From: Dennis Newbold <dennisn@...>
Date: 2002-04-24T03:37:38+09:00
Subject: Re: building extensions-- new vs initialize

Hi Norman,

     Try using SWIG to build your extension.  Some on this list have
had a few problems getting the resulting code to run properly, (then
again, it may).  But you can look at the generated code startup logic
(entry point Init_<extension-name), I believe) as a good example of
how to define the necessary entry points, constants, class linkages,
etc.).  You can get SWIG for free from www.swig.org

Dennis

On Tue, 23 Apr 2002, Norman Makoto Su wrote:

> Hi, I'm trying to build a ruby extension in C.  While looking at the pickaxe CD
> player example, I noticed that they define a singleton_method called "new" and
> then a normal method called "initialize".  What is the motivation for this?  Is
> it so that when you call CDPlayer.new, the returned object is of type Data?
> (this can't be achieved with just initialize?)
> 
> I'm confused as to when it is or not neccessary to define a "new" method in
> addition to an "initialize" method.  For example, when defining class variables,
> does this have to be done in a "new" method, since the class has not been
> instantiated?
> 
> One last thing, would someone mind giving me the an example of the correct way
> to make a class that includes the Singleton method and then define the
> "instance" method (using rb_require, rb_include_module, etc...)
> 
> Thank you, please excuse my inexperience,
> 
> --
> Norman
>