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Python Initialization fails with dynamically loaded DLL [duplicate]

I have a C++ program and it has sort of plugin structure: when program starts up, it's looking for dll in the plugin folder with certain exported function signatures, such as:
void InitPlugin(FuncTable* funcTable);
Then the program will call the function in the dll to initialize and pass function pointers to the dll. From that time on, the dll can talk to the program.
I know Cython let you call C function in Python, but I'm not sure can I write a Cython code and compile it to a dll so my C++ program can initialize with it. An example code would be great.

Using cython-module in a dll is not unlike using a cython-module in an embeded python interpreter.
The first step would be to mark cdef-function which should be used from external C-code with public, for example:
#cyfun.pyx:
#doesn't need python interpreter
cdef public int double_me(int me):
return 2*me;
#needs initialized python interpreter
cdef public void print_me(int me):
print("I'm", me);
cyfun.c and cyfun.h can be generated with
cython -3 cyfun.pyx
These files will be used for building of the dll.
The dll will need one function to initialize the python interpreter and another to finalize it, which should be called only once before double_me and print_me can be used (Ok, double_me would work also without interpreter, but this is an implementation detail). Note: the initialization/clean-up could be put also in DllMain - see such a version further bellow.
The header-file for the dll would look like following:
//cyfun_dll.h
#ifdef BUILDING_DLL
#define DLL_PUBLIC __declspec(dllexport)
#else
#define DLL_PUBLIC __declspec(dllimport)
#endif
//return 0 if everything ok
DLL_PUBLIC int cyfun_init();
DLL_PUBLIC void cyfun_finalize();
DLL_PUBLIC int cyfun_double_me(int me);
DLL_PUBLIC void cyfun_print_me(int me);
So there are the necessary init/finalize-functions and the symbols are exported via DLL_PUBLIC (which needs to be done see this SO-post) so it can be used outside of the dll.
The implementation follows in cyfun_dll.c-file:
//cyfun_dll.c
#define BUILDING_DLL
#include "cyfun_dll.h"
#define PY_SSIZE_T_CLEAN
#include <Python.h>
#include "cyfun.h"
DLL_PUBLIC int cyfun_init(){
int status=PyImport_AppendInittab("cyfun", PyInit_cyfun);
if(status==-1){
return -1;//error
}
Py_Initialize();
PyObject *module = PyImport_ImportModule("cyfun");
if(module==NULL){
Py_Finalize();
return -1;//error
}
return 0;
}
DLL_PUBLIC void cyfun_finalize(){
Py_Finalize();
}
DLL_PUBLIC int cyfun_double_me(int me){
return double_me(me);
}
DLL_PUBLIC void cyfun_print_me(int me){
print_me(me);
}
Noteworthy details:
we define BUILDING_DLL so DLL_PUBLIC becomes __declspec(dllexport).
we use cyfun.h generated by cython from cyfun.pyx.
cyfun_init inizializes python interpreter and imports the built-in module cyfun. The somewhat complicated code is because since Cython-0.29, PEP-489 is default. More information can be found in this SO-post. If the Python-interpreter isn't initialized or if the module cyfun is not imported, the chances are high, that calling the functionality from cyfun.h will end in a segmentation fault.
cyfun_double_me just wraps double_me so it becomes visible outside of the dll.
Now we can build the dll!
:: set up tool chain
call "<path_to_vcvarsall>\vcvarsall.bat" x64
:: build cyfun.c generated by cython
cl /Tccyfun.c /Focyfun.obj /c <other_coptions> -I<path_to_python_include>
:: build dll-wrapper
cl /Tccyfun_dll.c /Focyfun_dll.obj /c <other_coptions> -I<path_to_python_include>
:: link both obj-files into a dll
link cyfun.obj cyfun_dll.obj /OUT:cyfun.dll /IMPLIB:cyfun.lib /DLL <other_loptions> -L<path_to_python_dll>
The dll is now built, but the following details are noteworthy:
<other_coptions> and <other_loptions> can vary from installation to installation. An easy way is to see them is to run cythonize some_file.pyx` and to inspect the log.
we don't need to pass python-dll, because it will be linked automatically, but we need to set the right library-path.
we have the dependency on the python-dll, so later on it must be somewhere where it can be found.
Were you go from here depends on your task, we test our dll with a simple main:
//test.c
#include "cyfun_dll.h"
int main(){
if(0!=cyfun_init()){
return -1;
}
cyfun_print_me(cyfun_double_me(2));
cyfun_finalize();
return 0;
}
which can be build via
...
:: build main-program
cl /Tctest.c /Focytest.obj /c <other_coptions> -I<path_to_python_include>
:: link the exe
link test.obj cyfun.lib /OUT:test_prog.exe <other_loptions> -L<path_to_python_dll>
And now calling test_prog.exe leads to the expected output "I'm 4".
Depending on your installation, following things must be considered:
test_prog.exe depends on pythonX.Y.dll which should be somewhere in the path so it can be found (the easiest way is to copy it next to the exe)
The embeded python interpreter needs an installation, see this and/or this SO-posts.
IIRC, it is not a great idea to initialize, then to finalize and then to initialize the Python-interpreter again (that might work for some scenarios, but not all , see for example this) - the interpreter should be initialized only once and stay alive until the programs ends.
Thus, it may make sense to put initialization/clean-up code into DllMain (and make cyfun_init() and cyfun_finalize() private), e.g.
BOOL WINAPI DllMain(
HINSTANCE hinstDLL, // handle to DLL module
DWORD fdwReason, // reason for calling function
LPVOID lpReserved ) // reserved
{
// Perform actions based on the reason for calling.
switch( fdwReason )
{
case DLL_PROCESS_ATTACH:
return cyfun_init()==0;
case DLL_PROCESS_DETACH:
cyfun_finalize();
break;
case DLL_THREAD_ATTACH:
// Do thread-specific initialization.
break;
case DLL_THREAD_DETACH:
// Do thread-specific cleanup.
break;
}
return TRUE;
}
If your C/C++-program already has an initialized Python-interpreter it would make sense to offer a function which only imports the module cyfun and doesn't initialize the python-interpreter. In this case I would define CYTHON_PEP489_MULTI_PHASE_INIT=0, because PyImport_AppendInittab must be called before Py_Initialize, which might be already too late when the dll is loaded.

I'd imagine it'd be difficult to call it directly, with Cython depending so much on the Python runtime.
Your best bet is to embed a Python interpreter directly inside your app, e.g. as described in this answer, and call your Cython code from the interpreter. That's what I would do.

The correct CMakeLists.txt file to call a MAXON libarary in a Python script using pybind11

I'm very new to the whole CMake. Following this and this posts, now I want to call a MAXON function inside Python, using pybind11. What I have done so far:
The library can be downloaded from this page (direct download link).
wget https://www.maxongroup.com/medias/sys_master/root/8837358518302/EPOS-Linux-Library-En.zip
unzip:
unzip EPOS-Linux-Library-En.zip
make the install shell script executable and run it:
chmod +x ./install.sh
sudo ./install.sh
Then going to the example folder:
cd /opt/EposCmdLib_6.6.1.0/examples/HelloEposCmd/
Now combining the CMakeLists.txt files from here:
# CMakeLists.txt
cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 2.8.12)
project (HelloEposCmd)
set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS_DEBUG "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS_DEBUG} -Wall")
set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS_RELEASE "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS_RELEASE} -Wall")
set(CMAKE_POSITION_INDEPENDENT_CODE ON)
find_package(pybind11 REQUIRED)
pybind11_add_module(${PROJECT_NAME} HelloEposCmd.cpp)
add_executable(${PROJECT_NAME} HelloEposCmd.cpp)
target_link_libraries(${PROJECT_NAME} -lEposCmd)
and the HelloEposCmd.cpp this line is added right after other header files:
#include <pybind11/pybind11.h>
the main function is renamed to:
int run(int argc, char** argv)
and the pybind11 syntax to add the module is written at the end:
PYBIND11_MODULE(HelloEposCmd, m) {
m.def("run", &run, "runs the HelloEposCmd");
}
However, When I run the cmake . I get the error:
CMake Error at CMakeLists.txt:13 (add_executable):
add_executable can not create target "HelloEposCmd" because another target with the same name already exists. The existing target is a module library created in source directory "/opt/EposCmdLib_6.6.1.0/examples/HelloEposCmd" See documentation for policy CMP0002 for more details.
...
I was wondering if you could be kind to help me get the right CMakeList.txt file. Ideally, I should be able to call the compiled module in python:
# HelloEposCmd.py
import HelloEposCmd
HelloEposCmd.run()
Thanks for your support in advance.

pybind11_add_module already creates a target for you. So you don't need add_executable anymore. Just remove that line and when you will build you will get a library with the name HelloEposCmd
add_executable is needed if you are building an executable (.exe), which I believe is not what you want.
Documenation of pybind11 says.
This function behaves very much like CMake’s builtin add_library (in fact, it’s a wrapper function around that command).

Thanks to abhilb post and his kind followup in the comments I was able to figure the problem out. well, at least find a temporary workaround:
According to this post, the last two lines of the CMakeLists.txt file should change to
# this line can be removed
# add_executable(${PROJECT_NAME} HelloEposCmd.cpp)
target_link_libraries(${PROJECT_NAME} PRIVATE -lEposCmd)
and then because according to this post pybind11 doesn't support double pointers we change the run function to:
int run() {
int argc = 1;
char* argv[] = {"./HelloEposCmd"};
...
}
which I suppose to be a horrible workaround (inspired by information from this page). Now running cmake ., make and python3 HelloEposCmd.py should work properly (except a small c++ warning!).
P.S.1. Maybe someone could use std::vector<std::string> as suggested here. This idea was proposed here and there are already some answers worth investigating.
P.S.2. Following this discussion, another workaround could be something like:
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
void myFunc(int argc, char* argv[]) {
for (int i = 0; i < argc; ++i) {
printf("%s\n", argv[i]);
}
}
int run(int argc, long* argv_) {
char** argv = (char**)malloc(argc * sizeof(char*));
for (int i = 0; i < argc; ++i) {
argv[i] = (char*)(argv_[i]);
}
myFunc(argc, argv);
free(argv);
return 0;
}

Linking C module with Python 3.7. CMake in Windows

I'm trying to create a C library that can be called from Python, so far I've created the proxy C file that exposes the module information and the method table (For simplicity just one method is added get_cycle_count and its implementation irrelevant):
static PyMethodDef NESulator_methods[] = {
{"NESulator", get_cycle_count, METH_VARARGS, "Retrieves the current cycle count"},
{NULL, NULL, 0, NULL} /* Sentinel */
};
static struct PyModuleDef NESulator_module = {
PyModuleDef_HEAD_INIT,
"NESulator", /* name of module */
NULL, /* module documentation, may be NULL */
-1, /* size of per-interpreter state of the module,
or -1 if the module keeps state in global variables. */
NESulator_methods
};
/*
* Should this be called somewhere? Will the linker do something with this?
*/
PyMODINIT_FUNC PyInit_NESulator(void)
{
return PyModule_Create(&NESulator_module);
}
Now, the documentation says that (Obviously) my C library has to be processed somehow so that Python can actually import it. I've gotten as far as creating a C library instead of an executable with CMake (And CLion, not VS so the compiler is gcc from MinGW) but I can't find nor understand how I'm suposed to do that with CMake.
This piece of CMake produces a file called libNESulator.a but no dll or lib files are produced and the .py file (in the same location as the .a library) can't find it when doing import libNESulator or import NESulator the latter one being the name defined in the PyModuleDef structure. So I'm pretty sure there's something missing there
project(NESulator)
set(CMAKE_C_STANDARD 11)
add_subdirectory(src)
find_package(PythonLibs REQUIRED)
include_directories(${PYTHON_INCLUDE_DIRS})
add_library(NESulator "all of my .c files in the src directory previously included" )
target_link_libraries(NESulator ${PYTHON_LIBRARIES})
So.... yeah, do you have any idea how to turn that libNESulator.a into a Python callable module? What do I need to do in this CMake to make it happen?
If you have an easier way of doing it or any other way at all please feel free to propose it. I'm quite new to CMake and Python so I don't know if you need more information from me like the project structure or so but please let me know if you do.
Thanks a lot

Wrapper DLL for Python: "fatal error LNK1127: library is corrupt"

Brief description
I have a DLL programmed in ADA with GNAT. I want to compile with MSVC another DLL in C as a wrapper to the ADA_DLL in order to use it with Python.
I have compiled the ada_DLL, then I have generated the .lib file according to gnat documentation about MSVC. And finally I tried to compile the C_DLL with Visual-Studio, getting the error:
libmath.lib : fatal error LNK1127: library is corrupt
Update: In the case of compiling with gcc as suggested by #Brian, I get the following output:
>"C:\GNAT\2015\bin\gcc.exe" -c -IC:\Python27\include -o libmath_c.o libmath_c.c
>"C:\GNAT\2015\bin\gcc.exe" -shared -LC:\Python27\libs -L./ -l libmath -o DIVISION_CPP.pyd libmath_c.o -lpython27
.//libmath.lib: error adding symbols: Malformed archive
collect2.exe: error: ld returned 1 exit status
Things I tried & more data:
I have tried importing the ADA_DLL directly with ctypes in Python and it works, so I believe that the ADA_DLL is correctly compiled. Also, forgetting about the C_DLL is not really an option.
I did a small example with a division example module. My .def file looks something like:
; dlltool -z libmath.def --export-all-symbols libmath.dll
EXPORTS
[...]
div # 259
[...]
The libmath_c.c:
#include "libmath_c.h"
PyObject* _wrap_DIVISION(PyObject *self, PyObject *args){
div(10, 2);
return Py_None;
}
__declspec(dllexport) void __cdecl initDIVISION_CPP(void){
Py_InitModule("DIVISION_CPP", LIB_METHODS_methods);
}
The libmath_c.h:
#include <windows.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <Python.h>
PyObject* _wrap_DIVISION(PyObject *self, PyObject *args);
static PyMethodDef LIB_METHODS_methods[] = {
{ "CPP_DIVISION", _wrap_DIVISION, METH_VARARGS },
{NULL, NULL, 0, NULL} //Added as indicated by #Brian. Thanks!
};
__declspec(dllexport) void __cdecl initDIVISION_CPP(void);
Any idea of what is happening? Any help would be really appreciated. Thanks!

Preamble: Apologies if this turns out to be a non-answer; I want to be able to come back to this and find the links again, and comments tend to rot...
First, gcc (in the version matching Gnat) may work as an alternative C compiler, and if it does, it may eliminate difficulties with incompatible library versions.
GCC can be used for building Windows DLLs so the result should be usable from other Windows executables.
Following comments; gcc does appear to allow compilation, but the result is not currently usable from Python - here, my Python knowledge is shallow, and we don't have an MCVE, so this is speculative:
This Q&A addresses the same error message between Python and pure C, with no Ada, suggesting this error may not be specific to C-wrapped Ada.
You have already bypassed the asker's specific error,
static PyMethodDef* _npfindmethods = { ... };
which was using a pointer; you are (correctly according to the answer) statically allocating an array. However, the accepted answer terminates the list of methods
static PyMethodDef _npfindmethods[] = {
{"add", py_add, METH_VARARGS, py_add_doc},
{NULL, NULL, 0, NULL}
};
with a NULL method; your example does not:
static PyMethodDef LIB_METHODS_methods[] = {
{ "CPP_DIVISION", _wrap_DIVISION, METH_VARARGS }
};
So my hypothesis is that when you run setup() on this module, it finds CPP_DIVISION successfully, then in the absence of a NULL method it runs off into the weeds, producing the same symptoms despite the difference in cause.
I could test this hypothesis using the MCVE in that question by deleting the NULL method; however I don't have a Windows system handy, only Linux.
Alternatively, I see no reason for a C layer. If there isn't one, this Q&A addresses direct interaction between Python and Ada with no C layer, though it appears to use a different method, getattr() to import the external method. Might be an alternative?

Finally I managed to compile with gcc+gnat but not with MSVC+gnat.
With gcc+gnat, I was getting .//libmath.lib: error adding symbols: Malformed archive. The solution consists on using libmath.dll instead of building the .lib from the .dll.
So, in summary:
If you have a .dll generated by gnat, use it with gcc. You don't need to build a .lib.
If you have a .lib (for example python27.lib) or a .dll not generated by gnat, convert it to a .a using a tool like "pexport" (DO NOT USE SED!).
If you really need to compile using the MSVC... I'm sorry, I could not manage to make it work. Your princess is in another castle.

Segfault on calling standard windows .dll from python ctypes with wine

I'm trying to call some function from Kernel32.dll in my Python script running on Linux. As Johannes Weiß pointed How to call Wine dll from python on Linux? I'm loading kernel32.dll.so library via ctypes.cdll.LoadLibrary() and it loads fine. I can see kernel32 loaded and even has GetLastError() function inside. However whenever I'm trying to call the function i'm gettings segfault.
import ctypes
kernel32 = ctypes.cdll.LoadLibrary('/usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/wine/kernel32.dll.so')
print kernel32
# <CDLL '/usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/wine/kernel32.dll.so', handle 8843c10 at b7412e8c>
print kernel32.GetLastError
# <_FuncPtr object at 0xb740b094>
gle = kernel32.GetLastError
# OK
gle_result = gle()
# fails with
# Segmentation fault (core dumped)
print gle_result
First I was thinking about calling convention differences but it seems to be okay after all. I'm ending with testing simple function GetLastError function without any params but I'm still getting Segmentation fault anyway.
My testing system is Ubuntu 12.10, Python 2.7.3 and wine-1.4.1 (everything is 32bit)
UPD
I proceed with my testing and find several functions that I can call via ctypes without segfault. For instance I can name Beep() and GetCurrentThread() functions, many other functions still give me segfault. I created a small C application to test kernel32.dll.so library without python but i've got essentially the same results.
int main(int argc, char **argv)
{
void *lib_handle;
#define LOAD_LIBRARY_AS_DATAFILE 0x00000002
long (*GetCurrentThread)(void);
long (*beep)(long,long);
void (*sleep)(long);
long (*LoadLibraryExA)(char*, long, long);
long x;
char *error;
lib_handle = dlopen("/usr/local/lib/wine/kernel32.dll.so", RTLD_LAZY);
if (!lib_handle)
{
fprintf(stderr, "%s\n", dlerror());
exit(1);
}
// All the functions are loaded e.g. sleep != NULL
GetCurrentThread = dlsym(lib_handle, "GetCurrentThread");
beep = dlsym(lib_handle, "Beep");
LoadLibraryExA = dlsym(lib_handle, "LoadLibraryExA");
sleep = dlsym(lib_handle, "Sleep");
if ((error = dlerror()) != NULL)
{
fprintf(stderr, "%s\n", error);
exit(1);
}
// Works
x = (*GetCurrentThread)();
printf("Val x=%d\n",x);
// Works (no beeping, but no segfault too)
(*beep)(500,500);
// Segfault
(*sleep)(5000);
// Segfault
(*LoadLibraryExA)("/home/ubuntu/test.dll",0,LOAD_LIBRARY_AS_DATAFILE);
printf("The End\n");
dlclose(lib_handle);
return 0;
}
I was trying to use different calling conventions for Sleep() function but got no luck with it too. When I comparing function declarations\implementation in Wine sources they are essentially the same
Declarations
HANDLE WINAPI GetCurrentThread(void) // http://source.winehq.org/source/dlls/kernel32/thread.c#L573
BOOL WINAPI Beep( DWORD dwFreq, DWORD dwDur ) // http://source.winehq.org/source/dlls/kernel32/console.c#L354
HMODULE WINAPI DECLSPEC_HOTPATCH LoadLibraryExA(LPCSTR libname, HANDLE hfile, DWORD flags) // http://source.winehq.org/source/dlls/kernel32/module.c#L928
VOID WINAPI DECLSPEC_HOTPATCH Sleep( DWORD timeout ) // http://source.winehq.org/source/dlls/kernel32/sync.c#L95
WINAPI is defined to be __stdcall
However some of them works and some don't. As I can understand this sources are for kernel32.dll file and kernel32.dll.so file is a some kind of proxy that supposed to provide access to kernel32.dll for linux code. Probably I need to find exact sources of kernel32.dll.so file and take a look on declarations.
Is there any tool I can use to take a look inside .so file and find out what functions and what calling conventions are used?

The simplest way to examine a DLL is to use the nm command, i.e.
$ nm kernel32.dll.so | grep GetLastError
7b86aae0 T _GetLastError
As others have pointed out, the default calling convention for Windows C DLLs is stdcall. It has nothing to do with using Python. On the Windows platform, ctypes.windll is available.
However, I am not even sure what you are trying to do is at all possible. Wine is a full-blown Windows emulator and it is safe to guess that at least you would have to start it with wine_init before loading any other functions. The Windows API probably have some state (set when Windows boots).
The easiest way to continue is probably to install a Windows version of Python under Wine and run your script from there.