34 lines
1.6 KiB
ReStructuredText
34 lines
1.6 KiB
ReStructuredText
===================================
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DF data definitions (DF-structures)
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===================================
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DFHack's information about DF's data structures is stored in XML files in the
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`df-structures repository <https://github.com/DFHack/df-structures>`_. If you
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have `obtained a local copy of the DFHack source <compile-how-to-get-the-code>`,
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DF-structures is included as a submodule in ``library/xml``.
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Data structure layouts are described in files named with the ``df.*.xml``
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pattern. This information is transformed by a Perl script (``codegen.pl``) into
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C++ headers, as well as metadata for the Lua wrapper. This ultimately allows
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DFHack code to access DF data directly, with the same speed and capabilities as
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DF itself, which is an advantage over the older out-of-process approach (used
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by debuggers and utilities like Dwarf Therapist). The main disadvantage of this
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approach is that any compiled code relying on these layouts will break when DF's
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layout changes, and will need to be recompiled for every new DF version.
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Addresses of DF global objects and vtables are stored in a separate file,
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:file:`symbols.xml`. Since these are only absolute addresses, they do not need
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to be compiled into DFHack code, and are instead loaded at runtime. This makes
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fixes and additions to global addresses possible without recompiling DFHack.
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In an installed copy of DFHack, this file can be found at the root of the
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``hack`` folder.
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The following pages contain more detailed information about various aspects
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of DF-structures:
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.. toctree::
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:titlesonly:
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/library/xml/SYNTAX
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/library/xml/how-to-update
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