May 2010 - Pharo-dev - lists.pharo.org

[Pharo-project] ConfigurationOfVMMaker updated
by Torsten Bergmann May 26, 2010

May 26, 2010

I've updated the newest development version 1.4 of ConfigurationOfVMMaker so it loads well in latest Squeak 4.1., Squeak trunk, Pharo 1.0 and Pharo 1.1. and uses the latest packages available. Tested on all four platforms. Note that version 1.4 is still blessed with #development in the Metacello spec. What is new =========== - world menu registration works also in Pharo 1.1. - switch to the new SqS/FreetypePlugin for the Squeak part (see Squeak bug 7521) - include latest packages available for VM building For Squeak evaluate: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Installer squeaksource project: 'MetacelloRepository'; install: 'ConfigurationOfVMMaker'. ((Smalltalk at: #ConfigurationOfVMMaker) project version: '1.4') load ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For Pharo evaluate: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Gofer new squeaksource: 'MetacelloRepository'; package: 'ConfigurationOfVMMaker'; load. ((Smalltalk at: #ConfigurationOfVMMaker) project version: '1.4') load ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Always remember that Metacello allows you to load newest packages (if they appear) by loading the baseline. Here you can use: ((Smalltalk at: #ConfigurationOfVMMaker) project version: '1.4-baseline') load What is open ============ VMMaker still has - #fixTemps - deprecated #findLastOccuranceOfString: vs. findLastOccurenceOfString: - ... that could be cleaned up if all VM Builders switch to the latest Squeak and Pharo releases. We should really move forward here! Does anyone still use old Squeak 3.6/3.8 to build the VM? What do you think? Thx T. -- GRATIS fÃ¼r alle GMX-Mitglieder: Die maxdome Movie-FLAT! Jetzt freischalten unter http://portal.gmx.net/de/go/maxdome01

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[Pharo-project] old method #withInheritanceTraitCompositionIncludes: , equivalence?
by nullPointer May 26, 2010

May 26, 2010

the method in latest version 1.0 was defined in Behavior class. Seems not exists a equivalence... Regards -- View this message in context: http://forum.world.st/old-method-withInheritanceTraitCompositionIncludes-eq… Sent from the Pharo Smalltalk mailing list archive at Nabble.com.

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[Pharo-project] FFI Documentation
by Sean P. DeNigris May 26, 2010

May 26, 2010

I want to get this info into the help system and/or collaborative book, as similar questions pop up regularly on the lists. I compiled every piece of info I could find. The focus in on FFI, with stubs for other strategies. Please read this *very* rough outline for missing info and inaccuracies: FFI What is FFI and what is it used for? Calling functions in libraries outside of the image... FFI, the Squeak Foreign Function Interface, is used to call functions located in shared libraries that are not part of the Squeak VM nor its plugins. It also provides means to read and write memory structures that are associated with the use of those shared libraries. A typical use is to directly invoke operating system APIs. As such, applications that use FFI can only be used on the platform(s) that support the particular API being used. C conventions are used throughout, though the external function could have been written by any language capable of generating object code that follows C conventions. FFI is probably the easiest way to do the things it does. FFI is pretty fast too. Croquet uses FFI calls to OpenGL for all it's drawing routines.[1] How does FFI work? Technically what happens is: * you define what the interface is - the parameters, types etc. * when you make the call, the FFI logic assembles the data from the Squeak Objects into the proper structures according to the routine calling conventions for your architecture, and of course manages the return values. So no magic but perhaps just a little assembler in the plugin to properly deal with all the registers and condition flags. How do I use it? 1. make a method (whose structure is similar to a named primitive method) Example: system: aString "name (by convention is apiXxx: e.g. apiSystem:)" <apicall: long 'system' (char*) module: 'libSystem.dylib'> "first line should be the external function specification" ^self externalCallFailed. Let's take it piece by piece: system: aString Method name - by convention named 'apiXxx' <apicall: long 'system' (char*) module: 'libSystem.dylib'> Function specification - should be the first line - enclosed in angle brackets: < > containing: 1. Calling Convention, either apicall: (Pascal convention) or cdecl: (C convention) - Mac - use either one - Unix - use cdecl - Windows - use apical 2. Return Type (see types) 3. External Function Name (literal string) 4. Argument Types (a literal array) 5. Module - "module: " + [filename of the external library (literal string)] (see below). self externalCallFailed. Failure handler - normal smalltalk code - executed if the linking to or calling the external function fails - API calls don't know how to communicate failure like Squeak primitives do, so: - it does not tell you whether the external function succeeded - the most common code is simply '^self externalCallFailed.' Argument Types - must be names of ExternalTypes, either: - atomic types (see ExternalType class>>initializeFFIConstants and ExternalType class>>initializeAtomicTypes): void bool byte (unsigned) sbyte (signed) ushort (16-bit unsigned) short (16-bit signed) ulong (32-bit unsigned) long (32-bit signed) ulonglong (64-bit unsigned) longlong (64-bit signed) char (unsigned) schar (signed) float (single-precision float) double (double-precision float) Structure Types [4] - subclass of ExternalStructure - class>>fields that returns an array of field descriptions (see below) - Example: fields ^#((red 'byte')(green 'byte')(blue 'byte')) - class>>initialize which includes "self defineFields" (which must be called before using the class) - refer to as MyExternalStructure* (to indicate that the argument or return is a pointer to that structure) Field description [4] - 2-element array (or three but that does something else, I'm not sure what): - first element is the field name - second is the type Mac Memory Allocation Issues [4] (not sure about this) If you allocate external structures, those with memory outside the Squeak process space, you may need to increase the amount of memory that is reserved outside the object heap for such use. The Mac OS (9 and previous) needs this, other platforms may be able to dynamically get more memory from the OS. To see how much memory is currently reserved printIt 'Smalltalk extraVMMemory'. To change it, execute 'Smalltalk extraVMMemory: someNumberofBytes' Then save your image and quit. When you next start up, the amount of memory you requested will be reserved. (JMM) Note the OSX versions of the VM ignore extraVMMemory because the memory model for OS-X/unix applications is quite different. Module Name - depends on the platform - Mac - pre Snow Leopard: flexible, can eliminate leading lib or extension e.g. 'libc.dylib' becomes 'libc', 'c.dylib', or 'c' - Snow Leopard - file name must be exact including extension (unless Info.plist is altered as in 'Library Location' below) - With pre-mach-o VMs - For Classic applications, use 'InterfaceLib' - For Carbon libs, use 'CarbonLib' Module Location - where the external library file lives - depends on the platform - Mac - pre Snow Leopard - checks VM path and common library paths - Snow Leopard - only looks in VM bundle's Resources file, you must either [5]: - store all external libraries there - ln -s path/to/library path/to/VM/Resources/library_name - Change the VM's Info.plist "SqueakPluginsBuiltInOrLocalOnly" key from "true" to "false." Caveats - security - malicious users could call arbitrary functions in the OS e.g. "format c:" from "system.dll" [7] - VMs do not protect against buffer overflow from bad parameters [8]: "this would require an attacker to execute arbitrary Smalltalk code on your server. Of course if they can do that they own you anyway, especially if you allow FFi or use the OSProcess plugin" - John McIntosh * difficulty - if you make a mistake you'll not drop into the debugger but Squeak will just crash [2] - If you crash Squeak when it is running the garbage collector, then you know your FFI code is leaking bits into object memory [2] What do I need to use FFI with Squeak? You need the FFI plugin, which is included with most VM's as of Squeak 3.6 or so. You can also build the plugin yourself. See VMMaker. References: [1] http://wiki.squeak.org/squeak/1414 [2] http://wiki.squeak.org/squeak/2424 [3] http://wiki.squeak.org/squeak/5716 [4] http://wiki.squeak.org/squeak/2426 [5] http://forum.world.st/squeak-dev-Alien-Squeak-FFI-issues-on-Snow-Leopard-td… [6] http://wiki.squeak.org/squeak/5846 [7] http://forum.world.st/FFI-Callbacks-td54056.html#a54073 [8] http://forum.world.st/Security-td99624.html#a99635: Other choices: In the fall of 2008, Alien the FFI interface (written by Cadence Design Systems, Inc.) was put into squeaksource: http://www.squeaksource.com/Alien.html. This API allows the primitive to call back to Smalltalk Code, and return error code information, and apparently is much faster due to a less complex call sequence. * if you need callbacks * mac-only? Plugins - write external code and dynamically link it to the VM Pros: * safest - users are limited to using the functionality you provide and can not call other external functions e.g. system rm / * fast - faster than FFI * you can create new functionality that doesn't exist in any library Cons: * harder to write * plugin must be distributed with the Smalltalk code - there can be complications with platforms Primitive method - invokes behavior in the VM or a plugin [3] Questions: * why would you want to build the FFI plugin yourself? * api prefix or no for method names? * not sure about pre Snow Leopard library search * OSProcess - how does this fit into the bigger picture? * "^self externalCallFailed." or "self externalCallFailed." i.e. return self or return the result, or doesn't matter? * why would a field description have three elements? * Mac Memory Allocation Issues? -- View this message in context: http://forum.world.st/FFI-Documentation-tp2225148p2225148.html Sent from the Pharo Smalltalk mailing list archive at Nabble.com.

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[Pharo-project] [update 1.1] #11371
by StÃ©phane Ducasse May 26, 2010

May 26, 2010

11371 ----- - Issue 1281: Button in TestRunner to fileout the test results. Thanks Laurent. - Issue 2468: Better method trailer method creation. Part One. Thanks Igor. - Issue 2406: MovieMorph should be removed from the core. Thanks Alain. - Issue 2467: AlllocationTest#testOutOfMemorySignal fails. Thanks Laurent - Issue 2331: Reuse test unload - Now there is an SUnitUnloader. Thanks Guillermo. Stef

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[Pharo-project] Timeline PBE 2
by Torsten Bergmann May 26, 2010

May 26, 2010

Hi, what is the plan for an offical PBE2 book? Will it align with the Pharo 1.1. release? Thx T. -- GRATIS fÃ¼r alle GMX-Mitglieder: Die maxdome Movie-FLAT! Jetzt freischalten unter http://portal.gmx.net/de/go/maxdome01

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[Pharo-project] VMMakerTool menu registration also for Pharo 1.1.
by Torsten Bergmann May 26, 2010

May 26, 2010

Hi, since world menu registration has changed from Pharo 1.0 to 1.1 (Pharo now uses Pragmas) loading the VMMakerTool throws a deprecated warning during world menu registration in class side #initialize. Attached is a changeset with a fix so that world menu registration should work in Squeak 4.1., Pharo 1.0 and Pharo 1.1. Would be nice if it could be incorporated. Unfortunately I have no write access on squeaksource/VMMaker. We can then update the ConfigurationOfVMMaker too. Thx T. -- GRATIS fÃ¼r alle GMX-Mitglieder: Die maxdome Movie-FLAT! Jetzt freischalten unter http://portal.gmx.net/de/go/maxdome01

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[Pharo-project] [ANN] Camp Smalltalk London
by Julian Fitzell May 25, 2010

May 25, 2010

The UK Smalltalk User Group would like to invite everyone to attend Camp Smalltalk London this July 16-18. The Pharo team will be holding one of their regular coding sprints and, in true Camp Smalltalk spirit, other Smalltalkers will be gathering together to do some productive work on their projects. In addition, we want to welcome those who just want to learn more about Smalltalk, so we'll be holding an introductory tutorial on the first morning. We'll have you writing Smalltalk by lunch! If there's interest, we'll follow up with a Seaside tutorial the next day. So whatever your level of experience, this is a great chance to meet other developers, network, discuss ideas, write code, and have some fun. The main event will be hosted by Pinesoft at their spectacular London offices and Cincom will be treating us to dinner on Saturday at a unique London restaurant. We are still finalizing some of the details but we wanted to announce the dates as soon as possible so you could begin your planning. Thanks to our sponsors, the event is completely free. All we ask is that you sign up at cslondon2010.eventbrite.com so that we can plan everything for the right number of people. The current schedule and other logistical details are available on that site and we will send out updates as we finalize the remaining items. If you have any questions, just send an email to jfitzell(a)cincom.com. We hope to see you there on July 16 - 18!

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[Pharo-project] [Metacello] Re: [BetaTesting] [ANN] Pharo-1.1-11367-Beta1dev10.05.1
by Torsten Bergmann May 25, 2010

May 25, 2010

>We should listen to Torsten but as far as I would expect, only HelpSystem, >but it is already included in both PharoCore and Squeak. The help system is included in Squeak trunk and Pharo core, so one should be able to load the three example books (Squeak, Pharo, Metacello) which I uploaded in squeksource/HelpSystem in both environments. Still they are just small demo books - no real docu since there is not much content yet. However - we could reuse them to document these systems if for instance Dale is willing to contribute stuff to the Metacello book or we create an ASCII version of the Metacello preview PBE chapter. Would be nice to have a real Metacello help book that would be part of the Metacello distro (similar to the ProfStef Tutorial on Metacello) ... Thanks T. -- GRATIS fÃ¼r alle GMX-Mitglieder: Die maxdome Movie-FLAT! Jetzt freischalten unter http://portal.gmx.net/de/go/maxdome01

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[Pharo-project] "Smalltalk signalLowSpace" freeze the image
by Mariano Martinez Peck May 25, 2010

May 25, 2010

Hi. Take Pharo 1.0 or Pharo 1.1. The following code, will probably freeze your image: "Smalltalk signalLowSpace" Can you reproduce it? or I am the only one ? Let me know and I open a ticket. I have tried with all Mac vms. I tried the same in Squeak 4.1 and it works correct. Any idea where it can be the problem? I tried to debug a lot. Of course, it is freezing in "LowSpaceSemaphore signal". I put a halt in #installLowSpaceWatcher and tried to debug #lowSpaceWatcher but I didn't find anything. Thanks for any hint. Mariano

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[Pharo-project] Latex to HelpSystem converter? [WAS] Re: [Metacello] Re: [BetaTesting] [ANN] Pharo-1.1-11367-Beta1dev10.05.1
by Mariano Martinez Peck May 25, 2010

May 25, 2010

On Mon, May 24, 2010 at 11:41 PM, Torsten Bergmann <astares(a)gmx.de> wrote: > >We should listen to Torsten but as far as I would expect, only HelpSystem, > >but it is already included in both PharoCore and Squeak. > > The help system is included in Squeak trunk and Pharo core, so > one should be able to load the three example books (Squeak, Pharo, > Metacello) which I uploaded in squeksource/HelpSystem in both > environments. Still they are just small demo books - no real > docu since there is not much content yet. > > However - we could reuse them to document these systems if > for instance Dale is willing to contribute stuff to the > Metacello book or we create an ASCII version of the Metacello > preview PBE chapter. Maybe I am dreaming too much, but it would be cool to export somehow some chapters to HelpSystem. Is there a way to export from Latex to ASCII ? even more, how difficult could be to code a plugin (or whatever name is) to automatically generate the nice code for HelpSystem from Latex code? Then we can include PBE in the image also ;) Cheers Mariano > Would be nice to have a real Metacello help book > that would be part of the Metacello distro (similar to the ProfStef > Tutorial on Metacello) ... > > Thanks > T. > > > > > > > > > -- > GRATIS fÃ¼r alle GMX-Mitglieder: Die maxdome Movie-FLAT! > Jetzt freischalten unter http://portal.gmx.net/de/go/maxdome01 > > _______________________________________________ > Pharo-project mailing list > Pharo-project(a)lists.gforge.inria.fr > http://lists.gforge.inria.fr/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/pharo-project >

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