How Lua deal with the stack? - lua

I'm trying Lua and want to know how lua_State working
code and result:
state.c
#include <stdio.h>
#include "lua/src/lua.h"
#include "lua/src/lauxlib.h"
static void stackDump(lua_State *L){
int i;
int top = lua_gettop(L);
for(i = 1; i<= top; i++) {
int t = lua_type(L, i);
switch(t){
case LUA_TSTRING:
printf("'%s'", lua_tostring(L, i));
break;
case LUA_TBOOLEAN:
printf(lua_toboolean(L, i) ?"true":"false");
break;
case LUA_TNUMBER:
printf("%g", lua_tonumber(L, i));
break;
default:
printf("%s", lua_typename(L, t));
break;
}
printf(" ");
}
printf("\n");
}
static int divide(struct lua_State *L){
double a = lua_tonumber(L, 1);
double b = lua_tonumber(L, 2);
printf("%p\n", L);
stackDump(L);
int quot = (int)a / (int)b;
int rem = (int)a % (int)b;
lua_pushnumber(L, quot);
lua_pushnumber(L, rem);
stackDump(L);
printf("---end div---\n");
return 2;
}
int main(void){
struct lua_State *L = lua_open();
lua_pushboolean(L, 1);
lua_pushnumber(L, 10);
lua_pushnil(L);
lua_pushstring(L, "hello");
printf("%p\n", L);
stackDump(L);
lua_register(L, "div", divide);
luaL_dofile(L, "div.lua");
stackDump(L);
lua_close(L);
return 0;
}
div.lua
local c = div(20, 10)
0x100c009e0
true 10 nil 'hello'
---start div---
0x100c009e0
20 10
20 10 2 0
---end div---
true 10 nil 'hello'
I see lua_State in divide is the same with the main one, but they have different data in stack, How this be done ?
I know the best way to understand this is to read source code of Lua , maybe you can tell me where to find the right place.

Think of lua_State as containing the Lua stack, as well as indices delimiting the current visible part of the stack. When you invoke a Lua function, it may look like you have a new stack, but really only the indices have changed. That's the simplified version.
lua_State is defined in lstate.h. I've pulled out the relevant parts for you. stack is the beginning of the big Lua stack containing everything. base is the beginning of the stack for the current function. This is what your function sees as "the stack" when it is executing.
struct lua_State {
/* ... */
StkId top; /* first free slot in the stack */
StkId base; /* base of current function */
/* ... */
StkId stack_last; /* last free slot in the stack */
StkId stack; /* stack base */
/* ... */
};
Programming in Lua, 2nd Edition discusses Lua states in chapter 30: Threads and States. You'll find some good information there. For example, lua_State not only represents a Lua state, but also a thread within that state. Furthermore, all threads have their own stack.

It gets different data the same way anything gets different data: code changes the data inside of the object.
struct Object
{
int val;
};
void more_stuff(Object *the_data)
{
//the_data->val has 5 in it now.
}
void do_stuff(Object *the_data)
{
int old_val = the_data->val;
the_data->val = 5;
more_stuff(the_data);
the_data->val = old_val;
}
int main()
{
Object my_data;
my_data.val = 1;
//my_data.val has 1.
do_stuff(&my_data);
//my_data.val still has 1.
}

When Lua calls a registered C function, it gives it a new stack frame.

Related

my process doesn't go to the child process

I have to take a user input number 'n' in the parent process and then pass it to the child process.The child process then takes 'n' user input values and stores them in an array.It then call a thread and send this array as an argument.The thread sums all the values in the array and send it back to the child process which prints it.
#include<stdio.h>
#include<stdlib.h>
#include<unistd.h>
#include<sys/types.h>
#include<pthread.h>
#include<fcntl.h>
void *sum(void *a)
{printf("in thread" );
int * arr=(int *)a;
int i;
int sum=0;
int size=sizeof(arr)/sizeof(arr[0]);
for(i=0;i<size;i++)
{
sum=sum +arr[i];
}
pthread_exit(sum);
}
int main()
{
int pipefd[2];
pid_t childpid;
pthread_t tid;
pipe(pipefd);
int r;
int n;
childpid=fork();
if (0==childpid)
{
printf("in child process" );
close(pipefd[1]);
read(pipefd[0],r,sizeof(int));
close(pipefd[0]);
int *ret;
int a[r];
int i;
for (i = 0; i <r; i++)
{ printf("enter values: ");
scanf("%d",&a[i]);
}
pthread_create(&tid,NULL,sum,(void *)a);
pthread_join(tid,(void *)&ret);
printf("%d",*ret );
}
else
{ printf("in parent process" );
printf("enter a number" );
scanf("%d",&n);
close(pipefd[0]);
write(pipefd[1],n,sizeof(int));
close(pipefd[1]);
}
return 0;
}
I have checked this code a dozen of times and nothing seems to be wrong.The process stops after taking the value of 'n'.The child process never runs.
Both read and write expect to receive the memory address of a buffer to use. You need to take the address of the variables you're trying to fill.
E.g.
write(pipefd[1], &n, sizeof(int));
and
read(pipefd[0], &r, sizeof(int));
By the way, the child process most likely is running. It's just your value for r is coming back as 0. Simple debugging trick: Use fprintf(stderr, "stuff to print"); to check your results at various stages. You can easily verify the child process is running, for example.

Lua: calling __index function works then throws error

I'm trying to write Lua bindings so that one can call arbitrary functions on a userdata. An MCV example I've been working on is below.
In summary: we have the C function newarray pushed to a table in the Lua globals so that one can create a new array object. Suppose that the array is a database record. I have two kinds of operation that I want to perform on it after generating it with newarray (for this bad example): accessing an element, and destroying the object.
Since I don't know how many elements there will be (in a real world example), I decide to make __index a function and use an if-statement to determine if the function was "destroy" or anything else (i.e. "give me this element"). If it was "destroy", delete the object; otherwise, return the requested element.
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <assert.h>
#include <lua.h>
#include <lauxlib.h>
#include <lualib.h>
#define TEST_METATABLE "_test_mt"
typedef struct
{
int* array;
} array_t;
int newArray(lua_State* L)
{
assert(lua_gettop(L) == 0);
array_t* array = lua_newuserdata(L, sizeof(array_t));
array->array = malloc(sizeof(int) * 10);
for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++)
array->array[i] = i;
/* Set metatable */
lua_getfield(L, LUA_REGISTRYINDEX, TEST_METATABLE);
lua_setmetatable(L, -2);
return 1;
}
int indexFunc(lua_State* L)
{
int argc = lua_gettop(L);
array_t* array = luaL_checkudata(L, 1, TEST_METATABLE);
const char* key = luaL_checkstring(L, 2);
int ret = 0;
if (!strcmp(key, "destroy"))
{
if (argc != 2)
{
lua_settop(L, 0);
luaL_error(L, "Invalid arguments");
}
if (array->array)
{
free(array->array);
array->array = NULL;
}
printf("Finished destroy\n");
lua_settop(L, 0);
}
else
{
if (argc != 2)
{
lua_settop(L, 0);
luaL_error(L, "Invalid arguments");
}
if (lua_tointeger(L, 2))
{
lua_pushinteger(L, array->array[lua_tointeger(L, 2)]);
}
else
{
lua_settop(L, 0);
luaL_error(L, "Bad index supplied");
}
lua_remove(L, 2);
lua_remove(L, 1);
ret = 1;
}
return ret;
}
int luaopen_TestArray(lua_State* L)
{
/* Set up metatable */
lua_newtable(L);
lua_pushliteral(L, "__index");
lua_pushcfunction(L, indexFunc);
lua_settable(L, -3);
lua_setfield(L, LUA_REGISTRYINDEX, TEST_METATABLE);
/* Set up 'static' stuff */
lua_newtable(L);
lua_pushliteral(L, "newarray");
lua_pushcfunction(L, newArray);
lua_settable(L, -3);
lua_setglobal(L, "TestArray");
return 0;
}
I compiled with:
gcc -std=c99 -Wall -fPIC -shared -o TestArray.so test.c -llua
The Lua test program is as follows:
require("TestArray")
a = TestArray.newarray()
print(a[5])
a:destroy()
The output:
$ lua test.lua
5
Finished destroy
lua: test.lua:7: attempt to call method 'destroy' (a nil value)
stack traceback:
test.lua:7: in main chunk
[C]: ?
$
So Lua does what it's supposed to by retrieving the 6th element's value (in terms of C) and printing it (as it surely does through indexFunc). Then it proceeds to execute the destroy-specific code in indexFunc, then tries to look for a function called destroy, and I have no idea why. It found the __index metamethod, so I don't understand why it looked elsewhere afterwards. Why does it do this, and what am I doing wrong?
Lua version: 5.1.4.
__index is expected to return a value. Yours doesn't.
Specifically, when you write this:
a:destroy()
That is equivalent to:
getmetatable(a).__index(a, "destroy")(a)
i.e. call the __index metamethod, then call whatever it returns passing it a as the argument.
But if we look at your __index implementation, it doesn't respect that contract:
int indexFunc(lua_State* L)
{
int argc = lua_gettop(L);
array_t* array = luaL_checkudata(L, 1, TEST_METATABLE);
const char* key = luaL_checkstring(L, 2);
int ret = 0;
if (!strcmp(key, "destroy"))
{
/* ... delete the array ... */
lua_settop(L, 0);
}
else
{
/* ... push the value ... */
}
return ret; /* since key == "destroy", ret == 0 here */
}
If the key is "destroy", it doesn't return a function; instead it destroys the array immediately and returns nothing, which is equivalent in this case to returning nil. Then the lua code tries to call the returned nil and explodes.
Instead, you need to create a separate function that does the destroy, e.g.
int destroyFunc(lua_State * L) {
array_t array = luaL_checkudata(L, 1, TEST_METATABLE);
free(array->array);
array->array = NULL;
return 0;
}
And then have your __index return that function rather than calling it:
lua_pushcfunction(L, destroyFunc);
return 1;
At which point the Lua code will be able to call that function.

Can the D compiler inline constant function pointers

Consider the following code which prints out the even numbers up to 20:
import std.stdio;
class count_to_ten{
static int opApply()(int delegate(ref int) dg) {
int i = 1;
int ret;
while(i <= 10){
ret = dg(i);
if(ret != 0) {
break;
}
i++;
}
return ret;
}
}
void main() {
int y = 2;
foreach(int x; count_to_ten) {
writeln(x * y);
}
}
The syntax of opApply requires that it take a delegate or function as a normal argument. However, even if we relaxed that and allowed opApply to take a function as a template argument, we still would have no recourse for delegates because D doesn't provide any way to separate the stack-frame pointer from the function pointer. However, this seems like it should be possible since the function-pointer part of the delegate is commonly a compile-time constant. And if we could do that and the body of the loop was short, then it could actually be inlined which might speed this code up quite a bit.
Is there any way to do this? Does the D compiler have some trick by which it happens automagically?

BCB 6.0 "raised exception class EAccessViolation with message 'Access violation at address'"

I'm newer to C++. I have written some code, but when i run it, there's always this:
raised exception class
EAccessViolation with message 'Access
violation at address'
i don't understand this. Would you like to help me solve it? It's important to me. Really, really thank you!
#include <iostream>
#include <fstream>
#include <string>
#include <vector>
#include <math.h>
#include <conio.h>
#define k 2
#define minoffset 0.5
using namespace std;
struct Point
{
double X;
double Y;
};
vector<Point> dataprocess();
void k_means(vector<Point> points,int N);
double getdistance(Point p1,Point p2)
{ double distance;
distance=sqrt((p1.X-p2.X)*(p1.X-p2.X)+(p1.Y-p2.Y)*(p1.Y-p2.Y));
return distance;
}
int getmindis(Point p,Point means[])
{
int i;
int c;
double dis=getdistance(p,means[0]);
for(i=1;i<k;i++)
{
double term=getdistance(p,means[i]);
if(term<dis)
{
c=i;
dis=term;
}
}
return c;
}
Point getmeans(vector<Point> points)
{
int i;
double sumX,sumY;
Point p;
int M=points.size();
for(i=0;i<M;i++)
{
sumX=points[i].X;
sumY=points[i].Y;
}
p.X=sumX/M;
p.Y=sumY/M;
return p;
}
int main()
{ int N;
vector<Point> stars;
stars=dataprocess();
N=stars.size();
cout<<"the size is:"<<N<<endl;
k_means(stars,N);
getch();
}
vector<Point> dataprocess()
{
int i;
int N;
double x,y;
vector<Point> points;
Point p;
string import_file;
cout<<"input the filename:"<<endl;
cin>>import_file;
ifstream infile(import_file.c_str());
if(!infile)
{
cout<<"read error!"<<endl;
}
else
{
while(infile>>x>>y)
{
p.X=x;
p.Y=y;
points.push_back(p);
}
}
N=points.size();
cout<<"output the file data:"<<endl;
for(i=0;i<N;i++)
{
cout<<"the point"<<i+1<<"is:X="<<points[i].X<<" Y="<<points[i].Y<<endl;
}
return points;
}
void k_means(vector<Point> points,int N)
{
int i;
int j;
int index;
vector<Point> clusters[k];
Point means[k];
Point newmeans[k];
double d,offset=0;
bool flag=1;
cout<<"there will be"<<k<<"clusters,input the original means:"<<endl;
for(i=0;i<k;i++)
{
cout<<"k"<<i+1<<":"<<endl;
cin>>means[i].X>>means[i].Y;
}
while(flag)
{
for(i=0;i<N;i++)
{
index=getmindis(points[i],means);
clusters[index].push_back(points[i]);
}
for(j=0;j<k;j++)
{
newmeans[j]=getmeans(clusters[j]);
offset=getdistance(newmeans[j],means[j]);
}
if(offset>d)
{
d=offset;
}
flag=(minoffset<d)?true:false;
for(i=0;i<k;i++)
{
means[i]=newmeans[i];
clusters[i].clear();
}
}
for(i=0;i<k;i++)
{
cout<<"N"<<i+1<<"="<<clusters[i].size()<<endl;
cout<<"the center of k"<<i+1<<"is:"<<means[i].X<<" "<<means[i].Y<< endl;
}
}
You surely have some algo errors in you code. It is difficult to deal with code without input data, that caused an error, but let's try:
First, lets look at function Point getmeans(vector<Point> points)
it is supposed to evaluate mean coordinates for cluster of points: if you pass an empty cluster to this function it will cause an error:
look here -
int M=points.size()
and here -
for(i=0;i<M;i++)
{
sumX=points[i].X;
sumY=points[i].Y;
}
if your cluster is empty than M will be zero and you loop will iterate 2^31 times (until 32 bit integer overflow) and each time you will try to read values of nonexistent vector items
So, You have to test if you vector is not empty before running main function loop and you have to decide which mean values should be assigned for zero cluster (May be you need an additional flag for empty cluster which will be checked before dealing with cluster's mean values)
Then lets examine function int getmindis(Point p,Point means[]) and, also, a place, where we call it:
index=getmindis(points[i],means); clusters[index].push_back(points[i]);
This function assings points to clusters. cluster number is ruled by c variable. If input point doesn't fit to any cluster, function will return uninitialized variable (holding any possible value) which. then is used as vector index of nonexisting element - possible access violation error
You probably have to initialize c to zero in declaration
Tell us when you will be ready with errors described above and also show us a sample input file (one which causes errors, if all datasets cause errors, show us the smallest one)

Pushing an executable function pointer?

Usually one would only push 'userdata' when the data isn't any of Lua's standard types (number, string, bool, etc).
But how would you push an actually Function pointer to Lua (not as userdata; since userdata is not executable as function in Lua), assuming the function looks like so:
void nothing(const char* stuff)
{
do_magic_things_with(stuff);
}
The returned value should behave like the returned value from this native Lua function:
function things()
return function(stuff)
do_magic_things_with(stuff)
end
end
Is this possible to do with the C API? If yes, how (Examples would be appreciated)?
EDIT: To add some clarity, The value is supposed to be returned by a function exposed to Lua through the C API.
Use lua_pushcfunction
Examples are included in PiL
Here is an example that follows the form of the currently accepted answer.
#include <lua.h>
#include <lualib.h>
#include <lauxlib.h>
#include <stdio.h>
/* this is the C function you want to return */
static void
cfunction(const char *s)
{
puts(s);
}
/* this is the proxy function that acts like cfunction */
static int
proxy(lua_State *L)
{
cfunction(luaL_checkstring(L, 1));
return 0;
}
/* this global function returns "cfunction" to Lua. */
static int
getproxy(lua_State *L)
{
lua_pushcfunction(L, &proxy);
return 1;
}
int
main(int argc, char **argv)
{
lua_State *L;
L = luaL_newstate();
/* set the global function that returns the proxy */
lua_pushcfunction(L, getproxy);
lua_setglobal(L, "getproxy");
/* see if it works */
luaL_dostring(L, "p = getproxy() p('Hello, world!')");
lua_close(L);
return 0;
}
You could return a userdata with a metatable that proxies your C function through the __call metamethod. That way the userdata could be called like a function. Below is a full program example.
#include <lua.h>
#include <lualib.h>
#include <lauxlib.h>
#include <stdio.h>
/* this is the C function you want to return */
static void
cfunction(const char *s)
{
puts(s);
}
/* this is the proxy function that will be used as the __call metamethod */
static int
proxy(lua_State *L)
{
luaL_checkudata(L, 1, "proxy");
cfunction(luaL_checkstring(L, 2));
return 0;
}
/* this global function returns the C function with a userdata proxy */
static int
getproxy(lua_State *L)
{
lua_newuserdata(L, sizeof (int));
luaL_getmetatable(L, "proxy");
lua_setmetatable(L, -2);
return 1;
}
int
main(int argc, char **argv)
{
lua_State *L;
L = luaL_newstate();
/* create the proxy metatable */
luaL_newmetatable(L, "proxy");
lua_pushcfunction(L, proxy);
lua_setfield(L, -2, "__call");
/* set the global function that returns the proxy */
lua_pushcfunction(L, getproxy);
lua_setglobal(L, "getproxy");
/* see if it works */
luaL_dostring(L, "p = getproxy() p('Hello, world!')");
lua_close(L);
return 0;
}
In retrospect, I completely over-thought what you are asking. All you really need to do is to create a function of type lua_CFunction that pulls the parameters from the Lua stack and passes them on to the target C function. The code above answers your question literally, but it is probably overkill for what you really need to accomplish.

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