| -*- outline -*- | |
| * Overview | |
| This directory includes an example program for extending Guile with a | |
| new (and even useful) data type, putting it into a shared library, so it | |
| can be called from an unmodified guile interpreter. Further, the shared | |
| library defines a new guile module. | |
| * Build Instructions | |
| To build the example, simply type | |
| make libbox-module | |
| in this directory. | |
| * The Box Data Type | |
| A box is simply an object for storing one other object in. It can be | |
| used for passing parameters by reference, for example. You simply | |
| store an object into a box, pass it to another procedure which can | |
| store a new object into it and thus return a value via the box. | |
| ** Usage | |
| Box objects are created with `make-box', set with `box-set!' and | |
| examined with `box-ref'. Note that these procedures are placed in a | |
| module called (box-module) and can thus only be accessed after using | |
| this module. See the following example session for usage details. | |
| ** The Module (box-module) | |
| Extend your LD_LIBRARY_PATH variable (or equivalent) to include . and | |
| .libs and make sure that your current working directory is the one | |
| this file is contained in. | |
| $ guile | |
| guile> (use-modules (box-module)) | |
| guile> (define b (make-box)) | |
| guile> b | |
| #<box #f> | |
| guile> (box-set! b '(list of values)) | |
| guile> b | |
| #<box (list of values)> | |
| guile> (box-ref b) | |
| (list of values) | |
| guile> (quit) | |
| $ | |
| ** The Module (box-mixed) | |
| The following example uses the module (box-mixed), also included in | |
| this directory. It uses the shared library libbox-module like the | |
| module (box-module) above, but does not export the procedures from | |
| that module. It only implements some procedures for dealing with box | |
| objects. | |
| $ guile | |
| guile> (use-modules (box-mixed)) | |
| guile> (define bl (make-box-list 1 2 3)) | |
| guile> bl | |
| (#<box 1> #<box 2> #<box 3>) | |
| guile> (box-map 1+ bl) | |
| (#<box 2> #<box 3> #<box 4>) | |
| guile> (quit) | |
| $ | |
| If you like this example so much that you want to have it available | |
| for normal usage, install the dynamic libraries in the .libs directory | |
| to the directory $(prefix)/lib and the scheme file `box-module.scm' in | |
| a directory in your GUILE_LOAD_PATH. | |