dll initialization

[K. Haley]

I've been looking at the source for Xaw but I haven't been able to figure 
out why it can't be built as a DLL.  From the FAQ it seems like the problem 
is in the way these libs are used.  Since I'm new to X programing I thought 
someone here would know what the problem is or could provide a simple 
example of what doesn't work.  In the mean time I'll look at the sources 
for the programs that were included to see if I can find the problem.  That 
answer in the FAQ doesn't seem clear to me.

At 04:51 AM 5/11/00, you wrote:


> >
> > After struggling with trying to make a dynamic version
> > of the higher level X libraries, such as Xt.  It seems
> > that I need to know something about dll initialization
> > in the context of what is going on with X.
>
>
>
>You SIMPLY cannot DO THIS. Period.  Unless you got plenty of
>time on your hand to invent something new and reinvent
>the wheels.
>
>Did you read FAQ?  Here is a cut and paste for you.
>
>3.12 Will there be Xaw.DLL, Xt.DLL and Xmu.DLL?
>
>
>  No. GCC is free software, and most stuff written for it is
>also freely available. Recompile if you want.However, keep the following in
>mind:
>
>"One of the biggest issues with X on Win32 is the moronic DLL format.
>Specifically - it is not possible to export data from a Win32 DLL in a
>form that can be used to statically initialize another global variable.
>Data access from a DLL requires at least one pointer
>
>
>indirection, and hence executable code. This is why X11R6 doesn't
>have DLLs for Xt/Xmu/Xaw (and Motif) on Win32", quoted from
>XFree86-developers Mailing List - David E. Wexelblat
>(dwex@datafocus.com) Wed, 25 Mar 1998 10:08:27 -0500.
>
>
>Suhaib
>
>
>
> >
> > Basic DLL's that I built have have been able to make
> > use of global data with the decoration of __declspec's
> > as appropriate.  But that does not seem to be enough
> > for the higher level X stuff.  There appears to be a
> > need for additional, manual, initialization.  (Is this
> > a multithread issue?)
> >
> > Could someone point me somewhere so that I could learn
> > what is going on.  I suppose that some discussion
> > would be useful concerning how the higher level X
> > libraries are 'different' from the (perhaps simple)
> > DLL's that I've been coding myself.
> >
> > I'll certainly believe the maxim that global data is
> > evil!  But it is not just global data, this is a
> > global pointer issue I'm sure.  Perhaps something as
> > simple as an allocation in an initialization step is
> > all that is required.  At any rate I'm convinced that
> > there is a general purpose programming lesson for me
> > here.
> >
> > Thanks for the help.
> >
> > =====
> > -- Craig Stevenson
> > -- Home Page: http://www.sdc.org/~craigs/
> > -- Recently computed: The 200 billionth digit of pi is 2.
> >
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---
Kenneth Haley < mailto:khaley@bigfoot.com >
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