How to Build ZXing C++ to Wasm using WASI SDK in Linux

WASI is a modular system interface, which aims to build runnable .wasm modules for any WASI-compliant runtime, not only for Node.js and web browsers. Although WASI is still in development and not stable yet, it is available for some experimental projects. In this article, I will share how to use WASI SDK to build a .wasm barcode reader module by porting ZXing C++.

Installing WASI Runtime

Both Wasmer and Wasmtime support WASI.

Wasmer

curl https://get.wasmer.io -sSfL | sh

Wasmtime

Get the source code and build wasmtime with Rust compiler.

Setting Up WASI Building Environment

Let’s get started with wasi-libc.

To build WASI Libc, you have to use clang 8 or above. If you don’t have clang installed before, you may find the latest clang version is not listed in the apt software repositories.

The workaround is to add “deb http://deb.debian.org/debian/ testing main” to “/etc/apt/sources.list” and update the sources:

sudo apt update

Then the latest clang 9 is visible:

Install clang 9 and create relevant symlinks:

sudo apt install clang-9
sudo ln -s /usr/bin/clang-9 /usr/bin/clang
sudo ln -s /usr/bin/clang++-9 /usr/bin/clang++

Now we can build WASI Libs from the source code.

If you just want to use the toolchain, a more convenient way is to install wasi-sdk:

sudo dpkg -i wasi-sdk_7.0_amd64.deb
export PATH=/opt/wasi-sdk/bin:$PATH
export CC=/opt/wasi-sdk/bin/clang
export CXX=/opt/wasi-sdk/bin/clang++

Create a ‘hello world’ program for the test:

#include <stdio.h>

int main()
{
    printf("hello wasi libc\n");
    return 0;
}

Build the code:

$ clang - target=wasm32-wasi - sysroot=/opt/wasi-sdk/share/wasi-sysroot/ test.c -o test.wasm

Run the app:

wasmer run test.wasm
wasmtime test.wasm

Porting ZXing C++ for WASI SDK

Get the source code of zxing-cpp.

Since the current WASI libc does not yet support C++ exceptions, we need to add -fno-exceptions to CMakeLists.txt:

set (CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS} - target=wasm32-wasi -Wall -Wextra -fno-exceptions")

In addition, set sysroot as follows:

set (CMAKE_SYSROOT /opt/wasi-sdk/share/wasi-sysroot)

To pass the build, I have disabled all C++ exception-relevant code and adjusted the project structure.

Build the project to a wasm file:

mkdir build
cd build
cmake ..
cmake --build .

Run the app under the build folder:

$ wasmer run zxing_barcode_reader.wasm - dir=$(pwd)/../ $(pwd)/../test.png
Text: MEBKM:URL:http\://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page;;
Format: QR_CODE
Position: 190x367 205x162 422x165 405x342
EC Level: M

$ wasmtime zxing_barcode_reader.wasm - dir=$(pwd)/../ $(pwd)/../test.png
Text: MEBKM:URL:http\://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page;;
Format: QR_CODE
Position: 190x367 205x162 422x165 405x342
EC Level: M

How to Use Wapm to Publish and Run the Wasm File

Generate a wapm.toml file with init command:

$ wapm init zxing_barcode_reader

Edit wapm.toml:

[package]
name = "yushulx/zxing_barcode_reader"
version = "0.1.4"
description = "A barcode reader app built with ZXing C/C++ and wasi-sdk"
readme = "README.md"
repository = "https://github.com/yushulx/wasi-zxing-wasm"

[[module]]
name = "zxing_barcode_reader"
source = "dist/zxing_barcode_reader.wasm"
abi = "wasi"

[[command]]
name = "zxing_barcode_reader"
module = "zxing_barcode_reader"

Publish the package to wapm.io:

$ wapm login
$ wapm publish

Install the package via wapm and read barcodes from a PNG image:

$ wapm install yushulx/zxing_barcode_reader
$ wapm run zxing_barcode_reader --dir=. test.png

Related Articles

My First Wasmtime Experience in Windows 10

Reference

https://github.com/CraneStation/wasmtime/blob/master/docs/WASI-tutorial.md

Source Code

https://github.com/yushulx/wasi-zxing-wasm

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