Export interface for external call by TaranDahl · Pull Request #2131 · Phobos-developers/Phobos

TaranDahl · 2026-03-10T15:53:21Z

Interoperability

Phobos has opened the external interfaces of some key components. If you are also developing your own engine extension and wish to use Phobos at the same time, please check out Interop.

Copilot

Pull request overview

Adds a small C ABI “Interop” surface to Phobos so other engine extensions can call into selected Phobos systems at runtime (DLL exports), along with documentation/changelog entries announcing the feature.

Changes:

Introduces exported interop functions for TechnoExt::ConvertToType and AttachEffect attach/detach/transfer operations.
Wires the new interop sources into the MSBuild project.
Documents the new interoperability entry in README, Whats-New, and CREDITS.

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 8 out of 8 changed files in this pull request and generated 3 comments.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
src/Interop/TechnoExt.h	Declares exported `ConvertToType_Phobos` C ABI function.
src/Interop/TechnoExt.cpp	Implements the exported type-conversion wrapper.
src/Interop/AttachEffect.h	Declares exported C ABI functions for AttachEffect operations.
src/Interop/AttachEffect.cpp	Implements exported wrappers for attaching/detaching/transferring effects.
docs/Whats-New.md	Adds a changelog entry referencing the new interop feature.
README.md	Adds an “Interoperability” section pointing to `src/Interop`.
Phobos.vcxproj	Adds the new interop .cpp/.h files to the build.
CREDITS.md	Adds credit entry for the interop export feature.

src/Interop/AttachEffect.cpp

src/Interop/TechnoExt.cpp

docs/Whats-New.md

github-actions · 2026-03-10T16:00:45Z

Nightly build for this pull request:

compiled-dll-f44831dfc806ff1abd6695583d42dc710a0503d0.zip
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Metadorius · 2026-03-10T16:13:16Z

I am not sure why all pointers are void*?

ZivDero · 2026-03-10T16:29:14Z

I am not sure why all pointers are void*?

My bet would be that to make it so that this does not depend on YRpp (in case someone is using their own implementation of YRpp, perhaps)

TaranDahl · 2026-03-10T16:34:25Z

I am not sure why all pointers are void*?

Copilot said that if I use TechnoClass*, it will break the P/Invoke compatibility. When calling in C#, I can't directly use IntPtr. I have to do type mapping, otherwise the call will fail.

Metadorius · 2026-03-10T17:22:44Z

Copilot said that if I use TechnoClass*, it will break the P/Invoke compatibility. When calling in C#, I can't directly use IntPtr. I have to do type mapping, otherwise the call will fail.

This sounds like AI hallucinations...

You can have unsafe methods in which you can do whatever like pointers etc
C# marshaller isn't as rigid as that usually

TaranDahl · 2026-03-11T01:35:54Z

Copilot said that if I use TechnoClass*, it will break the P/Invoke compatibility. When calling in C#, I can't directly use IntPtr. I have to do type mapping, otherwise the call will fail.

This sounds like AI hallucinations...

You can have unsafe methods in which you can do whatever like pointers etc

C# marshaller isn't as rigid as that usually

Changed

README.md

phoboscn-bot · 2026-03-11T11:46:51Z

To Chinese users:
This pull request has been mentioned on Phobos CN. There might be relevant details there:

致中文用户：
此拉取请求已在 Phobos CN 上被提及。那里可能有相关详细信息：

https://www.phoboscn.top/t/topic/229/1

secsome · 2026-03-13T03:25:23Z

Macros like PHOBOS_EXPORT and PHOBOS_DECL can make the code cleaner and such macros are widely used in most projects.
Just an example:

#define PHOBOS_DECL __stdcall
#define PHOBOS_EXPORT extern "C" __declspec(dllexport)

DeathFishAtEase · 2026-03-15T15:48:06Z

If you are also developing your own engine extension and wish to use Phobos at the same time

Would it be more appropriate to move the Changelog entry of this PR to the Fixes / interactions with other extensions section?

Copilot

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 9 out of 9 changed files in this pull request and generated 3 comments.

src/Interop/AttachEffect.cpp

src/Interop/AttachEffect.h

docs/Whats-New.md

DeathFishAtEase · 2026-03-19T04:32:14Z

A question: how is the Tested status of this PR determined, as there seems to be no one using another engine extension to try out the content of this PR or other testing information.

TaranDahl · 2026-03-19T05:06:45Z

A question: how is the Tested status of this PR determined, as there seems to be no one using another engine extension to try out the content of this PR or other testing information.

I tested the usability of the initial version myself using DP. However, the current version has not been tested yet.

src/Utilities/Macro.h

secsome

LGTM

DeathFishAtEase

Link redirection is correct.
You may consider filling in the Chinese translation before merging. I have created standard translation entries (don't worry about introducing errors; that will be handled subsequently by the Regular Revisions PR).

debug.log

Metadorius · 2026-03-28T15:06:04Z

I think one thing to consider would be the API versioning and backwards compatibility. Usually the APIs are somehow formatting. I am not saying this needs to be done regardless but we may need to employ sth like that.

Also, where docs?

core core Update AttachEffect.cpp update Update README.md Update docs/Whats-New.md update Potential fix for pull request finding Update Macro.h Create .po entries udpate update Update Phobos.vcxproj Co-Authored-By: Noble Fish <89088785+DeathFishAtEase@users.noreply.github.com> Co-Authored-By: Copilot <175728472+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com> Co-Authored-By: Copilot Autofix powered by AI <175728472+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>

TaranDahl · 2026-03-28T15:09:03Z

I think one thing to consider would be the API versioning and backwards compatibility. Usually the APIs are somehow formatting. I am not saying this needs to be done regardless but we may need to employ sth like that.

What exactly needs to be done?

Also, where docs?

I assume that engine developers are smart enough to read interface declarations 🤔

Metadorius · 2026-03-28T15:20:08Z

What exactly needs to be done?

I mean, you tell me :P

I said this as an open question, something to think about.

I assume that engine developers are smart enough to read interface declarations 🤔

don't be one of the "just read the code" people :P

also interface declaration doesn't say anything about how to set up your project to be able to call Phobos, and we should provide that info

Metadorius · 2026-03-28T15:33:04Z

One thing to note: you can write documentation as docstrings, and have Sphinx (doxygen?) generate the corresponding pages. I think there was such an ability. Would be cool to look into that.

Metadorius · 2026-03-28T15:34:36Z

https://www.sphinx-doc.org/en/master/usage/extensions/autodoc.html

DeathFishAtEase · 2026-03-28T15:35:19Z

If using Sphinx to generate documentation is not convenient, you can first try using forum posts and comments as carriers on the Phobos CN forum and GitHub PR page.

TaranDahl · 2026-03-29T08:32:23Z

@Metadorius I asked AI to write one. Take a look at it.

DeathFishAtEase

The current path is incorrect.

README.md

Co-authored-by: Noble Fish <89088785+DeathFishAtEase@users.noreply.github.com>

ZivDero · 2026-03-29T10:49:15Z

src/Interop/Version.cpp

+
+DEFINE_EXPORT(unsigned int, GetInteropBuildNumber)
+{
+	return BUILD_NUMBER;


Seems too imprecise (given that it's just 48 right now). Should be a number that increments, yes, but more detailed.

I also dislike latching on to build numbers which will go away when/if we switch to the proposed versioning

but more detailed

Is it really necessary to be specific to nightly?

I also dislike latching on to build numbers which will go away when/if we switch to the proposed versioning

Then what number should be used?

usually APIs are versioned separately. like v1, v2, v3...

btw, deprecated means "it still works, but a newer method exists which is recommended", not "not working"

TaranDahl requested a review from Copilot March 10, 2026 15:53

TaranDahl added Interaction Something related to interaction with other extension, program etc. Needs testing ⚙️T3 labels Mar 10, 2026

Copilot started reviewing on behalf of TaranDahl March 10, 2026 15:53 View session

TaranDahl added the No Documentation Needed No documentation needed whatsoever label Mar 10, 2026

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TaranDahl force-pushed the Interop branch from d77282b to 5d711d9 Compare March 19, 2026 03:31

TaranDahl requested review from DeathFishAtEase, Copilot and secsome March 19, 2026 04:00

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TaranDahl requested a review from secsome March 19, 2026 08:33

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DeathFishAtEase approved these changes Mar 21, 2026

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Co-authored-by: Noble Fish <89088785+DeathFishAtEase@users.noreply.github.com>

ZivDero reviewed Mar 29, 2026

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Interoperability

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