C++ How to ignore defined method in header file? - c++

i want a compiler (MinGW g++/Linux g++) to ignore some defined stuff in a header file:
class A {
public:
A();
virtual ~A();
IGNORE void methodA(); // = 0 -> not possible
IGNORE void methodB(); // = 0 -> not possible
}
The problem: methodA() and methodB() can't be pure virtual because the class would be later instanciated, so it gives a compiler error. The reason for doing that: i want to have a readable header file, so this methods should be appear in files - the methods are only used as in the QT framework to work as "signals", which are translated as Strings with a macro.
May be it is possible to declare a macro to let it be as annotation? i saw this in the QT5 framework (declared signal methods) but its not working with my code...
What i not want to do: list the methods only as DOC annotation.
Thanks for a idea how to solve that ;)

void methodA(int) = delete; // note: requires C++11
void methodA(double);
will cause a compiler error if you ever try to use methodA(int), but not if you're trying to use methodA(double).

Found a way to ignore methods as described what i want to do:
#define IGNORE __attribute__((unused))
#define METHOD_TO_STRING(a) ""#a
so i can write in header files
class A {
public:
IGNORE void methodA();
void doStuff(const char *stuff);
void methodB() {
doStuff(METHOD_TO_STRING(methodA());
}
};
Now the compiler is happy and i can pass methods as args :)
Thanks for the tips

Related

MSVC C++ Name Mangling From String On Runtime

First i will start with the reason i need name mangling on runtime.
I need to create a bridge between dll and its wrapper
namespace Wrapper
{
class __declspec(dllexport) Token
{
public:
virtual void release() {}
};
}
class __declspec(dllexport) Token
{
public:
virtual void release(){}
};
The idea is to use dumpin to generate all the mangled names of the dll holding class token and than demangled them.
?release#Token##UAEXXZ --> void Token::release(void)
after that i want to convert is to match the Wrapper so i will need to change the function name
void Token::release(void) --> void Wrapper::Token::release(void)
and then i need to mangle it again so i can create a def file that direct the old function to the new one.
?release#Token##UAEXXZ = ?release#Token#Wrapper##UAEXXZ
all this process needs to be on run time.
First and the easiest solution is to find a function that mangle strings but i couldn't find any...
any other solution?
The Clang compiler is ABI-compatible with MSVC, including name mangling.
The underlying infrastructure is part of the LLVM project, and I found llvm-undname which demangles MSVC names. Perhaps you can rework it to add the Wrapper:: namespace to symbols and re-mangle.
You can find inspiration about mangling names in this test code.
If you are allowed to change the DLL, I'd usually use a different approach, by exporting extern "C" getter function (that does not mangle thus doesn't need demangling) and using virtual interface to access the class (note that the virtual interface doesn't need to be dllexported then). Your Token interface seems to be virtual anyway.
Something along those lines (not tested, just to show the idea):
DLL access header:
class Token // notice no dllexport!
{
protected:
// should not be used to delete directly (DLL vs EXE heap issues)
virtual ~Token() {}
virtual void destroyImpl() = 0; // pure virtual
public:
static inline void destroy(Token* token) {
// need to check for NULL otherwise virtual call would segfault
if (token) token->destroyImpl();
}
virtual void doSomething() = 0; // pure virtual
};
extern "C" __declspec(dllexport) Token * createToken();
DLL implementation:
class TokenImpl: public Token
{
public:
virtual void destroyImpl() {
delete this;
}
virtual void doSomething() {
// implement here
}
};
extern "C" __declspec(dllexport) Token * createToken()
{
return new TokenImpl;
}
Usage:
// ideally wrap in RAII to be sure to always release
// (e.g. can use std::shared_ptr with custom deleter)
Token * token = createToken();
// use the token
token->doSomething();
// destroy
Token::destroy(token);
With shared::ptr (can also create a typedef/static inline convenience creator function in the Token interface):
std::shared_ptr<Token> token(createToken(),
// Use the custom destroy function
&Token::destroy);
token->doSomething()
// token->destroy() called automatically when last shared ptr reference removed
This way you only need to export the extern-C creator function (and the release function, if not part of the interface), which will then not be mangled thus easy to use via the runtime loading.

How to correctly expose interfaces from a dll in the presence of VC++ 2015 whole program optimization

recently we encountered in our legacy code that is currently ported from VS2010 to VS2015 an interesting effect. Unfortunately I couldn't create a small example that shows this effect, but I'll try to describe it as accurately as I can.
We have 2 dlls (I'll call them dll A and dll B). The project for dll A defines the interface IFoo & a derived interface IFxFoo
class __declspec(novtable) IFoo {
public:
virtual int GetType() = 0;
virtual ~IFoo() {}
};
class __declspec(novtable) IFxFoo : public IFoo {
public:
virtual int GetSlot() = 0;
};
in dll B, both interfaces are used.
class CBImpl : public IFxFoo {
public:
...
void processFoo(IFoo* f) {
...
if (f->GetType() == IFXFOO) {
IFxFoo* fx = static_cast<IFxFoo>(f); //downcast
fill(fx);
}
}
void fill(IFxFoo* fx) {
m_slot = fx->GetSlot();
}
private:
int m_slot;
};
processFoo() will be called with different implementations of IFoo. Some from dll A and some from dll B.
What now happened was the following:
- if we turned on whole program optimization when compiling dll B, the call to the virtual function GetSlot() in function fill() got de-virtualized by Visual C++. This caused our program to crash.
we can fix this behavior if we either
turn of whole program optimization
turn of optimization for fill
or mark our interfaces with __declspec(dllimport) / __declspec(dllexport)
The questions that I have now are:
is our assumption correct that the de-virtualization happened because the optimizer saw only one implementation of IFxFoo in dll B and assumed that this is the only one because IFxFoo was not marked to be from a different dll?
what's the best way to create "interfaces" in header files? We used to do them like above but this seems to lead to some problems.
do other compiler (gcc / clang) exhibit similar behavior?
Thank you for your help
Tobias
Using LTO results in the compiler making drastic adjustments to any functions for which is it able to see the complete callgraph.
What you are seeing is expected and using __declspec(dllexport) or extern on the functions that need to be utilised from a separate module or explicitly declaring them as part of a DLL .def file is the expected way to resolve the problem as the compiler will no longer consider the functions to be internal-only.

c++ code blocks error

First: My English is not that good yours is. Excuse me.
I'm using Ubuntu (I don't know if this is important) and I had issues with Code::Blocks since I started to use it. But I fixed them by re-opening the program. But now, I get a really crazy error when compiling the code. I included a file just like usual:
#include "GameObjectUtility.h"
and I used the class "GameObjectUtility" to declare a member object, just like this:
class GameObject
{
std::vector<GameObjectUtility> uts;
// Error here:
// GameObjectUtility was not declared in this scope
}
So, is this my fault or is there something buggy with Code::Blocks?
And, additionally, is there a way of saying to the Linker: First execute this file and then the other?
Thank you for your answers!
EDIT: .h and .ccp file GameObjectUtility:
So this is GameObjectUtility.h:
#ifndef GAMEOBJECTUTILITY_H
#define GAMEOBJECTUTILITY_H
#include <string>
#include "Collision.h"
class GameObjectUtility
{
public:
GameObjectUtility();
virtual ~GameObjectUtility();
virtual void Update() = 0;
virtual void LateUpdate() = 0;
virtual void FixedUpdate() = 0;
static void SendMsg(std::string msg);
protected:
private:
virtual void GetMsg(std::string msg) = 0;
};
#endif // GAMEOBJECTUTILITY_H
And in GameObjectUtility.cpp are just two empty definitions of constructor and destructor
Since class GameObjectUtility is pure virtual, you cannot instantiate it.
You can only store std::vector<GameObjectUtility*> in class GameObject.

Interfaces, hiding concrete implementation details in C++

I have a question regarding hidinging interface details in C++ libraries. The problem is ilustrated with the following example:
Let's say w have a class called ISystem which exposes methods like Init, Run, Tick, Shutdown, GetXXXSubSystem.
Where X are pointers various interfaces like: ISoundSystem, IInputSystem
We also have concrete implementations of ISystem like:
Win32System, OSXSystem etc.
These specific implementations use a pimpl idiom to hide internals
and for example Win32System instantiates Win32RawInputSystem
as input system manager.
All such managers do have their own Init, Run, Tick and Shutdown methods
which are not part of the interface (only concrete implementation) and these are run and managed by the concrete system implementation.
The user calling GetXXXSubSystem gets interface pointer without those methods (Init etc..) but
still he could cast the pointer he gets to concrete implementation
and trigger methods like Init Run Tick etc. which he shouldn't have access to.
The question is, is it possible to hide the concrete class somehow? I tried to make those methods
protected in the concrete implementations and template the class on type which would eventually be friend but this appears to be prohobited and existing hacks do not work with VC11.
The only way I can think of right know is to transfer the concrete implementation declaration from header
into the cpp file of Win32System class but I see ahuge drawback of doing this (even not sure if this would work), because this way each subsystem
would have to be also part of this cpp file and it would become a maintainability nightmare.
Another solution I am thinking about is using factory method like
(RawInput.h)
IInputSystem* CreateRawInputSystem();
(RawInput.cpp)
class RawInput : public IInputSystem {}; ...
and move definition of the class to cpp file but then, how I would acces this type from other parts of my library (ie in Win32System impl)?
Is it possible to include .cpp files form other .cpp files?
Thanks in advance for any tips.
If you're developing a library here, then you can simply choose not to export the header files of the concrete classes that you do not want to expose. You cannot cast to a class of which you do not have a definition.
Example :
MyProjectFolder/Src/Export/ISystem.h
#ifndef ISYSTEM_H
#define ISYSTEM_H
#include "IInputSystem.h"
class ISystem
{
public:
virtual ~ISystem() {};
virtual void Run()=0;
virtual IInputSystem* GetInputSystem()=0;
};
#endif
MyProjectFolder/Src/Export/IInputSystem.h
#ifndef IINPUTSYSTEM_H
#define IINPUTSYSTEM_H
class IInputSystem
{
public:
virtual ~IInputSystem() {};
virtual void Foo()=0;
virtual void Bar()=0;
};
#endif
MyProjectFolder/Src/Export/Win32System.h
#ifndef WIN32SYSTEM_H
#define WIN32SYSTEM_H
#include "ISystem.h"
class Win32System : public ISystem
{
public:
Win32System();
virtual void Run();
virtual IInputSystem* GetInputSystem();
private:
struct impl;
impl* m_pImpl;
};
#endif
MyProjectFolder/Src/Win32RawInputSystem.h
#ifndef WIN32RAWINPUTSYSTEM_H
#define WIN32RAWINPUTSYSTEM_H
#include "IInputSystem.h"
class Win32RawInputSystem : public IInputSystem
{
public:
virtual void Foo();
virtual void Bar();
virtual void Run(); // you do not want to expose that function
};
#endif
MyProjectFolder/Src/Win32System.cpp
#include "Win32System.h"
#include "Win32RawInputSystem.h"
struct Win32System::impl
{
Win32RawInputSystem inputSys;
};
Win32System::Win32System()
: m_pImpl(new impl)
{
}
void Win32System::Run()
{ // run run run
}
IInputSystem* Win32System::GetInputSystem()
{
return &m_pImpl->inputSys;
}
So when building your project its include search path is not only Src/ but also Src/Export/. From within your library project you can use all classes, including Win32RawInputSystem. When deploying your library you only give away those headers that reside in the Src/Export/ folder. Clients can still use the library, but they can never cast IInputSystem* to Win32RawInputSystem* because they do not have that header. Therefore the users of that library can invoke Foo() and Bar() on the IInputSystem*, but they'll never be able to invoke Run().

In .cpp file, defining methods with "class Foo { void method() {} };" instead of "void Foo::method() {}"?

When you have inline definitions of functions in the header file, and you want to move the the function definition bodies out of the header and into a .cpp file, you can't just cut-and-paste the functions as they were defined in the header; you have to convert the syntax from this:
class Foo
{
void method1() { definition(); }
void method2() { definition(); }
void method3() { definition(); }
};
To this:
void Foo::method1() { definition(); }
void Foo::method2() { definition(); }
void Foo::method3() { definition(); }
Edit: Just wanted to point out that what I'm hoping to avoid is having to type the class name in front of every method name. It may seem like a small thing but when you're moving a lot of function definitions out of the header and into the cpp file, it adds up. And when the return type is especially complicated, you have to find where in the line each return type ends and each method name begins.
So my question is, do I have to do it like that second block of code above? What if I did this (is the following standards compliant C++?):
In Foo.h:
class Foo
{
void method1();
void method2();
void method3();
};
In Foo.cpp:
#include "Foo.hpp"
class Foo
{
void method1() { definition(); }
void method2() { definition(); }
void method3() { definition(); }
};
This will not work: the compiler will see this as you redefining the class. I'm afraid there is no way around this, it's part of the language.
[ps: I know these kinds of jobs are tedious, but we all have to do them at one time or another. If it is that big a job, you could look at writing a script to do it for you, but it really would have to be a big job to justify the effort imho, parsing C++ is not fun]
No. I believe that this violates the One Definition Rule. In any case, it isn't allowed. Remember that #include isn't really seen by the compiler proper. The include is processed before the source is fed to the compiler so what the compiler sees is something like:
#line "foo.cpp" 1
#line "foo.h" 1
class Foo {
void method1();
...
};
#line "foo.cpp" 3
class Foo {
void method1() {...}
};
So it looks like two conflicting definitions of the same symbol.
yes you have to do it as you show at the top (your original code), I don't think there's a lazy way around it.
You can put the class name in the original definition. That always works. Unfortunately for inlining you will usually no longer really get inlined if it gets put into the cpp file unless it's very very simple or you use a compiler directive.
If it's large enough to want to move into cpp most of the time you don't want it inlined, though.
Another thing is to consider 'helper' classes. Define those elsewhere, which do a lot of the implementation details. Then you can call that in the derived class and it will be inlined.