Thread: Sharing a C struct

Hi All,

I've got a problem.

I have wrapped a C linux library using perl-xs. The library provides

- an init function (where a C struct is initialised)
- a do function (where actions are performed using the C struct)
- a free function (where the C struct is freed).

I have 30 perl slaves (processes) that each use their own instance of the C struct in memory.

The problem is that each struct requires around 30 MB (30 *30 = a lot).

Now I would normally initialise the struct in the parent perl controlling thread and pass it too each slave, however I do not have control of the parent thread (at least not withour hacking someone else's source code).

So, the question is, how can I share the initialised C struct between all threads? I've had a couple of ideas:

- write a server that maintains a pointer to the struct.
- keep the struct in a file :/ ?!
- somehow cache the struct between processes within the C side of the wrapper - how could I do this?

Any ideas?

Thanks for any help on this,

rotis23

Thanks for your reply CornedBee.

I've found a chapter in my Linux programming book that describe 'Shared Memory'.

Can I use this to solve my problem?

I assume this is going to raise all sorts of locking issues.