com32/include/sys/exec.h

   1 /*
   2  * exec.h
   3  *
   4  *  Created on: Aug 14, 2008
   5  *      Author: Stefan Bucur <stefanb@zytor.com>
   6  */
   7
   8 #ifndef EXEC_H_
   9 #define EXEC_H_
  10
  11 #include <sys/module.h>
  12 #include <stdlib.h>
  13
  14 /**
  15  * EXEC_ROOT_NAME - The name of the ELF module associated with the COM32 module.
  16  *
  17  * This is a shallow ELF module, that contains only the symbol table for
  18  * the code and data sections of the loaded COM32 root module.
  19  */
  20 #define EXEC_ROOT_NAME                  "_root_.c32"
  21
  22 /**
  23  * spawn_load - Load a library module or executes an executable one
  24  * @name        the name of the library/executable to use, including the extension
  25  *                      (e.g. 'sort.c32')
  26  * @argc:       the number of string arguments in @argv
  27  * @argv:       a NULL-terminated vector of string arguments, starting with
  28  *                      the program name.
  29  *
  30  * This procedure in essence loads takes the name of a module and checks to see what
  31  * kind of module it is ( executable or library ), after which is performs the
  32  * appropriate action, either spawning or simply loading the module into memory.
  33  */
  34 extern int spawn_load(const char *name, int argc, char **argv);
  35
  36 /**
  37  * spawnv - Executes a program in the current environment.
  38  * @name:       the name of the program to spawn, including the extension
  39  *                      (e.g. 'hello.c32')
  40  * @argv:       a NULL-terminated vector of string arguments, starting with
  41  *                      the program name.
  42  *
  43  * A program is an ELF module that contains a main routine. A program is
  44  * loaded into memory, executed, then unloaded, thus remaining in memory only
  45  * while the main() function is executing. A program also defines a
  46  * memory allocation context, and a simple garbage collection mechanism
  47  * it thus provided. This is done by internally associating with the program
  48  * module each pointer returned by malloc(). After the program finishes
  49  * its execution, all the unallocated memory pertaining to the program
  50  * is automatically cleaned up.
  51  *
  52  * Note that this association takes place both for the allocations happening
  53  * directly in the program, or indirectly through a library function. Libraries
  54  * do not create allocation contexts, thus each allocation they made belong
  55  * to the innermost calling program.
  56  */
  57 extern int spawnv(const char *name, const char **argv);
  58
  59 /**
  60  * spawnl - Executes a program in the current environment.
  61  * @name:       the name of the program to spawn, including the extension
  62  *                      (e.g. 'hello.c32')
  63  * @arg:        the first argument (argv[0]) to be passed to the main function
  64  *                      of the program
  65  * @...:        optional subsequent arguments that are passed o the main function
  66  *                      of the program
  67  *
  68  * This is another version of the spawn routine. Please see 'spawnv' for
  69  * a full presentation.
  70  */
  71 extern int spawnl(const char *name, const char *arg, ...);
  72
  73 /**
  74  * exec_term - Releases the resources of the execution environment.
  75  */
  76 extern void exec_term(void);
  77
  78
  79 #endif /* EXEC_H_ */