Download dynamic library from elisp

Question

I need to use some native code, and I would like to try elisp as a scripting language. Is it possible to call native functions that are implemented in a dynamic library (dll in windows)? Or the only way to do this is to implement your own code, wrap it with DEFUN (...) macros, and recompile emacs?

Answer 1

You cannot dynamically load a library with Emacs Lisp code. To get around this, people usually turn to an external program (process) and control it by sending commands to it and reading its output.

For an example you can look at slime, a tramp, gnuserv, movemail and some other similar hacks.

Answer 2

GNU Emacs 23 has D-BUS support. Although mostly Unix, D-BUS is supported on Windows and provides an IPC system for custom applications.

You could probably create what you want.

Answer 3

This feature only exists in SXEmacs, which does not support Windows, but works fine on Unixes