emscripten.h

This page documents the public C++ APIs provided by emscripten.h.

Emscripten uses existing/familiar APIs where possible (for example: SDL). This API provides C++ support for capabilities that are specific to JavaScript or the browser environment, or for which there is no existing API.

Table of Contents

Inline assembly/JavaScript
Calling JavaScript From C/C++
Browser Execution Environment
Asynchronous File System API
Asynchronous IndexedDB API
Compiling
Worker API
Logging utilities
Socket event registration
Unaligned types
Pseudo-synchronous functions
Asyncify functions
ABI functions

Inline assembly/JavaScript

Guide material for the following APIs can be found in Calling JavaScript from C/C++.

Defines

EM_JS(return_type, function_name, arguments, code)

Convenient syntax for JavaScript library functions.

This allows you to declare JavaScript in your C code as a function, which can be called like a normal C function. For example, the following C program would display two alerts if it was compiled with Emscripten and run in the browser:

EM_JS(void, two_alerts, (), {
  alert('hai');
  alert('bai');
});

int main() {
  two_alerts();
  return 0;
}

Arguments can be passed as normal C arguments, and have the same name in the JavaScript code. These arguments can either be of type int32_t or double.

EM_JS(void, take_args, (int x, float y), {
  console.log('I received: ' + [x, y]);
});

int main() {
  take_args(100, 35.5);
  return 0;
}

Null-terminated C strings can also be passed into EM_JS functions, but to operate on them, they need to be copied out from the heap to convert to high-level JavaScript strings.

EM_JS(void, say_hello, (const char* str), {
  console.log('hello ' + UTF8ToString(str));
}

In the same manner, pointers to any type (including void *) can be passed inside EM_JS code, where they appear as integers like char * pointers above did. Accessing the data can be managed by reading the heap directly.

EM_JS(void, read_data, (int* data), {
  console.log('Data: ' + HEAP32[data>>2] + ', ' + HEAP32[(data+4)>>2]);
});

int main() {
  int arr[2] = { 30, 45 };
  read_data(arr);
  return 0;
}

In addition, EM_JS functions can return a value back to C code. The output value is passed back with a return statement:

EM_JS(int, add_forty_two, (int n), {
  return n + 42;
});

EM_JS(int, get_memory_size, (), {
  return HEAP8.length;
});

int main() {
  int x = add_forty_two(100);
  int y = get_memory_size();
  // ...
}

Strings can be returned back to C from JavaScript, but one needs to be careful about memory management.

EM_JS(char*, get_unicode_str, (), {
  var jsString = 'Hello with some exotic Unicode characters: Tss on yksi lumiukko: , ole hyv.';
  // 'jsString.length' would return the length of the string as UTF-16
  // units, but Emscripten C strings operate as UTF-8.
  return stringToNewUTF8(jsString);
});

int main() {
  char* str = get_unicode_str();
  printf("UTF8 string says: %s\n", str);
  // Each call to _malloc() must be paired with free(), or heap memory will leak!
  free(str);
  return 0;
}

EM_ASM(...)

Convenient syntax for inline assembly/JavaScript.

This allows you to declare JavaScript in your C code inline, which is then executed when your compiled code is run in the browser. For example, the following C code would display two alerts if it was compiled with Emscripten and run in the browser:

EM_ASM(alert('hai'); alert('bai'));

Arguments can be passed inside the JavaScript code block, where they arrive as variables $0, $1 etc. These arguments can either be of type int32_t or double.

EM_ASM({
  console.log('I received: ' + [$0, $1]);
}, 100, 35.5);

Note the { and }.

Null-terminated C strings can also be passed into EM_ASM blocks, but to operate on them, they need to be copied out from the heap to convert to high-level JavaScript strings.

EM_ASM(console.log('hello ' + UTF8ToString($0)), "world!");

In the same manner, pointers to any type (including void *) can be passed inside EM_ASM code, where they appear as integers like char * pointers above did. Accessing the data can be managed by reading the heap directly.

int arr[2] = { 30, 45 };
EM_ASM({
  console.log('Data: ' + HEAP32[$0>>2] + ', ' + HEAP32[($0+4)>>2]);
}, arr);

Note

As of Emscripten 1.30.4, the contents of EM_ASM code blocks appear inside the normal JS file, and as result, Closure compiler and other JavaScript minifiers will be able to operate on them. You may need to use safety quotes in some places (a['b'] instead of a.b) to avoid minification from occurring.
The C preprocessor does not have an understanding of JavaScript tokens, and as a result, if the code block contains a comma character ,, it may be necessary to wrap the code block inside parentheses. For example, code EM_ASM(return [1,2,3].length); will not compile, but EM_ASM((return [1,2,3].length)); does.

EM_ASM_INT(code, ...)

This macro, as well as EM_ASM_DOUBLE and EM_ASM_PTR, behave like EM_ASM, but in addition they also return a value back to C code. The output value is passed back with a return statement:

int x = EM_ASM_INT({
  return $0 + 42;
}, 100);

int y = EM_ASM_INT(return HEAP8.length);

EM_ASM_PTR(code, ...)

Similar to EM_ASM_INT but for a pointer-sized return values. When building with -sMEMORY64 this results in i64 return value, otherwise it results in an i32 return value.

Strings can be returned back to C from JavaScript, but one needs to be careful about memory management.

char *str = (char*)EM_ASM_PTR({
  var jsString = 'Hello with some exotic Unicode characters: Tss on yksi lumiukko: , ole hyv.';
  var lengthBytes = lengthBytesUTF8(jsString)+1;
  // 'jsString.length' would return the length of the string as UTF-16
  // units, but Emscripten C strings operate as UTF-8.
  return stringToNewUTF8(jsString);
});
printf("UTF8 string says: %s\n", str);
free(str); // Each call to _malloc() must be paired with free(), or heap memory will leak!

EM_ASM_DOUBLE(code, ...): Similar to EM_ASM_INT but for a double return value.

MAIN_THREAD_EM_ASM(code, ...)

This behaves like EM_ASM, but does the call on the main thread. This is useful in a pthreads build, when you want to interact with the DOM from a pthread; this basically proxies the call for you.

This call is proxied in a synchronous way to the main thread, that is, execution will resume after the main thread has finished running the JS. Synchronous proxying also makes it possible to return a value, see the next two variants.

MAIN_THREAD_EM_ASM_INT(code, ...): Similar to MAIN_THREAD_EM_ASM but returns an int value.

MAIN_THREAD_EM_ASM_DOUBLE(code, ...): Similar to MAIN_THREAD_EM_ASM but returns a double value.

MAIN_THREAD_EM_ASM_PTR(code, ...): Similar to MAIN_THREAD_EM_ASM but returns a pointer value.

MAIN_THREAD_ASYNC_EM_ASM(code, ...): Similar to MAIN_THREAD_EM_ASM but is proxied in an asynchronous way, that is, the main thread will receive a request to run the code, and will run it when it can; the worker will not wait for that. (Note that if this is called on the main thread, then there is nothing to proxy, and the JS is executed immediately and synchronously.)

Calling JavaScript From C/C++

Guide material for the following APIs can be found in Calling JavaScript from C/C++.

Function pointer types for callbacks

The following types are used to define function callback signatures used in a number of functions in this file.

type em_callback_func

General function pointer type for use in callbacks with no parameters.

Defined as:

typedef void (*em_callback_func)(void)

type em_arg_callback_func

Generic function pointer type for use in callbacks with a single void* parameter.

This type is used to define function callbacks that need to pass arbitrary data. For example, emscripten_set_main_loop_arg() sets user-defined data, and passes it to a callback of this type on completion.

Defined as:

typedef void (*em_arg_callback_func)(void*)

type em_str_callback_func

General function pointer type for use in callbacks with a C string (const char *) parameter.

This type is used for function callbacks that need to be passed a C string. For example, it is used in emscripten_async_wget() to pass the name of a file that has been asynchronously loaded.

Defined as:

typedef void (*em_str_callback_func)(const char *)

Functions

void emscripten_run_script(const char *script)

Interface to the underlying JavaScript engine. This function will eval() the given script. Note: If -sDYNAMIC_EXECUTION=0 is set, this function will not be available.

This function can be called from a pthread, and it is executed in the scope of the Web Worker that is hosting the pthread. To evaluate a function in the scope of the main runtime thread, see the function emscripten_sync_run_in_main_runtime_thread().

Parameters:

script (const char*) The script to evaluate.

Return type:

void

int emscripten_run_script_int(const char *script)

Interface to the underlying JavaScript engine. This function will eval() the given script. Note: If -sDYNAMIC_EXECUTION=0 is set, this function will not be available.

Parameters:

script (const char*) The script to evaluate.

Returns:

The result of the evaluation, as an integer.

Return type:

int

char *emscripten_run_script_string(const char *script)

Interface to the underlying JavaScript engine. This function will eval() the given script. Note that this overload uses a single buffer shared between calls. Note: If -sDYNAMIC_EXECUTION=0 is set, this function will not be available.

Parameters:

script (const char*) The script to evaluate.

Returns:

The result of the evaluation, as a string.

Return type:

char*

void emscripten_async_run_script(const char *script, int millis)

Asynchronously run a script, after a specified amount of time.

Parameters:

script (const char*) The script to evaluate.
millis (int) The amount of time before the script is run, in milliseconds.

Return type:

void

void emscripten_async_load_script(const char *script, em_callback_func onload, em_callback_func onerror)

Asynchronously loads a script from a URL.

This integrates with the run dependencies system, so your script can call addRunDependency multiple times, prepare various asynchronous tasks, and call removeRunDependency on them; when all are complete (or if there were no run dependencies to begin with), onload is called. An example use for this is to load an asset module, that is, the output of the file packager.

This function is currently only available in main browser thread, and it will immediately fail by calling the supplied onerror() handler if called in a pthread.

Parameters:

script (const char*) The script to evaluate.
onload (em_callback_func) A callback function, with no parameters, that is executed when the script has fully loaded.
onerror (em_callback_func) A callback function, with no parameters, that is executed if there is an error in loading.

Return type:

void

Browser Execution Environment

Guide material for the following APIs can be found in Emscripten Runtime Environment.

Functions

void emscripten_set_main_loop(em_callback_func func, int fps, bool simulate_infinite_loop)

Set a C function as the main event loop for the calling thread.

If the main loop function needs to receive user-defined data, use emscripten_set_main_loop_arg() instead.

The JavaScript environment will call that function at a specified number of frames per second. If called on the main browser thread, setting 0 or a negative value as the fps will use the browsers requestAnimationFrame mechanism to call the main loop function. This is HIGHLY recommended if you are doing rendering, as the browsers requestAnimationFrame will make sure you render at a proper smooth rate that lines up properly with the browser and monitor. If you do not render at all in your application, then you should pick a specific frame rate that makes sense for your code.

If simulate_infinite_loop is true, the function will throw an exception in order to stop execution of the caller. This will lead to the main loop being entered instead of code after the call to emscripten_set_main_loop() being run, which is the closest we can get to simulating an infinite loop (we do something similar in glutMainLoop in GLUT). If this parameter is false, then the behavior is the same as it was before this parameter was added to the API, which is that execution continues normally. Note that in both cases we do not run global destructors, atexit, etc., since we know the main loop will still be running, but if we do not simulate an infinite loop then the stack will be unwound. That means that if simulate_infinite_loop is false, and you created an object on the stack, it will be cleaned up before the main loop is called for the first time.

This function can be called in a pthread, in which case the callback loop will be set up to be called in the context of the calling thread. In order for the loop to work, the calling thread must regularly yield back to the browser by exiting from its pthread main function, since the callback will be able to execute only when the calling thread is not executing any other code. This means that running a synchronously blocking main loop is not compatible with the emscripten_set_main_loop() function.

Since requestAnimationFrame() API is not available in web workers, when called emscripten_set_main_loop() in a pthread with fps <= 0, the effect of syncing up to the displays refresh rate is emulated, and generally will not precisely line up with vsync intervals.

Tip

There can be only one main loop function at a time, per thread. To change the main loop function, first cancel the current loop, and then call this function to set another.

Note

See emscripten_set_main_loop_expected_blockers(), emscripten_pause_main_loop(), emscripten_resume_main_loop() and emscripten_cancel_main_loop() for information about blocking, pausing, and resuming the main loop of the calling thread.

Note

Calling this function overrides the effect of any previous calls to emscripten_set_main_loop_timing() in the calling thread by applying the timing mode specified by the parameter fps. To specify a different timing mode for the current thread, call the function emscripten_set_main_loop_timing() after setting up the main loop.

Note

Currently, using the new Wasm exception handling and simulate_infinite_loop == true at the same time does not work yet in C++ projects that have objects with destructors on the stack at the time of the call.

Parameters:

func (em_callback_func) C function to set as main event loop for the calling thread.
fps (int) Number of frames per second that the JavaScript will call the function. Setting int <=0 (recommended) uses the browsers requestAnimationFrame mechanism to call the function.
simulate_infinite_loop (bool) If true, this function will throw an exception in order to stop execution of the caller.

void emscripten_set_main_loop_arg(em_arg_callback_func func, void *arg, int fps, bool simulate_infinite_loop)

Set a C function as the main event loop for the calling thread, passing it user-defined data.

Asynchronous File System API

Typedefs

type em_async_wget_onload_func

Function pointer type for the onload callback of emscripten_async_wget_data() (specific values of the parameters documented in that method).

Defined as:

typedef void (*em_async_wget_onload_func)(void*, void*, int)

type em_async_wget2_onload_func

Function pointer type for the onload callback of emscripten_async_wget2() (specific values of the parameters documented in that method).

Defined as:

typedef void (*em_async_wget2_onload_func)(void*, const char*)

type em_async_wget2_onstatus_func

Function pointer type for the onerror and onprogress callbacks of emscripten_async_wget2() (specific values of the parameters documented in that method).

Defined as:

typedef void (*em_async_wget2_onstatus_func)(void*, int)

type em_async_wget2_data_onload_func

Function pointer type for the onload callback of emscripten_async_wget2_data() (specific values of the parameters documented in that method).

Defined as:

typedef void (*em_async_wget2_data_onload_func)(unsigned, void*, void *, unsigned)

type em_async_wget2_data_onerror_func

Function pointer type for the onerror callback of emscripten_async_wget2_data() (specific values of the parameters documented in that method).

Defined as:

typedef void (*em_async_wget2_data_onerror_func)(unsigned, void*, int, const char*)

type em_async_wget2_data_onprogress_func

Function pointer type for the onprogress callback of emscripten_async_wget2_data() (specific values of the parameters documented in that method).

Defined as:

typedef void (*em_async_wget2_data_onprogress_func)(unsigned, void*, int, int)

type em_run_preload_plugins_data_onload_func

Function pointer type for the onload callback of emscripten_run_preload_plugins_data() (specific values of the parameters documented in that method).

Defined as:

typedef void (*em_run_preload_plugins_data_onload_func)(void*, const char*)

Functions

void emscripten_async_wget(const char *url, const char *file, em_str_callback_func onload, em_str_callback_func onerror)

Loads a file from a URL asynchronously.

In addition to fetching the URL from the network, preload plugins are executed so that the data is usable in IMG_Load and so forth (we asynchronously do the work to make the browser decode the image or audio etc.). See Preloading files for more information on preloading files.

When the file is ready the onload callback will be called. If any error occurs onerror will be called. The callbacks are called with the file as their argument.

Parameters:

url (const char*) The URL to load.
file (const char*) The name of the file created and loaded from the URL. If the file already exists it will be overwritten. If the destination directory for the file does not exist on the filesystem, it will be created. A relative pathname may be passed, which will be interpreted relative to the current working directory at the time of the call to this function.
onload (em_str_callback_func)
Callback on successful load of the file. The callback function parameter value is:
- (const char)* : The name of the file that was loaded from the URL.
onerror (em_str_callback_func)
Callback in the event of failure. The callback function parameter value is:
- (const char)* : The name of the file that failed to load from the URL.

void emscripten_async_wget_data(const char *url, void *arg, em_async_wget_onload_func onload, em_arg_callback_func onerror)

Loads a buffer from a URL asynchronously.

This is the data version of emscripten_async_wget().

Instead of writing to a file, this function writes to a buffer directly in memory. This avoids the overhead of using the emulated file system; note however that since files are not used, it cannot run preload plugins to set things up for IMG_Load and so forth (IMG_Load etc. work on files).

When the file is ready then the onload callback will be called. If any error occurred onerror will be called.

Parameters:

url (const char*) The URL of the file to load.
arg (void*) User-defined data that is passed to the callbacks, untouched by the API itself. This may be used by a callback to identify the associated call.
onload (em_async_wget_onload_func)
Callback on successful load of the URL into the buffer. The callback function parameter values are:
- (void)* : Equal to arg (user defined data).
- (void)* : A pointer to a buffer with the data. Note that, as with the worker API, the data buffer only lives during the callback; it must be used or copied during that time.
- (int) : The size of the buffer, in bytes.
onerror (em_arg_callback_func)
Callback in the event of failure. The callback function parameter values are:
- (void)* : Equal to arg (user defined data).

int emscripten_async_wget2(const char *url, const char *file, const char *requesttype, const char *param, void *arg, em_async_wget2_onload_func onload, em_async_wget2_onstatus_func onerror, em_async_wget2_onstatus_func onprogress)

Loads a file from a URL asynchronously.

This is an experimental more feature-complete version of emscripten_async_wget().

Preload plug-ins are at this time not executed on the downloaded data. You may want to call emscripten_run_preload_plugins() in the onload callback if you want to be able to use the downloaded file with IMG_Load and such.

When the file is ready the onload callback will be called with the object pointers given in arg and file. During the download the onprogress callback is called.

Parameters:

url (const char*) The URL of the file to load.
file (const char*) The name of the file created and loaded from the URL. If the file already exists it will be overwritten. If the destination directory for the file does not exist on the filesystem, it will be created. A relative pathname may be passed, which will be interpreted relative to the current working directory at the time of the call to this function.
requesttype (const char*) GET or POST.
param (const char*) Request parameters for POST requests (see requesttype). The parameters are specified in the same way as they would be in the URL for an equivalent GET request: e.g. key=value&key2=value2.
arg (void*) User-defined data that is passed to the callbacks, untouched by the API itself. This may be used by a callback to identify the associated call.
onload (em_async_wget2_onload_func)
Callback on successful load of the file. The callback function parameter values are:
- (void)* : Equal to arg (user defined data).
- (const char)* : The file passed to the original call.
onerror (em_async_wget2_onstatus_func)
Callback in the event of failure. The callback function parameter values are:
- (void)* : Equal to arg (user defined data).
- (int) : The HTTP status code.
onprogress (em_async_wget2_onstatus_func)
Callback during load of the file. The callback function parameter values are:
- (void)* : Equal to arg (user defined data).
- (int) : The progress (percentage completed).

Returns:

A handle to request (int) that can be used to abort the request.

int emscripten_async_wget2_data(const char *url, const char *requesttype, const char *param, void *arg, int free, em_async_wget2_data_onload_func onload, em_async_wget2_data_onerror_func onerror, em_async_wget2_data_onprogress_func onprogress)

Loads a buffer from a URL asynchronously.

This is the data version of emscripten_async_wget2(). It is an experimental more feature complete version of emscripten_async_wget_data().

When the file is ready the onload callback will be called with the object pointers given in arg, a pointer to the buffer in memory, and an unsigned integer containing the size of the buffer. During the download the onprogress callback is called with progress information. If an error occurs, onerror will be called with the HTTP status code and a string containing the status description.

Parameters:

url (const char*) The URL of the file to load.
requesttype (const char*) GET or POST.
param (const char*) Request parameters for POST requests (see requesttype). The parameters are specified in the same way as they would be in the URL for an equivalent GET request: e.g. key=value&key2=value2.
arg (void*) User-defined data that is passed to the callbacks, untouched by the API itself. This may be used by a callback to identify the associated call.
free (int) Tells the runtime whether to free the returned buffer after onload is complete. If false freeing the buffer is the receivers responsibility.
onload (em_async_wget2_data_onload_func)
Callback on successful load of the file. The callback function parameter values are:
- (unsigned) : Handle to the request
- (void)* : Equal to arg (user defined data).
- (void)* : A pointer to the buffer in memory.
- (unsigned) : The size of the buffer (in bytes).
onerror (em_async_wget2_data_onerror_func)
Callback in the event of failure. The callback function parameter values are:
- (unsigned) : Handle to the request
- (void)* : Equal to arg (user defined data).
- (int) : The HTTP error code.
- (const char)* : A string with the status description.
onprogress (em_async_wget2_data_onprogress_func)
Callback called (regularly) during load of the file to update progress. The callback function parameter values are:
- (unsigned) : Handle to the request
- (void)* : Equal to arg (user defined data).
- (int) : The number of bytes loaded.
- (int) : The total size of the data in bytes, or zero if the size is unavailable.

Returns:

A handle to request (int) that can be used to abort the request.

void emscripten_async_wget2_abort(int handle)

Abort an asynchronous request raised using emscripten_async_wget2() or emscripten_async_wget2_data().

Parameters:

handle (int) A handle to request to be aborted.

void emscripten_run_preload_plugins_data(char *data, int size, const char *suffix, void *arg, em_run_preload_plugins_data_onload_func onload, em_arg_callback_func onerror)

Runs preload plugins on a buffer of data asynchronously. This is a data version of emscripten_run_preload_plugins(), which receives raw data as input instead of a filename (this can prevent the need to write data to a file first). See Preloading files for more information on preload plugins.

When file is loaded then the onload callback will be called. If any error occurs onerror will be called.

onload also receives a second parameter, which is a fake filename which you can pass into IMG_Load (it is not an actual file, but it identifies this image for IMG_Load to be able to process it). Note that the user of this API is responsible for free() ing the memory allocated for the fake filename.

Parameters:

data (char*) The buffer of data to process.
suffix (const char*) The file suffix, e.g. png or jpg.
arg (void*) User-defined data that is passed to the callbacks, untouched by the API itself. This may be used by a callback to identify the associated call.
onload (em_run_preload_plugins_data_onload_func)
Callback on successful processing of the data. The callback function parameter values are:
- (void)* : Equal to arg (user defined data).
- (const char)* : A fake filename which you can pass into IMG_Load. See above for more information.
onerror (em_arg_callback_func)
Callback in the event of failure. The callback function parameter value is:
- (void)* : Equal to arg (user defined data).

void emscripten_dlopen(const char *filename, int flags, void *user_data, em_dlopen_callback onsuccess, em_arg_callback_func onerror);

Starts an asynchronous dlopen operation to load a shared library from a filename or URL. Returns immediately and requires the caller to return to the event loop. The onsuccess and onerror callbacks are used to signal success or failure of the request. Upon onerror callback the normal dlerror C function can be used get the error details. The flags are the same as those used in the normal dlopen C function.

Parameters:

filename (const char*) The filename (or URLs) of the shared library to load.
flags (int) See dlopen flags.
user_data (void*) User data passed to onsuccess, and onerror callbacks.
onsuccess (em_dlopen_callback) Called if the library was loaded successfully.
onerror (em_arg_callback_func) Called if there is an error loading the library.

Asynchronous IndexedDB API

IndexedDB is a browser API that lets you store data persistently, that is, you can save data there and load it later when the user re-visits the web page. IDBFS provides one way to use IndexedDB, through the Emscripten filesystem layer. The emscripten_idb_* methods listed here provide an alternative API, directly to IndexedDB, thereby avoiding the overhead of the filesystem layer.

void emscripten_idb_async_load(const char *db_name, const char *file_id, void *arg, em_async_wget_onload_func onload, em_arg_callback_func onerror)

Loads data from local IndexedDB storage asynchronously. This allows use of persistent data, without the overhead of the filesystem layer.

When the data is ready then the onload callback will be called. If any error occurred onerror will be called.

Parameters:

db_name The IndexedDB database from which to load.
file_id The identifier of the data to load.
arg (void*) User-defined data that is passed to the callbacks, untouched by the API itself. This may be used by a callback to identify the associated call.
onload (em_async_wget_onload_func)
Callback on successful load of the URL into the buffer. The callback function parameter values are:
- (void)* : Equal to arg (user defined data).
- (void)* : A pointer to a buffer with the data. Note that, as with the worker API, the data buffer only lives during the callback; it must be used or copied during that time.
- (int) : The size of the buffer, in bytes.
onerror (em_arg_callback_func)
Callback in the event of failure. The callback function parameter values are:
- (void)* : Equal to arg (user defined data).

void emscripten_idb_async_store(const char *db_name, const char *file_id, void *ptr, int num, void *arg, em_arg_callback_func onstore, em_arg_callback_func onerror);

Stores data to local IndexedDB storage asynchronously. This allows use of persistent data, without the overhead of the filesystem layer.

When the data has been stored then the onstore callback will be called. If any error occurred onerror will be called.

Parameters:

db_name The IndexedDB database from which to load.
file_id The identifier of the data to load.
ptr A pointer to the data to store.
num How many bytes to store.
arg (void*) User-defined data that is passed to the callbacks, untouched by the API itself. This may be used by a callback to identify the associated call.
onstore (em_arg_callback_func)
Callback on successful store of the data buffer to the URL. The callback function parameter values are:
- (void)* : Equal to arg (user defined data).
onerror (em_arg_callback_func)
Callback in the event of failure. The callback function parameter values are:
- (void)* : Equal to arg (user defined data).

void emscripten_idb_async_delete(const char *db_name, const char *file_id, void *arg, em_arg_callback_func ondelete, em_arg_callback_func onerror)

Deletes data from local IndexedDB storage asynchronously.

When the data has been deleted then the ondelete callback will be called. If any error occurred onerror will be called.

Parameters:

db_name The IndexedDB database.
file_id The identifier of the data.
arg (void*) User-defined data that is passed to the callbacks, untouched by the API itself. This may be used by a callback to identify the associated call.
ondelete (em_arg_callback_func)
Callback on successful delete
- (void)* : Equal to arg (user defined data).
onerror (em_arg_callback_func)
Callback in the event of failure. The callback function parameter values are:
- (void)* : Equal to arg (user defined data).

void emscripten_idb_async_exists(const char *db_name, const char *file_id, void *arg, em_idb_exists_func oncheck, em_arg_callback_func onerror)

Checks if data with a certain ID exists in the local IndexedDB storage asynchronously.

When the data has been checked then the oncheck callback will be called. If any error occurred onerror will be called.

Parameters:

db_name The IndexedDB database.
file_id The identifier of the data.
arg (void*) User-defined data that is passed to the callbacks, untouched by the API itself. This may be used by a callback to identify the associated call.
oncheck (em_idb_exists_func)
Callback on successful check, with arguments
- (void)* : Equal to arg (user defined data).
- int : Whether the file exists or not.
onerror (em_arg_callback_func)
Callback in the event of failure. The callback function parameter values are:
- (void)* : Equal to arg (user defined data).

void emscripten_idb_async_clear(const char *db_name, void *arg, em_arg_callback_func onclear, em_arg_callback_func onerror)

Clears all data from local IndexedDB storage asynchronously.

When the storage has been cleared then the onclear callback will be called. If any error occurred onerror will be called.

Parameters:

db_name The IndexedDB database.
arg (void*) User-defined data that is passed to the callbacks, untouched by the API itself. This may be used by a callback to identify the associated call.
onclear (em_arg_callback_func)
Callback on successful clear. The callback function parameter is:
- (void)* : Equal to arg (user defined data).
onerror (em_arg_callback_func)
Callback in the event of failure. The callback function parameter is:
- (void)* : Equal to arg (user defined data).

int emscripten_run_preload_plugins(const char *file, em_str_callback_func onload, em_str_callback_func onerror)

Runs preload plugins on a file asynchronously. It works on file data already present and performs any required asynchronous operations available as preload plugins, such as decoding images for use in IMG_Load, or decoding audio for use in Mix_LoadWAV. See Preloading files for more information on preloading plugins.

Once the operations are complete, the onload callback will be called. If any error occurs onerror will be called. The callbacks are called with the file as their argument.

Parameters:

file (const char*) The name of the file to process.
onload (em_str_callback_func)
Callback on successful processing of the file. The callback function parameter value is:
- (const char)* : The name of the file that was processed.
onerror (em_str_callback_func)
Callback in the event of failure. The callback function parameter value is:
- (const char)* : The name of the file for which the operation failed.

Returns:

0 if successful, -1 if the file does not exist

Return type:

int

Compiling

EMSCRIPTEN_KEEPALIVE

Tells the compiler and linker to preserve a symbol, and export it, as if you added it to EXPORTED_FUNCTIONS.

For example:

void EMSCRIPTEN_KEEPALIVE my_function() { printf("I am being kept alive\n"); }

Note that this will only work if the object file in which the symbol is defined is otherwise included by the linker. If the object file is part of an archive, and is not otherwise referenced the linker will not include it at all and any symbols in the object file will not be included or exported. One way to work around this limitation is to use the -Wl,--whole-archive / -Wl,--no-whole-archive flags on either side of the archive file.

Worker API

Typedefs

int worker_handle

A wrapper around web workers that lets you create workers and communicate with them.

Note that the current API is mainly focused on a main thread that sends jobs to workers and waits for responses, i.e., in an asymmetrical manner, there is no current API to send a message without being asked for it from a worker to the main thread.

type em_worker_callback_func

Function pointer type for the callback from emscripten_call_worker() (specific values of the parameters documented in that method).

Defined as:

typedef void (*em_worker_callback_func)(char*, int, void*)

Functions

worker_handle emscripten_create_worker(const char *url)

Creates a worker.

A worker must be compiled separately from the main program, and with the BUILD_AS_WORKER flag set to 1.

That worker must not be compiled with the -pthread flag as the POSIX threads implementation and this Worker API are incompatible.

Parameters:

url (const char*) The URL of the worker script.

Returns:

A handle to the newly created worker.

Return type:

worker_handle

void emscripten_destroy_worker(worker_handle worker)

Destroys a worker. See emscripten_create_worker()

Parameters:

worker (worker_handle) A handle to the worker to be destroyed.

void emscripten_call_worker(worker_handle worker, const char *funcname, char *data, int size, em_worker_callback_func callback, void *arg)

Asynchronously calls a worker.

The worker function will be called with two parameters: a data pointer, and a size. The data block defined by the pointer and size exists only during the callback: it cannot be relied upon afterwards. If you need to keep some of that information outside the callback, then it needs to be copied to a safe location.

The called worker function can return data, by calling emscripten_worker_respond(). When the worker is called, if a callback was given it will be called with three arguments: a data pointer, a size, and an argument that was provided when calling emscripten_call_worker() (to more easily associate callbacks to calls). The data block defined by the data pointer and size behave like the data block in the worker function it exists only during the callback.

Parameters:

worker (worker_handle) A handle to the worker to be called.
funcname (const char*) The name of the function in the worker. The function must be a C function (so no C++ name mangling), and must be exported (EXPORTED_FUNCTIONS).
data (char*) The address of a block of memory to copy over.
size (int) The size of the block of memory.
callback (em_worker_callback_func)
Worker callback with the response. This can be null. The callback function parameter values are:
- (char)* : The data pointer provided in emscripten_call_worker().
- (int) : The size of the block of data.
- (void)* : Equal to arg (user defined data).
arg (void*) An argument (user data) to be passed to the callback

void emscripten_worker_respond(char *data, int size)

void emscripten_worker_respond_provisionally(char *data, int size)

Sends a response when in a worker call (that is, when called by the main thread using emscripten_call_worker()).

Both functions post a message back to the thread which called the worker. The emscripten_worker_respond_provisionally() variant can be invoked multiple times, which will queue up messages to be posted to the workers creator. Eventually, the _respond variant must be invoked, which will disallow further messages and free framework resources previously allocated for this worker call.

Note

Calling the provisional version is optional, but you must call the non-provisional version to avoid leaks.

Parameters:

data (char*) The message to be posted.
size (int) The size of the message, in bytes.

int emscripten_get_worker_queue_size(worker_handle worker)

Checks how many responses are being waited for from a worker.

This only counts calls to emscripten_call_worker() that had a callback (calls with null callbacks are ignored), and where the response has not yet been received. It is a simple way to check on the status of the worker to see how busy it is, and do basic decisions about throttling.

Parameters:

worker (worker_handle) The handle to the relevant worker.

Returns:

The number of responses waited on from a worker.

Return type:

int

Logging utilities

Defines

EM_LOG_CONSOLE: If specified, logs directly to the browser console/inspector window. If not specified, logs via the application Module.

EM_LOG_WARN: If specified, prints a warning message (combined with EM_LOG_CONSOLE).

EM_LOG_INFO: If specified, prints an info message to console (combined with EM_LOG_CONSOLE).

EM_LOG_DEBUG: If specified, prints a debug message to console (combined with EM_LOG_CONSOLE).

EM_LOG_ERROR: If specified, prints an error message (combined with EM_LOG_CONSOLE). If neither EM_LOG_WARN, EM_LOG_ERROR, EM_LOG_INFO nor EM_LOG_DEBUG is specified, a log message is printed. EM_LOG_WARN, EM_LOG_INFO, EM_LOG_DEBUG and EM_LOG_ERROR are mutually exclusive. If EM_LOG_CONSOLE is not specified then the message will be outputted via err() (for EM_LOG_ERROR or EM_LOG_WARN) or out() otherwise.

EM_LOG_C_STACK: If specified, prints a call stack that contains file names referring to original C sources using source map information.

EM_LOG_JS_STACK: If specified, prints a call stack that contains file names referring to lines in the built .js/.html file along with the message. The flags EM_LOG_C_STACK and EM_LOG_JS_STACK can be combined to output both untranslated and translated file and line information.

EM_LOG_NO_PATHS: If specified, the pathnames of the file information in the call stack will be omitted.

Functions

long emscripten_get_compiler_setting(const char *name)

Returns the value of a compiler setting.

For example, to return the integer representing the value of INITIAL_MEMORY during compilation:

emscripten_get_compiler_setting("INITIAL_MEMORY")

For values containing anything other than an integer, a string is returned (you will need to cast the long return value to a char*).

In addition to normal compiler settings (such as INITIAL_MEMORY or ASSERTIONS), EMSCRIPTEN_VERSION can also be retrieved as a string.

For this command to work, you must build with the following compiler option (as we do not want to increase the build size with this metadata):

-sRETAIN_COMPILER_SETTINGS

Parameters:

name (const char*) The compiler setting to return.

Returns:

The value of the specified setting. Note that for values other than an integer, a string is returned (cast the long return value to a char*).

Return type:

long

int emscripten_has_asyncify()

Returns whether pseudo-synchronous functions can be used.

Return type:: int
Returns:: 1 if program was compiled with -sASYNCIFY, 0 otherwise.

void emscripten_debugger()

Emits debugger.

This is inline in the code, which tells the JavaScript engine to invoke the debugger if it gets there.

void emscripten_log(int flags, const char *format, ...)

Prints out a message to the console, optionally with the callstack information.

Parameters:

flags (int) A binary OR of items from the list of EM_LOG_xxx flags that specify printing options.
format (const char*) A printf-style format string.
... A printf-style parameter list that is parsed according to the printf formatting rules.

int emscripten_get_callstack(int flags, char *out, int maxbytes)

Programmatically obtains the current callstack.

To query the amount of bytes needed for a callstack without writing it, pass 0 to out and maxbytes, in which case the function will return the number of bytes (including the terminating zero) that will be needed to hold the full callstack. Note that this might be fully accurate since subsequent calls will carry different line numbers, so it is best to allocate a few bytes extra to be safe.

Parameters:

flags (int) A binary OR of items from the list of EM_LOG_xxx flags that specify printing options. The flags EM_LOG_CONSOLE, EM_LOG_WARN and EM_LOG_ERROR do not apply in this function and are ignored.
out (char*) A pointer to a memory region where the callstack string will be written to. The string outputted by this function will always be null-terminated.
maxbytes (int) The maximum number of bytes that this function can write to the memory pointed to by out. If there is not enough space, the output will be truncated (but always null-terminated).

Returns:

The number of bytes written (not number of characters, so this will also include the terminating zero).

Return type:

int

char *emscripten_get_preloaded_image_data(const char *path, int *w, int *h)

Gets preloaded image data and the size of the image.

The function returns pointer to loaded image or NULL the pointer should be free()d. The width/height of the image are written to the w and h parameters if the data is valid.

Parameters:

path (const char*) Full path/filename to the file containing the preloaded image.
w (int*) Width of the image (if data is valid).
h (int*) Height of the image (if data is valid).

Returns:

A pointer to the preloaded image or NULL.

Return type:

char*

char *emscripten_get_preloaded_image_data_from_FILE(FILE *file, int *w, int *h)

Gets preloaded image data from a C FILE*.

Parameters:

file (FILE*) The FILE containing the preloaded image.
w (int*) Width of the image (if data is valid).
h (int*) Height of the image (if data is valid).

Returns:

A pointer to the preloaded image or NULL.

Return type:

char*

int emscripten_print_double(double x, char *to, signed max)

Prints a double as a string, including a null terminator. This is useful because JS engines have good support for printing out a double in a way that takes the least possible size, but preserves all the information in the double, i.e., it can then be parsed back in a perfectly reversible manner (snprintf etc. do not do so, sadly).

Parameters:

x (double) The double.
to (char*) A pre-allocated buffer of sufficient size, or NULL if no output is requested (useful to get the necessary size).
max (signed) The maximum number of bytes that can be written to the output pointer to (including the null terminator).

Return type:

The number of necessary bytes, not including the null terminator (actually written, if to is not NULL).

Socket event registration

The functions in this section register callback functions for receiving socket events. These events are analogous to WebSocket events but are emitted after the internal Emscripten socket processing has occurred. This means, for example, that the message callback will be triggered after the data has been added to the recv_queue, so that an application receiving this callback can simply read the data using the file descriptor passed as a parameter to the callback. All of the callbacks are passed a file descriptor (fd) representing the socket that the notified activity took place on. The error callback also takes an int representing the socket error number (errno) and a char* that represents the error message (msg).

Only a single callback function may be registered to handle any given event, so calling a given registration function more than once will cause the first callback to be replaced. Similarly, passing a NULL callback function to any emscripten_set_socket_*_callback call will de-register the callback registered for that event.

The userData pointer allows arbitrary data specified during event registration to be passed to the callback, this is particularly useful for passing this pointers around in Object Oriented code.

In addition to being able to register network callbacks from C it is also possible for native JavaScript code to directly use the underlying mechanism used to implement the callback registration. For example, the following code shows simple logging callbacks that are registered by default when SOCKET_DEBUG is enabled:

Module['websocket']['on']('error', function(error) {console.log('Socket error ' + error);});
Module['websocket']['on']('open', function(fd) {console.log('Socket open fd = ' + fd);});
Module['websocket']['on']('listen', function(fd) {console.log('Socket listen fd = ' + fd);});
Module['websocket']['on']('connection', function(fd) {console.log('Socket connection fd = ' + fd);});
Module['websocket']['on']('message', function(fd) {console.log('Socket message fd = ' + fd);});
Module['websocket']['on']('close', function(fd) {console.log('Socket close fd = ' + fd);});

Most of the JavaScript callback functions above get passed the file descriptor of the socket that triggered the callback, the on error callback however gets passed an array that contains the file descriptor, the error code and an error message.

Note

The underlying JavaScript implementation doesnt pass userData. This is mostly of use to C/C++ code and the emscripten_set_socket_*_callback calls simply create a closure containing the userData and pass that as the callback to the underlying JavaScript event registration mechanism.

Callback functions

type em_socket_callback

Function pointer for emscripten_set_socket_open_callback(), and the other socket functions (except emscripten_set_socket_error_callback()). This is defined as:

typedef void (*em_socket_callback)(int fd, void *userData);

Param int fd:: The file descriptor of the socket that triggered the callback.
Param void* userData:: The userData originally passed to the event registration function.

type em_socket_error_callback

Function pointer for the emscripten_set_socket_error_callback(), defined as:

typedef void (*em_socket_error_callback)(int fd, int err, const char* msg, void *userData);

Param int fd:: The file descriptor of the socket that triggered the callback.
Param int err:: The code for the error that occurred.
Param int msg:: The message for the error that occurred.
Param void* userData:: The userData originally passed to the event registration function.

Functions

void emscripten_set_socket_error_callback(void *userData, em_socket_error_callback callback)

Triggered by a WebSocket error.

See Socket event registration for more information.

Parameters:

userData (void*) Arbitrary user data to be passed to the callback.
callback (em_socket_error_callback) Pointer to a callback function. The callback returns a file descriptor, error code and message, and the arbitrary userData passed to this function.

void emscripten_set_socket_open_callback(void *userData, em_socket_callback callback)

Triggered when the WebSocket has opened.

See Socket event registration for more information.

Parameters:

userData (void*) Arbitrary user data to be passed to the callback.
callback (em_socket_callback) Pointer to a callback function. The callback returns a file descriptor and the arbitrary userData passed to this function.

void emscripten_set_socket_listen_callback(void *userData, em_socket_callback callback)

Triggered when listen has been called (synthetic event).

See Socket event registration for more information.

Parameters:

userData (void*) Arbitrary user data to be passed to the callback.
callback (em_socket_callback) Pointer to a callback function. The callback returns a file descriptor and the arbitrary userData passed to this function.

void emscripten_set_socket_connection_callback(void *userData, em_socket_callback callback)

Triggered when the connection has been established.

See Socket event registration for more information.

Parameters:

userData (void*) Arbitrary user data to be passed to the callback.
callback (em_socket_callback) Pointer to a callback function. The callback returns a file descriptor and the arbitrary userData passed to this function.

void emscripten_set_socket_message_callback(void *userData, em_socket_callback callback)

Triggered when data is available to be read from the socket.

See Socket event registration for more information.

Parameters:

userData (void*) Arbitrary user data to be passed to the callback.
callback (em_socket_callback) Pointer to a callback function. The callback returns a file descriptor and the arbitrary userData passed to this function.

void emscripten_set_socket_close_callback(void *userData, em_socket_callback callback)

Triggered when the WebSocket has closed.

See Socket event registration for more information.

Parameters:

userData (void*) Arbitrary user data to be passed to the callback.
callback (em_socket_callback) Pointer to a callback function. The callback returns a file descriptor and the arbitrary userData passed to this function.

Unaligned types

Typedefs

type emscripten_align1_short

type emscripten_align2_int

type emscripten_align1_int

type emscripten_align2_float

type emscripten_align1_float

type emscripten_align4_double

type emscripten_align2_double

type emscripten_align1_double

Unaligned types. These may be used to force LLVM to emit unaligned loads/stores in places in your code where SAFE_HEAP found an unaligned operation.

For usage examples see test/core/test_set_align.c.

Note

It is better to avoid unaligned operations, but if you are reading from a packed stream of bytes or such, these types may be useful!

Pseudo-synchronous functions

These functions require Asyncify (-sASYNCIFY). These functions are asynchronous but appear synchronous in C. See Asyncify for more details.

Sleeping

void emscripten_sleep(unsigned int ms): Sleep for ms milliseconds. This appears to be a normal synchronous sleep to the code, that is, execution does not continue to the next source line until the sleep is done. Note, however, that this is implemented using a return to the event loop (it is not possible to actually sleep in a blocking manner on the Web), which means that other async events may happen.

Network

int emscripten_wget(const char *url, const char *file)

Load file from url in synchronously. For the asynchronous version, see the emscripten_async_wget().

In addition to fetching the URL from the network, preload plugins are executed so that the data is usable in IMG_Load and so forth (we synchronously do the work to make the browser decode the image or audio etc.). See Preloading files for more information on preloading files.

This function is blocking; it wont return until all operations are finished. You can then open and read the file if it succeeded.

Parameters:

url (const char*) The URL to load.
file (const char*) The name of the file created and loaded from the URL. If the file already exists it will be overwritten. If the destination directory for the file does not exist on the filesystem, it will be created. A relative pathname may be passed, which will be interpreted relative to the current working directory at the time of the call to this function.

Returns:

0 on success or 1 on error.

void emscripten_wget_data(const char *url, void **pbuffer, int *pnum, int *perror);

Synchronously fetches data off the network, and stores it to a buffer in memory, which is allocated for you. You must free the buffer, or it will leak!

Parameters:

url The URL to fetch from
pbuffer An out parameter that will be filled with a pointer to a buffer containing the data that is downloaded. This space has been malloced for you, and you must free it, or it will leak!
pnum An out parameter that will be filled with the size of the downloaded data.
perror An out parameter that will be filled with a non-zero value if an error occurred.

IndexedDB

void emscripten_idb_load(const char *db_name, const char *file_id, void **pbuffer, int *pnum, int *perror);

Synchronously fetches data from IndexedDB, and stores it to a buffer in memory, which is allocated for you. You must free the buffer, or it will leak!

Parameters:

db_name The name of the database to load from
file_id The name of the file to load
pbuffer An out parameter that will be filled with a pointer to a buffer containing the data that is downloaded. This space has been malloced for you, and you must free it, or it will leak!
pnum An out parameter that will be filled with the size of the downloaded data.
perror An out parameter that will be filled with a non-zero value if an error occurred.

void emscripten_idb_store(const char *db_name, const char *file_id, void *buffer, int num, int *perror);

Synchronously stores data to IndexedDB.

Parameters:

db_name The name of the database to store to
file_id The name of the file to store
buffer A pointer to the data to store
num How many bytes to store
perror An out parameter that will be filled with a non-zero value if an error occurred.

void emscripten_idb_delete(const char *db_name, const char *file_id, int *perror);

Synchronously deletes data from IndexedDB.

Parameters:

db_name The name of the database to delete from
file_id The name of the file to delete
perror An out parameter that will be filled with a non-zero value if an error occurred.

void emscripten_idb_exists(const char *db_name, const char *file_id, int *pexists, int *perror);

Synchronously checks if a file exists in IndexedDB.

Parameters:

db_name The name of the database to check in
file_id The name of the file to check
pexists An out parameter that will be filled with a non-zero value if the file exists in that database.
perror An out parameter that will be filled with a non-zero value if an error occurred.

void emscripten_idb_clear(const char *db_name, int *perror);

Synchronously clears all data from IndexedDB.

Parameters:

db_name The name of the database to clear
perror An out parameter that will be filled with a non-zero value if an error occurred.

Asyncify functions

These functions only work when using Asyncify.

Typedefs

type em_scan_func

Function pointer type for use in scan callbacks, receiving two pointers, for the beginning and end of a range of memory. You can then scan that range.

Defined as:

typedef void (*em_scan_func)(void*, void*)

Functions

void emscripten_scan_stack(em_scan_func func): Scan the C userspace stack, which means the stack managed by the compiled code (as opposed to the Wasm VMs internal stack, which is not directly observable). This data is already in linear memory; this function just gives you a simple way to know where it is.

void emscripten_scan_registers(em_scan_func func)

Scan registers, by which we mean data that is not in memory. In Wasm, that means data stored in locals, including locals in functions higher up the stack - the Wasm VM has spilled them, but none of that is observable to user code).

Note that this function scans Wasm locals. Depending on the LLVM optimization level, this may not scan the original locals in your source code. For example in -O0 locals may be stored on the stack. To make sure you scan everything necessary, you can also do emscripten_scan_stack.

This function requires Asyncify - it relies on that option to spill the local state all the way up the stack. As a result, it will add overhead to your program.

ABI functions

The following functions are not declared in emscripten.h, but are used internally in our system libraries. You may care about them if you replace the Emscripten runtime JS code, or run Emscripten binaries in your own runtime.

void emscripten_notify_memory_growth(i32 index)

Called when memory has grown. In a JS runtime, this is used to know when to update the JS views on the Wasm memory, which otherwise we would need to constantly check for after any Wasm code runs. See this wasi discussion.

Parameters:

index (i32) Which memory has grown.

On this page

emscripten.h

Defines

Function pointer types for callbacks

Functions

Functions

Typedefs

Functions

Typedefs

Functions

Defines

Functions

Callback functions

Functions

Typedefs

Sleeping

Network

IndexedDB

Typedefs

Functions