I'm Emscriptenifying a dictionary-based application, which opens large
dictionary files as well as smaller input file when it runs. I'm targeting
the browser, where I want to be able to edit run the application (invoke
"main()"), examine the output, tweak the input, and repeat. So this
involves getting the user input into FS "file", running a bunch of
Javascript, displaying the results, and preparing for the next rinse-repeat.
Sorry if the following background is too verbose, I hope it'll make clear
what I'm doing and asking:
I have emcc build a .js file and use the --preload-file option to place the
large dictionary files in a .data file. The resulting Javascript file has
the following format:
// code to read the .data file built due to the --preload-file flag
// (code from --pre-js, if any)
// and the rest of the code is Emscripten-generated
I wrap all this generated code inside a `function run(args) { ... }` block,
with some pre-initialization like Module.TOTAL_MEMORY and creating the
FS-based "file" that the application will operate on. (This step is manual
since I don't know of any "--really-pre-js" flag that'll let me put code
*before* the data-loading code generated due to --preload-file. Is there
one?)
At this stage, I have a Javascript function that I can invoke to do
everything I want (get input from the user and create a small file, load
the large dictionary files, and run the application), over and over again
if necessary by complete tear-down and re-initialization of main().
The major inefficiency with this pattern is the large dictionary files that
are reloaded for every invocation of this all-in-one `run()` function. I
want to get rid of this major network inefficiency. If I run the
data-loading code first, and then wrap the rest of the Emscripten-generated
Javascript in my `function run(Module, ...) {...}` block that gets the
Module object, the application will run correctly *once* (and the large
data file is downloaded only *once,* at page load time), but subsequent
calls to `run()` do not produce any output from the application. Is is
possible that after `run` is called, the .data files that were loaded
initially get freed? (I doubt that because my application doesn't complain
that it couldn't find the input file.) Or what could be preventing the
application from actually doing something if I remove the data-loading code
from the `run` function and place it outside?
In any case, I wanted to solicit feedback on my general approach, and see
if there are better approaches to getting "interactive" runs in the
browser, where a small input file changes for each run, but the large data
files in memory are fetched only once.
Many thanks for your help and your hard work!
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