[erlang-questions] "erl_drv_output_term" vs "driver_output_binary" ?

[Raimo Niskanen]

On Fri, Jul 21, 2017 at 12:24:11PM +0000, Frank Muller wrote:
> One more question Raimo: how about the opposite scenario: Erlang sending
> big binary to the driver?
> 
> 1. Is the binary simply reference-counted?

Yes.  If the driver implements the driver_entry outputv().

> 2. What if the Erlang side change the binary after
> sending it? Should I worry about that?

Nope.  All terms are read-only, from Erlang's point of view.

> 
> /Frank
> 
> 
> Thanks Raimo. I'll stick with "driver_output_binary" for now.
> >
> > /Frank
> >
> > Le ven. 21 juil. 2017 à 11:44, Raimo Niskanen <
> > raimo+erlang-questions@REDACTED> a écrit :
> >
> >> On Fri, Jul 21, 2017 at 09:11:24AM +0000, Frank Muller wrote:
> >> > Hi there,
> >> >
> >> > I would like to know the difference between the two calls.
> >> >
> >> > My linked-in driver has to send big (~4MB in average) binaries to the
> >> > Erlang owning process.
> >> >
> >> > 1. Which call is better suited from that ?
> >>
> >> driver_output_binary(port, NULL, 0, bin, offset, len) will be received by
> >> the owning process as {Port,{data,Bin}}.  A containing integer list can be
> >> added using hbuf != NULL.
> >>
> >> erl_drv_output_term(port, term, n) will be received by the owning process
> >> simply as Term.  This involves parsing the term in ErlDrvTermData[] format
> >> to be able to produce any term.
> >>
> >> > 2. Does every binary gets copied or just reference counted?
> >>
> >> Binaries from a driver gets reference counted with either of these APIs.
> >>
> >> > 3. Any better alternative to use?
> >>
> >> I think these are fairly equivalent except that one produces a term on a
> >> predefined format.
> >>
> >> > 4. Anything else I should be aware of?
> >>
> >> If your driver needs the binary after sending it to Erlang it will have to
> >> increment the reference count itself, and free it later after decrementing
> >> the reference count.
> >>
> >> The driver can not change the data in the binary after sending it to
> >> Erlang.  That has very undefined consequences.
> >>
> >> >
> >> > Many thanks...
> >> > /Frank
> >>
> >>
> >> --
> >>
> >> / Raimo Niskanen, Erlang/OTP, Ericsson AB
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> erlang-questions mailing list
> >> erlang-questions@REDACTED
> >> http://erlang.org/mailman/listinfo/erlang-questions
> >>
> >

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-- 

/ Raimo Niskanen, Erlang/OTP, Ericsson AB