<authorgroup>
<corpauthor>Cygnus Solutions</corpauthor>
</authorgroup>
-<date>February, 1999</date>
+<date>March, 2000</date>
</artheader>
<abstract><para>
are mapped to public fields and methods.
</para>
</sect2>
-<sect2><title>Non-Java fields</title>
-<para>
-When you write a Java wrapper around an existing library, that library
-will often allocate and manage its own data structures. These are
-<quote>objects</quote> that are not Java <literal>Object</literal>s;
-instead they are usually C <literal>struct</literal> instances.
-Typically, you will write a Java class, and use native CNI methods
-which call functions in the C library. The problem is how to get
-from the Java wrapper object to the C <literal>struct</literal> instances.
-The obvious solution is to add a field to the Java object that
-points to the C structure. The problem is that there is no Java
-type that we can give to this field.</para>
-<para>The GCJ solution is to define a special dummy class
-<literal>gnu.gcj.RawData</literal>. This can be used as the type for fields,
-parameters, array elements, or local variables in Java code.
-It means that the field or variable is a pointer to a non-Java object.
-Nothing else is known about it, so it corresponds to a
-<literal>(void*)</literal> declaration is C or C++ code.</para>
-<para>
-The garbage collector will ignore a field that has type
-<literal>gnu.gcj.RawData</literal>. You are responsible for
-freeing the C data structure when you are done with it, and
-performing any necessary cleanups. In most cases, you should
-use a <literal>finalize</literal> method, and have it call
-the library's cleanup routine. Also, the C data structure
-should not contain a pointer back to the Java object, since
-the garbage collector will not know about the pointer.
-If you need to save a pointer to a Java object inside some
-non-Java data structure, you first need to <quote>pin</quote>
-or <quote>globalize</quote> the pointer; there is no CNI function
-to do this yet.
-(From the point of view of the
-implementation, a <literal>gnu.gcj.RawData</literal> value is
-the same as an integer that has the same size as a pointer.)</para>
-<para>
-Here is an example where we create a Java wrapper around C stdio:
-<programlisting>
-import gnu.gcj.RawData;
-
-public class StdioFile
-{
- private RawData file;
- public StdioFile (RawData file) { this.file = file; }
- public StdioFile (String name, String mode)
- throws FileNotFoundException
- { init(name, mode); }
- private native void init (String name, String mode)
- throws FileNotFoundException;
- public native int getc();
- public native int close();
- protected native void finalize();
-}
-</programlisting>
-This is the CNI implementation:
-<programlisting>
-jint
-StdioFile::getc()
-{
- return getc((FILE*) file);
-}
-
-jint
-StdioFile::close()
-{
- return fclose((FILE*) file);
-}
-
-void
-StdioFile::init(jstring name, jstring mode)
-{
- int cname_len = JvGetStringUTFLength (name);
- int cmode_len = JvGetStringUTFLength (mode);
- char cname[cname_len + 1];
- char cmode[cmode_len + 1];
- JvGetStringUTFRegion (name, 0, name->length(), cname);
- JvGetStringUTFRegion (mode, 0, mode->length(), cmode);
- cname[cname_len] = '\0';
- cmode[cmode_len] = '\0';
- file = (gnu::gcj::RawData*) fopen(cname, cmode);
- if (file == NULL)
- JvThrow(new java::lang::FileNotFoundException(name));
-}
-
-void
-StdioFile::finalize()
-{
- fclose((FILE*) file);
-}
-</programlisting>
-
-</sect2>
-
</sect1>
<sect1><title>Arrays</title>
<acronym>gcj</acronym>. Some platforms (including Linux) have already
changed. On other platforms, you will have to pass
the <literal>-fvtable-thunks</literal> flag to g++ when
-compiling <acronym>CNI</acronym> code.
+compiling <acronym>CNI</acronym> code. Note that you must also compile
+your C++ source code with <literal>-fno-rtti</literal>.
</para>
<para>
Calling a Java instance method in <acronym>CNI</acronym> is done
<sect1><title>Exception Handling</title>
<para>
While C++ and Java share a common exception handling framework,
-things are not quite as integrated as we would like, yet.
-The main issue is the incompatible exception <emphasis>values</emphasis>,
-and that the <quote>run-time type information</quote> facilities of the
-two languages are not integrated.</para>
-<para>
-Basically, this means that you cannot in C++ catch an exception
-value (<classname>Throwable</classname>) thrown from Java code, nor
-can you use <literal>throw</literal> on a Java exception value from C++ code,
-and expect to be able to catch it in Java code.
-We do intend to change this.</para>
-<para>
-You can throw a Java exception from C++ code by using
-the <literal>JvThrow</literal> <acronym>CNI</acronym> function.
-<funcsynopsis>
- <funcdef>void <function>JvThrow</function></funcdef>
- <paramdef>jobject <parameter>obj</parameter></paramdef>
-</funcsynopsis>
- Throws an exception <parameter>obj</parameter>, in a way compatible
-with the Java exception-handling functions.
- The class of <parameter>obj</parameter> must be a subclass of
- <literal>Throwable</literal>.
+things are not yet perfectly integrated. The main issue is that the
+<quote>run-time type information</quote> facilities of the two
+languages are not integrated.</para>
+<para>
+Still, things work fairly well. You can throw a Java exception from
+C++ using the ordinary <literal>throw</literal> construct, and this
+exception can be caught by Java code. Similarly, you can catch an
+exception thrown from Java using the C++ <literal>catch</literal>
+construct.
+<para>
+Note that currently you cannot mix C++ catches and Java catches in
+a single C++ translation unit. We do intend to fix this eventually.
</para>
<para>
Here is an example:
<programlisting>
if (i >= count)
- JvThrow (new java::lang::IndexOutOfBoundsException());
+ throw new java::lang::IndexOutOfBoundsException();
</programlisting>
</para>
</sect1>
<para>
gcjh will generate all the required namespace declarations and
<literal>#include</literal>'s for the header file.
-In some situations, gcjh will generate simple inline member functions.</para>
+In some situations, gcjh will generate simple inline member
+functions. Note that, while gcjh puts <literal>#pragma
+interface</literal> in the generated header file, you should
+<emphasis>not</emphasis> put <literal>#pragma implementation</literal>
+into your C++ source file. If you do, duplicate definitions of
+inline functions will sometimes be created, leading to link-time
+errors.
+</para>
<para>
There are a few cases where gcjh will fail to work properly:</para>
<para>