[Caml-list] Scanning objects outside the OCaml heap

[Michael Hicks <mwh@cs.umd.edu>]

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From what I have found on-line (Chap 19 of the OCaml manual, and Chap 20 of
Real-World OCaml), it seems that memory outside of the OCaml heap, but
pointed to by it, is not scanned by the GC.

Does anyone know: Is there any way to make outside memory scannable by the
GC?

The reason I ask:

I'm interested in implementing a custom memory management strategy that I
can prove is safe in a language I will compile to OCaml. I'm thinking I'd
like to allocate freeable memory outside the OCaml heap, but as OCaml
values. Since these values can point to OCaml heap-resident data, they need
to be scanned. But I don't want to have to explicitly register/deregister
them as roots to the GC, or track all mutations to the values, if I can
help it. Rather, having a single "persistent root" to my memory area, for
purposes of scanning, would be ideal.

Thanks in advance for any help,

-Mike

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