SyntaxError while loading FFI

Hi all,

I fear this could be a frequently discussed topic, but I did not know where to start else.

In the web, you can find the following instruction in order to load FFI at several places, amongst them the Swiki:

Metacello new configuration: 'FFI'; load.

If I do this in a fresh trunk image (#19838) without any extra installs, I get a syntax error:

ffiPrintString: aString

"FFITestLibrary ffiPrintString: 'Hello'"

<cdecl: "Literal constant expected ->"char* 'ffiPrintString' (char *) module:'SqueakFFIPrims'>

^self externalCallFailed

This is at the very least confusing, I think :-) Are there any undocumented dependencies or something like this?

If I use the preference wizard instead, the installation succeeds. (It's not very convenient that it asks you for your initials during the installation, but this is only a small critique. :-))

I just wanted to inform you about that.

Christoph

Am 14.09.2020 18:35:46 schrieb Thiede, Christoph <[hidden email]>:

Hi Jakob,

do you have a description of the correct loading order? In my main image, I tried to load FFI via the Preference Wizard, and after some loading conflicts which I explicitly needed to #allow through the debugger, I got the same syntax error ...

Best,

Christoph

---

Von: Squeak-dev <[hidden email]> im Auftrag von Jakob Reschke <[hidden email]>
Gesendet: Donnerstag, 10. September 2020 08:04:51
An: The general-purpose Squeak developers list
Betreff: Re: [squeak-dev] SyntaxError while loading FFI

 

Hi Christoph,

I had a similar issue and if I remember correctly got it resolved by
loading the Tools subpackage of FFI. I think Marcel has recently split
it.

So if that is true, the load order in the baseline of FFI should be updated.

Kind regards,
Jakob

Am Mi., 9. Sept. 2020 um 23:50 Uhr schrieb Thiede, Christoph
<[hidden email]>:
>
> Hi all,
>
>
> I fear this could be a frequently discussed topic, but I did not know where to start else.
>
>
> In the web, you can find the following instruction in order to load FFI at several places, amongst them the Swiki:
>
>
> Metacello new configuration: 'FFI'; load.
>
>
> If I do this in a fresh trunk image (#19838) without any extra installs, I get a syntax error:
>
>
> ffiPrintString: aString
>
> "FFITestLibrary ffiPrintString: 'Hello'"
>
> <cdecl: "Literal constant expected ->"char* 'ffiPrintString' (char *) module:'SqueakFFIPrims'>
>
> ^self externalCallFailed
>
>
> This is at the very least confusing, I think :-) Are there any undocumented dependencies or something like this?
>
> If I use the preference wizard instead, the installation succeeds. (It's not very convenient that it asks you for your initials during the installation, but this is only a small critique. :-))
>
> I just wanted to inform you about that.
>
>
> Best,
>
> Christoph
>
>

Am 15.09.2020 15:26:51 schrieb Marcel Taeumel <[hidden email]>:

Hi all.

>  In my main image, I tried to load FFI via the Preference Wizard, and after some loading conflicts which I explicitly needed to #allow through the debugger, I got the same syntax error ...

Loading FFI via the Preference Wizard -- which uses the Installer directly -- works fine in current (fresh) trunk. No debuggers to confirm. No syntax error.

I am updating that Metacello script right now. Be patient. :-)

Best,

Marcel

Am 14.09.2020 18:35:46 schrieb Thiede, Christoph <[hidden email]>:

Hi Jakob,

do you have a description of the correct loading order? In my main image, I tried to load FFI via the Preference Wizard, and after some loading conflicts which I explicitly needed to #allow through the debugger, I got the same syntax error ...

Best,

Christoph

---

Von: Squeak-dev <[hidden email]> im Auftrag von Jakob Reschke <[hidden email]>
Gesendet: Donnerstag, 10. September 2020 08:04:51
An: The general-purpose Squeak developers list
Betreff: Re: [squeak-dev] SyntaxError while loading FFI

 

Hi Christoph,

I had a similar issue and if I remember correctly got it resolved by
loading the Tools subpackage of FFI. I think Marcel has recently split
it.

So if that is true, the load order in the baseline of FFI should be updated.

Kind regards,
Jakob

Am Mi., 9. Sept. 2020 um 23:50 Uhr schrieb Thiede, Christoph
<[hidden email]>:
>
> Hi all,
>
>
> I fear this could be a frequently discussed topic, but I did not know where to start else.
>
>
> In the web, you can find the following instruction in order to load FFI at several places, amongst them the Swiki:
>
>
> Metacello new configuration: 'FFI'; load.
>
>
> If I do this in a fresh trunk image (#19838) without any extra installs, I get a syntax error:
>
>
> ffiPrintString: aString
>
> "FFITestLibrary ffiPrintString: 'Hello'"
>
> <cdecl: "Literal constant expected ->"char* 'ffiPrintString' (char *) module:'SqueakFFIPrims'>
>
> ^self externalCallFailed
>
>
> This is at the very least confusing, I think :-) Are there any undocumented dependencies or something like this?
>
> If I use the preference wizard instead, the installation succeeds. (It's not very convenient that it asks you for your initials during the installation, but this is only a small critique. :-))
>
> I just wanted to inform you about that.
>
>
> Best,
>
> Christoph
>
>

Am 15.09.2020 20:29:46 schrieb Eliot Miranda <[hidden email]>:

Hi Marcel, Hi All,

On Tue, Sep 15, 2020 at 11:20 AM Eliot Miranda <[hidden email]> wrote:

Hi Marcel,

On Tue, Sep 15, 2020 at 6:27 AM Marcel Taeumel <[hidden email]> wrote:

Hi all.

>  In my main image, I tried to load FFI via the Preference Wizard, and after some loading conflicts which I explicitly needed to #allow through the debugger, I got the same syntax error ...

Loading FFI via the Preference Wizard -- which uses the Installer directly -- works fine in current (fresh) trunk. No debuggers to confirm. No syntax error.

That's good to know.  I'll alter my VMMaker image build scripts to use this.  But there's one code smell about this.  PreferenceWizardMorph is a morph.  i wonder if it's worth-while separating PreferenceWizardMorph into PreferenceWizardMorph and PreferenceWizard.  It feels better changing the script to read PreferenceWizard new installFFI than having it rad PreferenceWizardMorph new installFFI.  If you agree that this is OK, I can make the changes.

Hmmm, maybe better is to move these install scripts to the Installer hierarchy.  Not sure where they should live.  But it would be nice to be able to say 

    Installer installFFI

and have it choose a default path, as well as be able to say

    Installer squeak installFFI

and have it install via InstallerMonticello

I am updating that Metacello script right now. Be patient. :-)

Best,

Marcel

Am 14.09.2020 18:35:46 schrieb Thiede, Christoph <[hidden email]>:

Hi Jakob,

do you have a description of the correct loading order? In my main image, I tried to load FFI via the Preference Wizard, and after some loading conflicts which I explicitly needed to #allow through the debugger, I got the same syntax error ...

Best,

Christoph

---

Von: Squeak-dev <[hidden email]> im Auftrag von Jakob Reschke <[hidden email]>
Gesendet: Donnerstag, 10. September 2020 08:04:51
An: The general-purpose Squeak developers list
Betreff: Re: [squeak-dev] SyntaxError while loading FFI

 

Hi Christoph,

I had a similar issue and if I remember correctly got it resolved by
loading the Tools subpackage of FFI. I think Marcel has recently split
it.

So if that is true, the load order in the baseline of FFI should be updated.

Kind regards,
Jakob

Am Mi., 9. Sept. 2020 um 23:50 Uhr schrieb Thiede, Christoph
<[hidden email]>:
>
> Hi all,
>
>
> I fear this could be a frequently discussed topic, but I did not know where to start else.
>
>
> In the web, you can find the following instruction in order to load FFI at several places, amongst them the Swiki:
>
>
> Metacello new configuration: 'FFI'; load.
>
>
> If I do this in a fresh trunk image (#19838) without any extra installs, I get a syntax error:
>
>
> ffiPrintString: aString
>
> "FFITestLibrary ffiPrintString: 'Hello'"
>
> <cdecl: "Literal constant expected ->"char* 'ffiPrintString' (char *) module:'SqueakFFIPrims'>
>
> ^self externalCallFailed
>
>
> This is at the very least confusing, I think :-) Are there any undocumented dependencies or something like this?
>
> If I use the preference wizard instead, the installation succeeds. (It's not very convenient that it asks you for your initials during the installation, but this is only a small critique. :-))
>
> I just wanted to inform you about that.
>
>
> Best,
>
> Christoph
>
>

--

_,,,^..^,,,_

best, Eliot

--

_,,,^..^,,,_

best, Eliot

Am 16.09.2020 13:41:26 schrieb Thiede, Christoph <[hidden email]>:

Hi Marcel,

thanks for fixing this. The problem was that per some package installed earlier, my main image already contained an older version of FFI. In fact, before I read your replies to this thread, I had fixed the problem in my image by loading the new FFI-Kernel versions step by step and copying a number of missing methods manually into the image. Not very elegant, but now I can use the latest FFI version in my image. 😅

I confirm that FFI loads now in a fresh trunk image without any problems, which is great. However, you have to look carefully when you the installation appears to take more than 10 minutes and the progress bars are not changing:

It still wants to know my author initials during installation, this is a bit confusing.

Best,

Christoph

---

Von: Squeak-dev <[hidden email]> im Auftrag von Taeumel, Marcel
Gesendet: Mittwoch, 16. September 2020 09:49:25
An: squeak-dev
Betreff: Re: [squeak-dev] SyntaxError while loading FFI

 

Hi Eliot, hi all.

We had the discussion about the role of Installer recently on the list. After fixing Metacello (and the script for FFI), the wizard will likely to use "Metacello new configuration: 'FFI'; load." again to manage support for different Squeak versions.

Here is the discussion about the future of "Installer":

http://forum.world.st/Installer-metacello-tp5115805.html

Best,

Marcel

Am 15.09.2020 20:29:46 schrieb Eliot Miranda <[hidden email]>:

Hi Marcel, Hi All,

On Tue, Sep 15, 2020 at 11:20 AM Eliot Miranda <[hidden email]> wrote:

Hi Marcel,

On Tue, Sep 15, 2020 at 6:27 AM Marcel Taeumel <[hidden email]> wrote:

Hi all.

>  In my main image, I tried to load FFI via the Preference Wizard, and after some loading conflicts which I explicitly needed to #allow through the debugger, I got the same syntax error ...

Loading FFI via the Preference Wizard -- which uses the Installer directly -- works fine in current (fresh) trunk. No debuggers to confirm. No syntax error.

That's good to know.  I'll alter my VMMaker image build scripts to use this.  But there's one code smell about this.  PreferenceWizardMorph is a morph.  i wonder if it's worth-while separating PreferenceWizardMorph into PreferenceWizardMorph and PreferenceWizard.  It feels better changing the script to read PreferenceWizard new installFFI than having it rad PreferenceWizardMorph new installFFI.  If you agree that this is OK, I can make the changes.

Hmmm, maybe better is to move these install scripts to the Installer hierarchy.  Not sure where they should live.  But it would be nice to be able to say 

    Installer installFFI

and have it choose a default path, as well as be able to say

    Installer squeak installFFI

and have it install via InstallerMonticello

I am updating that Metacello script right now. Be patient. :-)

Best,

Marcel

Am 14.09.2020 18:35:46 schrieb Thiede, Christoph <[hidden email]>:

Hi Jakob,

do you have a description of the correct loading order? In my main image, I tried to load FFI via the Preference Wizard, and after some loading conflicts which I explicitly needed to #allow through the debugger, I got the same syntax error ...

Best,

Christoph

---

Von: Squeak-dev <[hidden email]> im Auftrag von Jakob Reschke <[hidden email]>
Gesendet: Donnerstag, 10. September 2020 08:04:51
An: The general-purpose Squeak developers list
Betreff: Re: [squeak-dev] SyntaxError while loading FFI

 

Hi Christoph,

I had a similar issue and if I remember correctly got it resolved by
loading the Tools subpackage of FFI. I think Marcel has recently split
it.

So if that is true, the load order in the baseline of FFI should be updated.

Kind regards,
Jakob

Am Mi., 9. Sept. 2020 um 23:50 Uhr schrieb Thiede, Christoph
<[hidden email]>:
>
> Hi all,
>
>
> I fear this could be a frequently discussed topic, but I did not know where to start else.
>
>
> In the web, you can find the following instruction in order to load FFI at several places, amongst them the Swiki:
>
>
> Metacello new configuration: 'FFI'; load.
>
>
> If I do this in a fresh trunk image (#19838) without any extra installs, I get a syntax error:
>
>
> ffiPrintString: aString
>
> "FFITestLibrary ffiPrintString: 'Hello'"
>
> <cdecl: "Literal constant expected ->"char* 'ffiPrintString' (char *) module:'SqueakFFIPrims'>
>
> ^self externalCallFailed
>
>
> This is at the very least confusing, I think :-) Are there any undocumented dependencies or something like this?
>
> If I use the preference wizard instead, the installation succeeds. (It's not very convenient that it asks you for your initials during the installation, but this is only a small critique. :-))
>
> I just wanted to inform you about that.
>
>
> Best,
>
> Christoph
>
>

--

_,,,^..^,,,_

best, Eliot

--

_,,,^..^,,,_

best, Eliot

By the way, I did not yet trace this down, but I found a couple of methods in my image that I have written myself but are annotated with the "FFI" user. Probably FFI is missing an #ensure: somewhere and forgets to reset the initials ...

Best,

Christoph