/** @file * * VBox frontends: Qt GUI ("VirtualBox"): * Common VirtualBox classes: CIShared class declaration */ /* * Copyright (C) 2006-2007 Sun Microsystems, Inc. * * This file is part of VirtualBox Open Source Edition (OSE), as * available from http://www.virtualbox.org. This file is free software; * you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU * General Public License (GPL) as published by the Free Software * Foundation, in version 2 as it comes in the "COPYING" file of the * VirtualBox OSE distribution. VirtualBox OSE is distributed in the * hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY of any kind. * * Please contact Sun Microsystems, Inc., 4150 Network Circle, Santa * Clara, CA 95054 USA or visit http://www.sun.com if you need * additional information or have any questions. */ #ifndef __CIShared_h__ #define __CIShared_h__ #ifdef VBOX_CHECK_STATE #include #endif template< class D > class CIShared { /** @internal * * A class that derives the data structure managed by the CIShared template * (passed as a template parameter) for some internal purposes, such as the * reference count, etc. There is no need to use this class directly. */ class Data : public D { enum { Orig = 0x01, Null = 0x02 }; Data() : cnt( 1 ), state( Orig ) {} Data( const Data &d ) : D( d ), cnt( 1 ), state( d.state & (~Orig) ) {} Data &operator=( const Data &d ) { D::operator=( d ); state &= ~Orig; return *this; } // a special constructor to create a null value Data( void* ) : cnt( 1 ), state( Null ) {} #ifdef VBOX_CHECK_STATE virtual ~Data(); void ref(); bool deref(); #else virtual ~Data() {} void ref() { cnt++; } bool deref() { return !--cnt; } #endif // VBOX_CHECK_STATE int cnt; int state; friend class CIShared; }; public: CIShared( bool null = true ) : d( null ? Null.d->ref(), Null.d : new Data() ) {} CIShared( const CIShared &that ) : d( that.d ) { d->ref(); } CIShared &operator=( const CIShared &that ) { that.d->ref(); if ( d->deref() ) delete d; d = that.d; return *this; } virtual ~CIShared() { if ( d->deref() ) delete d; } bool isOriginal() const { return (d->state != 0); } bool isNull() const { return ((d->state & Data::Null) != 0); } bool detach(); bool detachOriginal(); CIShared copy() const { return isNull() ? CIShared( Null ) : CIShared( new Data( *d ) ); } const D *data() const { return d; } inline D *mData(); bool operator==( const CIShared &that ) const { return (d == that.d) || (*d == *(that.d)); } // convenience operators const D *operator->() const { return data(); } bool operator!() const { return isNull(); } private: CIShared( Data *data ) : d( data ) {} Data *d; static CIShared Null; }; /** @class CIShared * * This template allows to implement the implicit sharing * semantics for user-defined data structures. * * The template argument is a structure (or a class) whose objects * need to be implicitly shared by different pieces of code. A class * generated from this template acts as a wrapper for that structure * and provides a safe access (from the shared usage point of view) to its * members. Note that simple C++ types (such as int) cannot be used as * template arguments. * * Implicit sharing means that instances of the generated class point to the * same data object of the managed structure until any one of them tries * to change it. When it happens that instane makes a deep copy of the object * (through its copy constructor) and does the actual change on that copy, * keeping the original data unchanged. This technique is also called * "copy on write". Also, any instance can excplicitly stop sharing the data * it references at any time by calling the detach() method directly, which * makes a copy if the data is referenced by more than one instance. * * The read-only access to the managed data can be obtained using the * data() method that returns a pointer to the constant data of the type * used as a template argument. The pointer to the non-constant data * is returned by the mData() method, that automatically detaches the * instance if necessary. This method should be used with care, and only * when it is really necessary to change the data -- if you will use it for * the read-only access the implicit sharing will not work because every * instance will have its data detached. * * To be able to be used with the VShared template the structure/class * must have public (or protected) constructors and a destructor. If it * doesn't contain pointers as its members then the two constructors * (the default and the copy constructor) and the destructor automatically * generated by the compiler are enough, there's no need to define them * explicitly. If the destructor is defined explicitly it must be * virtual. * * The default constructor implemented by this template (it is actually * a constructor with one bool argument that defaults to false) creates * a null instance (i.e. its isNull() method returns false). All null * instances share the same internal data object (created by the default * constructor of the managed structure) and provide only a read-only access * to its members. This means that the mData() method of such an instance * will always return a null pointer and an attempt to access its members * through that pointer will most likely cause a memory access violation * exception. The template doesn't provide any other constructors (except * the copy constructor) because it doesn't know how to initialize the * object of the managed structure, so the only way to create a non-null * instance is to pass true to the constructor mentioned above. * * It's a good practice not to use instantiations of this template directly * but derive them instead. This gives an opportunity to define necessary * constructors with arguments that initialize the managed structure, as * well as to define convenient methods to access structure members (instead * of defining them in the structure itself). For example: * * @code * * // a data structure * struct ACardData { * string name; * // commented out -- not so convenient: * // void setName( const string &n ) { name = n; } * } * * // a wrapper * class ACard : publc CIShared< ACardData > { * ACardData() {} // the default constructor should be visible * ACardData( const string &name ) : * CIShared< ACardData >( false ) // make non-null * { * mData()->name = name; * } * string name() const { return data()->name; } * void setName( const string &name ) { mData()->name = name; } * } * * // ... * ACard c( "John" ); * // ... * c.setName( "Ivan" ); * // the above is shorter than c.data()->name or c.mData()->setName() * * @endcode * * If some members of the structure need to be private (and therefore * unaccessible through the pointers returned by data() and vData()) you can * simply declare the wrapper class (the ACard class in the example above) * as a friend of the structure and still use the above approach. * * For public members of the original structure it's also possible to use * the overloaded operator->(), which is the equivalent of calling the data() * method, i.e.: * * @code * // ... * cout << c->name; * @endcode * * The operator!() is overloaded for convenience and is equivalent to the * isNull() method. * * The operator==() makes a comparison of two instances. * * @todo put the "original" state definition here... */ /** @internal * * A special null value for internal usage. All null instances created * with the default constructor share the data object it contains. */ template< class D > CIShared CIShared::Null = CIShared( new Data( 0 ) ); /** @fn CIShared::CIShared( bool null = true ) * * Creates a new instance. If the argument is true (which is the default) * a null instance is created. All null instances share the same data * object created using the default constructor of the managed structure * (i.e. specified as template argument when instantiating). * * If the argument is false an empty instance is created. The empty instance * differs from the null instance such that the created data object is * initially non-shared and the mData() method returns a valid pointer * suitable for modifying the data. * * The instance created by this constructor is initially original. * * @see isNull, isOriginal */ /** @fn CIShared::CIShared( const CIShared & ) * * Creates a new instance and initializes it by a reference to the same data * object as managed by the argument. No copies of the data are created. * The created instance becomes null and/or original if the argument is null * and/or original, respectively. * * @see isNull, isOriginal */ /** @fn CIShared::operator=( const CIShared & ) * * Assigns a new value to this instance by instructing it to refer to the * same data as managed by the argument. No copies of the data are created. * The previous data is automatically deleted if there are no more references * to it. The instance becomes null and/or original if the argument is null * and/or original, respectively. */ /** @fn CIShared::copy() const * * Returns a "deep" copy of the instance. The returned instance always * contains its own (not yet shared) copy of the managed data, even if the * data wasn't shared before this call. The new copy becomes not original * if it is not null, otherwise it remains null. * * @see isNull, isOriginal */ /** @fn CIShared::data() const * * Returns a pointer to the object of the managed structure that is suitable * for a read-only access. Does not do an implicit detach(), the * data remains shared. * * @see mData() */ /** @fn CIShared::operator==( const CIShared & ) const * * Compares this instance and the argument. Two instances are considered * to be equal if they share the same data object or if data objects they * share are equal. Data objects are compared using the comparison operator * of the managed structure. */ /** * Detaches this instance from other instances it shares the data with by * making the copy of the data. This instance becomes "non-original". The * method does nothing and returns false if this instance is null or its * data is not shared among (referenced by) other instances. * * @return true if it does a real detach and false otherwise. * * @see isOriginal, isNull */ template< class D > bool CIShared::detach() { if ( !(d->state & Data::Null) && d->cnt > 1 ) { d->deref(); d = new Data( *d ); return true; } return false; } /** * Detaches this instance from other instances it shares the data with by * making the copy of the data. This instance becomes "original" (even if * it wasn't original before a detach), all other instances that previously * shared the same data will become "non-original". The method does nothing * and returns false if this instance is null. If its data is not shared * among (referenced by) other instances it marks it as original and * also returns false. * * @return true if it does a real detach and false otherwise. * * @see isOriginal, isNull */ template< class D > bool CIShared::detachOriginal() { if ( !(d->state & Data::Null) ) { if ( d->cnt > 1 ) { d->deref(); d->state &= ~Data::Orig; d = new Data( *d ); d->state |= Data::Orig; return true; } d->state |= Data::Orig; } return false; } /** @fn CIShared::isOriginal() const * * Returns true if the data is the original data and false otherwise. * The data is considered to be original until it is changed through the * mData() member or directly detached by detach(). Also, the data can be * made original at any time using the detachOriginal() method. * * Note, that this method always returns true for null instances. * * @see detachOriginal, isNull */ /** @fn CIShared::isNull() const * * Returns true if this instance is a special null value. All null values * share the same data object created by the default constructor of * the managed structure. A null instance gives a read-only access to the * managed data. * * @see vData */ /** * Returns a pointer to the object of the managed structure that is suitable * for modifying data. Does an implicit detach() if this data object is * referenced by more than one instance, making this instance non-original. * * This method should be called only when it's really necessary to change * the data object, read-only access should be obtained using the data() * member. Otherwise there all data objects will be detached and non-shared. * * @warning This method returns a null pointer for instances that are * null. Accessing data through that pointer will most likely cause a * memory access violation exception. * * @see data, isNull, isOriginal */ template< class D > inline D *CIShared::mData() { if ( d->state & Data::Null ) { #ifdef VBOX_CHECK_STATE printf( "CIShared::mData(): a null instance, returning a null pointer!" ); #endif return 0; } if ( d->cnt > 1 ) detach(); return d; } // CIShared::Data debug methods ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// #ifdef VBOX_CHECK_STATE template< class D > CIShared::Data::~Data() { if ( cnt ) printf( "~Data(): ref count is %d, but must be zero!\n", cnt ); } template< class D > void CIShared::Data::ref() { if ( cnt <= 0 ) printf( "Data::ref() ref count was %d, " "but must be greater than zero!\n", cnt ); cnt++; } template< class D > bool CIShared::Data::deref() { if ( cnt <= 0 ) printf( "Data::ref() ref count was %d, " "but must be greater than zero!\n", cnt ); return !--cnt; } #endif // VBOX_CHECK_STATE #endif // __CIShared_h__