NAME
ExtUtils::CXX - support C++ XS files
SYNOPSIS
use ExtUtils::CXX;
use ExtUtils::MakeMaker;
# wrap calls to WriteMakefile or MakeMaker that are supposed to use
# C++ XS files into extutils_cxx blocks:
extutils_cxx {
WriteMakefile (
... put your normal args here
);
};
DESCRIPTION
This module enables XS extensions written in C++. It is meant to be
useful for the users and installers of c++ modules, rather than the
authors, by having a single central place where to patch things, rather
than to have to patch every single module that overrides CC manually.
That is, in the worst case, you need to patch this module for your
environment before being able to CPAN-install further C++ modules;
commonly, only setting a few ENV variables is enough; and in the best
case, it just works out of the box.
(Comments on what to do and suggestions on how to achieve these things
better are welcome).
At the moment, it works by changing the values in %Config::Config
temporarily. It does the following things:
1. It tries to change $Config{cc} and $Config{ld} into a C++ compiler.
If the environment variable $CXX is set, then it's value will be
used to replace both (except if $PERL_CXXLD is set, then that will
be used for $Config{ld}.
(There is also a $PERL_CXX which takes precedence over $CXX).
The important thing is that the chosen C++ compiler compiles files
with a .c ending as C++ - a generic compiler wrapper such as gcc
that detects the lafguage by the file extension will *not* work.
In the absence of these variables, it will do the following
transformations on what it guesses will be the compiler name:
gcc => g++
clang => clang++
xlc => xlC
cc => g++
c89 => g++
extutils_cxx BLOCK;
This function temporarily does hideous things so you can call
"WriteMakefile" or similar functions in the BLOCK normally. See the
description, above, for more details.
WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO
This module only makes your .xs files compile as C++. It does not
provide magic C++ support for objects and typemaps, and does not help
with portability or writing your .xs file. All of these you have to do -
google is your friend.
LIMITATIONS
Combining C++ and C is an art form in itself, and there is simply no
portable way to make it work - the platform might have a C compiler, but
no C++ compiler. The C++ compiler might be binary incompatible to the C
compiler, or might not run for other reasons, and in the end, C++ is
more of a moving target than C.
SEE ALSO
There is a module called "ExtUtils::XSpp" that says it gives you C++ in
XS, by changing XS in some ways. I don't know what exactly it's purpose
is, but it might be a useful addition for C++ Xs development for you, so
you might want to look at it. It doesn't have "ExtUtils::MakeMaker"
support, and there is a companion module that only supports the obsolete
(and very broken) "Module::Build", sour YMMV.
AUTHOR/CONTACT
Marc Lehmann <
[email protected]>
http://software.schmorp.de/pkg/extutils-cxx.html
