betalib

The beta library is an incubator for ActionScript 3.0 source code to be embedded in future releases of the redtamarin binaries.

The following packages are concerned

flash   ==> AVMGLUE (Flash/AIR API)
  |_ ...

C       ==> CLIB (C standard library)
  |_ ...

shell   ==> RNL (RedTamarin Native Library)
  |_ ...

Not all source code in Redtamarin are native libraries (eg. implemented in C/C++), some functionalities are simply implemented using ActionScript 3.0 , but they end up all the same being embedded in the final binaries.

Once AS3 code is embedded in the binaries it obtain some intrinsic properties

it is instantly available anywhere
(without the need to load the corresponding ABC library)
it can not be overriden or replaced by your own AS3 source code
(the code can be considered final)
it can only be updated or modified in a future release

Redtamarin binaries are mainly all the Redtamarin shell: redshell, redshell_d, redshell_dd but they are also reused in all the tools (for ex: redbean, as3shebang) and are the main dependency for all the libraries (for ex: httplib).

In come cases, you will find here correction of some already embedded code, in other cases you will find some tests or prototypes of future code, and finally it gives you an opportunity to contribute source code.

An example of correction

In the pakcage C.sys.socket I added an utility function recvall() which basically allow to receive the whole buffer of a message on a socket.

The way sockets work, you receive a buffer (our default is 8192 bytes, or 8 KiloBytes), but if the packet or message is bigger, you have to keep resusing the recv() function in a loop to receive the entire message.

When I embedded this code I made a little mistake and "as is" the function is unusable, so here I can post a fix, and the next time I publish a redtamarin binary it will apply the fix and correct all code dependant on this fucntion.

And it could also break code.

Here with recvall(), because the definition already exists in redtamarin, we are forced to rename the function to recvall2() to not only be able to compile it but also use it in our code.

An example of extension

The CLIB has the goal to implement the C standard library and other POSIX API.

It is more or less standard as sometimes to adapt the C source code logic to ActionScript 3.0 we can take some liberties (for ex: use a ByteArray instead of a C char array).

But still this library does not reinvent the C libraries, if the name is mkdir() in C and it takes 2 arguments and return an integer, we try to replicate as much as possible the C function signature and behaviour.

The C function signature

int mkdir(const char *path, mode_t mode);

our AS3 function signature

public function mkdir(path:String, mode:int = -1):int;

From time to time I will encounter a C utility function that did not end up being officially part of either the ANSI C library and/or the POSIX library, for example mkdirp().

Here mkdirp() has the same behaviour of mkdir() with the welcomed difference that provided a path it will create the non-existing elements, it is a basic feature but quite useful, the code involved rely only on the standard C libraries so it is something worth considering to add directly into the runtime.

Simply put, the few lines of AS3 source code, add fucntionality and no dependency, and can help AS3 dev to write faster code.

That would be a good candidate to add.

Note well, it would be a completely different talk if someone were to ask to add something like mysql_connect() which add a heavy dependency at the C source code level.

An example with AVMGLUE

AVMGLUE is the library that take the responsibility to add implementatiosn fo the Flash API into Redtamarin.

This Flash API is huge to implement and off course not everythign is ready yet.

The betalib could then be used to incubate proposed implementations, for ex someone could propose a flash.net.Socket or other class part of the Flash API and not avaialble yet.

Quick Test

Create a symlink of redbean at the root of the project
$ ln -s /sdk/redtamarin/bin/redbean redbean

Build the library
./redbean

Run the test with as3shebang
./test_betalib

test_betalib

Some Advices

I understand that working on Redtamarin can be frustrating if the one class you need is missing, and this betalib is here to fix that, even if you do not want to compile the original Redtamarin source code (because it can be complicated, because it's C++, etc...) it allows you to contribute good old ActionScript 3.0 source code.

By extension, it alow you also to contribute to any other parts like the shell package or the C package.

But I will insist that I will review this source code like a hawk so please follow those advices

communicate, don't go writing thousands of line of code in your corner and then send a big patch
don't change the nature of Redtamarin
for example the

because I felt redtamarin should be like node.js
I made everything async
but now everyone else code need to be run async ...
will not be well received
do clean code and clean documentation
see: specific asdoc for Redtamarin
remember that Redtamarin is crossplatform (Windows, Macintosh, Linux)
unless it is really impossible try to contribute code that can work everywhere
this is not an excuse to add anything and everything

How to Contribute

Fork this repository
add your code in the src/ , ideally only 1 function or 1 class
Raise a pull request
Discuss in the pull request
If/Once merged enjoy to have contributed to Redtamarin :)

Corsaair / betalib