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ReferenceCounting

Code to support reference-count garbage collection, see the Reference Counting section of the manual. More...

Files
file	IotrRefCount.hh
	Definitions relating to the IotrRefCount class.
Compounds
class	Handle
	A class whose instances act like pointers that manage their reference count automatically. More...
class	IotrRefCount
	A base class for classes that support reference-count garbage collection, see the Reference Counting section of the manual. More...
Functions
template<class T> void	HandleNil (Handle< T > &handle)
	Set a Handle to nil.
template<class T> void	HandleReferTo (Handle< T > &handle, T *obj)
	Make a Handle refer to the same object as a traditional pointer.
template<class T> T *	HandleAsPointer (Handle< T > &handle)
	Call HandleAsPointer instead; returns a traditional pointer to the underlying object.
template<class T> void	IotrRelease (T **obj)
	Release a reference to an object.
template<class T> void	IotrAddRef (T *const *obj)
	Increments the reference count of obj.
void	release (IotrRefCount **obj)
	Release this reference to obj: it is more convenient to call the template function IotrRelease().
void	addRef (IotrRefCount *const *obj)
	Increment the reference count of this object: it is more convenient to call the template function IotrAddRef().

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Detailed Description

Code to support reference-count garbage collection, see the Reference Counting section of the manual.

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Function Documentation

void IotrRefCount::addRef (  IotrRefCount *const *    obj )  [inline, static, inherited]

Increment the reference count of this object: it is more convenient to call the template function IotrAddRef(). The parameter obj contains the address of a pointer of type exactly (IotrRefCount *). In other words it can't be a pointer to an instance of a subclass. IotrAddRef() does not have this restriction. See also: IotrAddRef

template<class T> T* HandleAsPointer (  Handle< T > &    handle )  [inline]

Call HandleAsPointer instead; returns a traditional pointer to the underlying object. This pointer has its reference count incremented so that it will continue to exist after the Handle goes out of scope. Use this method to return a pointer to the object, or to create a new traditional pointer reference to the object.

template<class T> void HandleReferTo (  Handle< T > &    handle, T *    obj )  [inline]

Make a Handle refer to the same object as a traditional pointer. The reference count is incremented. Use this function to keep a reference to a parameter of a routine.

template<class T> void IotrAddRef (  T *const *    obj )  [inline]

Increments the reference count of obj. Objects are only deleted when their reference count becomes zero, so this call must be balanced by a call to IotrRelease to decrement the reference count when this object is no longer needed. Parameters: obj  the address of a pointer to the object whose reference count is to be incremented. The pointer (*obj) will be unaltered. See also: IotrRelease

template<class T> void IotrRelease (  T **    obj )  [inline]

Release a reference to an object. If the number of references to obj becomes zero, delete the object. Parameters: obj  the address of a pointer to the object to be released. On exit, this pointer (*obj) will be set to nil.

void IotrRefCount::release (  IotrRefCount **    obj )  [inline, static, inherited]

Release this reference to obj: it is more convenient to call the template function IotrRelease(). The parameter obj contains the address of a pointer of type exactly (IotrRefCount *). In other words it can't be a pointer to an instance of a subclass. IotrRelease() does not have this restriction. See also: IotrRelease.

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