ctypes ([Python 3]: ctypes - A foreign function library for Python) is meant to be able to "talk to" C from Python, which makes it Python friendly, and that means no pointers, memory addresses, ... whatsoever (well at least as possible, to be more precise).
So, under the hood, it does some "magic", which in this case stands between you and your goal.
@EDIT0: Updated the answer to better fit the (clarified) question.
Example:
>>> import ctypes
>>> s0 = ctypes.c_char_p(b"Some dummy text")
>>> s0, type(s0)
(c_char_p(2180506798080), <class 'ctypes.c_char_p'>)
>>> s0.value, "0x{:016X}".format(ctypes.addressof(s0))
(b'Some dummy text', '0x000001FBB021CF90')
>>>
>>> class Stru0(ctypes.Structure):
... _fields_ = [("s", ctypes.c_char_p)]
...
>>> stru0 = Stru0(s0)
>>> type(stru0)
<class '__main__.Stru0'>
>>> "0x{:016X}".format(ctypes.addressof(stru0))
'0x000001FBB050E310'
>>> stru0.s, type(stru0.s)
(b'Dummy text', <class 'bytes'>)
>>>
>>>
>>> b = b"Other dummy text"
>>> char_p = ctypes.POINTER(ctypes.c_char)
>>> s1 = ctypes.cast((ctypes.c_char * len(b))(*b), char_p)
>>> s1, type(s1)
(<ctypes.LP_c_char object at 0x000001FBB050E348>, <class 'ctypes.LP_c_char'>)
>>> s1.contents, "0x{:016X}".format(ctypes.addressof(s1))
(c_char(b'O'), '0x000001FBB050E390')
>>>
>>> class Stru1(ctypes.Structure):
... _fields_ = [("s", ctypes.POINTER(ctypes.c_char))]
...
>>> stru1 = Stru1(s1)
>>> type(stru1)
<class '__main__.Stru1'>
>>> "0x{:016X}".format(ctypes.addressof(stru1))
'0x000001FBB050E810'
>>> stru1.s, type(stru1.s)
(<ctypes.LP_c_char object at 0x000001FBB050E6C8>, <class 'ctypes.LP_c_char'>)
>>> "0x{:016X}".format(ctypes.addressof(stru1.s))
'0x000001FBB050E810'
This is a parallel between 2 types which in theory are the same thing:
ctypes.c_char_p: as you can see, s0 was automatically converted to bytes. This makes sense, since it's Python, and there's no need to work with pointers here; also it would be very annoying to have to convert each member from ctypes to plain Python (and viceversa), every time when working with it.
Current scenario is not part of the "happy flow", it's rather a corner case and there's no functionality for it (or at least I'm not aware of any)
ctypes.POINTER(ctypes.c_char) (named it char_p): This is closer to C, and offers the functionality you needed, but as seen it's also much harder (from Python perspective) to work with it
The problem is that ctypes.c_void_p is similar to #1., so there's no OOTB functionality for what you want, and also there's no ctypes.c_void to go with #2.. However, it is possible to do it, but additional work is required.
The well known (C) rule is:
AddressOf(Structure.Member) = AddressOf(Structure) + OffsetOf(Structure, Member) (beware of memory alignment who can "play dirty tricks on your mind").
For this particular case, things couldn't be simpler. Here's an example:
dll.c:
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#if defined(_WIN32)
# define DLL_EXPORT __declspec(dllexport)
#else
# define DLL_EXPORT
#endif
#define PRINT_MSG_2SX(ARG0, ARG1) printf("From C - [%s] (%d) - [%s]: ARG0: [%s], ARG1: 0x%016llX\n", __FILE__, __LINE__, __FUNCTION__, ARG0, (unsigned long long)ARG1)
static float f = 1.618033;
typedef struct Effect {
void *ptr;
} Effect;
DLL_EXPORT void test(Effect *pEffect, int null) {
PRINT_MSG_2SX("pEffect", pEffect);
PRINT_MSG_2SX("pEffect->ptr", pEffect->ptr);
PRINT_MSG_2SX("&pEffect->ptr", &pEffect->ptr);
pEffect->ptr = !null ? NULL : &f;
PRINT_MSG_2SX("new pEffect->ptr", pEffect->ptr);
}
code.py:
#!/usr/bin/env python3
import sys
from ctypes import CDLL, POINTER, \
Structure, \
c_int, c_void_p, \
addressof, pointer
DLL = "./dll.dll"
class Effect(Structure):
_fields_ = [("ptr", c_void_p)]
def hex64_str(item):
return "0x{:016X}".format(item)
def print_addr(ctypes_inst, inst_name, heading=""):
print("{:s}{:s} addr: {:s} (type: {:})".format(heading, "{:s}".format(inst_name) if inst_name else "", hex64_str(addressof(ctypes_inst)), type(ctypes_inst)))
def main():
dll_dll = CDLL(DLL)
test_func = dll_dll.test
test_func.argtypes = [POINTER(Effect), c_int]
effect = Effect()
print_addr(effect, "effect")
test_func(pointer(effect), 1)
print(effect.ptr, type(effect.ptr)) # Not helping, it's Python int for c_void_p
try:
print_addr(effect.ptr, "effect.ptr")
except:
print("effect.ptr: - wrong type")
print_addr(effect, "effect", "\nSecond time...\n ")
print("Python addrs (irrelevant): effect: {:s}, effect.ptr: {:s}".format(hex64_str(id(effect)), hex64_str(id(effect.ptr))))
if __name__ == "__main__":
print("Python {:s} on {:s}\n".format(sys.version, sys.platform))
main()
Output:
(py35x64_test) e:\Work\Dev\StackOverflow\q053531795>call "c:\Install\x86\Microsoft\Visual Studio Community\2015\vc\vcvarsall.bat" x64
(py35x64_test) e:\Work\Dev\StackOverflow\q053531795>dir /b
code.py
dll.c
(py35x64_test) e:\Work\Dev\StackOverflow\q053531795>cl /nologo /DDLL /MD dll.c /link /NOLOGO /DLL /OUT:dll.dll
dll.c
Creating library dll.lib and object dll.exp
(py35x64_test) e:\Work\Dev\StackOverflow\q053531795>dir /b
code.py
dll.c
dll.dll
dll.exp
dll.lib
dll.obj
(py35x64_test) e:\Work\Dev\StackOverflow\q053531795>"e:\Work\Dev\VEnvs\py35x64_test\Scripts\python.exe" code.py
Python 3.5.4 (v3.5.4:3f56838, Aug 8 2017, 02:17:05) [MSC v.1900 64 bit (AMD64)] on win32
effect addr: 0x000001FB25B8CB10 (type: <class '__main__.Effect'>)
From C - [dll.c] (21) - [test]: ARG0: [pEffect], ARG1: 0x000001FB25B8CB10
From C - [dll.c] (22) - [test]: ARG0: [pEffect->ptr], ARG1: 0x0000000000000000
From C - [dll.c] (23) - [test]: ARG0: [&pEffect->ptr], ARG1: 0x000001FB25B8CB10
From C - [dll.c] (25) - [test]: ARG0: [new pEffect->ptr], ARG1: 0x00007FFFAFB13000
140736141012992 <class 'int'>
effect.ptr: - wrong type
Second time...
effect addr: 0x000001FB25B8CB10 (type: <class '__main__.Effect'>)
Python addrs (irrelevant): effect: 0x000001FB25B8CAC8, effect.ptr: 0x000001FB25BCC9F0
As seen, the address of effect is the same as the address of effect's ptr. But again, this is the simplest possible scenario. But, as explained a general solution, is preferred. However that's not possible, but it can be worked around:
- Use the above formula and get the field offset using [SO]: Getting elements from ctype structure with introspection? (it's long, I had a hard time coming to the current solution - especially because of the 2 container types (Structure and Array) nesting possibilities; hopefully, it's bug free (or as close as possible) :) )
- Modify the C interface to something like:
Effect *get_effect(void **ptr), and store the address in the parameter
- Modify the (Python) Effect structure, and instead of
ctypes.c_void_p field have something that involves POINTER (e.g.: ("ptr", POINTER(c_ubyte))). The definition will differ from C, and semantically things are not OK, but at the end they're both pointers
Note: don't forget to have a function that destroys a pointer returned by get_effect (to avoid memory leaks)
