DynamicLoader

DynamicLoader is a header-only library providing a modern C++ interface to dynamically loaded libraries ("shared objects"). It is built on top of the Linux dlopen() API.

Try DynamicLoader in Compiler Explorer.

Features

• Load shared objects (*.so)
• Mangle function names (no extern "C" needed)
• Lookup functions and get an std::function
• Header-only
• Throws exceptions
• Clean warning-free codebase
• Small self-contained codebase

Limitations

• Linux only
• Does not support function overloads in the loaded library

Example

 {C++}
#include <DynamicLoader/DynamicLoader.hpp>
 
try {
  auto dynamic_loader = dl::DynamicLoader{"<path/to/lib>"};
  auto mangled_name = dynamic_loader.Mangle("Square");
  auto function = dynamic_loader.Lookup<int(int)>(mangled_name);
  assert(function(2) == 4);
} catch (const std::exception& ex) {
  std::cout << ex.what() << '\n';
}

Configuration Options

Name	Description	Default
DynamicLoader_BUILD_DOCS	Build the documentation	$PROJECT_IS_TOP_LEVEL
DynamicLoader_BUILD_TESTS	Build the tests	$PROJECT_IS_TOP_LEVEL
DynamicLoader_ENABLE_WARNINGS	Enable compiler warnings	$PROJECT_IS_TOP_LEVEL
DynamicLoader_CONFIG_INSTALL_DIR	Install path for package configs	lib/cmake/DynamicLoader

Building

DynamicLoader uses the CMake build system, and CPM.cmake for its (optional) dependencies. You need CMake >= 3.24.0, Clang >= 12, or GCC >= 9 to build the library.

cmake -B build [-GNinja] [-DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release]
cmake --build build [--config Release]
cmake --install build [--config Release] [--prefix build/prefix]

Testing

DynamicLoader uses CTest and doctest for its unit tests.

cd build
ctest [-C Release]

Documentation

DynamicLoader uses Doxygen and Doxygen Awesome for its documentation.

cmake --build build --target DynamicLoaderDocs

Please find the HTML documentation in build/docs/html

Usage

DynamicLoader can be integrated into your project in several ways.

CMake FetchContent

include(FetchContent)
FetchContent_Declare(
  dynamic-loader
  GIT_REPOSITORY https://github.com/globberwops/dynamic-loader.git
  GIT_TAG <tag>
)
FetchContent_MakeAvailable(dynamic-loader)
...
target_link_libraries(<your-target> PRIVATE DynamicLoader::DynamicLoader)

Git Submodule

git submodule add https://github.com/globberwops/dynamic-loader.git third_party/dynamic-loader
cd third_party/dynamic-loader
git checkout <tag>

add_subdirectory(third_party/dynamic-loader EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL)
...
target_link_libraries(<your-target> PRIVATE DynamicLoader::DynamicLoader)

Vcpkg

vcpkg install globberwops-dynamic-loader

find_package(DynamicLoader CONFIG REQUIRED)
...
target_link_libraries(<your-target> PRIVATE DynamicLoader::DynamicLoader)