AIX + GCC 2.95.3 - Python (2.1 or 2.2) - building the shared library(.so) for python - HOW TO?!?

[hab]

Hi all,
(If I use standard -shared linking, during the _import python is crashing.)
As seen in in AIX-NOTES there should be used ld_so_aix. But I suspect
that it was prepared for standard xlC (CC) compiler. How to make it
running for GCC compiler?

Now I receive following error:

gcc -Wl,-einitlib.a -Wl,-bE:lib.a.exp -Wl,-bI:./python.exp -Wl,-bhalt:4
-Wl,-bM:
SRE -Wl,-T512 -Wl,-H512 -lm -o lib.a. -shared -Wl,-bbigtoc
-L../../../../lib/pow
erpc_aix_4.3_gcc -L/users/tbech/ND/Python/usr/local/lib/python2.1/config
python.
exp y.tab.o lex.yy.o idlerr.o idlutil.o idltype.o idlrepoId.o idlscope.o
idlexpr
..o idlast.o idlvalidate.o idldump.o idlconfig.o idlfixed.o idlpython.o
ld: 0711-418 ERROR: Import or export file lib.a.exp at line 10:
A symbol name may only be followed by an export attribute
or an address. The line is being ignored.

When I remove this line 10 from lib.a.exp it is telling that several Py*
functions are not exported and that entry point initlib.a not found.

Additional questions:
1. Why is such nonuderstandable-ultimate-tricky solution prepared for AIX?
2. Does it work only for xlC (CC) or also for GCC? If, how to do it?
3. What is the entry point function? How I can find it in the sources?
4. Seems that makexp_aix wrongly makes exports :(

Thanks in advance,
Tom

[Martin v. Löwis]

hab <ha*@polbox.com> writes:

(If I use standard -shared linking, during the _import python is crashing.)
As seen in in AIX-NOTES there should be used ld_so_aix. But I suspect
that it was prepared for standard xlC (CC) compiler. How to make it
running for GCC compiler?
Nobody knows anything about AIX in the Python world. You have to make
it work yourself.
1. Why is such nonuderstandable-ultimate-tricky solution prepared for AIX?
There are two possible reasons:
1. AIX is such a strange system that you need to play dirty tricks to
make it load modules dynamically.
2. Whoever ported shared loading to AIX didn't know anything about the
system, and tried random things until he got a working solution.

I don't know which one it is, but I'm leaning towards 1)
2. Does it work only for xlC (CC) or also for GCC? If, how to do it?
Nobody knows.
3. What is the entry point function? How I can find it in the sources?

You mean, of python itself? It's main(), and it is defined in
Modules/python.c.

Regards,
Martin

[Donn Cave]

In article <m3************@mira.informatik.hu-berlin.de>,
ma****@v.loewis.de (Martin v. Lowis) wrote:

hab <ha*@polbox.com> writes:

(If I use standard -shared linking, during the _import python is crashing.)
As seen in in AIX-NOTES there should be used ld_so_aix. But I suspect
that it was prepared for standard xlC (CC) compiler. How to make it
running for GCC compiler?

Nobody knows anything about AIX in the Python world. You have to make
it work yourself.

1. Why is such nonuderstandable-ultimate-tricky solution prepared for AIX?

There are two possible reasons:
1. AIX is such a strange system that you need to play dirty tricks to
make it load modules dynamically.
2. Whoever ported shared loading to AIX didn't know anything about the
system, and tried random things until he got a working solution.

I don't know which one it is, but I'm leaning towards 1)

AIX is a classic example of underemployed engineers working in a
vacuum. It's strange, sometimes arguably better but rarely worth
the trouble. Linux strikes me a bit the same way, actually, and
IBM's interest in Linux is no surprise. I doubt there are any really
dirty tricks, but there is a point at which things like this are
going to depend on the compiler software. ld_so_aix works fine with
xlc, in my experience, and there's no reason to look for malfeasance
on either side to explain why it stops there. If you want a normal
UNIX platform with an open architecture, try one of the BSDs, or Linux
if you're not that picky about the normal UNIX part. If you're obliged
to work on AIX, then whoever's paying for AIX should happy to pay for
the compiler too.

Donn Cave, do**@u.washington.edu