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Please review the following information to ** ensure the GNU General Public License version 3.0 requirements will be ** met: http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html. ** ** If you are unsure which license is appropriate for your use, please ** contact the sales department at http://www.qtsoftware.com/contact. ** $QT_END_LICENSE$ ** ****************************************************************************/ #include QT_BEGIN_NAMESPACE /*! \class QSharedData \brief The QSharedData class is a base class for shared data objects. \reentrant \ingroup misc QSharedData is designed to be used with QSharedDataPointer or QExplicitlySharedDataPointer to implement custom \l{implicitly shared} or \l {explicitly shared} classes. QSharedData provides \l{thread-safe} reference counting. See QSharedDataPointer and QExplicitlySharedDataPointer for details. */ /*! \fn QSharedData::QSharedData() Constructs a QSharedData object with a reference count of 0. */ /*! \fn QSharedData::QSharedData(const QSharedData& other) Constructs a QSharedData object with reference count 0. \a other is ignored. */ /*! \class QSharedDataPointer \brief The QSharedDataPointer class represents a pointer to an implicitly shared object. \since 4.0 \reentrant \ingroup misc \mainclass QSharedDataPointer\ makes writing your own \l {implicitly shared} classes easy. QSharedDataPointer implements \l {thread-safe} reference counting, ensuring that adding QSharedDataPointers to your \l {reentrant} classes won't make them non-reentrant. \l {Implicit sharing} is used by many Qt classes to combine the speed and memory efficiency of pointers with the ease of use of classes. See the \l{Shared Classes} page for more information. \target Employee example Suppose you want to make an \c Employee class implicitly shared. The procedure is: \list \o Define the class \c Employee to have a single data member of type \c {QSharedDataPointer}. \o Define the \c EmployeeData class derived from \l QSharedData to contain all the data members you would normally have put in the \c Employee class. \endlist To show this in practice, we review the source code for the implicitly shared \c Employee class. In the header file we define the two classes \c Employee and \c EmployeeData. \snippet doc/src/snippets/sharedemployee/employee.h 0 In class \c Employee, note the single data member, a \e {d pointer} of type \c {QSharedDataPointer}. All accesses of employee data must go through the \e {d pointer's} \c {operator->()}. For write accesses, \c {operator->()} will automatically call detach(), which creates a copy of the shared data object if the shared data object's reference count is greater than 1. This ensures that writes to one \c Employee object don't affect any other \c Employee objects that share the same \c EmployeeData object. Class \c EmployeeData inherits QSharedData, which provides the \e{behind the scenes} reference counter. \c EmployeeData has a default constructor, a copy constructor, and a destructor. Normally, trivial implementations of these are all that is needed in the \e {data} class for an implicitly shared class. Implementing the two constructors for class \c Employee is also straightforward. Both create a new instance of \c EmployeeData and assign it to the \e{d pointer} . \snippet doc/src/snippets/sharedemployee/employee.h 1 \codeline \snippet doc/src/snippets/sharedemployee/employee.h 2 Note that class \c Employee also has a trivial copy constructor defined, which is not strictly required in this case. \snippet doc/src/snippets/sharedemployee/employee.h 7 The copy constructor is not strictly required here, because class \c EmployeeData is included in the same file as class \c Employee (\c{employee.h}). However, including the private subclass of QSharedData in the same file as the public class containing the QSharedDataPointer is not typical. Normally, the idea is to hide the private subclass of QSharedData from the user by putting it in a separate file which would not be included in the public file. In this case, we would normally put class \c EmployeeData in a separate file, which would \e{not} be included in \c{employee.h}. Instead, we would just predeclare the private subclass \c EmployeeData in \c {employee.h} this way: \code class EmployeeData; \endcode If we had done it that way here, the copy constructor shown would be required. Since the copy constructor is trivial, you might as well just always include it. Behind the scenes, QSharedDataPointer automatically increments the reference count whenever an \c Employee object is copied, assigned, or passed as a parameter. It decrements the reference count whenever an \c Employee object is deleted or goes out of scope. The shared \c EmployeeData object is deleted automatically if and when the reference count reaches 0. In a non-const member function of \c Employee, whenever the \e {d pointer} is dereferenced, QSharedDataPointer automatically calls detach() to ensure that the function operates on its own copy of the data. \snippet doc/src/snippets/sharedemployee/employee.h 3 \codeline \snippet doc/src/snippets/sharedemployee/employee.h 4 Note that if detach() is called more than once in a member function due to multiple dereferences of the \e {d pointer}, detach() will only create a copy of the shared data the first time it is called, if at all, because on the second and subsequent calls of detach(), the reference count will be 1 again. But note that in the second \c Employee constructor, which takes an employee ID and a name, both setId() and setName() are called, but they don't cause \e{copy on write}, because the reference count for the newly constructed \c EmployeeData object has just been set to 1. In \c Employee's \e const member functions, dereferencing the \e {d pointer} does \e not cause detach() to be called. \snippet doc/src/snippets/sharedemployee/employee.h 5 \codeline \snippet doc/src/snippets/sharedemployee/employee.h 6 Notice that there is no need to implement a copy constructor or an assignment operator for the \c Employee class, because the copy constructor and assignment operator provided by the C++ compiler will do the \e{member by member} shallow copy required. The only member to copy is the \e {d pointer}, which is a QSharedDataPointer, whose \c {operator=()} just increments the reference count of the shared \c EmployeeData object. \target Implicit vs Explicit Sharing \section1 Implicit vs Explicit Sharing Implicit sharing might not be right for the \c Employee class. Consider a simple example that creates two instances of the implicitly shared \c Employee class. \snippet doc/src/snippets/sharedemployee/main.cpp 0 After the second employee e2 is created and e1 is assigned to it, both \c e1 and \c e2 refer to Albrecht Durer, employee 1001. Both \c Employee objects point to the same instance of \c EmployeeData, which has reference count 2. Then \c {e1.setName("Hans Holbein")} is called to change the employee name, but because the reference count is greater than 1, a \e{copy on write} is performed before the name is changed. Now \c e1 and \c e2 point to different \c EmployeeData objects. They have different names, but both have ID 1001, which is probably not what you want. You can, of course, just continue with \c {e1.setId(1002)}, if you really mean to create a second, unique employee, but if you only want to change the employee's name everywhere, consider using \l {QExplicitlySharedDataPointer} {explicit sharing} in the \c Employee class instead of implicit sharing. If you declare the \e {d pointer} in the \c Employee class to be \c {QExplicitlySharedDataPointer}, then explicit sharing is used and \e{copy on write} operations are not performed automatically (i.e. detach() is not called in non-const functions). In that case, after \c {e1.setName("Hans Holbein")}, the employee's name has been changed, but both e1 and e2 still refer to the same instance of \c EmployeeData, so there is only one employee with ID 1001. In the member function documentation, \e{d pointer} always refers to the internal pointer to the shared data object. \sa QSharedData, QExplicitlySharedDataPointer */ /*! \fn T& QSharedDataPointer::operator*() Provides access to the shared data object's members. This function calls detach(). */ /*! \fn const T& QSharedDataPointer::operator*() const Provides const access to the shared data object's members. This function does \e not call detach(). */ /*! \fn T* QSharedDataPointer::operator->() Provides access to the shared data object's members. This function calls detach(). */ /*! \fn const T* QSharedDataPointer::operator->() const Provides const access to the shared data object's members. This function does \e not call detach(). */ /*! \fn QSharedDataPointer::operator T*() Returns a pointer to the shared data object. This function calls detach(). \sa data(), constData() */ /*! \fn QSharedDataPointer::operator const T*() const Returns a pointer to the shared data object. This function does \e not call detach(). */ /*! \fn T* QSharedDataPointer::data() Returns a pointer to the shared data object. This function calls detach(). \sa constData() */ /*! \fn const T* QSharedDataPointer::data() const Returns a pointer to the shared data object. This function does \e not call detach(). */ /*! \fn const T* QSharedDataPointer::constData() const Returns a const pointer to the shared data object. This function does \e not call detach(). \sa data() */ /*! \fn bool QSharedDataPointer::operator==(const QSharedDataPointer& other) const Returns true if \a other and \e this have the same \e{d pointer}. This function does \e not call detach(). */ /*! \fn bool QSharedDataPointer::operator!=(const QSharedDataPointer& other) const Returns true if \a other and \e this do \e not have the same \e{d pointer}. This function does \e not call detach(). */ /*! \fn QSharedDataPointer::QSharedDataPointer() Constructs a QSharedDataPointer initialized with a null \e{d pointer}. */ /*! \fn QSharedDataPointer::~QSharedDataPointer() Decrements the reference count of the shared data object. If the reference count becomes 0, the shared data object is deleted. \e This is then destroyed. */ /*! \fn QSharedDataPointer::QSharedDataPointer(T* sharedData) Constructs a QSharedDataPointer with \e{d pointer} set to \a sharedData and increments \a{sharedData}'s reference count. */ /*! \fn QSharedDataPointer::QSharedDataPointer(const QSharedDataPointer& other) Sets the \e{d pointer} of \e this to the \e{d pointer} in \a other and increments the reference count of the shared data object. */ /*! \fn QSharedDataPointer& QSharedDataPointer::operator=(const QSharedDataPointer& other) Sets the \e{d pointer} of \e this to the \e{d pointer} of \a other and increments the reference count of the shared data object. The reference count of the old shared data object of \e this is decremented. If the reference count of the old shared data object becomes 0, the old shared data object is deleted. */ /*! \fn QSharedDataPointer& QSharedDataPointer::operator=(T* sharedData) Sets the \e{d pointer} og \e this to \a sharedData and increments \a{sharedData}'s reference count. The reference count of the old shared data object of \e this is decremented. If the reference count of the old shared data object becomes 0, the old shared data object is deleted. */ /*! \fn bool QSharedDataPointer::operator!() const Returns true if the \e{d pointer} of \e this is null. */ /*! \fn void QSharedDataPointer::detach() If the shared data object's reference count is greater than 1, this function creates a deep copy of the shared data object and sets the \e{d pointer} of \e this to the copy. This function is called automatically by non-const member functions of QSharedDataPointer if \e{copy on write} is required. You don't need to call it yourself. */ /*! \fn T *QSharedDataPointer::clone() \since 4.5 Creates and returns a deep copy of the current data. This function is called by detach() when the reference count is greater than 1 in order to create the new copy. This function uses the \e {operator new} and calls the copy constructor of the type T. This function is provided so that you may support "virtual copy constructors" for your own types. In order to so, you should declare a template-specialization of this function for your own type, like the example below: \code template<> EmployeeData *QSharedDataPointer::clone() { return d->clone(); } \endcode In the example above, the template specialization for the clone() function calls the \e {EmployeeData::clone()} virtual function. A class derived from EmployeeData could override that function and return the proper polymorphic type. */ /*! \class QExplicitlySharedDataPointer \brief The QExplicitlySharedDataPointer class represents a pointer to an explicitly shared object. \since 4.4 \reentrant \ingroup misc \mainclass QExplicitlySharedDataPointer\ makes writing your own explicitly shared classes easy. QExplicitlySharedDataPointer implements \l {thread-safe} reference counting, ensuring that adding QExplicitlySharedDataPointers to your \l {reentrant} classes won't make them non-reentrant. Except for one big difference, QExplicitlySharedDataPointer is just like QSharedDataPointer. The big difference is that member functions of QExplicitlySharedDataPointer \e{do not} do the automatic \e{copy on write} operation (detach()) that non-const members of QSharedDataPointer do before allowing the shared data object to be modified. There is a detach() function available, but if you really want to detach(), you have to call it yourself. This means that QExplicitlySharedDataPointers behave like regular C++ pointers, except that by doing reference counting and not deleting the shared data object until the reference count is 0, they avoid the dangling pointer problem. It is instructive to compare QExplicitlySharedDataPointer with QSharedDataPointer by way of an example. Consider the \l {Employee example} in QSharedDataPointer, modified to use explicit sharing as explained in the discussion \l {Implicit vs Explicit Sharing}. Note that if you use this class but find you are calling detach() a lot, you probably should be using QSharedDataPointer instead. In the member function documentation, \e{d pointer} always refers to the internal pointer to the shared data object. \sa QSharedData, QSharedDataPointer */ /*! \fn T& QExplicitlySharedDataPointer::operator*() const Provides access to the shared data object's members. */ /*! \fn T* QExplicitlySharedDataPointer::operator->() Provides access to the shared data object's members. */ /*! \fn const T* QExplicitlySharedDataPointer::operator->() const Provides const access to the shared data object's members. */ /*! \fn T* QExplicitlySharedDataPointer::data() const Returns a pointer to the shared data object. */ /*! \fn const T* QExplicitlySharedDataPointer::constData() const Returns a const pointer to the shared data object. \sa data() */ /*! \fn bool QExplicitlySharedDataPointer::operator==(const QExplicitlySharedDataPointer& other) const Returns true if \a other and \e this have the same \e{d pointer}. */ /*! \fn bool QExplicitlySharedDataPointer::operator==(const T* ptr) const Returns true if the \e{d pointer} of \e this is \a ptr. */ /*! \fn bool QExplicitlySharedDataPointer::operator!=(const QExplicitlySharedDataPointer& other) const Returns true if \a other and \e this do \e not have the same \e{d pointer}. */ /*! \fn bool QExplicitlySharedDataPointer::operator!=(const T* ptr) const Returns true if the \e{d pointer} of \e this is \e not \a ptr. */ /*! \fn QExplicitlySharedDataPointer::QExplicitlySharedDataPointer() Constructs a QExplicitlySharedDataPointer initialized with a null \e{d pointer}. */ /*! \fn QExplicitlySharedDataPointer::~QExplicitlySharedDataPointer() Decrements the reference count of the shared data object. If the reference count becomes 0, the shared data object is deleted. \e This is then destroyed. */ /*! \fn QExplicitlySharedDataPointer::QExplicitlySharedDataPointer(T* sharedData) Constructs a QExplicitlySharedDataPointer with \e{d pointer} set to \a sharedData and increments \a{sharedData}'s reference count. */ /*! \fn QExplicitlySharedDataPointer::QExplicitlySharedDataPointer(const QExplicitlySharedDataPointer& other) This standard copy constructor sets the \e {d pointer} of \e this to the \e {d pointer} in \a other and increments the reference count of the shared data object. */ /*! \fn QExplicitlySharedDataPointer::QExplicitlySharedDataPointer(const QExplicitlySharedDataPointer& other) This copy constructor is different in that it allows \a other to be a different type of explicitly shared data pointer but one that has a compatible shared data object. It performs a static cast of the \e{d pointer} in \a other and sets the \e {d pointer} of \e this to the converted \e{d pointer}. It increments the reference count of the shared data object. */ /*! \fn QExplicitlySharedDataPointer& QExplicitlySharedDataPointer::operator=(const QExplicitlySharedDataPointer& other) Sets the \e{d pointer} of \e this to the \e{d pointer} of \a other and increments the reference count of the shared data object. The reference count of the old shared data object of \e this is decremented. If the reference count of the old shared data object becomes 0, the old shared data object is deleted. */ /*! \fn QExplicitlySharedDataPointer& QExplicitlySharedDataPointer::operator=(T* sharedData) Sets the \e{d pointer} of \e this to \a sharedData and increments \a{sharedData}'s reference count. The reference count of the old shared data object of \e this is decremented. If the reference count of the old shared data object becomes 0, the old shared data object is deleted. */ /*! \fn void QExplicitlySharedDataPointer::reset() Resets \e this to be null. i.e., this function sets the \e{d pointer} of \e this to 0, but first it decrements the reference count of the shared data object and deletes the shared data object if the reference count became 0. */ /*! \fn QExplicitlySharedDataPointer::operator bool () const Returns true if the \e{d pointer} of \e this is \e not null. */ /*! \fn bool QExplicitlySharedDataPointer::operator!() const Returns true if the \e{d pointer} of \e this is null. */ /*! \fn void QExplicitlySharedDataPointer::detach() If the shared data object's reference count is greater than 1, this function creates a deep copy of the shared data object and sets the \e{d pointer} of \e this to the copy. Because QExplicitlySharedDataPointer does not do the automatic \e{copy on write} operations that members of QSharedDataPointer do, detach() is \e not called automatically anywhere in the member functions of this class. If you find that you are calling detach() everywhere in your code, consider using QSharedDataPointer instead. */ /*! \fn T *QExplicitlySharedDataPointer::clone() \since 4.5 Creates and returns a deep copy of the current data. This function is called by detach() when the reference count is greater than 1 in order to create the new copy. This function uses the \e {operator new} and calls the copy constructor of the type T. See QSharedDataPointer::clone() for an explanation of how to use it. */ /*! \typedef QExplicitlySharedDataPointer::Type This is the type of the shared data object. The \e{d pointer} points to an object of this type. */ QT_END_NAMESPACE