koffi 2.0.1 → 2.1.0-beta.3

package/doc/functions.md

@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ printf('Integer %d, double %g, str %s', 'int', 6, 'double', 8.5, 'str', 'THE END
 
 On x86 platforms, only the Cdecl convention can be used for variadic functions.
 
-## C to JS conversion gotchas
+## Special considerations
 
 ### Output parameters
 
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ By default, Koffi will only forward arguments from Javascript to C. However, man
 For simplicity, and because Javascript only has value semantics for primitive types, Koffi can marshal out (or in/out) two types of parameters:
 
 - [Structs](types.md#struct-types) (to/from JS objects)
-- [Opaque handles](types.md#opaque-handles)
+- [Opaque types](types.md#opaque-types)
 
 In order to change an argument from input-only to output or input/output, use the following functions:
 
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ gettimeofday(tv, null);
 console.log(tv);
 ```
 
-#### Opaque handle example
+#### Opaque type example
 
 This example opens an in-memory SQLite database, and uses the node-ffi-style function declaration syntax.
 
@@ -160,7 +160,7 @@ This example opens an in-memory SQLite database, and uses the node-ffi-style fun
 const koffi = require('koffi');
 const lib = koffi.load('sqlite3.so');
 
-const sqlite3 = koffi.handle('sqlite3');
+const sqlite3 = koffi.opaque('sqlite3');
 
 // Use koffi.out() on a double pointer to copy out (from C to JS) after the call
 const sqlite3_open_v2 = lib.func('sqlite3_open_v2', 'int', ['str', koffi.out(koffi.pointer(sqlite3, 2)), 'int', 'str']);
@@ -177,11 +177,75 @@ let db = out[0];
 sqlite3_close_v2(db);
 ```
 
+### Polymorphic parameters
+
+*New in Koffi 2.1*
+
+Many C functions use `void *` parameters in order to pass polymorphic objects and arrays, meaning that the data format changes can change depending on one other argument, or on some kind of struct tag member.
+
+Koffi provides two features to deal with this:
+
+- Typed JS arrays can be used as values in place everywhere `void *` is expected. See [dynamic arrays](types.md#array-pointers-dynamic-arrays) for more information, for input or output.
+- You can use `koffi.as(value, type)` to tell Koffi what kind of type is actually expected.
+
+The example below shows the use of `koffi.as()` to read the header of a PNG file with `fread()`.
+
+```js
+const koffi = require('koffi');
+const lib = koffi.load('libc.so.6');
+
+const FILE = koffi.opaque('FILE');
+
+const PngHeader = koffi.pack('PngHeader', {
+    signature: koffi.array('uint8_t', 8),
+    ihdr: koffi.pack({
+        length: 'uint32_be_t',
+        chunk: koffi.array('char', 4),
+        width: 'uint32_be_t',
+        height: 'uint32_be_t',
+        depth: 'uint8_t',
+        color: 'uint8_t',
+        compression: 'uint8_t',
+        filter: 'uint8_t',
+        interlace: 'uint8_t',
+        crc: 'uint32_be_t'
+    })
+});
+
+const fopen = lib.func('FILE *fopen(const char *path, const char *mode)');
+const fclose = lib.func('int fclose(FILE *fp)');
+const fread = lib.func('size_t fread(_Out_ void *ptr, size_t size, size_t nmemb, FILE *fp)');
+
+let filename = process.argv[2];
+if (filename == null)
+    throw new Error('Usage: node png.js <image.png>');
+
+let hdr = {};
+{
+
+    let fp = fopen(filename, 'rb');
+    if (!fp)
+        throw new Error(`Failed to open '${filename}'`);
+
+    try {
+        let len = fread(koffi.as(hdr, 'PngHeader *'), 1, koffi.sizeof(PngHeader), fp);
+        if (len < koffi.sizeof(PngHeader))
+            throw new Error('Failed to read PNG header');
+    } finally {
+        fclose(fp);
+    }
+}
+
+console.log('PNG header:', hdr);
+```
+
 ### Heap-allocated values
 
+*New in Koffi 2.0*
+
 Some C functions return heap-allocated values directly or through output parameters. While Koffi automatically converts values from C to JS (to a string or an object), it does not know when something needs to be freed, or how.
 
-For opaque handles, such as FILE, this does not matter because you will explicitly call `fclose()` on them. But some values (such as strings) get implicitly converted by Koffi, and you lose access to the original pointer. This creates a leak if the string is heap-allocated.
+For opaque types, such as FILE, this does not matter because you will explicitly call `fclose()` on them. But some values (such as strings) get implicitly converted by Koffi, and you lose access to the original pointer. This creates a leak if the string is heap-allocated.
 
 To avoid this, you can instruct Koffi to call a function on the original pointer once the conversion is done, by creating a **disposable type** with `koffi.dispose(name, type, func)`. This creates a type derived from another type, the only difference being that *func* gets called with the original pointer once the value has been converted and is not needed anymore.
 
@@ -299,6 +363,8 @@ console.log(ret);
 
 ### Registered callbacks
 
+*New in Koffi 2.0*
+
 Use registered callbacks when the function needs to be called at a later time (e.g. log handler, event handler, `fopencookie/funopen`). Call `koffi.register(func, type)` to register a callback function, with two arguments: the JS function, and the callback type.
 
 When you are done, call `koffi.unregister()` (with the value returned by `koffi.register()`) to release the slot. A maximum of 16 registered callbacks can exist at the same time. Failure to do so will leak the slot, and subsequent registrations may fail (with an exception) once all slots are used.

package/doc/make.bat

@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ if "%SPHINXBUILD%" == "" (
 	set SPHINXBUILD=sphinx-build
 )
 set SOURCEDIR=.
-set BUILDDIR=dist
+set BUILDDIR=../build/doc
 
 %SPHINXBUILD% >NUL 2>NUL
 if errorlevel 9009 (

package/doc/templates/badges.html

@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 <div style="text-align: center; margin-top: 2em;">
-    <a href="https://www.npmjs.com/package/koffi"><img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/NPM-{{version}}-brightgreen" alt="NPM"/></a>
+    <a href="https://www.npmjs.com/package/koffi"><img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/NPM-{{ stable }}-brightgreen" alt="NPM"/></a>
     <a href="https://github.com/Koromix/luigi/tree/master/koffi"><img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/GitHub-Koffi-ff6600" alt="GitHub"/></a>
 </div>
-

package/doc/types.md

@@ -2,45 +2,34 @@
 
 ## Primitive types
 
+### Standard types
+
 While the C standard allows for variation in the size of most integer types, Koffi enforces the same definition for most primitive types, listed below:
 
-JS type           | C type             | Bytes | Signedness | Note
------------------ | ------------------ | ----- | ---------- | ---------------------------
-Undefined         | void               | 0     |            | Only valid as a return type
-Number (integer)  | int8               | 1     | Signed     |
-Number (integer)  | int8_t             | 1     | Signed     |
-Number (integer)  | uint8              | 1     | Unsigned   |
-Number (integer)  | uint8_t            | 1     | Unsigned   |
-Number (integer)  | char               | 1     | Signed     |
-Number (integer)  | uchar              | 1     | Unsigned   |
-Number (integer)  | unsigned char      | 1     | Unsigned   |
-Number (integer)  | char16             | 2     | Signed     |
-Number (integer)  | char16_t           | 2     | Signed     |
-Number (integer)  | int16              | 2     | Signed     |
-Number (integer)  | int16_t            | 2     | Signed     |
-Number (integer)  | uint16             | 2     | Unsigned   |
-Number (integer)  | uint16_t           | 2     | Unsigned   |
-Number (integer)  | short              | 2     | Signed     |
-Number (integer)  | unsigned short     | 2     | Unsigned   |
-Number (integer)  | int32              | 4     | Signed     |
-Number (integer)  | int32_t            | 4     | Signed     |
-Number (integer)  | uint32             | 4     | Unsigned   |
-Number (integer)  | uint32_t           | 4     | Unsigned   |
-Number (integer)  | int                | 4     | Signed     |
-Number (integer)  | uint               | 4     | Unsigned   |
-Number (integer)  | unsigned int       | 4     | Unsigned   |
-Number (integer)  | int64              | 8     | Signed     |
-Number (integer)  | int64_t            | 8     | Signed     |
-Number (integer)  | uint64             | 8     | Unsigned   |
-Number (integer)  | uint64_t           | 8     | Unsigned   |
-Number (integer)  | longlong           | 8     | Signed     |
-Number (integer)  | long long          | 8     | Signed     |
-Number (integer)  | ulonglong          | 8     | Unsigned   |
-Number (integer)  | unsigned long long | 8     | Unsigned   |
-Number (float)    | float32            | 4     |            |
-Number (float)    | float64            | 8     |            |
-Number (float)    | float              | 4     |            |
-Number (float)    | double             | 8     |            |
+JS type          | C type                        | Bytes | Signedness | Note
+---------------- | ----------------------------- | ----- | ---------- | ---------------------------
+Undefined        | void                          | 0     |            | Only valid as a return type
+Number (integer) | int8, int8_t                  | 1     | Signed     |
+Number (integer) | uint8, uint8_t                | 1     | Unsigned   |
+Number (integer) | char                          | 1     | Signed     |
+Number (integer) | uchar, unsigned char          | 1     | Unsigned   |
+Number (integer) | char16, char16_t              | 2     | Signed     |
+Number (integer) | int16, int16_t                | 2     | Signed     |
+Number (integer) | uint16, uint16_t              | 2     | Unsigned   |
+Number (integer) | short                         | 2     | Signed     |
+Number (integer) | ushort, unsigned short        | 2     | Unsigned   |
+Number (integer) | int32, int32_t                | 4     | Signed     |
+Number (integer) | uint32, uint32_t              | 4     | Unsigned   |
+Number (integer) | int                           | 4     | Signed     |
+Number (integer) | uint, unsigned int            | 4     | Unsigned   |
+Number (integer) | int64, int64_t                | 8     | Signed     |
+Number (integer) | uint64, uint64_t              | 8     | Unsigned   |
+Number (integer) | longlong, long long           | 8     | Signed     |
+Number (integer) | ulonglong, unsigned long long | 8     | Unsigned   |
+Number (float)   | float32                       | 4     |            |
+Number (float)   | float64                       | 8     |            |
+Number (float)   | float                         | 4     |            |
+Number (float)   | double                        | 8     |            |
 
 Koffi also accepts BigInt values when converting from JS to C integers. If the value exceeds the range of the C type, Koffi will convert the number to an undefined value. In the reverse direction, BigInt values are automatically used when needed for big 64-bit integers.
 
@@ -56,8 +45,8 @@ Number (integer) | intptr           | Signed     | 4 or 8 bytes depending on reg
 Number (integer) | intptr_t         | Signed     | 4 or 8 bytes depending on register width
 Number (integer) | uintptr          | Unsigned   | 4 or 8 bytes depending on register width
 Number (integer) | uintptr_t        | Unsigned   | 4 or 8 bytes depending on register width
-String           | str (string)     |            | JS strings are converted to and from UTF-8
-String           | str16 (string16) |            | JS strings are converted to and from UTF-16 (LE)
+String           | str, string      |            | JS strings are converted to and from UTF-8
+String           | str16, string16  |            | JS strings are converted to and from UTF-16 (LE)
 
 Primitive types can be specified by name (in a string) or through `koffi.types`:
 
@@ -67,8 +56,31 @@ let struct1 = koffi.struct({ dummy: 'long' });
 let struct2 = koffi.struct({ dummy: koffi.types.long });
 ```
 
+### Endian-sensitive types
+
+*New in Koffi 2.1*
+
+Koffi defines a bunch of endian-sensitive types, which can be used when dealing with binary data (network payloads, binary file formats, etc.).
+
+JS type          | C type                 | Bytes | Signedness | Endianness
+---------------- | ---------------------- | ----- | ---------- | -------------
+Number (integer) | int16_le, int16_le_t   | 2     | Signed     | Little Endian
+Number (integer) | int16_be, int16_be_t   | 2     | Signed     | Big Endian
+Number (integer) | uint16_le, uint16_le_t | 2     | Unsigned   | Little Endian
+Number (integer) | uint16_be, uint16_be_t | 2     | Unsigned   | Big Endian
+Number (integer) | int32_le, int32_le_t   | 4     | Signed     | Little Endian
+Number (integer) | int32_be, int32_be_t   | 4     | Signed     | Big Endian
+Number (integer) | uint32_le, uint32_le_t | 4     | Unsigned   | Little Endian
+Number (integer) | uint32_be, uint32_be_t | 4     | Unsigned   | Big Endian
+Number (integer) | int64_le, int64_le_t   | 8     | Signed     | Little Endian
+Number (integer) | int64_be, int64_be_t   | 8     | Signed     | Big Endian
+Number (integer) | uint64_le, uint64_le_t | 8     | Unsigned   | Little Endian
+Number (integer) | uint64_be, uint64_be_t | 8     | Unsigned   | Big Endian
+
 ## Struct types
 
+### Struct definition
+
 Koffi converts JS objects to C structs, and vice-versa.
 
 Unlike function declarations, as of now there is only one way to create a struct type, with the `koffi.struct()` function. This function takes two arguments: the first one is the name of the type, and the second one is an object containing the struct member names and types. You can omit the first argument to declare an anonymous struct.
@@ -109,56 +121,44 @@ const Function1 = lib.func('A Function(A value)');
 const Function2 = lib.func('Function', A, [A]);
 ```
 
-## Pointer types
-
-In C, pointer arguments are used for differenty purposes. It is important to distinguish these use cases because Koffi provides different ways to deal with each of them:
-
-- **Struct pointers**: Use of struct pointers by C libraries fall in two cases: avoid (potentially) expensive copies, and to let the function change struct contents (output or input/output arguments).
-- **Opaque handles**: the library does not expose the contents of the structs, and only provides you with a pointer to it (e.g. `FILE *`). Only the functions provided by the library can do something with this pointer, in Koffi we call this a handle. This is usually done for ABI-stability reason, and to prevent library users from messing directly with library internals.
-- **Arrays**: in C, you dynamically-sized arrays are usually passed to functions with pointers, either NULL-terminated (or any other sentinel value) or with an additional length argument.
-- **Pointers to primitive types**: This is more rare, and generally used for output or input/output arguments. The Win32 API has a lot of these.
+Koffi automatically follows the platform C ABI regarding alignment and padding. However, you can override these rules if needed with:
 
-### Struct pointers
-
-The following Win32 example uses `GetCursorPos()` (with an output parameter) to retrieve and show the current cursor position.
+- Pack all members without padding with `koffi.pack()` (instead of `koffi.struct()`)
+- Change alignment of a specific member as shown below
 
 ```js
-const koffi = require('koffi');
-const lib = koffi.load('kernel32.dll');
-
-// Type declarations
-const POINT = koffi.struct('POINT', {
-    x: 'long',
-    y: 'long'
+// This struct is 3 bytes long
+const PackedStruct = koffi.pack('PackedStruct', {
+    a: 'int8_t',
+    b: 'int16_t'
 });
 
-// Functions declarations
-const GetCursorPos = lib.func('int __stdcall GetCursorPos(_Out_ POINT *pos)');
-
-// Get and show cursor position
-let pos = {};
-if (!GetCursorPos(pos))
-    throw new Error('Failed to get cursor position');
-console.log(pos);
+// This one is 18 bytes long, the second member has an alignment requirement of 16 bytes
+const BigStruct = koffi.struct('BigStruct', {
+    a: 'int8_t',
+    b: [16, 'int16_t']
+})
 ```
 
-### Opaque handles
+### Opaque types
 
-Many C libraries use some kind of object-oriented API, with a pair of functions dedicated to create and delete objects. An obvious example of this can be found in stdio.h, with the opaque `FILE *` pointer. You can open and close files with `fopen()` and `fclose()`, and manipule the handle with other functions such as `fread()` or `ftell()`.
+Many C libraries use some kind of object-oriented API, with a pair of functions dedicated to create and delete objects. An obvious example of this can be found in stdio.h, with the opaque `FILE *` pointer. You can open and close files with `fopen()` and `fclose()`, and manipule the opaque pointer with other functions such as `fread()` or `ftell()`.
 
-In Koffi, you can manage this with opaque handles. Declare the handle type with `koffi.handle(name)`, and use a pointer to this type either as a return type or some kind of [output parameter](functions.md#output-parameters) (with a double pointer).
+In Koffi, you can manage this with opaque types. Declare the opaque type with `koffi.opaque(name)`, and use a pointer to this type either as a return type or some kind of [output parameter](functions.md#output-parameters) (with a double pointer).
 
 ```{note}
-Opaque handles **have changed in version 2.0**.
+Opaque types **have changed in version 2.0, and again in version 2.1**.
 
 In Koffi 1.x, opaque handles were defined in a way that made them usable directly as parameter and return types, obscuring the underlying pointer.
 
 Now, you must use them through a pointer, and use an array for output parameters. This is shown in the example below (look for the call to `ConcatNewOut` in the JS part), and is described in the section on [output parameters](functions.md#output-parameters).
 
+In addition to this, you should use `koffi.opaque()` (introduced in Koffi 2.1) instead of `koffi.handle()` which is deprecated, and will be removed eventually in Koffi 3.0.
+
 Consult the [migration guide](changes.md) for more information.
 ```
 
-The full example below implements an iterative string builder (concatenator) in C, and uses it from Javascript to output a mix of Hello World and FizzBuzz. The builder is hidden behind an opaque handle, and is created and destroyed using a pair of C functions: `ConcatNew` (or `ConcatNewOut`) and `ConcatFree`.
+The full example below implements an iterative string builder (concatenator) in C, and uses it from Javascript to output a mix of Hello World and FizzBuzz. The builder is hidden behind an opaque type, and is created and destroyed using a pair of C functions: `ConcatNew` (or `ConcatNewOut`) and `ConcatFree`.
 
 ```c
 // Build with: clang -fPIC -o handles.so -shared handles.c -Wall -O2
@@ -283,7 +283,7 @@ const char *ConcatBuild(Concat *c)
 const koffi = require('koffi');
 const lib = koffi.load('./handles.so');
 
-const Concat = koffi.handle('Concat');
+const Concat = koffi.opaque('Concat');
 const ConcatNewOut = lib.func('bool ConcatNewOut(_Out_ Concat **out)');
 const ConcatNew = lib.func('Concat *ConcatNew()');
 const ConcatFree = lib.func('void ConcatFree(Concat *c)');
@@ -332,109 +332,51 @@ try {
 }
 ```
 
-### Array pointers
-
-In C, dynamically-sized arrays are usually passed around as pointers. The length is either passed as an additional argument, or inferred from the array content itself, for example with a terminating sentinel value (such as a NULL pointers in the case of an array of strings).
-
-Koffi can translate JS arrays and TypedArrays to pointer arguments. However, because C does not have a proper notion of dynamically-sized arrays (fat pointers), you need to provide the length or the sentinel value yourself depending on the API.
-
-Here is a simple example of a C function taking a NULL-terminated list of strings as input, to calculate the total length of all strings.
-
-```c
-// Build with: clang -fPIC -o length.so -shared length.c -Wall -O2
-
-#include <stdlib.h>
-#include <stdint.h>
-#include <string.h>
-
-int64_t ComputeTotalLength(const char **strings)
-{
-    int64_t total = 0;
-
-    for (const char **ptr = strings; *ptr; ptr++) {
-        const char *str = *ptr;
-        total += strlen(str);
-    }
-
-    return total;
-}
-```
-
-```js
-const koffi = require('koffi');
-const lib = koffi.load('./length.so');
-
-const ComputeTotalLength = lib.func('int64_t ComputeTotalLength(const char **strings)');
+## Pointer types
 
-let strings = ['Get', 'Total', 'Length', null];
-let total = ComputeTotalLength(strings);
+In C, pointer arguments are used for differenty purposes. It is important to distinguish these use cases because Koffi provides different ways to deal with each of them:
 
-console.log(total); // Prints 14
-```
+- **Struct pointers**: Use of struct pointers by C libraries fall in two cases: avoid (potentially) expensive copies, and to let the function change struct contents (output or input/output arguments).
+- **Opaque pointers**: the library does not expose the contents of the structs, and only provides you with a pointer to it (e.g. `FILE *`). Only the functions provided by the library can do something with this pointer, in Koffi we call this an opaque type. This is usually done for ABI-stability reason, and to prevent library users from messing directly with library internals.
+- **Pointers to primitive types**: This is more rare, and generally used for output or input/output arguments. The Win32 API has a lot of these.
+- **Arrays**: in C, you dynamically-sized arrays are usually passed to functions with pointers, either NULL-terminated (or any other sentinel value) or with an additional length argument.
 
-By default, just like for objects, array arguments are copied from JS to C but not vice-versa. You can however change the direction as documented in the section on [output parameters](functions.md#output-parameters).
+### Struct pointers
 
-Here is an example based on the Win32 API, listing files in the current directory with `FindFirstFileW()` and `FindNextFileW()`:
+The following Win32 example uses `GetCursorPos()` (with an output parameter) to retrieve and show the current cursor position.
 
 ```js
 const koffi = require('koffi');
 const lib = koffi.load('kernel32.dll');
 
-const HANDLE = koffi.pointer('HANDLE', koffi.handle());
-const FILETIME = koffi.struct('FILETIME', {
-    dwLowDateTime: 'uint',
-    dwHighDateTime: 'uint'
-});
-const WIN32_FIND_DATA = koffi.struct('WIN32_FIND_DATA', {
-    dwFileAttributes: 'uint',
-    ftCreationTime: FILETIME,
-    ftLastAccessTime: FILETIME,
-    ftLastWriteTime: FILETIME,
-    nFileSizeHigh: 'uint',
-    nFileSizeLow: 'uint',
-    dwReserved0: 'uint',
-    dwReserved1: 'uint',
-    cFileName: koffi.array('char16', 260),
-    cAlternateFileName: koffi.array('char16', 14),
-    dwFileType: 'uint', // Obsolete. Do not use.
-    dwCreatorType: 'uint', // Obsolete. Do not use
-    wFinderFlags: 'ushort' // Obsolete. Do not use
+// Type declarations
+const POINT = koffi.struct('POINT', {
+    x: 'long',
+    y: 'long'
 });
 
-const FindFirstFile = lib.func('HANDLE __stdcall FindFirstFileW(str16 path, _Out_ WIN32_FIND_DATA *data)');
-const FindNextFile = lib.func('bool __stdcall FindNextFileW(HANDLE h, _Out_ WIN32_FIND_DATA *data)');
-const FindClose = lib.func('bool __stdcall FindClose(HANDLE h)');
-const GetLastError = lib.func('uint GetLastError()');
-
-function list(dirname) {
-    let filenames = [];
+// Functions declarations
+const GetCursorPos = lib.func('int __stdcall GetCursorPos(_Out_ POINT *pos)');
 
-    let data = {};
-    let h = FindFirstFile(dirname + '\\*', data);
+// Get and show cursor position
+let pos = {};
+if (!GetCursorPos(pos))
+    throw new Error('Failed to get cursor position');
+console.log(pos);
+```
 
-    if (!h) {
-        if (GetLastError() == 2) // ERROR_FILE_NOT_FOUND
-            return filenames;
-        throw new Error('FindFirstFile() failed');
-    }
+### Named pointer types
 
-    try {
-        do {
-            if (data.cFileName != '.' && data.cFileName != '..')
-                filenames.push(data.cFileName);
-        } while (FindNextFile(h, data));
+*New in Koffi 2.0*
 
-        if (GetLastError() != 18) // ERROR_NO_MORE_FILES
-            throw new Error('FindNextFile() failed');
-    } finally {
-        FindClose(h);
-    }
+Some C libraries use handles, which behave as pointers to opaque structs. An example of this is the HANDLE type in the Win32 API. If you want to reproduce this behavior, you can define a **named pointer type** to an opaque type, like so:
 
-    return filenames;
-}
+```js
+const HANDLE = koffi.pointer('HANDLE', koffi.opaque());
 
-let filenames = list('.');
-console.log(filenames);
+// And now you get to use it this way:
+const GetHandleInformation = lib.func('bool __stdcall GetHandleInformation(HANDLE h, _Out_ uint32_t *flags)');
+const CloseHandle = lib.func('bool __stdcall CloseHandle(HANDLE h)');
 ```
 
 ### Pointers to primitive types
@@ -474,7 +416,9 @@ AddInt(sum, 6);
 console.log(sum[0]); // Prints 42
 ```
 
-## Fixed-size C arrays
+## Array types
+
+### Fixed-size C arrays
 
 Fixed-size arrays are declared with `koffi.array(type, length)`. Just like in C, they cannot be passed as functions parameters (they degenerate to pointers), or returned by value. You can however embed them in struct types.
 
@@ -506,7 +450,7 @@ console.log(ReturnFoo1({ i: 5, a16: [6, 8] })) // Prints { i: 5, a16: Int16Array
 console.log(ReturnFoo2({ i: 5, a16: [6, 8] })) // Prints { i: 5, a16: [6, 8] }
 ```
 
-### Handling of strings
+### Fixed-size string buffers
 
 Koffi can also convert JS strings to fixed-sized arrays in the following cases:
 
@@ -515,6 +459,48 @@ Koffi can also convert JS strings to fixed-sized arrays in the following cases:
 
 The reverse case is also true, Koffi can convert a C fixed-size buffer to a JS string. This happens by default for char, char16 and char16_t arrays, but you can also explicitly ask for this with the `string` array hint (e.g. `koffi.array('char', 8, 'string')`).
 
+### Array pointers (dynamic arrays)
+
+In C, dynamically-sized arrays are usually passed around as pointers. The length is either passed as an additional argument, or inferred from the array content itself, for example with a terminating sentinel value (such as a NULL pointers in the case of an array of strings).
+
+Koffi can translate JS arrays and TypedArrays to pointer arguments. However, because C does not have a proper notion of dynamically-sized arrays (fat pointers), you need to provide the length or the sentinel value yourself depending on the API.
+
+Here is a simple example of a C function taking a NULL-terminated list of strings as input, to calculate the total length of all strings.
+
+```c
+// Build with: clang -fPIC -o length.so -shared length.c -Wall -O2
+
+#include <stdlib.h>
+#include <stdint.h>
+#include <string.h>
+
+int64_t ComputeTotalLength(const char **strings)
+{
+    int64_t total = 0;
+
+    for (const char **ptr = strings; *ptr; ptr++) {
+        const char *str = *ptr;
+        total += strlen(str);
+    }
+
+    return total;
+}
+```
+
+```js
+const koffi = require('koffi');
+const lib = koffi.load('./length.so');
+
+const ComputeTotalLength = lib.func('int64_t ComputeTotalLength(const char **strings)');
+
+let strings = ['Get', 'Total', 'Length', null];
+let total = ComputeTotalLength(strings);
+
+console.log(total); // Prints 14
+```
+
+By default, just like for objects, array arguments are copied from JS to C but not vice-versa. You can however change the direction as documented in the section on [output parameters](functions.md#output-parameters).
+
 ## Disposable types
 
 Disposable types allow you to register a function that will automatically called after each C to JS conversion performed by Koffi. This can be used to avoid leaking heap-allocated strings, for example.
@@ -525,6 +511,8 @@ Read the documentation for [disposable types](functions.md#heap-allocated-values
 
 ### Type introspection
 
+*New in Koffi 2.0: `koffi.resolve()`*
+
 Koffi exposes three functions to explore type information:
 
 - `koffi.sizeof(type)` to get the size of a type
@@ -550,4 +538,6 @@ console.log(koffi.sizeof(koffi.types.long));
 
 ### Type aliases
 
+*New in Koffi 2.0*
+
 You can alias a type with `koffi.alias(name, type)`. Aliased types are completely equivalent.

package/package.json

@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 {
   "name": "koffi",
-  "version": "2.0.1",
+  "version": "2.1.0-beta.3",
+  "stable": "2.0.1",
   "description": "Fast and simple C FFI (foreign function interface) for Node.js",
   "keywords": [
     "foreign",
@@ -25,7 +26,7 @@
   },
   "license": "AGPL-3.0",
   "dependencies": {
-    "cnoke": "^3.1.4"
+    "cnoke": "^3.2.0"
   },
   "devDependencies": {
     "chalk": "^4.1.2",

package/qemu/qemu.js

@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ let qemu_prefix = null;
 main();
 
 async function main() {
-    script_dir = fs.realpathSync(path.dirname(__filename));
+    script_dir = fs.realpathSync(__dirname);
     root_dir = fs.realpathSync(script_dir + '/../..');
 
     // All the code assumes we are working from the script directory