Accessing Foreign Values - SBCL 1.0.31 User Manual
Description: SBCL 1.0.31 User Manual

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#### 8.3.1 Accessing Foreign Values

— Function: sb-alien:deref pointer-or-array &rest indices

> The `sb-alien:deref` function returns the value pointed to by a foreign pointer, or the value of a foreign array element. When dereferencing a pointer, an optional single index can be specified to give the equivalent of C pointer arithmetic; this index is scaled by the size of the type pointed to. When dereferencing an array, the number of indices must be the same as the number of dimensions in the array type. `deref` can be set with `setf` to assign a new value.

— Function: sb-alien:slot struct-or-union slot-name

> The `sb-alien:slot` function extracts the value of the slot named slot-name from a foreign `struct` or `union`. If struct-or-union is a pointer to a structure or union, then it is automatically dereferenced. `sb-alien:slot` can be set with `setf` to assign a new value. Note that slot-name is evaluated, and need not be a compile-time constant (but only constant slot accesses are efficiently compiled).

##### 8.3.1.1 Untyped memory

As noted at the beginning of the chapter, the System Area Pointer facilities allow untyped access to foreign memory. SAPs can be converted to and from the usual typed foreign values using `sap-alien` and `alien-sap` (described elsewhere), and also to and from integers - raw machine addresses. They should thus be used with caution; corrupting the Lisp heap or other memory with SAPs is trivial.

— Function: sb-sys:int-sap machine-address

> Creates a SAP pointing at the virtual address machine-address.

— Function: sb-sys:sap-ref-32 sap offset

> Access the value of the memory location at offset bytes from sap. This form may also be used with `setf` to alter the memory at that location.

— Function: sb-sys:sap= sap1 sap2

> Compare sap1 and sap2 for equality.

Similarly named functions exist for accessing other sizes of word, other comparisons, and other conversions. The reader is invited to use `apropos` and `describe` for more details

         (apropos "sap" :sb-sys)