cffi library 'libsndfile.dll' has no function, constant or global variable named 'sf_wchar_open'

[alpinedelight]

Firstly, wanted to start with saying thanks @bastibe for all your work and dedication

I'm trying to run soundfile on Windows on ARM64, I get the following error when calling sf.read function:
Error processing input: cffi library 'libsndfile.dll' has no function, constant or global variable named 'sf_wchar_open'.
Looking at dumpbin.exe /exports I can see libsndfile.dll (ARM64) contains sf_wchar_open, and creating a little test program I can call the function via cffi successfully.
I've tried reinstalling soundfile and cffi to no avail - I should mention pip install didn't deploy the DLL, and I had to place it manually.
Appreciate any help/thoughts.

import cffi
import os

ffi = cffi.FFI()

ffi.cdef("""
    typedef struct SNDFILE_tag SNDFILE;
    typedef struct SF_INFO {
        long long frames;
        int samplerate;
        int channels;
        int format;
        int sections;
        int seekable;
    } SF_INFO;
    
    SNDFILE* sf_wchar_open(const wchar_t* path, int mode, SF_INFO* sfinfo);
""")

def load_dll_and_test():
    try:
        dll_path = "libsndfile_arm64.dll"
        lib = ffi.dlopen(dll_path)
        print(f"Successfully loaded {dll_path}")
        
        sfinfo = ffi.new("SF_INFO *")
        
        file_path = "test.wav"  # Replace with actual file path
        
        wchar_path = ffi.new("wchar_t[]", file_path)
        
        sndfile = lib.sf_wchar_open(wchar_path, 0x10, sfinfo)
        
        if sndfile != ffi.NULL:
            print("Successfully opened audio file")
            print(f"Sample rate: {sfinfo.samplerate}")
            print(f"Channels: {sfinfo.channels}")
            print(f"Frames: {sfinfo.frames}")
        else:
            print("Failed to open audio file")
            
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Error: {e}")

if __name__ == "__main__":
    load_dll_and_test()

Platform/Version:
=== CFFI ===
Version: 1.17.1
=== SoundFile ===
Version: 0.13.1
=== Platform ===
Platform: Windows-11-10.0.26100-SP0
Architecture: ('64bit', 'WindowsPE')
Machine: ARM64
Processor: ARMv8 (64-bit) Family 8 Model 1 Revision 201, Qualcomm Technologies Inc
Python version: 3.13.5

[bastibe]

I have an arm64 version of libsndfile ready to be deployed. However, I'm still waiting for numpy and cffi to deploy their arm64 wheels. As far as I can tell, numpy has released a preview for Python 3.14, and CFFI is working on it.

But until they are published and available, we can't release soundfile.

[alpinedelight]

cgohlke has kindly compiled wheels here for CFFI & numpy: Windows on Arm Python Libraries.
Can we test against those in the interim? I was able call CFFI and use the libsndfile you have provided.
Thanks again.

[bastibe]

Did you use the arm64 library from here? https://github.com/bastibe/libsndfile-binaries/tree/a3e6f9769d0c7e91d2d036cf0fdbe5b4bbf18b87

[alpinedelight]

yessir

[bastibe]

Last time I tried, sysconfig.get_platform() reported arm64 on Windows regardless of whether you're running an x64 or arm64 binary on an arm processor. This made it impossible to determine the correct binary.

See, e.g. #463 for reference.

[alpinedelight]

You're right - mad.
Not elegant, but in lieu of any official function, one could attempt to load both, i.e.

    process_architecture = None;
    lib = None;
    
    try:
        print("Attempting to load libsndfile for x64 architecture")
        dll_path = "libsndfile_x64.dll" #"libsndfile_arm64.dll"
        lib = ffi.dlopen(dll_path)
        print(f"Successfully loaded {dll_path}")
        process_architecture = "x64"
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Failed to load x64. Error: {e}")
    
    try:
        print("Attempting to load libsndfile for ARM64 architecture")
        dll_path = "libsndfile_arm64.dll" #"libsndfile_arm64.dll"
        lib = ffi.dlopen(dll_path)
        print(f"Successfully loaded {dll_path}")
        process_architecture = "ARM64"
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Failed to load ARM64. Error: {e}")

    print(f"{bcolors.OKCYAN}Loaded libsndfile for architecture: {process_architecture} {bcolors.ENDC}")

[bastibe]

That's actually an acceptable workaround. Thank you.