111
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1 Status
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2 ======
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3
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4 libffi-4?? was released on TBD. Check the libffi web
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5 page for updates: <URL:http://sourceware.org/libffi/>.
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6
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7
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8 What is libffi?
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9 ===============
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10
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11 Compilers for high level languages generate code that follow certain
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12 conventions. These conventions are necessary, in part, for separate
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13 compilation to work. One such convention is the "calling
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14 convention". The "calling convention" is essentially a set of
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15 assumptions made by the compiler about where function arguments will
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16 be found on entry to a function. A "calling convention" also specifies
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17 where the return value for a function is found.
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18
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19 Some programs may not know at the time of compilation what arguments
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20 are to be passed to a function. For instance, an interpreter may be
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21 told at run-time about the number and types of arguments used to call
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22 a given function. Libffi can be used in such programs to provide a
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23 bridge from the interpreter program to compiled code.
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24
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25 The libffi library provides a portable, high level programming
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26 interface to various calling conventions. This allows a programmer to
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27 call any function specified by a call interface description at run
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28 time.
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29
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30 FFI stands for Foreign Function Interface. A foreign function
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31 interface is the popular name for the interface that allows code
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32 written in one language to call code written in another language. The
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33 libffi library really only provides the lowest, machine dependent
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34 layer of a fully featured foreign function interface. A layer must
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35 exist above libffi that handles type conversions for values passed
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36 between the two languages.
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37
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38
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39 Supported Platforms
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40 ===================
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41
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42 Libffi has been ported to many different platforms.
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43 For specific configuration details and testing status, please
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44 refer to the wiki page here:
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45
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46 http://www.moxielogic.org/wiki/index.php?title=Libffi_3.2
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47
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48 At the time of release, the following basic configurations have been
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49 tested:
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50
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51 |-----------------+------------------+-------------------------|
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52 | Architecture | Operating System | Compiler |
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53 |-----------------+------------------+-------------------------|
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54 | AArch64 (ARM64) | iOS | Clang |
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55 | AArch64 | Linux | GCC |
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56 | Alpha | Linux | GCC |
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57 | Alpha | Tru64 | GCC |
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58 | ARC | Linux | GCC |
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59 | ARM | Linux | GCC |
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60 | ARM | iOS | GCC |
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61 | AVR32 | Linux | GCC |
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62 | Blackfin | uClinux | GCC |
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63 | HPPA | HPUX | GCC |
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64 | IA-64 | Linux | GCC |
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65 | M68K | FreeMiNT | GCC |
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66 | M68K | Linux | GCC |
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67 | M68K | RTEMS | GCC |
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68 | M88K | OpenBSD/mvme88k | GCC |
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69 | Meta | Linux | GCC |
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70 | MicroBlaze | Linux | GCC |
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71 | MIPS | IRIX | GCC |
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72 | MIPS | Linux | GCC |
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73 | MIPS | RTEMS | GCC |
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74 | MIPS64 | Linux | GCC |
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75 | Moxie | Bare metal | GCC |
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76 | Nios II | Linux | GCC |
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77 | OpenRISC | Linux | GCC |
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78 | PowerPC 32-bit | AIX | IBM XL C |
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79 | PowerPC 64-bit | AIX | IBM XL C |
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80 | PowerPC | AMIGA | GCC |
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81 | PowerPC | Linux | GCC |
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82 | PowerPC | Mac OSX | GCC |
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83 | PowerPC | FreeBSD | GCC |
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84 | PowerPC 64-bit | FreeBSD | GCC |
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85 | PowerPC 64-bit | Linux ELFv1 | GCC |
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86 | PowerPC 64-bit | Linux ELFv2 | GCC |
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87 | S390 | Linux | GCC |
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88 | S390X | Linux | GCC |
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89 | SPARC | Linux | GCC |
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90 | SPARC | Solaris | GCC |
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91 | SPARC | Solaris | Oracle Solaris Studio C |
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92 | SPARC64 | Linux | GCC |
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93 | SPARC64 | FreeBSD | GCC |
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94 | SPARC64 | Solaris | Oracle Solaris Studio C |
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95 | TILE-Gx/TILEPro | Linux | GCC |
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96 | VAX | OpenBSD/vax | GCC |
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97 | X86 | FreeBSD | GCC |
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98 | X86 | GNU HURD | GCC |
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99 | X86 | Interix | GCC |
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100 | X86 | kFreeBSD | GCC |
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101 | X86 | Linux | GCC |
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102 | X86 | Mac OSX | GCC |
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103 | X86 | OpenBSD | GCC |
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104 | X86 | OS/2 | GCC |
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105 | X86 | Solaris | GCC |
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106 | X86 | Solaris | Oracle Solaris Studio C |
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107 | X86 | Windows/Cygwin | GCC |
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108 | X86 | Windows/MingW | GCC |
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109 | X86-64 | FreeBSD | GCC |
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110 | X86-64 | Linux | GCC |
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111 | X86-64 | Linux/x32 | GCC |
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112 | X86-64 | OpenBSD | GCC |
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113 | X86-64 | Solaris | Oracle Solaris Studio C |
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114 | X86-64 | Windows/Cygwin | GCC |
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115 | X86-64 | Windows/MingW | GCC |
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116 | Xtensa | Linux | GCC |
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117 |-----------------+------------------+-------------------------|
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118
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119 Please send additional platform test results to
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120 libffi-discuss@sourceware.org and feel free to update the wiki page
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121 above.
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122
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123 Installing libffi
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124 =================
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125
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126 First you must configure the distribution for your particular
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127 system. Go to the directory you wish to build libffi in and run the
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128 "configure" program found in the root directory of the libffi source
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129 distribution.
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130
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131 If you're building libffi directly from version control, configure won't
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132 exist yet; run ./autogen.sh first.
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133
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134 You may want to tell configure where to install the libffi library and
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135 header files. To do that, use the --prefix configure switch. Libffi
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136 will install under /usr/local by default.
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137
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138 If you want to enable extra run-time debugging checks use the the
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139 --enable-debug configure switch. This is useful when your program dies
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140 mysteriously while using libffi.
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141
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142 Another useful configure switch is --enable-purify-safety. Using this
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143 will add some extra code which will suppress certain warnings when you
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144 are using Purify with libffi. Only use this switch when using
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145 Purify, as it will slow down the library.
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146
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147 It's also possible to build libffi on Windows platforms with
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148 Microsoft's Visual C++ compiler. In this case, use the msvcc.sh
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149 wrapper script during configuration like so:
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150
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151 path/to/configure CC=path/to/msvcc.sh CXX=path/to/msvcc.sh LD=link CPP="cl -nologo -EP"
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152
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153 For 64-bit Windows builds, use CC="path/to/msvcc.sh -m64" and
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154 CXX="path/to/msvcc.sh -m64". You may also need to specify --build
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155 appropriately.
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156
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157 It is also possible to build libffi on Windows platforms with the LLVM
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158 project's clang-cl compiler, like below:
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159
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160 path/to/configure CC="path/to/msvcc.sh -clang-cl" CXX="path/to/msvcc.sh -clang-cl" LD=link CPP="clang-cl -EP"
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161
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162 When building with MSVC under a MingW environment, you may need to
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163 remove the line in configure that sets 'fix_srcfile_path' to a 'cygpath'
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164 command. ('cygpath' is not present in MingW, and is not required when
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165 using MingW-style paths.)
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166
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167 For iOS builds, the 'libffi.xcodeproj' Xcode project is available.
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168
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169 Configure has many other options. Use "configure --help" to see them all.
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170
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171 Once configure has finished, type "make". Note that you must be using
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172 GNU make. You can ftp GNU make from ftp.gnu.org:/pub/gnu/make .
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173
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174 To ensure that libffi is working as advertised, type "make check".
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175 This will require that you have DejaGNU installed.
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176
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177 To install the library and header files, type "make install".
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178
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179
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180 History
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181 =======
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182
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183 See the git log for details at http://github.com/atgreen/libffi.
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184
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185 4.0 TBD
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186 New API in support of GO closures.
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187
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188 3.2.1 Nov-12-14
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189 Build fix for non-iOS AArch64 targets.
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190
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191 3.2 Nov-11-14
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192 Add C99 Complex Type support (currently only supported on
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193 s390).
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194 Add support for PASCAL and REGISTER calling conventions on x86
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195 Windows/Linux.
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196 Add OpenRISC and Cygwin-64 support.
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197 Bug fixes.
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198
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199 3.1 May-19-14
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200 Add AArch64 (ARM64) iOS support.
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201 Add Nios II support.
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202 Add m88k and DEC VAX support.
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203 Add support for stdcall, thiscall, and fastcall on non-Windows
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204 32-bit x86 targets such as Linux.
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205 Various Android, MIPS N32, x86, FreeBSD and UltraSPARC IIi
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206 fixes.
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207 Make the testsuite more robust: eliminate several spurious
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208 failures, and respect the $CC and $CXX environment variables.
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209 Archive off the manually maintained ChangeLog in favor of git
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210 log.
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211
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212 3.0.13 Mar-17-13
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213 Add Meta support.
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214 Add missing Moxie bits.
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215 Fix stack alignment bug on 32-bit x86.
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216 Build fix for m68000 targets.
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217 Build fix for soft-float Power targets.
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218 Fix the install dir location for some platforms when building
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219 with GCC (OS X, Solaris).
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220 Fix Cygwin regression.
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221
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222 3.0.12 Feb-11-13
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223 Add Moxie support.
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224 Add AArch64 support.
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225 Add Blackfin support.
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226 Add TILE-Gx/TILEPro support.
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227 Add MicroBlaze support.
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228 Add Xtensa support.
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229 Add support for PaX enabled kernels with MPROTECT.
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230 Add support for native vendor compilers on
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231 Solaris and AIX.
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232 Work around LLVM/GCC interoperability issue on x86_64.
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233
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234 3.0.11 Apr-11-12
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235 Lots of build fixes.
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236 Add support for variadic functions (ffi_prep_cif_var).
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237 Add Linux/x32 support.
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238 Add thiscall, fastcall and MSVC cdecl support on Windows.
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239 Add Amiga and newer MacOS support.
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240 Add m68k FreeMiNT support.
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241 Integration with iOS' xcode build tools.
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242 Fix Octeon and MC68881 support.
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243 Fix code pessimizations.
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244
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245 3.0.10 Aug-23-11
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246 Add support for Apple's iOS.
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247 Add support for ARM VFP ABI.
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248 Add RTEMS support for MIPS and M68K.
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249 Fix instruction cache clearing problems on
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250 ARM and SPARC.
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251 Fix the N64 build on mips-sgi-irix6.5.
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252 Enable builds with Microsoft's compiler.
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253 Enable x86 builds with Oracle's Solaris compiler.
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254 Fix support for calling code compiled with Oracle's Sparc
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255 Solaris compiler.
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256 Testsuite fixes for Tru64 Unix.
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257 Additional platform support.
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258
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259 3.0.9 Dec-31-09
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260 Add AVR32 and win64 ports. Add ARM softfp support.
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261 Many fixes for AIX, Solaris, HP-UX, *BSD.
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262 Several PowerPC and x86-64 bug fixes.
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263 Build DLL for windows.
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264
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265 3.0.8 Dec-19-08
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266 Add *BSD, BeOS, and PA-Linux support.
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267
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268 3.0.7 Nov-11-08
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269 Fix for ppc FreeBSD.
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270 (thanks to Andreas Tobler)
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271
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272 3.0.6 Jul-17-08
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273 Fix for closures on sh.
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274 Mark the sh/sh64 stack as non-executable.
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275 (both thanks to Kaz Kojima)
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276
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277 3.0.5 Apr-3-08
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278 Fix libffi.pc file.
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279 Fix #define ARM for IcedTea users.
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280 Fix x86 closure bug.
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281
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282 3.0.4 Feb-24-08
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283 Fix x86 OpenBSD configury.
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284
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285 3.0.3 Feb-22-08
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286 Enable x86 OpenBSD thanks to Thomas Heller, and
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287 x86-64 FreeBSD thanks to Björn König and Andreas Tobler.
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288 Clean up test instruction in README.
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289
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290 3.0.2 Feb-21-08
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291 Improved x86 FreeBSD support.
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292 Thanks to Björn König.
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293
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294 3.0.1 Feb-15-08
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295 Fix instruction cache flushing bug on MIPS.
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296 Thanks to David Daney.
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297
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298 3.0.0 Feb-15-08
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299 Many changes, mostly thanks to the GCC project.
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300 Cygnus Solutions is now Red Hat.
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301
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302 [10 years go by...]
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303
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304 1.20 Oct-5-98
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305 Raffaele Sena produces ARM port.
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306
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307 1.19 Oct-5-98
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308 Fixed x86 long double and long long return support.
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309 m68k bug fixes from Andreas Schwab.
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310 Patch for DU assembler compatibility for the Alpha from Richard
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311 Henderson.
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312
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313 1.18 Apr-17-98
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314 Bug fixes and MIPS configuration changes.
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315
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316 1.17 Feb-24-98
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317 Bug fixes and m68k port from Andreas Schwab. PowerPC port from
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318 Geoffrey Keating. Various bug x86, Sparc and MIPS bug fixes.
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319
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320 1.16 Feb-11-98
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321 Richard Henderson produces Alpha port.
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322
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323 1.15 Dec-4-97
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324 Fixed an n32 ABI bug. New libtool, auto* support.
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325
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326 1.14 May-13-97
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327 libtool is now used to generate shared and static libraries.
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328 Fixed a minor portability problem reported by Russ McManus
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329 <mcmanr@eq.gs.com>.
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330
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331 1.13 Dec-2-96
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332 Added --enable-purify-safety to keep Purify from complaining
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333 about certain low level code.
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334 Sparc fix for calling functions with < 6 args.
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335 Linux x86 a.out fix.
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336
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337 1.12 Nov-22-96
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338 Added missing ffi_type_void, needed for supporting void return
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339 types. Fixed test case for non MIPS machines. Cygnus Support
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340 is now Cygnus Solutions.
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341
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342 1.11 Oct-30-96
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343 Added notes about GNU make.
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344
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345 1.10 Oct-29-96
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346 Added configuration fix for non GNU compilers.
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347
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348 1.09 Oct-29-96
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349 Added --enable-debug configure switch. Clean-ups based on LCLint
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350 feedback. ffi_mips.h is always installed. Many configuration
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351 fixes. Fixed ffitest.c for sparc builds.
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352
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353 1.08 Oct-15-96
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354 Fixed n32 problem. Many clean-ups.
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355
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356 1.07 Oct-14-96
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357 Gordon Irlam rewrites v8.S again. Bug fixes.
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358
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359 1.06 Oct-14-96
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360 Gordon Irlam improved the sparc port.
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361
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362 1.05 Oct-14-96
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363 Interface changes based on feedback.
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364
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365 1.04 Oct-11-96
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366 Sparc port complete (modulo struct passing bug).
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367
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368 1.03 Oct-10-96
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369 Passing struct args, and returning struct values works for
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370 all architectures/calling conventions. Expanded tests.
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371
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372 1.02 Oct-9-96
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373 Added SGI n32 support. Fixed bugs in both o32 and Linux support.
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374 Added "make test".
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375
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376 1.01 Oct-8-96
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377 Fixed float passing bug in mips version. Restructured some
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378 of the code. Builds cleanly with SGI tools.
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379
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380 1.00 Oct-7-96
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381 First release. No public announcement.
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382
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383
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384 Authors & Credits
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385 =================
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386
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387 libffi was originally written by Anthony Green <green@moxielogic.com>.
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388
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389 The developers of the GNU Compiler Collection project have made
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390 innumerable valuable contributions. See the ChangeLog file for
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391 details.
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392
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393 Some of the ideas behind libffi were inspired by Gianni Mariani's free
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394 gencall library for Silicon Graphics machines.
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395
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396 The closure mechanism was designed and implemented by Kresten Krab
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397 Thorup.
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398
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399 Major processor architecture ports were contributed by the following
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400 developers:
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401
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402 aarch64 Marcus Shawcroft, James Greenhalgh
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403 alpha Richard Henderson
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404 arm Raffaele Sena
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405 blackfin Alexandre Keunecke I. de Mendonca
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406 cris Simon Posnjak, Hans-Peter Nilsson
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407 frv Anthony Green
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408 ia64 Hans Boehm
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409 m32r Kazuhiro Inaoka
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410 m68k Andreas Schwab
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411 m88k Miod Vallat
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412 microblaze Nathan Rossi
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413 mips Anthony Green, Casey Marshall
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414 mips64 David Daney
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415 moxie Anthony Green
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416 nios ii Sandra Loosemore
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417 openrisc Sebastian Macke
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418 pa Randolph Chung, Dave Anglin, Andreas Tobler
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419 powerpc Geoffrey Keating, Andreas Tobler,
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420 David Edelsohn, John Hornkvist
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421 powerpc64 Jakub Jelinek
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422 s390 Gerhard Tonn, Ulrich Weigand
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423 sh Kaz Kojima
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424 sh64 Kaz Kojima
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425 sparc Anthony Green, Gordon Irlam
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426 tile-gx/tilepro Walter Lee
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427 vax Miod Vallat
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428 x86 Anthony Green, Jon Beniston
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429 x86-64 Bo Thorsen
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430 xtensa Chris Zankel
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431
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432 Jesper Skov and Andrew Haley both did more than their fair share of
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433 stepping through the code and tracking down bugs.
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434
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435 Thanks also to Tom Tromey for bug fixes, documentation and
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436 configuration help.
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437
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438 Thanks to Jim Blandy, who provided some useful feedback on the libffi
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439 interface.
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440
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441 Andreas Tobler has done a tremendous amount of work on the testsuite.
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442
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443 Alex Oliva solved the executable page problem for SElinux.
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444
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445 The list above is almost certainly incomplete and inaccurate. I'm
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446 happy to make corrections or additions upon request.
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447
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448 If you have a problem, or have found a bug, please send a note to the
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449 author at green@moxielogic.com, or the project mailing list at
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450 libffi-discuss@sourceware.org.
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