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ForeignPointerLookup[lib,fun]

returns the pointer to the function fun in the library lib.

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ForeignPointerLookup

ForeignPointerLookup[lib,fun]

returns the pointer to the function fun in the library lib.

Details

Examples

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Basic Examples  (1)

Get the pointer to a function in a library:

Wolfram Language code: addonePtr = ForeignPointerLookup["compilerDemoBase", "addone"]

Load the ForeignFunction by specifying an appropriate type:

Wolfram Language code: addone = ForeignFunctionLoad[addonePtr, {"CInt"} -> "CInt"]

Call the foreign function:

Wolfram Language code: addone[41]

Scope  (1)

ForeignPointerLookup uses FindLibrary to locate libraries:

Wolfram Language code: ForeignPointerLookup["compilerDemoBase", "addone"]

Alternatively, find the library once with FindLibrary and pass it to ForeignPointerLookup:

Wolfram Language code: lib = FindLibrary["compilerDemoBase"]; ForeignPointerLookup[lib, "addone"]

Applications  (1)

Compile a library with a function that takes a function pointer:

Wolfram Language code: Needs["CCompilerDriver`"] lib = CreateLibrary[" #include <stdlib.h> #include \"dllexport.h\" DLLEXPORT int* arrayMaker(int (*fun)(int)) { int* out = (int*)malloc(sizeof(int) * 10); for(int i = 0; i < 10; i++) { out[i] = fun(i); } return out; } ", "foreignPointerLookupTest"];

Load the foreign function:

Wolfram Language code: arrayMaker = ForeignFunctionLoad[lib, "arrayMaker", {"OpaqueRawPointer"} -> "RawPointer"::["CInt"]]

Load a pointer to a function from a different library:

Wolfram Language code: addone = ForeignPointerLookup["compilerDemoBase", "addone"]

Pass the function pointer to the foreign function:

Wolfram Language code: ptr = arrayMaker[addone]

Read the output:

Wolfram Language code: RawMemoryImport[ptr, {"List", 10}]

Properties & Relations  (1)

Get the pointer to a function in a library:

Wolfram Language code: addonePtr = ForeignPointerLookup["compilerDemoBase", "addone"]

Load the ForeignFunction by specifying an appropriate type:

Wolfram Language code: ForeignFunctionLoad[addonePtr, {"CInt"} -> "CInt"]

Alternatively, this can be accomplished with a single ForeignFunctionLoad call:

Wolfram Language code: ForeignFunctionLoad["compilerDemoBase", "addone", {"CInt"} -> "CInt"]

Possible Issues  (2)

ForeignPointerLookup will return a Failure if the library cannot be found:

Wolfram Language code: ForeignPointerLookup["compilerDemoBase2", "addone"]

ForeignPointerLookup will return a Failure if the function pointer cannot be found in the library:

Wolfram Language code: ForeignPointerLookup["compilerDemoBase", "addtwo"]
Wolfram Research (2023), ForeignPointerLookup, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/ForeignPointerLookup.html.

Text

Wolfram Research (2023), ForeignPointerLookup, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/ForeignPointerLookup.html.

CMS

Wolfram Language. 2023. "ForeignPointerLookup." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/ForeignPointerLookup.html.

APA

Wolfram Language. (2023). ForeignPointerLookup. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/ForeignPointerLookup.html

BibTeX

@misc{reference.wolfram_2026_foreignpointerlookup, author="Wolfram Research", title="{ForeignPointerLookup}", year="2023", howpublished="\url{https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/ForeignPointerLookup.html}", note=[Accessed: 13-June-2026]}

BibLaTeX

@online{reference.wolfram_2026_foreignpointerlookup, organization={Wolfram Research}, title={ForeignPointerLookup}, year={2023}, url={https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/ForeignPointerLookup.html}, note=[Accessed: 13-June-2026]}