Updated 2023-02-24

Swig

Overview

  • SWIG is an interface compiler that connects programs written in C and C++ with scripting languages such as Perl, Python, Ruby, and Tcl. It works by taking the declarations found in C/C++ header files and using them to generate the wrapper code that scripting languages need to access the underlying C/C++ code. In addition, SWIG provides a variety of customization features that let you tailor the wrapping process to suit your application.
  • This guide will cover how to run Swig.

Walkthrough: Run Swig on the Cluster

  • This walkthrough will cover a simple example of the most primitive form of C++ class wrapping performed by SWIG. In this case, C++ classes are simply transformed into a collection of C-style functions that provide access to class members.
  • example.i and example.h can be found here

Part 1: Running Swig

  • Make sure you're in the directory that contains the example.i and example.h files.
  • To see what Swig versions are available and to load which modules, run module spider swig, and load the ones you want. 
module load swig/4.0.2-44lsd2

swig -c++ -python example.i
  • swig is used to transform the c++ classes.
  • Output Files will also show up in this directory as well

Part 2: Collecting Results

  • In the directory, you should now the example.py and example_wrap.cxx files.
  • The example.py and example_wrap.cxx files can be found here
  • Congratulations! You successfully ran Swig on the cluster.