# New Ticket Created by Leopold Toetsch # Please include the string: [perl #34994] # in the subject line of all future correspondence about this issue. # <URL: https://rt.perl.org/rt3/Ticket/Display.html?id=34994 >
A Python example first: $ python >>> import sys >>> print sys.maxint 2147483647 >>> help(sys) ... I'd like to have a similar[1] capability inside Parrot. The general plan was already discussed, when "make install" came up first. 1) We have F<runtime/parrot/include/config.fpmc>, which is a frozen image of the config hash generated by F<config_lib.pasm>. Creating the frozen image needs already parrot (a possibly already existing parrot or miniparrot in the long run). But locating this file needs the library or include path, with resides in this file. We got a typical hen and egg problem. 2) instead of creating e.g. src/revision.c (and possibly other similar files), we create a C-readable representation of the frozen config hash and re-link with that file: src/parrot_config.c. Now we have parrot$EXE with the config inside. 3) "make install" creates src/parrot_config_install.c and links that into parrot_install$EXE, which during installation becomes .../bin/parrot$EXE. With this step we get rid of the problem with runtime vs build directory library usage. 4) at program start the frozen config string gets thawed and we populate appropriate namespaces[2] with hash entries. Language folks and our fearless leader may please define the term appropriate :) 5) along with bringing the config online, some cleanup and renaming wouldn't harm e.g. "iv" vs "opcode_t", "intvalsize" vs "intsize" vs "opcode_t_size" ... 6) the config information could be available as attributes of the respective namespace: ns = getclass "ParrotInterpreter" PINTVAL_size = ns."INTVAL_size" # getattribute shortcut or with global namespace ops PINTVAL_size = find_global "ParrotInterpreter", "INTVAL_size" Comments, improvements, takers welcome, leo [1] w/o Python quirks >>> sys.maxint = 2 >>> sys.maxint 2 [2] a remark about namespaces We currently have: / (namespace root) __parrot_core ... MMD multi subs Integer Float .... Parrot PMC class namespaces The PMC class namespaces should probably reside under "__parrot_core" to get rid of the namespace pollution. Or alternatively, we prepend two underscores: / __parrot_core __ParrotInterpreter aka __sys __ParrotIO aka __io
