181 lines
6.0 KiB
ReStructuredText
181 lines
6.0 KiB
ReStructuredText
.. _cmodules:
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MicroPython external C modules
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==============================
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When developing modules for use with MicroPython you may find you run into
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limitations with the Python environment, often due to an inability to access
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certain hardware resources or Python speed limitations.
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If your limitations can't be resolved with suggestions in :ref:`speed_python`,
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writing some or all of your module in C is a viable option.
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If your module is designed to access or work with commonly available
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hardware or libraries please consider implementing it inside the MicroPython
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source tree alongside similar modules and submitting it as a pull request.
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If however you're targeting obscure or proprietary systems it may make
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more sense to keep this external to the main MicroPython repository.
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This chapter describes how to compile such external modules into the
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MicroPython executable or firmware image.
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An alternative approach is to use :ref:`natmod` which allows writing custom C
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code that is placed in a .mpy file, which can be imported dynamically in to
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a running MicroPython system without the need to recompile the main firmware.
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Structure of an external C module
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---------------------------------
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A MicroPython user C module is a directory with the following files:
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* ``*.c`` and/or ``*.h`` source code files for your module.
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These will typically include the low level functionality being implemented and
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the MicroPython binding functions to expose the functions and module(s).
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Currently the best reference for writing these functions/modules is
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to find similar modules within the MicroPython tree and use them as examples.
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* ``micropython.mk`` contains the Makefile fragment for this module.
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``$(USERMOD_DIR)`` is available in ``micropython.mk`` as the path to your
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module directory. As it's redefined for each c module, is should be expanded
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in your ``micropython.mk`` to a local make variable,
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eg ``EXAMPLE_MOD_DIR := $(USERMOD_DIR)``
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Your ``micropython.mk`` must add your modules C files relative to your
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expanded copy of ``$(USERMOD_DIR)`` to ``SRC_USERMOD``, eg
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``SRC_USERMOD += $(EXAMPLE_MOD_DIR)/example.c``
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If you have custom ``CFLAGS`` settings or include folders to define, these
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should be added to ``CFLAGS_USERMOD``.
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See below for full usage example.
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Basic example
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-------------
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This simple module named ``example`` provides a single function
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``example.add_ints(a, b)`` which adds the two integer args together and returns
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the result.
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Directory::
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example/
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├── example.c
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└── micropython.mk
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``example.c``
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.. code-block:: c
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// Include required definitions first.
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#include "py/obj.h"
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#include "py/runtime.h"
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#include "py/builtin.h"
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// This is the function which will be called from Python as example.add_ints(a, b).
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STATIC mp_obj_t example_add_ints(mp_obj_t a_obj, mp_obj_t b_obj) {
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// Extract the ints from the micropython input objects
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int a = mp_obj_get_int(a_obj);
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int b = mp_obj_get_int(b_obj);
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// Calculate the addition and convert to MicroPython object.
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return mp_obj_new_int(a + b);
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}
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// Define a Python reference to the function above
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STATIC MP_DEFINE_CONST_FUN_OBJ_2(example_add_ints_obj, example_add_ints);
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// Define all properties of the example module.
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// Table entries are key/value pairs of the attribute name (a string)
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// and the MicroPython object reference.
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// All identifiers and strings are written as MP_QSTR_xxx and will be
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// optimized to word-sized integers by the build system (interned strings).
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STATIC const mp_rom_map_elem_t example_module_globals_table[] = {
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{ MP_ROM_QSTR(MP_QSTR___name__), MP_ROM_QSTR(MP_QSTR_example) },
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{ MP_ROM_QSTR(MP_QSTR_add_ints), MP_ROM_PTR(&example_add_ints_obj) },
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};
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STATIC MP_DEFINE_CONST_DICT(example_module_globals, example_module_globals_table);
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// Define module object.
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const mp_obj_module_t example_user_cmodule = {
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.base = { &mp_type_module },
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.globals = (mp_obj_dict_t*)&example_module_globals,
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};
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// Register the module to make it available in Python
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MP_REGISTER_MODULE(MP_QSTR_example, example_user_cmodule, MODULE_EXAMPLE_ENABLED);
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``micropython.mk``
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.. code-block:: make
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EXAMPLE_MOD_DIR := $(USERMOD_DIR)
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# Add all C files to SRC_USERMOD.
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SRC_USERMOD += $(EXAMPLE_MOD_DIR)/example.c
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# We can add our module folder to include paths if needed
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# This is not actually needed in this example.
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CFLAGS_USERMOD += -I$(EXAMPLE_MOD_DIR)
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Finally you will need to define ``MODULE_EXAMPLE_ENABLED`` to 1. This
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can be done by adding ``CFLAGS_EXTRA=-DMODULE_EXAMPLE_ENABLED=1`` to
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the ``make`` command, or editing ``mpconfigport.h`` or
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``mpconfigboard.h`` to add
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.. code-block:: c
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#define MODULE_EXAMPLE_ENABLED (1)
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Note that the exact method depends on the port as they have different
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structures. If not done correctly it will compile but importing will
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fail to find the module.
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Compiling the cmodule into MicroPython
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--------------------------------------
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To build such a module, compile MicroPython (see `getting started
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<https://github.com/micropython/micropython/wiki/Getting-Started>`_) with an
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extra ``make`` flag named ``USER_C_MODULES`` set to the directory containing
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all modules you want included (not to the module itself). For example:
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Directory::
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my_project/
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├── modules/
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│ └──example/
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│ ├──example.c
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│ └──micropython.mk
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└── micropython/
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├──ports/
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... ├──stm32/
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...
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Building for stm32 port:
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.. code-block:: bash
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cd my_project/micropython/ports/stm32
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make USER_C_MODULES=../../../modules CFLAGS_EXTRA=-DMODULE_EXAMPLE_ENABLED=1 all
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Module usage in MicroPython
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---------------------------
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Once built into your copy of MicroPython, the module implemented
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in ``example.c`` above can now be accessed in Python just
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like any other builtin module, eg
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.. code-block:: python
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import example
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print(example.add_ints(1, 3))
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# should display 4
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