Prevent a class from being freed - c++

Question

I need to pass a pointer to a class so some code I don't control. This code automatically free()s the pointer when it is done, but I need the class later. I hoped I could just make a 'wrapper' class that would keep the class from being deallocated without actually preventing the code from accessing it, but virtual calls don't work.
template <class T>
class PointerWrapper:public T
{
public:
T* p;
PointerWrapper(T *ptr)
{
p=ptr;
}
~PointerWrapper(void)
{
}
T* operator->() const
{
return p;
}
T& operator*() const
{
return *p;
}
};
void codeIDontControl(Example *ex)
{
ex->virtualfunction();
delete ex;
}
void myCode()
{
Example *ex=new Example();
codeIDontControl(ex);
do something with ex //doesn't work because ex has been freed
codeIDontControl(new PointerWrapper<Example>(ex));
do something with ex //ex hasn't been freed, but the changes made to it via
// Example::virtualfunction() in codeIDontControl() aren't there anymore
}
Basically, ex->virtualfunction() calls the virtual function in PointerWrapper itself instead of the virtual function in PointerWrapper->p. It seems that it's ignoring the -> operator?
Now, I don't need to use a PointerWrapper-esque class if there's a different way to do this, but it was all I could think of...
I can't modify Example either, but I can subclass it

Answer 1

You should provide Forwarder class - which redirects virtual calls to stored pointer. Freeing of forwarder class will not cause releasing of pointee. This approach does NOT need to do copy (which can be expensive/may be not implemented/or even not make sense):
struct Forwarder : Example
{
Example *impl;
Forwarder(Example *i) : impl(i) {}
void virtualfunction()
{
impl->virtualfunction();
}
};
Full code:
live demo:
#include <iostream>
#include <ostream>
using namespace std;
struct Example
{
virtual void virtualfunction()=0;
virtual ~Example() {}
};
struct Implmenetation : Example
{
bool alive;
Implmenetation() : alive(true) {}
void virtualfunction()
{
cout << "Implmenetation::virtualfunction alive=" << alive << endl;
}
~Implmenetation()
{
alive=false;
cout << "Implmenetation::~Implmenetation" << endl;
}
};
struct Forwarder : Example
{
Example *impl;
Forwarder(Example *i) : impl(i) {}
void virtualfunction()
{
impl->virtualfunction();
}
};
void codeIDontControl(Example *ex)
{
ex->virtualfunction();
delete ex;
}
void myCode()
{
Implmenetation impl;
codeIDontControl(new Forwarder(&impl));
//do something with ex //doesn't work because ex has been freed
impl.virtualfunction();
}
int main()
{
myCode();
}
Output is:
Implmenetation::virtualfunction alive=1
Implmenetation::virtualfunction alive=1
Implmenetation::~Implmenetation

Answer 2

It's bad design, really. Only the allocator should be allowed to free memory. Functions like this are dangerous, as they leave with with dangling pointers.
This is just off the top of my head, maybe you could try something like this? It's not a safe idea, but if someone implemented it I would be interested to know what happens.
class Foo
{
Foo(Foo* copy) : m_copy(copy) {}
~Foo() { if(m_copy) { *m_copy = *this; } } // Use copy constructor to create copy on destuction.
Foo* m_copy;
}
Foo copy(NULL);
Foo* original = new Foo(&copy);
MethodThatDeletes(original);
// Original should be destroyed, and made a copy in the process.
original = NULL;
// Copy should be a copy of the original at it's last know state.
copy;

Answer 3

You are providing a Example* to codeIDontControl. The overloaded operator-> on PointerWrapper is an for the PointerWrapper type not the Example* type or even the PointerWrapper* type (i.e. for a value or reference of that type not a pointer to that type).
Since the function you need to call isn't controlled by you, you will need to provide a complete wrapper of the type it expects as a wrapper over the instance you wish to control the lifetime of.