How to resolve the algorithm Call a function in a shared library step by step in the Go programming language

Published on 12 May 2024 09:40 PM
#Go

How to resolve the algorithm Call a function in a shared library step by step in the Go programming language

Table of Contents

Problem Statement

Show how to call a function in a shared library (without dynamically linking to it at compile-time). In particular, show how to call the shared library function if the library is available, otherwise use an internal equivalent function. This is a special case of calling a foreign language function where the focus is close to the ABI level and not at the normal API level.

Let's start with the solution:

Step by Step solution about How to resolve the algorithm Call a function in a shared library step by step in the Go programming language

The provided code is a Go program that demonstrates how to use the CGo toolchain to call C functions from Go code. It also demonstrates how to dynamically load a shared library (.so file) and use its functions at runtime.

Let's break down the code in detail:

  1. C Code (fakeimglib.c):

    • This is a simple C code that defines a function called openimage, which takes a string as input and returns an integer representing an "image handle." It simulates the opening of an image for processing.
  2. Go Code (main.go):

    • main Function:

      • The main() function is the entry point of the Go program.
    • External C Function Declarations:

      • The Go code uses //export comments to declare the functions that will be callable from C code. In this case, it declares the bridge_someFunc function, which is used as a bridge between a C function pointer and a Go function.
    • Loading the Shared Library:

      • The code dynamically loads the shared library (fakeimglib.so) using dlopen. It provides the library path as a C string.
    • Calling C Functions:

      • The openimage function from the loaded library is retrieved using dlsym.
      • The bridge_someFunc function is used to call the openimage function with a C string representing the image file name.
    • Fallback to Internal Function:

      • If the loaded library cannot be found or the openimage function is not available, the code falls back to an internal Go function called myOpenImage to simulate the opening of an image.
    • Closing the Library:

      • After using the library, the code calls dlclose to release the resources associated with the shared library.
    • Printing the Result:

      • The code prints the image handle obtained from either the C function or the internal Go function.

In summary, this code demonstrates how to dynamically load a shared library, call its functions from Go code, and handle potential errors or fallback scenarios. It combines both C and Go code to achieve a specific functionality, providing an example of how CGo allows for seamless integration between the two languages.

Source code in the go programming language

#include <stdio.h>
/* gcc -shared -fPIC -nostartfiles fakeimglib.c -o fakeimglib.so */
int openimage(const char *s)
{
    static int handle = 100;
    fprintf(stderr, "opening %s\n", s);
    return handle++;
}


package main

/*
#cgo LDFLAGS: -ldl

#include <stdlib.h>
#include <dlfcn.h>

typedef int (*someFunc) (const char *s);

int bridge_someFunc(someFunc f, const char *s) {
    return f(s);
}
*/
import "C"
import (
    "fmt"
    "os"
    "unsafe"
)

var handle = -1

func myOpenImage(s string) int {
    fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "internal openImage opens %s...\n", s)
    handle++
    return handle
}

func main() {
    libpath := C.CString("./fakeimglib.so")
    defer C.free(unsafe.Pointer(libpath))
    imglib := C.dlopen(libpath, C.RTLD_LAZY)
    var imghandle int
    if imglib != nil {
        openimage := C.CString("openimage")
        defer C.free(unsafe.Pointer(openimage))
        fp := C.dlsym(imglib, openimage)
        if fp != nil {
            fi := C.CString("fake.img")
            defer C.free(unsafe.Pointer(fi))
            imghandle = int(C.bridge_someFunc(C.someFunc(fp), fi))

        } else {
            imghandle = myOpenImage("fake.img")
        }
        C.dlclose(imglib)
    } else {
        imghandle = myOpenImage("fake.img")
    }
    fmt.Printf("opened with handle %d\n", imghandle)
}


  

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