# PyCapsule API for Python 2.6

The `capsulethunk.h` header implements the PyCapsule API (with some limitations) in terms of PYCObject. It is only necessary for compatibility with Python 2.6 (or 3.0).

Note

The `capsulethunk.h` header and this documentation was written by Larry Hastings for the Python documentation. [1] It is now maintained as part of the py3c project. [2]

## CObject replaced with Capsule

The `Capsule` object was introduced in Python 3.1 and 2.7 to replace `CObject`. CObjects were useful, but the `CObject` API was problematic: it didn’t permit distinguishing between valid CObjects, which allowed mismatched CObjects to crash the interpreter, and some of its APIs relied on undefined behavior in C. (For further reading on the rationale behind Capsules, please see CPython issue 5630.)

If you’re currently using CObjects, and you want to migrate to Python 3, you’ll need to switch to Capsules. See the PyCObject section in the porting guide for instructions.

`CObject` was deprecated in 3.1 and 2.7 and completely removed in Python 3.2. So, if you need to support versions of Python earlier than 2.7, or Python 3.0, you’ll have to support both CObjects and Capsules.

The following example header file `capsulethunk.h` may solve the problem for you. Simply write your code against the `Capsule` API and include this header file after `Python.h`. Your code will automatically use Capsules in versions of Python with Capsules, and switch to CObjects when Capsules are unavailable.

If you’re using py3c, you will need to explicitly `#include <py3c/capsulethunk.h>`. The file is not included from `py3c.h`.

Since `CObject` provides no place to store the capsule’s “name”, the simulated `Capsule` objects created by `capsulethunk.h` behave slightly differently from real Capsules. Specifically:

> - The name parameter passed in to `PyCapsule_New()` is ignored.

> - The name parameter passed in to `PyCapsule_IsValid()` and `PyCapsule_GetPointer()` is ignored, and no error checking of the name is performed.

> - `PyCapsule_GetName()` always returns NULL.

> - `PyCapsule_SetName()` always raises an exception and returns failure. (Since there’s no way to store a name in a CObject, noisy failure of `PyCapsule_SetName()` was deemed preferable to silent failure here.) If this is inconvenient, feel free to modify your local copy as you see fit.

You can find `capsulethunk.h` at include/py3c/capsulethunk.h. We also include it here for your convenience:

    /* Copyright (c) 2011, Larry Hastings
     * Copyright (c) 2015, py3c contributors
     * Licensed under the MIT license; see py3c.h
     *
     * (Note: Relicensed from PSF: http://bugs.python.org/issue24937#msg250191 )
     */

    #ifndef __CAPSULETHUNK_H
    #define __CAPSULETHUNK_H

    #if (    (PY_VERSION_HEX <  0x02070000) \
         || ((PY_VERSION_HEX >= 0x03000000) \
          && (PY_VERSION_HEX <  0x03010000)) )

    #define __PyCapsule_GetField(capsule, field, error_value) \
        ( PyCapsule_CheckExact(capsule) \
            ? (((PyCObject *)capsule)->field) \
            : (PyErr_SetString(PyExc_TypeError, "CObject required"), (error_value)) \
        ) \

    #define __PyCapsule_SetField(capsule, field, value) \
        ( PyCapsule_CheckExact(capsule) \
            ? (((PyCObject *)capsule)->field = value), 0 \
            : (PyErr_SetString(PyExc_TypeError, "CObject required"), 1) \
        ) \

    #define PyCapsule_Type PyCObject_Type

    #define PyCapsule_CheckExact(capsule) (PyCObject_Check(capsule))
    #define PyCapsule_IsValid(capsule, name) (PyCObject_Check(capsule))

    #define PyCapsule_New(pointer, name, destructor) \
        (PyCObject_FromVoidPtr(pointer, (void (*)(void*)) (destructor)))

    #define PyCapsule_GetPointer(capsule, name) \
        (PyCObject_AsVoidPtr(capsule))

    /* Don't call PyCObject_SetPointer here, it fails if there's a destructor */
    #define PyCapsule_SetPointer(capsule, pointer) \
        __PyCapsule_SetField(capsule, cobject, pointer)

    #define PyCapsule_GetDestructor(capsule) \
        __PyCapsule_GetField(capsule, destructor, (void (*)(void*)) NULL)

    #define PyCapsule_SetDestructor(capsule, dtor) \
        __PyCapsule_SetField(capsule, destructor, (void (*)(void*)) dtor)

    /*
     * Sorry, there's simply no place
     * to store a Capsule "name" in a CObject.
     */
    #define PyCapsule_GetName(capsule) NULL

    static int
    PyCapsule_SetName(PyObject *capsule, const char *unused)
    {
        unused = unused;
        PyErr_SetString(PyExc_NotImplementedError,
            "can't use PyCapsule_SetName with CObjects");
        return 1;
    }

    #define PyCapsule_GetContext(capsule) \
        __PyCapsule_GetField(capsule, desc, (void*) NULL)

    #define PyCapsule_SetContext(capsule, context) \
        __PyCapsule_SetField(capsule, desc, context)

    static void *
    PyCapsule_Import(const char *name, int no_block)
    {
        PyObject *object = NULL;
        void *return_value = NULL;
        char *trace;
        size_t name_length = (strlen(name) + 1) * sizeof(char);
        char *name_dup = (char *)PyMem_MALLOC(name_length);

        if (!name_dup) {
            return NULL;
        }

        memcpy(name_dup, name, name_length);

        trace = name_dup;
        while (trace) {
            char *dot = strchr(trace, '.');
            if (dot) {
                *dot++ = '\0';
            }

            if (object == NULL) {
                if (no_block) {
                    object = PyImport_ImportModuleNoBlock(trace);
                } else {
                    object = PyImport_ImportModule(trace);
                    if (!object) {
                        PyErr_Format(PyExc_ImportError,
                            "PyCapsule_Import could not "
                            "import module \"%s\"", trace);
                    }
                }
            } else {
                PyObject *object2 = PyObject_GetAttrString(object, trace);
                Py_DECREF(object);
                object = object2;
            }
            if (!object) {
                goto EXIT;
            }

            trace = dot;
        }

        if (PyCObject_Check(object)) {
            PyCObject *cobject = (PyCObject *)object;
            return_value = cobject->cobject;
        } else {
            PyErr_Format(PyExc_AttributeError,
                "PyCapsule_Import \"%s\" is not valid",
                name);
        }

    EXIT:
        Py_XDECREF(object);
        if (name_dup) {
            PyMem_FREE(name_dup);
        }
        return return_value;
    }

    #endif /* #if PY_VERSION_HEX < 0x02070000 */

    #endif /* __CAPSULETHUNK_H */

Footnotes

[1]

CPython issue 13053: Add Capsule migration documentation to “cporting”

[2]

CPython issue 24937: Multiple problems in getters & setters in capsulethunk.h