UNIX resource compiler???

UNIX resource compiler???

[Nikolas Kauer]

Do you know of somebody who has written something like a 
resource compiler for Unix executables (NOT Win32 or Mac)?
I would like to include about 100 text files with data as 
an object file in my Unix (Linux, OSF, etc.) executable/library 
and somehow "open" those compiled files for read in my main 
program.  This would be a mile stone for the specific application 
in high energy physics I'm working on, but I could imagine this 
could be very useful in many other situations.  

This appears to be a common technique for Windows based applications, 
however, I couldn't find such a resource compiler for Unix executables 
(there is probably no defined interface for Unix).  Unfortunately, I 
lack the knowledge to design a simple interface for Unix.  Hints to 
resources where I could learn more about the structure of Unix executables 
would also be greatly appreciated.  Maybe there is a simpler method to 
bind resources to executables in Unix that I'm not aware of.

If you know something. please let me know.  

Nikolas Kauer

PS I'm not on the mailing list.

Re: UNIX resource compiler???

[Todd Vierling]

On Fri, 1 Jan 1999, Nikolas Kauer wrote:

: Do you know of somebody who has written something like a 
: resource compiler for Unix executables (NOT Win32 or Mac)?
: I would like to include about 100 text files with data as 
: an object file in my Unix (Linux, OSF, etc.) executable/library 
: and somehow "open" those compiled files for read in my main 
: program.

What you're not specifying is the actual purpose you have behind doing this.
If it's what I think it is, look at <nl_types.h> and the manual pages for
nl_types, catopen, catgets, and gencat (depending on your system, these may
be separate pages or combined, and not all may exist).

This is a method for number-indexing textual messages that can be used in a
fast manner, and it is XPG-specified (thus is available on most modern
operating systems).  Almost all implementations actually mmap() the data
file, so it is rather zippy.

-- 
-- Todd Vierling (Personal tv@pobox.com; Bus. todd_vierling@xn.xerox.com)

Re: UNIX resource compiler???

[Alfred Perlstein]

You may want to look at Berkeley db, or ldap.  "altavista" is your friend
:)

Alfred Perlstein - Programmer, HotJobs Inc. - www.hotjobs.com
-- There are operating systems, and then there's FreeBSD.
-- http://www.freebsd.org/                        3.0-current

On Fri, 1 Jan 1999, Nikolas Kauer wrote:

> 
> Do you know of somebody who has written something like a 
> resource compiler for Unix executables (NOT Win32 or Mac)?
> I would like to include about 100 text files with data as 
> an object file in my Unix (Linux, OSF, etc.) executable/library 
> and somehow "open" those compiled files for read in my main 
> program.  This would be a mile stone for the specific application 
> in high energy physics I'm working on, but I could imagine this 
> could be very useful in many other situations.  
> 
> This appears to be a common technique for Windows based applications, 
> however, I couldn't find such a resource compiler for Unix executables 
> (there is probably no defined interface for Unix).  Unfortunately, I 
> lack the knowledge to design a simple interface for Unix.  Hints to 
> resources where I could learn more about the structure of Unix executables 
> would also be greatly appreciated.  Maybe there is a simpler method to 
> bind resources to executables in Unix that I'm not aware of.
> 
> If you know something. please let me know.  
> 
> Nikolas Kauer
> 
> PS I'm not on the mailing list.
> 

Re: UNIX resource compiler???

[Martin v. Loewis]

> Do you know of somebody who has written something like a 
> resource compiler for Unix executables (NOT Win32 or Mac)?

Wine (Wine Is Not an Emulator) has a resource compiler for Windows
resources, which works on Unix. This is probably not what you want,
though.

If you just want to link the text files into the executable, why not
just convert them into character array and link them in?

If you want to modify the executable after it has been linked, you
need to deal with specific executable format. For ELF, there is an
established interface (libelf) for reading and writing sections.

Please note that it is typically non-trivial to get a file handle for
the executable that is just being executed, at least in a way that
works 100%. For example, the file being executed might already be
unlinked from the file system.

Regards,
Martin

Re: UNIX resource compiler???

[Alfred Perlstein]

On Fri, 1 Jan 1999, Martin v. Loewis wrote:

> > Do you know of somebody who has written something like a 
> > resource compiler for Unix executables (NOT Win32 or Mac)?
> 
> Wine (Wine Is Not an Emulator) has a resource compiler for Windows
> resources, which works on Unix. This is probably not what you want,
> though.
> 
> If you just want to link the text files into the executable, why not
> just convert them into character array and link them in?
> 
> If you want to modify the executable after it has been linked, you
> need to deal with specific executable format. For ELF, there is an
> established interface (libelf) for reading and writing sections.
> 
> Please note that it is typically non-trivial to get a file handle for
> the executable that is just being executed, at least in a way that
> works 100%. For example, the file being executed might already be
> unlinked from the file system.

most systems will allows this via /proc your milage may vary.

-Alfred

> 
> Regards,
> Martin
>