foreign interface term reference validity

[Marijn Schraagen]

Hi,

Using the foreign interface I try to store a term reference in a loop if a condition is met. However, the reference turns out to become invalid if there are other Prolog calls in between.

Consider the following C/C++ code as a MWE:

#include <SWI-Prolog.h>
#include <SWI-cpp.h>
#include <SWI-Stream.h>

int main(int argc, char* argv[]){
    PlEngine e(argc,argv);

    PlCall("assertz(test(a))");
    PlCall("assertz(test(b))");
   
    functor_t pt = PL_new_functor(PL_new_atom("writeln"),1);
    term_t write = PL_new_term_ref();
   
    predicate_t pred = PL_pred(PL_new_functor(PL_new_atom("test"),1),NULL);
    term_t arg = PL_new_term_ref();

    term_t ch_cpy;
    qid_t qr = PL_open_query(NULL,PL_Q_NORMAL,pred,arg);

    bool first=true;
    while(PL_next_solution(qr)){
        if(first){
            ch_cpy = PL_copy_term_ref(arg);
            first=false;
        }
        PlCall("writeln('abcd')");
        PL_cons_functor(write,pt,ch_cpy);
        PL_call(write,NULL);
    }
    PL_close_query(qr);

    return 0;
}

This code performs the query test(X), loops through the (two) solutions, and copies only the first solution to the term reference ch_cpy. In the loop, the queries writeln('abcd') and writeln(ch_cpy) are performed. The output is

abcd
a
abcd
1.25342913e-316

This shows that the term reference ch_cpy is invalid in the second iteration. This situation does not occur when the reference is copied both times:

while(PL_next_solution(qr)){
   ch_cpy = PL_copy_term_ref(arg);
   PlCall("writeln('abcd')");
   PL_cons_functor(write,pt,ch_cpy);
   PL_call(write,NULL);
}

Output:

abcd
a
abcd
b

or when the writeln('abcd') is not performed:

while(PL_next_solution(qr)){
   if(first){
       ch_cpy = PL_copy_term_ref(arg);
       first=false;
   }
   PL_cons_functor(write,pt,ch_cpy);
   PL_call(write,NULL);
}

Output:

a
a

So, the question is: how can a term reference be prevented from becoming invalid in this kind of situation?

[Jan Wielemaker]

On 10/01/2015 06:08 PM, Marijn Schraagen wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Using the foreign interface I try to store a term reference in a loop if
> a condition is met. However, the reference turns out to become invalid
> if there are other Prolog calls in between.

PL_copy_term_ref() creates a second reference to the same term, but
does not change the scoping of the term. If you call PL_next_solution()
in a loop, you basically backtrack, resetting all terms to the state
before the first call to PL_next_solution(). If you want to remember
things, there is PL_record() and friends. But, these make copies of
the term and you must get rid of them explicitly do avoid memory leaks.

Hope this helps

--- Jan

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