使用 ctypes 进行 Python 和 C 的混合编程

Python 和 C 的混合编程工具有很多,这里介绍 Python 标准库自带的 ctypes 模块的使用方法。

  • 初识

Python 的 ctypes 要使用 C 函数,需要先将 C 编译成动态链接库的形式,即 Windows 下的 .dll 文件,或者 Linux 下的 .so 文件。先来看一下 ctypes 怎么使用 C 标准库。

Windows 系统下的 C 标准库动态链接文件为 msvcrt.dll (一般在目录 C:\Windows\System32 和 C:\Windows\SysWOW64 下分别对应 32-bit 和 64-bit,使用时不用刻意区分,Python 会选择合适的)

Linux 系统下的 C 标准库动态链接文件为 libc.so.6 (以 64-bit Ubuntu 系统为例, 在目录 /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu 下)

例如,以下代码片段导入 C 标准库,并使用 printf 函数打印一条消息,

import platform
from ctypes import * if platform.system() == 'Windows':
libc = cdll.LoadLibrary('msvcrt.dll')
elif platform.system() =='Linux':
libc = cdll.LoadLibrary('libc.so.6') libc.printf('Hello ctypes!\n')

另外导入dll文件,还有其它方式如下,详细解释请参阅 ctypes module 相关文档,

import platform
from ctypes import * if platform.system() == 'Windows':
libc = cdll.LoadLibrary('msvcrt.dll')
#libc = windll.LoadLibrary('msvcrt.dll') # Windows only
#libc = oledll.LoadLibrary('msvcrt.dll') # Windows only
#libc = pydll.LoadLibrary('msvcrt.dll') #libc = CDLL('msvcrt.dll')
#libc = WinDLL('msvcrt.dll') # Windows only
#libc = OleDLL('msvcrt.dll') # Windows only
#libc = PyDLL('msvcrt.dll')
elif platform.system() =='Linux':
libc = cdll.LoadLibrary('libc.so.6')
#libc = pydll.LoadLibrary('libc.so.6') #libc = CDLL('libc.so.6')
#libc = PyDLL('libc.so.6') libc.printf('Hello ctypes!\n')
  • ctypes 数据类型

ctypes 作为 Python 和 C 联系的桥梁,它定义了专有的数据类型来衔接这两种编程语言。如下表,

使用 ctypes 进行 Python 和 C 的混合编程

注:Python 中的类型,除了 None,int, long, Byte String,Unicode String 作为 C 函数的参数默认提供转换外,其它类型都必须显式提供转换。

None:对应 C 中的 NULL

intlong: 对应 C 中的 int,具体实现时会根据机器字长自动适配。

Byte String:对应 C 中的一个字符串指针 char * ,指向一块内存区域。

Unicode String :对应 C 中一个宽字符串指针 wchar_t *,指向一块内存区域。

例如,

import platform
from ctypes import * if platform.system() == 'Windows':
libc = cdll.LoadLibrary('msvcrt.dll')
elif platform.system() == 'Linux':
libc = cdll.LoadLibrary('libc.so.6') libc.printf('%s\n', 'here!') # here!
libc.printf('%S\n', u'there!') # there!
libc.printf('%d\n', 42) #
libc.printf('%ld\n', 60000000) # #libc.printf('%f\n', 3.14) #>>> ctypes.ArgumentError
#libc.printf('%f\n', c_float(3.14)) #>>> dont know why 0.000000
libc.printf('%f\n', c_double(3.14)) # 3.140000
  • 创建可变的 string buffer

Python 默认的 string 是不可变的,所以不能传递 string 到一个 C 函数去改变它的内容,所以需要使用 create_string_buffer,对应 Unicode 字符串,要使用 create_unicode_buffer,

定义和用法如下,

>>> help(create_string_buffer)
Help on function create_string_buffer in module ctypes: create_string_buffer(init, size=None)
create_string_buffer(aString) -> character array
create_string_buffer(anInteger) -> character array
create_string_buffer(aString, anInteger) -> character array
from ctypes import *

p = create_string_buffer(5)
print sizeof(p) #
print repr(p.raw) # '\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00'
p.raw = 'Hi'
print repr(p.raw) # 'Hi\x00\x00\x00'
print repr(p.value) # 'Hi'
  • 传递自定义参数类型到 C 函数

ctypes 允许你创建自定义参数类型,它会自动去搜索自定义数据的 _as_parameter 属性,将其作为 C 函数的参数,例如,

import platform
from ctypes import * if platform.system() == 'Windows':
libc = cdll.LoadLibrary('msvcrt.dll')
elif platform.system() == 'Linux':
libc = cdll.LoadLibrary('libc.so.6') class Bottles(object):
def __init__(self, number):
self._as_parameter_ = number # here only accept integer, string, unicode string
bottles = Bottles(42)
libc.printf('%d bottles of beer\n', bottles)

输出,

42 bottles of beer

也可以为你的数据定义 _as_parameter 属性,如下,

import platform
from ctypes import * if platform.system() == 'Windows':
libc = cdll.LoadLibrary('msvcrt.dll')
elif platform.system() == 'Linux':
libc = cdll.LoadLibrary('libc.so.6') class Bottles(object):
def __init__(self):
self._as_parameter_ = None # only accept integer, string, unicode string @property
def aspram(self):
return self._as_parameter_ @aspram.setter
def aspram(self, number):
self._as_parameter_ = number bottles = Bottles()
bottles.aspram = 63
libc.printf('%d bottles of beer\n', bottles)

输出,

63 bottles of beer
  • 指定 C 函数的参数类型

可以指定要调用 C 函数的参数类型,如果传入参数不符合指定的类型,则 ctypes 会尝试转换,如果转换不成功,则抛 ArgumentError,例如,

import platform
from ctypes import * if platform.system() == 'Windows':
libc = cdll.LoadLibrary('msvcrt.dll')
elif platform.system() == 'Linux':
libc = cdll.LoadLibrary('libc.so.6') libc.printf.argtypes = [c_char_p, c_char_p, c_int, c_double] libc.printf('String is "%s", Int is %d, Double is %f\n', 'Hi', 10, 2.2)
libc.printf('%s, %d, %f\n', 'X', 2, 3)
try:
libc.printf("%d %d %d", 1, 2, 3)
except ArgumentError, e:
print "*** ERROR: %s" % str(e)

输出,

String is "Hi", Int is 10, Double is 2.200000
X, 2, 3.000000
*** ERROR: argument 2: <type 'exceptions.TypeError'>: wrong type
  • 指定 C 函数的返回值类型

如果不指定 C 函数的返回值, ctypes 默认返回 int 类型,如果要返回特定类型,需要指定返回类型 restype,

例如,

import platform
from ctypes import * if platform.system() == 'Windows':
libc = cdll.LoadLibrary('msvcrt.dll')
elif platform.system() == 'Linux':
libc = cdll.LoadLibrary('libc.so.6') print '1->', libc.strchr('abcdefghij', c_char('d')) libc.strchr.restype = c_char_p print '2->', libc.strchr('abcdefghij', c_char('d'))
print '3->', libc.strchr('abcdefghij', 'd') # Note, here C function strchr not know what 'd' mean, so rerurn None libc.strchr.argtypes = [c_char_p, c_char]
print '4->', libc.strchr('abcdefghij', 'd') # Note, here not use c_char('w')

输出:

1-> 40291315
2-> defghij
3-> None
4-> defghij
  • 按引用传递参数

有些情况下,需要 C 函数修改传入的参数,或者参数过大不适合传值,需要按引用传递,ctypes 提供关键字 byref() 处理这种情况,

例如,

import platform
from ctypes import * if platform.system() == 'Windows':
libc = cdll.LoadLibrary('msvcrt.dll')
elif platform.system() == 'Linux':
libc = cdll.LoadLibrary('libc.so.6') i = c_int()
f = c_float()
s = create_string_buffer('\000' * 32)
print 'i.val =', i.value
print 'f.val =', f.value
print 'repr(s.value) =', repr(s.value)
libc.sscanf('1 3.14 Hello', '%d %f %s', byref(i), byref(f), s)
print 'after, i.val =', i.value
print 'after, f.val =', f.value
print 'after, repr(s.value) =', repr(s.value)

输出,

i.val = 0
f.val = 0.0
repr(s.value) = ''
after, i.val = 1
after, f.val = 3.1400001049
after, repr(s.value) = 'Hello'
  • 使用结构体

ctypes 支持结构体的使用,从 Structure 类派生,数据放在 _fields_ 中,

例如,

class Point(Structure):
_fields_ = [('x', c_int), ('y', c_int)] point = Point(10, 20)
print 'point.x =', point.x
print 'point.y =', point.y point = Point(y=5)
print 'after, point.x =', point.x
print 'after, point.y =', point.y
print class Rect(Structure):
_fields_ = [('upperleft', Point), ('lowerright', Point)] rc = Rect(point)
print 'rc.upperleft.x = %d, rc.upperleft.y = %d' % (rc.upperleft.x, rc.upperleft.y)
print 'rc.lowerright.x = %d, rc.lowerright.y = %d' % (rc.lowerright.x, rc.lowerright.y) r = Rect(Point(1, 2), Point(3, 4))
print 'r.upperleft.x = %d, r.upperleft.y = %d' % (r.upperleft.x, r.upperleft.y)
print 'r.lowerright.x = %d, r.lowerright.y = %d' % (r.lowerright.x, r.lowerright.y)

输出,

point.x = 10
point.y = 20
after, point.x = 0
after, point.y = 5 rc.upperleft.x = 0, rc.upperleft.y = 5
rc.lowerright.x = 0, rc.lowerright.y = 0
r.upperleft.x = 1, r.upperleft.y = 2
r.lowerright.x = 3, r.lowerright.y = 4
  • 位域

ctypes 提供了对位域的支持,

例如,

class IntBit(Structure):
_fields_ = [('x', c_uint, 2), ('y', c_uint, 4)] IB = IntBit(1, 15)
print 'IB.x = %d' % IB.x
print 'IB.y = %d' % IB.y IB2 = IntBit(4, 16)
print '-> IB2.x = %d' % IB2.x
print '-> IB2.y = %d' % IB2.y

输出,

IB.x = 1
IB.y = 15
-> IB2.x = 0
-> IB2.y = 0
  • 数组

ctypes 提供了对 Array 的支持,

例如,

TenIntArrayType = c_int * 10
ta = TenIntArrayType(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
for item in ta:
print item,
print class PointEx(Structure):
_fields_ = [('x', c_int), ('y', c_int)] class MyStruct(Structure):
_fields_ = [('a', c_int), ('b', c_int), ('pointex_array', PointEx * 4)] ms = MyStruct(4, 5, ((1,1), (2,2), (3,3), (4,4)))
for item in ms.pointex_array:
print '(item.x, item.y) = (%d, %d)' % (item.x, item.y)
print

输出,

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
(item.x, item.y) = (1, 1)
(item.x, item.y) = (2, 2)
(item.x, item.y) = (3, 3)
(item.x, item.y) = (4, 4)
  • 指针

ctypes 使用关键字 pointer 提供了对指针的支持,注意指针解引用使用 [0],

例如,

i = c_int(42)
print 'before, i.value =', i.value
pi = pointer(i)
pi[0] = 57
print 'after, i.value =', i.value # create NULL pointer, also can use this way, but recommend use 'pointer' not 'POINTER'
null_ptr = POINTER(c_int)()
print 'bool(null_ptr) =', bool(null_ptr)

输出,

before, i.value = 42
after, i.value = 57
bool(null_ptr) = False
  • 类型转换

ctypes 提供了类型转换方法 cast(),

例如,

class Bar(Structure):
_fields_ = [('count', c_int), ('value', POINTER(c_int))] bar = Bar()
bar.count = 3
bar.value = (c_int * 3)(1, 2, 3)
for idx in range(bar.count):
print 'bar.value[%d] = %d' % (idx, bar.value[idx]) ## use cast to convert
try:
bar.value = (c_byte * 4)()
except TypeError, e:
print '*** ERROR: %s' % str(e) bar.value = cast((c_byte * 4)(), POINTER(c_int))
for idx in range(4):
print 'now, bar.value[%d] = %d' % (idx, bar.value[idx])
print

输出,

bar.value[0] = 1
bar.value[1] = 2
bar.value[2] = 3
*** ERROR: incompatible types, c_byte_Array_4 instance instead of LP_c_long instance
now, bar.value[0] = 0
now, bar.value[1] = 0
now, bar.value[2] = 0
now, bar.value[3] = 0
  • 回调函数

ctypes 通过 CFUNCTYPE 支持回调函数,

例如,

import platform
from ctypes import * if platform.system() == 'Windows':
libc = cdll.LoadLibrary('msvcrt.dll')
elif platform.system() == 'Linux':
libc = cdll.LoadLibrary('libc.so.6') IntArray5 = c_int * 5
ia = IntArray5(5, 1, 7, 33, 99) # CFUNCTYPE(restype, *argtypes, **kw)
CmpFuncType = CFUNCTYPE(c_int, POINTER(c_int), POINTER(c_int)) def py_cmp_func(a, b):
if a[0] > b[0]:
return 1
elif a[0] < b[0]:
return -1
else:
return 0 cmpfunc = CmpFuncType(py_cmp_func) print 'before sort, the ia list is: ',
for item in ia:
print item, # void qsort (void* base, size_t num, size_t size, int (*compar)(const void*,const void*));
libc.qsort(ia, len(ia), sizeof(c_int), cmpfunc) print '\nafter sort, the ia list is: ',
for item in ia:
print item,
print

输出,

before sort, the ia list is:  5 1 7 33 99
after sort, the ia list is: 1 5 7 33 99
  • Resize Space

ctypes 提供了 resize 变量占用空间的方法 resize(),注意,只能增大,不能小于原始空间,

例如,

short_array = (c_short * 4)(1, 2, 3, 4)
print 'sizeof(short_array) =', sizeof(short_array) # get 8, means short_array take 8-byte memory
print 'len(short_array) =', len(short_array)
print 'before resize, short_array is: ',
for idx in range(len(short_array)):
print short_array[idx],
print try:
resize(short_array, 4) # resize short_array to 4-byte, raise error, due to cannot resize smaller than original
except ValueError, e:
print 'ERROR: %s' % str(e) resize(short_array, 32)
print 'after succeed resize to 32-byte, now sizeof(short_array) =', sizeof(short_array)
print 'after succeed resize to 32-byte, now len(short_array) =', len(short_array)
print 'after reszie, short_array is: ',
for idx in range(len(short_array)):
print short_array[idx],

输出,

sizeof(short_array) = 8
len(short_array) = 4
before resize, short_array is: 1 2 3 4
ERROR: minimum size is 8
after succeed resize to 32-byte, now sizeof(short_array) = 32
after succeed resize to 32-byte, now len(short_array) = 4
after reszie, short_array is: 1 2 3 4
  • Other
class cell(Structure):
pass
cell._fields_ = [('name', c_char_p), ('next', POINTER(cell))] c1 = cell()
c2 = cell()
c1.name = 'foo'
c2.name = 'bar'
c1.next = pointer(c2)
c2.next = pointer(c1) p = c1
for i in range(10):
print p.name,
p = p.next[0]

输出,

foo bar foo bar foo bar foo bar foo bar

ctypes 相对于其它工具,使用起来有点繁琐,而且有很多坑,需要小心谨慎,

例如,

class POINT(Structure):
_fields_ = [('x', c_int), ('y', c_int)] class RECT(Structure):
_fields_ = [('a', POINT), ('b', POINT)] p1 = POINT(1, 2)
p2 = POINT(3, 4)
rc = RECT(p1, p2) print 'rc.a.x =', rc.a.x
print 'rc.a.y =', rc.a.y
print 'rc.b.x =', rc.b.x
print 'rc.b.y =', rc.b.y rc.a, rc.b = rc.b, rc.a print 'after swap, bad result due to this is the pointer,'
print 'rc.a.x =', rc.a.x
print 'rc.a.y =', rc.a.y
print 'rc.b.x =', rc.b.x
print 'rc.b.y =', rc.b.y
print

输出,

rc.a.x = 1
rc.a.y = 2
rc.b.x = 3
rc.b.y = 4
after swap, bad result due to this is the pointer,
rc.a.x = 3
rc.a.y = 4
rc.b.x = 3
rc.b.y = 4
  •  Load 自定义 DLL 

以 C 函数文件 needforspeed.c 为例,

//----------------------------------------------------------------------------
// Purpose: this c module is used to speed up the Python program, should be
// compiled into dll, and then load into Python module with ctypes
// method.
//
// Compile Methods:
//
// ======================
// Windows: use MSVC, x64
// ======================
//
// C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 12.0\VC\bin\amd64> cl /LD needforspeed.c /o nfs.dll
//
// ======
// Linux:
// ======
//
// $ gcc -fPIC -shared needforspeed.c -o nfs.so
//---------------------------------------------------------------------------- #include <stdio.h> // Windows need this compile direction for dll compilation, Linux no need
#ifdef _MSC_VER
#define DLL_EXPORT __declspec( dllexport )
#else
#define DLL_EXPORT
#endif DLL_EXPORT void hello_world(void) {
printf("Hello world!\n");
} DLL_EXPORT int mod(int m, int n) {
return m % n;
} DLL_EXPORT int get_array_elem(int arr[], int idx) {
return arr[idx];
} DLL_EXPORT int get_array2D_elem(int arr[][], int row, int col) {
return arr[row][col];
}

在 Windows 下编译为 nfs.dll, 在 Linux 下编译为 nfs.so,Python 中调用如下,

import platform
from ctypes import * if platform.system() == 'Windows':
mylib = cdll.LoadLibrary('./nfs.dll')
elif platform.system() == 'Linux':
mylib = cdll.LoadLibrary('./nfs.so') mylib.hello_world()
print mod_rtv = mylib.mod(c_int(10), c_int(4))
print 'mod_rtv(10 % 4) =', mod_rtv
print #####################
# 1D array get elem #
##################### IntArray10Type = c_int * 10
intArray = IntArray10Type()
for idx in range(10):
intArray[idx] = idx**2 for idx in range(10):
print 'intArray[%d] = %d' % (idx, mylib.get_array_elem(intArray, idx))
print #####################
# 2D array get elem #
##################### IntArray3Col = c_int * 3
IntArray3Row3Col = IntArray3Col * 3
arr2d = IntArray3Row3Col(IntArray3Col(1, 2, 3), IntArray3Col(8, 9, 4), IntArray3Col(7, 6, 5)) print 'arr2d is:'
for r in range(3):
for c in range(3):
print '%d ' % mylib.get_array2D_elem(arr2d, r, c),
print

输出,

Hello world!

mod_rtv(10 % 4) = 2

intArray[0] = 0
intArray[1] = 1
intArray[2] = 4
intArray[3] = 9
intArray[4] = 16
intArray[5] = 25
intArray[6] = 36
intArray[7] = 49
intArray[8] = 64
intArray[9] = 81 arr2d is:
1 2 3
8 9 4
7 6 5

完。

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