such
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as :c:func:`PyArg_ParseTuple`), but it does know how to find the Python code
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thanks to :file:`pythonXY.lib`.
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The second command created :file:`ni.dll` (and :file:`.obj` and :file:`.lib`),
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which knows how to find the necessary functions from spam, and also from the
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Python executable.
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Not every identifier is exported to the lookup table. If you want any other
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modules (including Python) to be able to see your identifiers, you have to say
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``_declspec(dllexport)``, as in ``void _declspec(dllexport) initspam(void)`` or
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``PyObject _declspec(dllexport) *NiGetSpamData(void)``.
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Developer Studio will throw in a lot of import libraries that you do not really
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need, adding about 100K to your executable. To get rid of them, use the Project
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Settings dialog, Link tab, to specify *ignore default libraries*. Add the
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correct :file:`msvcrtxx.lib` to the list of libraries.
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