[Cython] Calling gil-requiring function not allowed without gil

[Dag Sverre Seljebotn]

On 08/17/2011 08:19 PM, Robert Bradshaw wrote:
> That's a nice idea. I have to admit that all these special gil
> declarations are a bit messy. I'd also rather introduce clear
> decorators, e.g.
>
> @cython.requires_gil  # expects gil
> cdef a(): ...
>
> @cython.requires.gil(False) # nogil
> cdef b(): ...
>
> @cython.aquires_gil  # with gil
> cdef c(): ...
>
> (Actually, now that we have the "with gil" statement, it could be
> worth considering simply noticing the pattern of the entire function
> body in a with gil block/as the first statement and acquiring the GIL
> before argument parsing.)
>
> Note that we need to declare functions as requiring the GIL to allow
> for declaring cpython.pxd if extern functions are implicitly nogil.

I agree, it's messy in the current situation, simplifying would be good.

Assuming we can't acquire the GIL in every single function just to be 
sure, I have a hunch that the "acquires_gil" aspect of a function is 
just declared in the wrong place. I mean, the same function might be 
passed as a callback to C both while holding the GIL and while not 
holding the GIL -- it would be nice to automatically wrap it in a 
GIL-acquiring wrapper only when needed.

So to me it makes more sense to have acquires_gil be part of function 
pointer types, or of the C call where the pointer is passed, or similar. 
Sort of like an FFI. Can't think of a practical scheme that's more 
user-friendly than the current way though...

Dag Sverre