Hi all, I'd like some feedback on a patch assigned to me. It is designed to prevent Python extensions built for an earlier version of Python from crashing the new version.
I haven't actually tested the patch, but I am sure it works as advertised (who is db31 anyway?).
My question relates more to the "style" - the patch locates the new .pyd's address in memory, and parses through the MS PE/COFF format, locating the import table. If then scans the import table looking for Pythonxx.dll, and compares any found entries with the current version. Shouldn't the win32 api BindImageEx be used? Then you would not have to know about the PE/COFF format at all. You can install a callback function which will be called with the dll-names bound. According to my docs, BindImageEx may not be included in early versions of Win95, but who is using that anyway? (Well, ok, what about CE?)
Quite clever - a definite plus is that is should work for all old and future versions (of Python - dunno about Windows ;-) - but do we want this sort of code in Python? Is this sort of hack, however clever, going to some back and bite us?
Second related question: if people like it, is this feature something we can squeeze in for 2.0?
+1 from me (if I count).
If there are no objections to any of this, I am happy to test it and check it in - but am not confident of doing so without some feedback.
Thanks,
Mark.
Thomas