How can I dereference a pointer in Inno Setup Pascal Script? - pointers

I call a function from DLL-file in Inno Setup Script and its return type is PAnsiChar.
In order to get the whole string I need to dereference the pointer but the standard pascal syntax doesn't work here.
Is it even possible to do that?
function SQLDLL : PAnsiChar;
external 'GetSQLServerInstances#files:IsStartServer.dll stdcall setuponly';
function NextButtonClick(CurPage: Integer): Boolean;
var
hWnd: Integer;
Str : AnsiString;
begin
if CurPage = wpWelcome then begin
hWnd := StrToInt(ExpandConstant('{wizardhwnd}'));
MessageBox(hWnd, 'Hello from Windows API function', 'MessageBoxA', MB_OK or MB_ICONINFORMATION);
MyDllFuncSetup(hWnd, 'Hello from custom DLL function', 'MyDllFunc', MB_OK or MB_ICONINFORMATION);
Str := SQLDLL;
try
{ if this DLL does not exist (it shouldn't), an exception will be raised }
DelayLoadedFunc(hWnd, 'Hello from delay loaded function', 'DllFunc', MB_OK or MB_ICONINFORMATION);
except
{ handle missing dll here }
end;
end;
Result := True;
end;
I have only the DLL-file. The original language is Delphi.
I updated to the latest version of Inno Setup 6.0.3 and tested this code on my home Windows 10 Pro machine:
[Setup]
AppName=My Program
AppVersion=1.5
WizardStyle=modern
DefaultDirName={autopf}\My Program
DisableProgramGroupPage=yes
DisableWelcomePage=no
UninstallDisplayIcon={app}\MyProg.exe
OutputDir=userdocs:Inno Setup Examples Output
[Files]
Source: "MyProg.exe"; DestDir: "{app}"
Source: "MyProg.chm"; DestDir: "{app}"
Source: "Readme.txt"; DestDir: "{app}"; Flags: isreadme
Source: "IsStartServer.dll"; Flags: dontcopy
[Code]
function SQLDLL : PAnsiChar;
external 'GetSQLServerInstances#files:IsStartServer.dll stdcall';
function NextButtonClick(CurPage: Integer): Boolean;
var
Str : PAnsiChar;
begin
Str := SQLDLL;
Result := True;
end;
and now I'm having this kind of error:
I don't understand why does it have to look into my 'temp' directory? I've also heard that this problem may somehow be connected with the group policies in Windows 10 UAC, but I'm not really sure what should I do here to get rid of this error.

If I understand correctly, your SQLDLL manages some memory buffer itself and returns a pointer to a Unicode string (not ANSI, that's why you got only one character when you tried PAnsiChar, according to your comment).
Inno Setup doesn't support this directly and doesn't even have a PWideChar type. However, we can handle it ourselves. We just have to allocate a Inno string with the right size and copy the data manually.
Here is a working example how to do that. It uses GetCommandLineW as an example function that returns a PWideChar, but you can do the same with your SQLDLL function.
Get the pointer from the external function and store it in a variable (a Cardinal - in my example I created a typedef PWideChar for it).
Get the string length using lstrlenW.
Create an empty regular String, but set it to the right length using SetLength. This will reserve enough capacity that we can write the actual contents into it in the next step.
Use lstrcpyW to copy the string that's referenced by the pointer to your regular String variable.
(In case you use the ANSI version of Inno Setup: Use WideCharToMultiByte instead, see my update at the end of this post.)
The trick is to import lstrcpyW in such a way that the destination pointer is declared as String but the source pointer is declared as Cardinal (or my typedef PWideChar here).
type
PWideChar = Cardinal; { Inno doesn't have a pointer type, so we use a Cardinal instead }
{ Example of a function that returns a PWideChar }
function GetCommandLineW(): PWideChar;
external 'GetCommandLineW#kernel32.dll stdcall';
{ This function allows us to get us the length of a string from a PWideChar }
function lstrlenW(lpString: PWideChar): Cardinal;
external 'lstrlenW#kernel32.dll stdcall';
{ This function copies a string - we declare it in such a way that we can pass a pointer
to an Inno string as destination
This works because Inno will actually pass a PWideChar that points to the start of the
string contents in memory, and internally the string is still null-terminated
We just have to make sure that the string already has the right size beforehand! }
function lstrcpyW_ToInnoString(lpStringDest: String; lpStringSrc: PWideChar): Integer;
external 'lstrcpyW#kernel32.dll stdcall';
function InitializeSetup(): Boolean;
var
returnedPointer: PWideChar; { This is what we get from the external function }
stringLength: Cardinal; { Length of the string we got }
innoString: String; { This is where we'll copy the string into }
begin
{ Let's get the PWideChar from the external function }
returnedPointer := GetCommandLineW();
{ The pointer is actually just a renamed Cardinal at this point: }
Log('String pointer = ' + IntToStr(returnedPointer));
{ Now we have to manually allocate a new Inno string with the right length and
copy the data into it }
{ Start by getting the string length }
stringLength := lstrlenW(returnedPointer);
Log('String length = ' + IntToStr(stringLength));
{ Create a string with the right size }
innoString := '';
SetLength(innoString, stringLength);
{ This check is necessary because an empty Inno string would translate to a NULL pointer
and not a pointer to an empty string, and lstrcpyW cannot handle that. }
if StringLength > 0 then begin
{ Copy string contents from the external buffer to the Inno string }
lstrcpyW_ToInnoString(innoString, returnedPointer);
end;
{ Now we have the value stored in a proper string variable! }
Log('String value = ' + innoString);
Result := False;
end;
If you put this into an installer and run it, you see output like this:
[15:10:55,551] String pointer = 9057226
[15:10:55,560] String length = 106
[15:10:55,574] String value = "R:\Temp\is-9EJQ6.tmp\testsetup.tmp" /SL5="$212AC6,121344,121344,Z:\Temp\testsetup.exe" /DEBUGWND=$222722
As you can see, the command line string (which we get as a PWideChar) is copied to a regular string variable correctly and can be accessed normally at the end.
Update: In case you are using the ANSI version of Inno Setup and not Unicode, this code alone won't work. The change needed is this: Instead of using lstrcpyW, you'd use WideCharToMultiByte:
function WideCharToMultiByte_ToInnoString(CodePage: Cardinal; dwFlags: Cardinal; lpWideCharStr: PWideChar; cchWideChar: Cardinal; lpMultiByteStr: String; cbMultiByte: Cardinal; lpDefaultChar: Cardinal; lpUsedDefaultChar: Cardinal): Integer;
external 'WideCharToMultiByte#kernel32.dll stdcall';
{ Later on: Instead of calling lstrcpyW_ToInnoString, use this:
Note: The first parameter 0 stands for CP_ACP (current ANSI code page), and the
string lengths are increased by 1 to include the null terminator }
WideCharToMultiByte_ToInnoString(0, 0, returnedPointer, stringLength + 1, innoString, stringLength + 1, 0, 0);

You cannot dereference a pointer in Inno Setup Pascal Script.
But there are numerous hacks that allow that. Those hacks are very specific, so it depends on particular use case.
Though in your specific case, as pointers to character arrays are widespread in APIs, Inno Setup Pascal Script (similarly to Delphi) can assign a pointer to a character array to a string.
So, you should be able to simply assign the PChar to AnsiString:
function ReturnsPAnsiChar: PAnsiChar; extern '...';
var
Str: AnsiString;
begin
Str := ReturnsPAnsiChar;
end;
See How to return a string from a DLL to Inno Setup?

Related

in Delphi 5, is a TList parameter always passed by reference?

I am migrating some code from Delphi 5 to a modern platform. Currently I have the compiled code (which works in my environment) and the source code (which cannot be compiled in my environment). This means I can't really experiment with the code by changing it or inserting breakpoints or dumping values. In looking at one particular passage of code, I see that one Procedure (ProcedureA) is calling another (ProcedureB) and passing in parameters that must be by reference, since otherwise ProcedureB would have no effect. It's my understanding that a var prefix must be added to parameters in a Procedure's parameter list in order for them to be passed by reference, but this is not being done here. One of the parameters, though, is of type TList, which I know to be essentially an array of pointers. My question is: are parameters of type TList (as well as others having to do with pointers) implicitly passed by reference?
Here's the code:
Procedure ProcedureB(PartyHeaderInformationPtr : PartyHeaderInformationPointer;
PartyHeaderTable : TTable;
_PrisonCode : String;
_FineType : TFineTypes;
PartyHeaderInformationList : TList);
begin
with PartyHeaderInformationPtr^, PartyHeaderTable do
begin
AssessmentYear := FieldByName('TaxRollYr').Text;
PartyType := FieldByName('PartyType').Text;
PartyNumber := FieldByName('PartyNo').AsInteger;
PrisonCode := _PrisonCode;
FineType := _FineType;
end; {with PartyHeaderInformationPtr^ ...}
PartyHeaderInformationList.Add(PartyHeaderInformationPtr);
end; {AddPartyHeaderPointerInformation}
{=================================================================}
Procedure ProcedureA(PartyHeaderTable : TTable;
PartyDetailTable : TTable;
PartyHeaderInformationList : TList);
var
Done, FirstTimeThrough : Boolean;
PrisonPartyFound, JunglePartyFound : Boolean;
PrisonPartyYear, PrisonCode, PartyType : String;
PartyHeaderInformationPtr : PartyHeaderInformationPointer;
begin
PartyHeaderTable.Last;
PrisonPartyYear := '';
PrisonPartyFound := False;
JunglePartyFound := False;
Done := False;
FirstTimeThrough := True;
repeat
If FirstTimeThrough
then FirstTimeThrough := False
else PartyHeaderTable.Prior;
If PartyHeaderTable.BOF
then Done := True;
If not Done
then
begin
PartyType := PartyHeaderTable.FieldByName('PartyType').Text;
If ((not JunglePartyFound) and
((PartyType = 'MU') or
(PartyType = 'TO')))
then
begin
JunglePartyFound := True;
New(PartyHeaderInformationPtr);
AddPartyHeaderPointerInformation(PartyHeaderInformationPtr,
PartyHeaderTable,
'', ltPlace,
PartyHeaderInformationList);
end; {If ((not JunglePartyFound) and ...}
end; {If not Done}
until Done;
end; {FillPartyHeaderInformationList}
Yes.
In Delphi, classes are reference types.
Every variable of type TBitmap, TList, TButton, TStringList, TForm etc. is nothing but a pointer to the object, so an object is always passed "by reference". It is only this address, this native-sized integer, that is given to the called routine.
Consequently, even without var, the called routine can alter the object since it, like the caller, has the address to it. But the pointer itself is passed by value, so if the called routine alters the parameter pointer to point to a different object, the caller will not see that; only the called routine's copy of the address is changed. With var, the pointer itself is passed by reference, so the called routine can change that too: it can change the original object, and it can make the caller's variable point to a different object, if it wants to.
On the other hand, value types like integers, booleans, sets, static arrays, and records are passed by value, so -- without any parameter decoration such as var -- the called routine gets a copy, and any changes made are only made to that copy. The caller will not see its variable being modified. If you use a var parameter, however, the variable will be passed by reference.
So, in your case, it has nothing to do with TList being a "list" or being something that "contains pointers". It's about TList being a class.

Return reference to struct in Go-lang

I am having some thought issues with the following code
package main
import (
"fmt"
)
type Company struct {
Name string
Workers []worker
}
type worker struct {
Name string
Other []int
}
func (cmp *Company) NewWorker(name string) worker {
wrk := worker{Name: name}
cmp.Workers = append(cmp.Workers, wrk)
return wrk
}
func main() {
cmp := Company{}
cmp.Name = "Acme"
wrk := cmp.NewWorker("Bugs")
for i := 1; i <= 10; i++ {
wrk.Other = append(wrk.Other, i)
}
fmt.Println(wrk)
fmt.Println(cmp)
}
https://play.golang.org/p/Bja7u148mg
As you can see the code is not returning the worker I am creating but a copy of it. How can I get it to return the actual worker? I have tried some variations of * and & on the different workers but I end up with either:
invalid indirect of worker literal (type worker)
or:
cannot use wrk (type worker) as type *worker in return argument
Any ideas on how to do this?
func (cmp *Company) NewWorker(name string) *worker {
wrk := worker{Name: name}
cmp.Workers = append(cmp.Workers, wrk)
return &wrk
}
& always means "take the address of" (except for the binary bitwise operator version). *, however, changes meaning depending on the context. The expression *Type means "pointer to Type". The express *Pointer means "the object that Pointer points to". This is why you get an invalid indirect of worker literal if you try to use the expression *wrk, because you're saying "give me the object that wrk points to", but wrk isn't a pointer.
As such, you need *worker as your return type (returning a pointer to a worker), and you return &wrk, the address of the structure you're returning.
Another alternative is to use the built in new() to create a pointer in the first place:
func (cmp *Company) NewWorker(name string) *worker {
wrk := new(worker)
wrk.Name = name
cmp.Workers = append(cmp.Workers, *wrk)
return wrk // wrk is a pointer here
}
All that said, there's little reason to return a pointer to your worker structure here. The structure itself only has two fields, both of which are already reference types (strings are essentially just immutable slices), so the entire structure is only 5 machine words long (so 20 or 40 bytes, depending on whether you're on 32bit or 64bit). You're not modifying the struct after return, and the version you store in the Company struct is also a copy (Company holds a slice of workers, not a slice of pointers to workers).

Pin folder to the start menu with Inno Setup [duplicate]

I'm using the excellent Inno Setup installer and I notice that some Applications (often from Microsoft) get installed with their launch icon already highly visible ('pinned?') in the start menu (in Windows 7). Am I totally reliant on the most-recently-used algorithm for my icon to be 'large' in the start menu, or is there a way of promoting my application from the installer please?
It is possible to pin programs, but not officially. Based on a code posted in this thread (which uses the same way as described in the article linked by #Mark Redman) I wrote the following:
[Code]
#ifdef UNICODE
#define AW "W"
#else
#define AW "A"
#endif
const
// these constants are not defined in Windows
SHELL32_STRING_ID_PIN_TO_TASKBAR = 5386;
SHELL32_STRING_ID_PIN_TO_STARTMENU = 5381;
SHELL32_STRING_ID_UNPIN_FROM_TASKBAR = 5387;
SHELL32_STRING_ID_UNPIN_FROM_STARTMENU = 5382;
type
HINSTANCE = THandle;
HMODULE = HINSTANCE;
TPinDest = (
pdTaskbar,
pdStartMenu
);
function LoadLibrary(lpFileName: string): HMODULE;
external 'LoadLibrary{#AW}#kernel32.dll stdcall';
function FreeLibrary(hModule: HMODULE): BOOL;
external 'FreeLibrary#kernel32.dll stdcall';
function LoadString(hInstance: HINSTANCE; uID: UINT;
lpBuffer: string; nBufferMax: Integer): Integer;
external 'LoadString{#AW}#user32.dll stdcall';
function TryGetVerbName(ID: UINT; out VerbName: string): Boolean;
var
Buffer: string;
BufLen: Integer;
Handle: HMODULE;
begin
Result := False;
Handle := LoadLibrary(ExpandConstant('{sys}\Shell32.dll'));
if Handle <> 0 then
try
SetLength(Buffer, 255);
BufLen := LoadString(Handle, ID, Buffer, Length(Buffer));
if BufLen <> 0 then
begin
Result := True;
VerbName := Copy(Buffer, 1, BufLen);
end;
finally
FreeLibrary(Handle);
end;
end;
function ExecVerb(const FileName, VerbName: string): Boolean;
var
I: Integer;
Shell: Variant;
Folder: Variant;
FolderItem: Variant;
begin
Result := False;
Shell := CreateOleObject('Shell.Application');
Folder := Shell.NameSpace(ExtractFilePath(FileName));
FolderItem := Folder.ParseName(ExtractFileName(FileName));
for I := 1 to FolderItem.Verbs.Count do
begin
if FolderItem.Verbs.Item(I).Name = VerbName then
begin
FolderItem.Verbs.Item(I).DoIt;
Result := True;
Exit;
end;
end;
end;
function PinAppTo(const FileName: string; PinDest: TPinDest): Boolean;
var
ResStrID: UINT;
VerbName: string;
begin
case PinDest of
pdTaskbar: ResStrID := SHELL32_STRING_ID_PIN_TO_TASKBAR;
pdStartMenu: ResStrID := SHELL32_STRING_ID_PIN_TO_STARTMENU;
end;
Result := TryGetVerbName(ResStrID, VerbName) and ExecVerb(FileName, VerbName);
end;
function UnpinAppFrom(const FileName: string; PinDest: TPinDest): Boolean;
var
ResStrID: UINT;
VerbName: string;
begin
case PinDest of
pdTaskbar: ResStrID := SHELL32_STRING_ID_UNPIN_FROM_TASKBAR;
pdStartMenu: ResStrID := SHELL32_STRING_ID_UNPIN_FROM_STARTMENU;
end;
Result := TryGetVerbName(ResStrID, VerbName) and ExecVerb(FileName, VerbName);
end;
The above code first reads the caption of the menu item for pinning or unpinning applications from the string table of the Shell32.dll library. Then connects to the Windows Shell, and for the target app. path creates the Folder object, then obtains the FolderItem object and on this object iterates all the available verbs and checks if their name matches to the one read from the Shell32.dll library string table. If so, it invokes the verb item action by calling the DoIt method and exits the iteration.
Here is a possible usage of the above code, for pinning:
if PinAppTo(ExpandConstant('{sys}\calc.exe'), pdTaskbar) then
MsgBox('Calc has been pinned to the taskbar.', mbInformation, MB_OK);
if PinAppTo(ExpandConstant('{sys}\calc.exe'), pdStartMenu) then
MsgBox('Calc has been pinned to the start menu.', mbInformation, MB_OK);
And for unpinning:
if UnpinAppFrom(ExpandConstant('{sys}\calc.exe'), pdTaskbar) then
MsgBox('Calc is not pinned to the taskbar anymore.', mbInformation, MB_OK);
if UnpinAppFrom(ExpandConstant('{sys}\calc.exe'), pdStartMenu) then
MsgBox('Calc is not pinned to the start menu anymore.', mbInformation, MB_OK);
Please note that even though this code works on Windows 7 (and taskbar pinning also on Windows 8.1 where I've tested it), it is really hacky way, since there is no official way to programatically pin programs to taskbar, nor start menu. That's what the users should do by their own choice.
There's a reason there's no programmatic way to pin things to the taskbar/start menu. In my experience, I have seen the start menu highlight newly-created shortcuts, and that's designed to handle exactly this situation. When you see a newly-installed program show up on the start menu, it's probably because of that algorithm and not because the installer placed it there.
That said, if a new shortcut does not appear highlighted, it may be because the installer extracts a pre-existing shortcut and preserves an old timestamp on it, rather than using the API function to create a shortcut in the start menu.
Have a look at: http://blogs.technet.com/deploymentguys/archive/2009/04/08/pin-items-to-the-start-menu-or-windows-7-taskbar-via-script.aspx

Ada DLL causes Seg Fault in system.secondary_stack.ss_mark

How do I fix this Seg Fault in my DLL?
I'm generating a Windows DLL (in Ada) and using the DLL from an Ada
program. I’m using AdaCore’s GNAT GPS v6.0.1 IDE for both the DLL
and an Ada program to test the DLL, running on a Windows 7 machine.
Two separate project files are used, one for the DLL, the other for
the test driver. The DLL does not have any DLLMain nor initialization
or finalization routines.
As a first step (because I've never created a DLL or used GPS prior to this, do know some Ada though), I coded two very simple functions for the DLL. One function returns a pointer to a string, the other function returns a fixed length string.
The test program successfully calls the DLL function that returns a fixed-length
string, however when calling the function that returns a string pointer, a
segmentation fault occurs. Here is the gcc debug output:
Program received signal SIGSEGV, Segmentation fault.
0x6b81dd2c in system.secondary_stack.ss_mark () from C:\GNAT\2014\bin\libgnat-2014.dll
(gdb) quit
Here is the code:
DLL Spec
with Ada.Strings.Fixed; use Ada.Strings.Fixed;
package String_Utils is
type String_Ptr_T is access String;
type Spec_Str is new String (1..7);
function Int_Trim_Left( IntToTrim : Integer) return String_Ptr_T;
pragma Export(DLL, Int_Trim_Left, "String_Utils__Int_Trim_Left");
function Spec( Input_Int : Integer) return Spec_Str;
pragma Export(DLL, Spec, "String_Utils__Spec");
end String_Utils;
DLL Body
package body String_Utils is
function Int_Trim_Left( IntToTrim : Integer) return String_Ptr_T is
String_Ptr : String_Ptr_T;
begin
Text_IO.Put_Line("About to call new String in DLL.");
String_Ptr := new String'(
Ada.Strings.Fixed.Trim(Integer'Image(IntToTrim),
Ada.Strings.Left));
return String_Ptr;
end;
--
function Spec( Input_Int : Integer) return Spec_Str
is
Result_Spec : String := "ABC-UNK";
begin
case Input_Int is
when 1 => return "ABC-STD"; -- Standard
when 2 => return "ABC-PRF"; -- Performance
when 3 => return "DEF-DTL"; -- Detailed
when Others => return "ABC-UNK";
end case;
end;
DLL Project File
project HAGUtils is
for Library_Name use "HAGUtils";
for Library_Dir use "libdir";
for Library_Version use "0.01";
for Library_Kind use "dynamic";
for Object_Dir use "obj";
for Source_Dirs use ("src");
for Source_Files use ("string_utils.adb", "string_utils.ads");
end HAGUtils;
Test Driver
-- Driver for DLL
with Text_IO; use Text_IO;
procedure test_ada_dll is
type String_Ptr_T is access String;
subtype String7 is String(1..7);
input_val : Integer := 0;
Spec_Str : String7 := (Others => ' ');
Int_String_Ptr : String_Ptr_T:= null;
-- Import
function Int_Trim_Left ( IntToTrim : Integer) return String_Ptr_T
is
function Inner_Int_Trim_Left ( IntToTrim : Integer) return String_Ptr_T;
pragma Import (DLL, Inner_Int_Trim_Left, "String_Utils__Int_Trim_Left");
begin
return Inner_Int_Trim_Left (IntToTrim);
end Int_Trim_Left;
-- Import
function Spec ( Input_Int : Integer) return String7
is
function Inner_Spec ( Input_Int : Integer) return String7;
pragma Import (DLL, Inner_Spec, "String_Utils__Spec");
begin
return Inner_Spec (Input_Int);
end Spec;
begin
input_val := 3;
Spec_Str := Spec(input_val);
Text_IO.Put_Line("The Spec is -- " & Spec_Str);
Text_IO.Put_Line("Calling Int_Trim_Left with --" & Integer'Image(input_val));
Int_String_Ptr := Int_Trim_Left(input_val);
Text_IO.Put_Line("After call --" & Int_String_Ptr.all);
end;
I think that the SEGV happened because your DLL wasn’t initialized. The Ada runtime system needs initialization, which in the absence of DLLs would be called up in the GNAT bind process (you may have seen calls to gnatbind or gprbind flashing up the screen).
However, you have a DLL that requires the RTS to be initialized (the part that deals with the secondary stack, which is where GNAT constructs temporary unconstrained objects such as strings); but the binder isn’t aware of this because of the way you’ve linked your program (you don’t say, but I suspect you’ve specified the DLL via -lHAGutils?).
The way to get GNAT to handle this for you is to write a project file for the test program and have it with your DLL’s project:
with "HAGutils";
project Test_Ada_Dll is
for Main use ("test_ada_dll.adb");
for Exec_Dir use ".";
for Source_Files use ("test_ada_dll.adb");
for Object_Dir use ".build";
end Test_Ada_Dll;
This then makes the interfaces of HAGlib visible to test_ada_dll, so you can change it to say
with Text_IO; use Text_IO;
with String_Utils;
procedure test_ada_dll is
input_val : Integer := 0;
Spec_Str : String_Utils.Spec_Str := (Others => ' ');
Int_String_Ptr : String_Utils.String_Ptr_T:= null;
begin
input_val := 3;
Spec_Str := String_Utils.Spec(input_val);
Text_IO.Put_Line("The Spec is -- " & String (Spec_Str));
Text_IO.Put_Line("Calling Int_Trim_Left with --" & Integer'Image(input_val));
Int_String_Ptr := String_Utils.Int_Trim_Left(input_val);
Text_IO.Put_Line("After call --" & Int_String_Ptr.all);
end;
(note, the conversion in Text_IO.Put_Line("The Spec is -- " & String (Spec_Str)); is because Spec_Str is a derived type; I think it’s be more normal in this case to make it a subtype).
Further, you no longer need to use the pragma Exports in String_Utils’s spec.
The result of this is that the binder is aware of the properties of your HAGutils DLL, and can arrange for the necessary initializations to happen.
There is a way in which you can make your original code work, which is to use the GPR attribute Library_Auto_Init in HAGutils.gpr:
for Library_Auto_Init use “true”;
but I think you’d have to make HAGlib a proper standalone library. This is quite complex to get right, and not necessary to get the library working to start with.

How to call sqlite3_open (passing opaque pointers by reference)

As an exercise, I'm trying to create a wrapper for sqlite3. I've got the bridging header set up, and I can see the tool tips for the sqlite3 functions, but I can't figure out how to call sqlite3_open
sqlite3.h contains the following definitions of sqlite3 and sqlite3_open:
typedef struct sqlite3 sqlite3;
SQLITE_API int sqlite3_open(
const char *filename, /* Database filename (UTF-8) */
sqlite3 **ppDb /* OUT: SQLite db handle */
);
Which means that sqlite3_open takes as a trailing parameter a pointer to a pointer to an anonymous structure, which seems clear enough in the tooltip:
func sqlite3_open(filename: CString, ppDb: CMutablePointer<COpaquePointer>) -> CInt
Knowing that CMutablePointer means to pass in &T, the closest I've come is:
class Database {
var handle:COpaquePointer
init(file:String) {
let error = sqlite3_open(file as CString, &handle)
}
deinit {
sqlite3_close(handle)
}
}
There's no error on the sqlite3_close line, so I think I'm at least close, but the sqlite3_open line yields:
Cannot convert the expression's type 'CInt' to type '$T9'
Any clues on how to do this?
Please, no answers that say to use FMDB or other Objective-C based interfaces. As I said, this is at least partially an exercise in figuring out how to use C libraries from swift.
The problem is not with the handle parameter, but with the string conversion. The following works…
class Database {
var handle: COpaquePointer = nil
init(file: NSString) {
let error = sqlite3_open(file.cStringUsingEncoding(NSUTF8StringEncoding), &handle)
}
}
I'm unsure as to why the 'as CString' doesn't work.
When you add #import <sqlite3.h> into Bridging-Header, the sqlite3 C/C++ API will be 'translated' into native swift function. So, the sqlite3_open will be like below.
func sqlite3_open(file:String, inout ppdb:COpaquePointer) -> Int
And you can call this function with "String" type parameter instead of "CString". The swift compiler will translate "String" into UTF8 String data stream automatically.
let error = sqlite3_open(filePath, &db)

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