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Main interface to C code and data

(PHP 7 >= 7.4.0, PHP 8)

Introduction

Objects of this class are created by the factory methods FFI::cdef(), FFI::load() or FFI::scope(). Defined C variables are made available as properties of the FFI instance, and defined C functions are made available as methods of the FFI instance. Declared C types can be used to create new C data structures using FFI::new() and FFI::type().

FFI definition parsing and shared library loading may take significant time. It is not useful to do it on each HTTP request in a Web environment. However, it is possible to preload FFI definitions and libraries at PHP startup, and to instantiate FFI objects when necessary. Header files may be extended with special FFI_SCOPE defines (e.g. #define FFI_SCOPE "foo"; the default scope is "C") and then loaded by FFI::load() during preloading. This leads to the creation of a persistent binding, that will be available to all the following requests through FFI::scope(). Refer to the complete PHP/FFI/preloading example for details.

It is possible to preload more than one C header file into the same scope.

Class synopsis

final class FFI {
/* Constants */
public const int __BIGGEST_ALIGNMENT__;
/* Methods */
public static addr(FFI\CData &$ptr): FFI\CData
public static alignof(FFI\CData|FFI\CType &$ptr): int
public static arrayType(FFI\CType $type, array $dimensions): FFI\CType
public static cdef(string $code = "", ?string $lib = null): FFI
public static free(FFI\CData &$ptr): void
public static isNull(FFI\CData &$ptr): bool
public static load(string $filename): ?FFI
public static memcmp(string|FFI\CData &$ptr1, string|FFI\CData &$ptr2, int $size): int
public static memcpy(FFI\CData &$to, FFI\CData|string &$from, int $size): void
public static memset(FFI\CData &$ptr, int $value, int $size): void
public new(FFI\CType|string $type, bool $owned = true, bool $persistent = false): ?FFI\CData
public static scope(string $name): FFI
public static sizeof(FFI\CData|FFI\CType &$ptr): int
public static string(FFI\CData &$ptr, ?int $size = null): string
public type(string $type): ?FFI\CType
public static typeof(FFI\CData &$ptr): FFI\CType
}

Predefined Constants

FFI::__BIGGEST_ALIGNMENT__

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