Python method to boost function

Question

I have a method exported to Python using boost python that takes a boost::function as an argument.

From what I have read boost::python should support boost::function without much fuss, but when I try to call the function with a python method it gives me this error

Boost.Python.ArgumentError: Python argument types in
    Class.createTimer(Class, int, method, bool)
did not match C++ signature:
    createTimer(class Class {lvalue}, unsigned long interval, 
    class boost::function<bool _cdecl(void)> function, bool recurring=False)

I am calling it from python with this code

self.__class.createTimer( 3, test.timerFunc, False )

and in C++ it is defined as

boost::int32_t createTimer( boost::uint32_t interval, boost::function< bool() > function, bool recurring = false );

The goal here is a timer class where I can do something like

class->createTimer( 3, boost::bind( &funcWithArgs, arg1, arg2 ) )

to create a timer that executes the funcWithArgs. Thanks to boost bind this will work with pretty much any function or method.

So what is the syntax I need to use for boost::python to accept my python functions as a boost::function?

Answer 1

Got an answer on the python mailing list, and after a bit of reworking and more research I got exactly what I wanted :)

I did see that post before mithrandi but I did not like the idea of having to declare the functions like that. With some fancy wrappers and a bit of python magic this can work and look good at the same time!

To start, wrap up your python object with code like this

struct timer_func_wrapper_t
{
    timer_func_wrapper_t( bp::object callable ) : _callable( callable ) {}

    bool operator()()
    {
        // These GIL calls make it thread safe, may or may not be needed depending on your use case
        PyGILState_STATE gstate = PyGILState_Ensure();
        bool ret = _callable();
        PyGILState_Release( gstate );
        return ret;
    }

    bp::object _callable;
};

boost::int32_t createTimerWrapper( Class* class, boost::uint64_t interval, bp::object function, bool recurring = false )
{
    return class->createTimer( interval, boost::function<bool ()>( timer_func_wrapper_t( function ) ), recurring );
}

when in your class define the method like so

.def( "createTimer", &createTimerWrapper, ( bp::arg( "interval" ), bp::arg( "function" ), bp::arg( "recurring" ) = false ) )

With that little bit of wrapper you can work magic like this

import MyLib
import time

def callMePls():
    print( "Hello world" )
    return True

class = MyLib.Class()

class.createTimer( 3, callMePls )

time.sleep( 1 )

To mimic the C++ completely, we also need a boost::bind implementation which can be found here: http://code.activestate.com/recipes/440557/

With that, we can now do something like this

import MyLib
import time

def callMePls( str ):
    print( "Hello", str )
    return True

class = MyLib.Class()

class.createTimer( 3, bind( callMePls, "world" ) )

time.sleep( 1 )

EDIT:

I like to follow up on my questions when I can. I was using this code successfully for a while but I found out that this falls apart when you want to take boost::function's in object constructors. There is a way to make it work similarly to this but the new object you construct ends up with a different signature and will not work with other objects like itself.

This finally bugged me enough to do something about it and since I know more about boost::python now I came up with a pretty good 'fits all' solution using converters. This code here will convert a python callable to a boost::python< bool() > object, it can be easily modified to convert to other boost functions.

// Wrapper for timer function parameter
struct timer_func_wrapper_t
{
    timer_func_wrapper_t( bp::object callable ) : _callable(callable) {}

    bool operator()()
    {
        return _callable();
    }

    bp::object _callable;
};

struct BoostFunc_from_Python_Callable
{
    BoostFunc_from_Python_Callable()
    {
        bp::converter::registry::push_back( &convertible, &construct, bp::type_id< boost::function< bool() > >() );
    }

    static void* convertible( PyObject* obj_ptr )
    {
        if( !PyCallable_Check( obj_ptr ) ) return 0;
        return obj_ptr;
    }

    static void construct( PyObject* obj_ptr, bp::converter::rvalue_from_python_stage1_data* data )
    {
        bp::object callable( bp::handle<>( bp::borrowed( obj_ptr ) ) );
        void* storage = ( ( bp::converter::rvalue_from_python_storage< boost::function< bool() > >* ) data )->storage.bytes;
        new (storage)boost::function< bool() >( timer_func_wrapper_t( callable ) );
        data->convertible = storage;
    }
};

Then in your init code, ie, BOOST_PYTHON_MODULE(), just register the type by creating the struct

BOOST_PYTHON_MODULE(Foo)
{
    // Register function converter
    BoostFunc_from_Python_Callable();