Skip to content

abi¶

Where a symbol’s implementation lives, and which calling convention reaches it.

Declaration¶

Syntax¶

abi
    = Source
    | LFortranModule
    | GFortranModule
    | BindC
    | BindPython
    | BindJS
    | ExternalUndefined
    | Intrinsic

Values¶

Value	Meaning
`Source`	the implementation is part of this ASR. A backend may use any convention it likes for it, and may inline or eliminate it.
`LFortranModule`	external, in an object file compiled by LFortran, reached with LFortran’s own convention.
`GFortranModule`	external, in an object file compiled by GFortran, reached with GFortran’s convention.
`BindC`	external, with the C convention. This is what `bind(c)` and an `iso_c_binding` interface produce.
`BindPython`	the implementation is Python source in the user’s file, executed through CPython. LPython converts the arguments and the result.
`BindJS`	the implementation is provided by JavaScript, for the WebAssembly backend.
`ExternalUndefined`	external with no convention recorded yet.
`Intrinsic`	the language itself provides the implementation. There is no body, and a backend may implement it however it likes.

Return values¶

None. An enumeration value is not evaluated.

Description¶

Every value other than Source means the symbol is external: its implementation is not in this ASR, and a variable with that ABI is not allocated by this ASR either. Source means the opposite, and is what a procedure compiled from the source at hand has.

When a module is compiled, its full ASR (abi=Source, bodies present) is transformed into interface ASR (abi=LFortranModule, bodies empty), and both are written to the module file. A program that uses the module gets the interface form, which is why a symbol reached through ExternalSymbol normally has a module ABI.

See Also¶

Function, Variable, Module, FunctionType, ExternalSymbol