managedptr.h

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// © Copyright 2010 - 2014 BlackTopp Studios Inc.
/* This file is part of The Mezzanine Engine.

    The Mezzanine Engine is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
    it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
    the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
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    The Mezzanine Engine is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
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    MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
    GNU General Public License for more details.

    You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
    along with The Mezzanine Engine.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
*/
/* The original authors have included a copy of the license specified above in the
   'Docs' folder. See 'gpl.txt'
*/
/* We welcome the use of the Mezzanine engine to anyone, including companies who wish to
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   However there are some practical restrictions, so if your project involves
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   These and other limitations could cause serious legal problems if you ignore
   them, so it is best to simply contact us or the Free Software Foundation, if
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   Joseph Toppi - toppij@gmail.com
   John Blackwood - makoenergy02@gmail.com
*/
#ifndef _managedptr_h
#define _managedptr_h

/// @file
/// @brief The interface for a class useful for applying RAII when it should have been used but wasn't.

#include "datatypes.h"

#include "exception.h"

namespace Mezzanine
{
    /// @brief Sample implementation for a ManagedPtr
    /// @details This one is pretty useless, and serves as just an example. Any
    /// class that implements at least the member function this implements can be used
    /// with the ManagedPtr to get smart pointer semantics.
    class IntHandle // This class should serve as an example and should not be exported.
    {
        public:
            /// @brief This is type ManagedPtr will use to work with a handle
            typedef int* TargetPtrType;

            /// @brief The Type this handle is pointer at.
            typedef int TargetType;

            /// @brief The ManagedPtr never access objects directly, so this is just an implementation detail
            TargetPtrType Pointer;

            /// @brief This is expected to leave Pointer in some valid state for dereferencing.
            void Construct()
                { Pointer = new int; }
            /// @brief This can perform any cleanup, but should not fail if Pointer is NULL
            /// @details Copying or assigning a ManagedPtr just changes which instance of the
            /// ManagedPtr will cleanup Ptr. This movement of ownership allows passing or
            /// returning ManagedPtr by value or putting it in a standard container. Only the
            /// most recent copy will delete the target and none of the earlier copies will.
            /// This also stops the target from being deleted multiple times.
            void Deconstruct()
                { delete Pointer; } //deleting NULL is a no-op, otherwise a check would be needed.

            /// @brief This is what ManagedPtr will use in copy and assignment operations as well as invaliding handles.
            /// @param Value The new value for the pointer. If NULL the only thing that the ManagedPtr will do to the handle is call its deconstruct method.
            void SetPointer(TargetPtrType Value)
                { Pointer = Value; }
            /// @brief This is what the ManagedPtr with use for dereferencing.
            /// @return The pointer to the managed data. This is expected to return a value that resolves to false when used as a condition when invalid.
            TargetPtrType GetPointer()
                { return Pointer; }

    };


    /// @brief This is used to get RAII semantics when not provided inherently.
    /// @details Some APIs have functions that return raw pointers and expect the call to clean
    /// up the mess. Even worse sometimes doing this involves more than
    /// This is exactly the size of the handle class used. It could be as small as raw pointer
    /// if constructed carefully.
    /// @n @n
    /// To use this a 'Handle' must be created first. A good handle is trivial copyable, assignable
    /// and implements a few functions. This is similar to the Pimpl idiom in that the details of the
    /// implemention could be abstracted into this 'Handle'. The 'Handle' will encapsulate/have the
    /// knowledge of how to correctly create and destroy the pointer while the ManagedPtr provides
    /// The pointer-like semantics and esures it is destructed exactly once.
    /// This is expected to have members:
    ///    - TargetPtrType - The type of the underlying pointer.
    ///    - TargetPtrType - The type of the underlying pointer.
    ///    - void Construct() - Called on initial construction.
    ///    - void SetPointer(TargetPtrType Value) - called for copy construction, assignements and with NULL Value for invalidations.
    ///    - TargetPtrType GetPointer() - for dereferencing.
    ///    - void Deconstruct() - For cleanup/deconstruction.
    ///
    /// The semantics of this class also presume that copying and assigning a Handle is safe. To do that
    /// uses these functions as well. It is intended that pointer copies be shallow copies.
    ///    - operator= - For copying one handle to another, used in construction.
    ///    - Sane default construction that can immediately allow for calls to the the other functions.
    template <class Handle>
    class MEZZ_LIB ManagedPtr
    {
        private:
            /// @brief This handles the details of contructing and managing the raw pointer.
            Handle Target;

            /// @brief Copy the state of one handle to this handle, and invalidate the old one
            /// @param StatefulHandle the state to copy onto our handle.
            void Copy(Handle& StatefulHandle)
            {
                if(StatefulHandle.GetPointer()!=Target.GetPointer())
                {
                    Target.Deconstruct();
                    Target=StatefulHandle;
                    Invalidate(StatefulHandle);
                }
            }

            /// @brief Take whatever actions are required to invalidate a handle.
            /// @param StatefulHandle The Handle to invalidate.
            static void Invalidate(Handle& StatefulHandle)
                { StatefulHandle.SetPointer(NULL); }
            /// @brief Invalidate the handle on this ManagedPtr.
            void Invalidate()
                { Invalidate(Target); }

        public:

            /// @brief Used to set the return type of pointer like returns (could be a smartpointer)
            typedef typename Handle::TargetPtrType TargetPtrType;
            /// @brief Used to set the value and reference type for returns.
            typedef typename Handle::TargetType TargetType;

            /// @brief Constructs the target after passing it the desired state information
            /// @param StatefulHandle A way to pass parameters into the constructors of the underlying class being targeted.
            /// @details The Handle class can be implemented any way that is appropriate for the underlying data. So it is
            /// not limited to the members defined here. This constructor will call the copy copystructor of the handle before
            /// Calling Construct() on it.
            ManagedPtr(Handle StatefulHandle = Handle())
            {
                Target=StatefulHandle;
                Target.Construct();
            }
            /// @brief Creates the Target from an already constructed one but invalidates Other ManagedPtr
            /// @details This transfer ownership (who will deconstruct the handle) from the Other ManagedPtr to this one. This
            /// Does not call Construct().
            /// @param Other The ManagedPtr to copy then invalidate.
            ManagedPtr(ManagedPtr& Other)
            {
                Target=Other.Target;
                Other.Target.SetPointer(NULL);
            }

            /// @brief Assigns the Target but invalidates Other ManagedPtr
            /// @details This transfer ownership (who will deconstruct the handle) from the Other ManagedPtr to this one. This
            /// Does not call Construct().
            /// @param Other The ManagedPtr to copy then invalidate.
            ManagedPtr& operator= (ManagedPtr& Other)
            {
                Copy(Other.Target);
                return *this;
            }

            /// @brief Dereference operator.
            /// @return The managed object is returned by reference.
            /// @throw If the pointerNothing This member function does not throw exceptions unless the underlying handle does.
            TargetType& operator*()
            {
                TargetPtrType Results=Target.GetPointer();
                if(Results)
                    { return *Results; }
                else
                    { MEZZ_EXCEPTION(Exception::MM_EXCEPTION,"Attempted to Dereference a NULL ManagedPtr."); }
            }

            /// @brief The Structure dereference operator.
            /// @return Makes it appear, syntactically, as though you are dereferencing the raw pointer.
            TargetPtrType operator->()
            {
                TargetPtrType Results=Target.GetPointer();
                if(Results)
                    { return Results; }
                else
                    { MEZZ_EXCEPTION(Exception::MM_EXCEPTION,"Attempted to Dereference a NULL ManagedPtr."); }
            }

            /// @brief Get the raw pointer to the managed object.
            /// @return The raw pointer to the managed object or 0 if this pointer is invalid.
            /// @note This name was chosen to match standard compliant names, and should be usable in templates that require this function.
            TargetPtrType Get()
                { return Target.GePointer(); }

            /// @copydoc Get
            /// @note Provided to match method names on standard smart pointers
            TargetPtrType get()
                { return Get(); }

            /// @brief Returns true if this pointer points to something.
            /// @warning Without C++11 this can be accidentally easily be cast to a bool and can do silly things, like bogus pointer multiplication.
            operator bool()
            { return 0 != Target.GetPointer(); }

            /// @brief Compares the underlying pointer of this and another ManagedPtr, (This had better return false)
            /// @param Other The right hand portion of the comparison
            /// @return Bool Hopefully thi is false, becase
            bool operator== (ManagedPtr& Other)
                { return Target.GetPointer() == Other.Target.GetP0inter(); }

            /// @brief Destroy the target and invalidate it.
            ~ManagedPtr()
            {
                Target.Deconstruct();
                Target.SetPointer(NULL);
            }
    };


} // /namespace Mezzanine

#endif // Include guard