Using manual memory management with a reference? - c++

I have a variable which is referenced a lot. It started out as an automatic variable.
Now I decided that in the middle of some code I want to call its dtor to reset its state, so I intend to deallocate and reallocate it. The standard way to do this of course is to call delete on it and make a new one.
Before:
void func() {
ClassName varname;
while (varname.check()/*...*/) { if (varname.function()/*...*/) { /* bunches of code ... */
/*... some more code ... */
}
}
}
Now I want:
void func() {
ClassName varname;
while (varname.check()/*...*/) { if (varname.function()/*...*/) { /* bunches of code ... */
if (key_code[SDLK_r]) { // Pressing R key should reset "varname"!
/* Here I want to dealloc and realloc varname! */
/* But if I declare varname as a ptr on line 2, */
/* line 3 (rest of code) must be refactored. */
}
}
}
}
My first attempt is to go change line 2 to be something like this
ClassName *varnamep = new ClassName();
ClassName& varname = *varnamep;
But I'm not sure if that means I'll be able to call delete on it later and reassign the reference!
delete &varname;
varnamep = new ClassName();
varname = *varnamep; // I assume compiler will error here because I can't reassign a ref.
Can I do this some other way? Or should I just suck it up and do a find-replace for turning varname. into varname->? In this particular case for my actual real situation I will probably implement a member function reset() and not worry about this actual problem. But I would like to know if there is some shortcut to being able to effectively treat references as pointers (or it could turn out that this is absurd nonsense)

Given ClassName varname, you could do this:
varname.~ClassName();
new (&varname) ClassName;
But I wouldn't recommend it. This uses two less-commonly-known features of C++: an explicit destructor call, and placement new. Only use this if it makes a significant difference in performance, as measured by your profiler, and the ClassName constructor can't throw an exception.
If ClassName::operator= does what you need (or you can modify it to do what you need), you can do this:
varname = ClassName();
That is more easily understood than using an explicit destructor call followed by placement-new.
Another common idiom:
varname.swap(ClassName());
This works if ClassName has an efficient swap method, like standard containers do. This is subtle enough that it probably deserves a comment if you decide to use it.

The standard way is not to delete and create a new instance. Just reassign the variable:
ClassName varname = .... ;
....
if (some condition) {
varname = SomethingElse;
}
and make sure that the copy constructor, assignment operator and destructor correctly deal with resources managed by ClassName.

Related

how to find the ways of handling pointer difference between ptr and ->

what is the difference of pointers between and which is better in terms of memory management
void Loo(){
Song* pSong = new Song(…);
//…
string s = pSong->duration;
}
and
void Hoo(){
unique_ptr<Song> song2(new Song(…));
//…
string s = song2->duration;
}
In the first case you need to call delete yourself and make sure it happens on all program control paths.
That is easier said than done. It's tempting to write delete pSong; just before the closing brace of the function and be done with it. But what happens, say, if string s = song2->duration throws an exception? (Yes it's possible; for example if song2->duration is a type that has a conversion operator defined so it can be assigned to a string.)
With std::unique_ptr, delete will be called for you when it goes out of scope.
Although in this particular case Song song(...); may be more appropriate.

c++, dealing with exceptions from constructors

I have a class which is loaded from an external file, so ideally I would want its constructor to load from a given path if the load fails, I will want to throw an error if the file is not found/not readable (Throwing errors from constructors is not a horrible idea, see ISO's FAQ).
There is a problem with this though, I want to handle errors myself in some controlled manner, and I want to do that immediately, so I need to put a try-catch statement around the constructor for this object ... and if I do that, the object is not declared outside the try statement, i.e.:
//in my_class.hpp
class my_class
{
...
public:
my_class(string path);//Throws file not found, or other error error
...
};
//anywhere my_class is needed
try
{
my_class my_object(string);
}
catch(/*Whatever error I am interesetd in*/)
{
//error handling
}
//Problem... now my_object doesn't exist anymore
I have tried a number of ways of getting around it, but I don't really like any of them:
Firstly, I could use a pointer to my_class instead of the class itself:
my_class* my_pointer;
try
{
my_class my_pointer = new my_class(string);
}
catch(/*Whatever error I am interesetd in*/)
{
//error handling
}
The problem is that the instance of this object doesn't always end up in the same object which created it, so deleting all pointers correctly would be easy to do wrong, and besides, I personally think it is ugly to have some objects be pointers to objects, and have most others be "regular objects".
Secondly, I could use a vector with only one element in much the same way:
std::vector<my_class> single_vector;
try
{
single_vector.push_back(my_class(string));
single_vector.shrink_to_fit();
}
catch(/*Whatever error I am interesetd in*/)
{
//error handling
}
I don't like the idea of having a lot of single-element vectors though.
Thirdly, I can create an empty faux constructor and use another loading function, i.e.
//in my_class.hpp
class my_class
{
...
public:
my_class() {}// Faux constructor which does nothing
void load(string path);//All the code in the constructor has been moved here
...
};
//anywhere my_class is needed
my_class my_object
try
{
my_object.load(path);
}
catch(/*Whatever error I am interesetd in*/)
{
//error handling
}
This works, but largely defeats the purpose of having a constructor, so I don't really like this either.
So my question is, which of these methods for constructing an object, which may throw errors in the constructor, is the best (or least bad)? and are there better ways of doing this?
Edit: Why don't you just use the object within the try-statement
Because the object may need to be created as the program is first started, and stopped much later. In the most extreme case (which I do actually need in this case also) that would essentially be:
int main()
{
try
{
//... things which might fail
//A few hundred lines of code
}
catch(/*whaveter*/)
{
}
}
I think this makes my code hard to read since the catch statement will be very far from where things actually went wrong.
One possibility is to wrap the construction and error handling in a function, returning the constructed object. Example :
#include <string>
class my_class {
public:
my_class(std::string path);
};
my_class make_my_object(std::string path)
{
try {
return {std::move(path)};
}
catch(...) {
// Handle however you want
}
}
int main()
{
auto my_object = make_my_object("this path doesn't exist");
}
But beware that the example is incomplete because it isn't clear what you intend to do when construction fails. The catch block has to either return something, throw or terminate.
If you could return a different instance, one with a "bad" or "default" state, you could have just initialized your instance to that state in my_class(std::string path) when it was determined the path is invalid. So in that case, the try/catch block is not needed.
If you rethrow the exception, then there is no point in catching it in the first place. In that case, the try/catch block is also not needed, unless you want to do a bit of extra work, like logging.
If you want to terminate, you can just let the exception go uncaught. Again, in that case, the try/catch block is not needed.
The real solution here is probably to not use a try/catch block at all, unless there is actually error handling you can do that shouldn't be implemented as part of my_class which isn't made apparent in the question (maybe a fallback path?).
and if I do that, the object is not declared outside the try statement
I have tried a number of ways of getting around it
That doesn't need to be a problem. There's not necessarily need to get around it. Simply use the object within the try statement.
If you really cannot have the try block around the entire lifetime, then this is a use case for std::optional:
std::optional<my_class> maybe_my_object;
try {
maybe_my_object.emplace(string);
} catch(...) {}
The problem is that the instance of this object doesn't always end up in the same object which created it, so deleting all pointers correctly would be easy to do wrong,
A pointer returned by new is correct to delete. In the error case, simply set the pointer to null and there would be no problem. That said, use a smart pointer instead for dynamic allocation, if you were to use this approach.
single_vector.push_back(my_class(string));
single_vector.shrink_to_fit();
Don't push and shrink when you know the number of objects that are going to be in the vector. Use reserve instead if you were to use this approach.
The object creation can fail because a resource is unavailable. It's not the creation which fails; it is a prerequisite which is not fulfilled.
Consequently, separate these two concerns: First obtain all resources and then, if that succeeded, create the object with these resources and use it. The object creation as such in this design cannot fail, the constructor is nothrow; it is trivial boilerplate code (copy data etc.). If, on the other hand, resource acquisition failed, object creation and object use are both skipped: Your problem with existing but unusable objects is gone.
Responding to your edit about try/catch comprising the entire program: Exceptions as error indicators are better suited for things which are done in many places at various times in a program because they guarantee error handling (by default through an abort) while separating it from the normal control flow. This is impossible to do with classic return value examination, which leaves us with a choice between unreadable or unreliable programs.
But if you have long-lived objects which are created only rarely (in your example: only at startup) you don't need exceptions. As you said, constructor exceptions guarantee that only properly initialized objects can be used. But if such an object is only created at startup this danger is low. You check for success one way or another and exit the program which cannot perform its purpose if the initial resource acquisition failed. This way the error is handled where it occurred. Even in less extreme cases (e.g. when an object is created at the beginning of a large function other than main) this may be the simpler solution.
In code, my suggestion looks like this:
struct T2;
struct myEx { myEx(const char *); };
void exit(int);
T1 *acquireResource1(); // e.g. read file
T2 *acquireResource2(); // e.g. connect to db
void log(const char *what);
class ObjT
{
public:
struct RsrcT
{
T1 *mT1;
T2 *mT2;
operator bool() { return mT1 && mT2; }
};
ObjT(const RsrcT& res) noexcept
{
// initialize from file data etc.
}
// more member functions using data from file and db
};
int main()
{
ObjT::RsrcT rsrc = { acquireResource1(), acquireResource2() };
if(!rsrc)
{
log("bummer");
exit(1);
}
///////////////////////////////////////////////////
// all resources are available. "Real" code starts here.
///////////////////////////////////////////////////
ObjT obj(rsrc);
// 1000 lines of code using obj
}

Why does PyCXX handle new-style classes in the way it does?

I'm picking apart some C++ Python wrapper code that allows the consumer to construct custom old style and new style Python classes from C++.
The original code comes from PyCXX, with old and new style classes here and here. I have however rewritten the code substantially, and in this question I will reference my own code, as it allows me to present the situation in the greatest clarity that I am able. I think there would be very few individuals capable of understanding the original code without several days of scrutiny... For me it has taken weeks and I'm still not clear on it.
The old style simply derives from PyObject,
template<typename FinalClass>
class ExtObj_old : public ExtObjBase<FinalClass>
// ^ which : ExtObjBase_noTemplate : PyObject
{
public:
// forwarding function to mitigate awkwardness retrieving static method
// from base type that is incomplete due to templating
static TypeObject& typeobject() { return ExtObjBase<FinalClass>::typeobject(); }
static void one_time_setup()
{
typeobject().set_tp_dealloc( [](PyObject* t) { delete (FinalClass*)(t); } );
typeobject().supportGetattr(); // every object must support getattr
FinalClass::setup();
typeobject().readyType();
}
// every object needs getattr implemented to support methods
Object getattr( const char* name ) override { return getattr_methods(name); }
// ^ MARKER1
protected:
explicit ExtObj_old()
{
PyObject_Init( this, typeobject().type_object() ); // MARKER2
}
When one_time_setup() is called, it forces (by accessing base class typeobject()) creation of the associated PyTypeObject for this new type.
Later when an instance is constructed, it uses PyObject_Init
So far so good.
But the new style class uses much more complicated machinery. I suspect this is related to the fact that new style classes allow derivation.
And this is my question, why is the new style class handling implemented in the way that it is? Why is it having to create this extra PythonClassInstance structure? Why can't it do things the same way the old-style class handling does? i.e. Just type convert from the PyObject base type? And seeing as it doesn't do that, does this mean it is making no use of its PyObject base type?
This is a huge question, and I will keep amending the post until I'm satisfied it represents the issue well. It isn't a good fit for SO's format, I'm sorry about that. However, some world-class engineers frequent this site (one of my previous questions was answered by the lead developer of GCC for example), and I value the opportunity to appeal to their expertise. So please don't be too hasty to vote to close.
The new style class's one-time setup looks like this:
template<typename FinalClass>
class ExtObj_new : public ExtObjBase<FinalClass>
{
private:
PythonClassInstance* m_class_instance;
public:
static void one_time_setup()
{
TypeObject& typeobject{ ExtObjBase<FinalClass>::typeobject() };
// these three functions are listed below
typeobject.set_tp_new( extension_object_new );
typeobject.set_tp_init( extension_object_init );
typeobject.set_tp_dealloc( extension_object_deallocator );
// this should be named supportInheritance, or supportUseAsBaseType
// old style class does not allow this
typeobject.supportClass(); // does: table->tp_flags |= Py_TPFLAGS_BASETYPE
typeobject.supportGetattro(); // always support get and set attr
typeobject.supportSetattro();
FinalClass::setup();
// add our methods to the extension type's method table
{ ... typeobject.set_methods( /* ... */); }
typeobject.readyType();
}
protected:
explicit ExtObj_new( PythonClassInstance* self, Object& args, Object& kwds )
: m_class_instance{self}
{ }
So the new style uses a custom PythonClassInstance structure:
struct PythonClassInstance
{
PyObject_HEAD
ExtObjBase_noTemplate* m_pycxx_object;
}
PyObject_HEAD, if I dig into Python's object.h, is just a macro for PyObject ob_base; -- no further complications, like #if #else. So I don't see why it can't simply be:
struct PythonClassInstance
{
PyObject ob_base;
ExtObjBase_noTemplate* m_pycxx_object;
}
or even:
struct PythonClassInstance : PyObject
{
ExtObjBase_noTemplate* m_pycxx_object;
}
Anyway, it seems that its purpose is to tag a pointer onto the end of a PyObject. This will be because Python runtime will often trigger functions we have placed in its function table, and the first parameter will be the PyObject responsible for the call. So this allows us to retrieve the associated C++ object.
But we also need to do that for the old-style class.
Here is the function responsible for doing that:
ExtObjBase_noTemplate* getExtObjBase( PyObject* pyob )
{
if( pyob->ob_type->tp_flags & Py_TPFLAGS_BASETYPE )
{
/*
New style class uses a PythonClassInstance to tag on an additional
pointer onto the end of the PyObject
The old style class just seems to typecast the pointer back up
to ExtObjBase_noTemplate
ExtObjBase_noTemplate does indeed derive from PyObject
So it should be possible to perform this typecast
Which begs the question, why on earth does the new style class feel
the need to do something different?
This looks like a really nice way to solve the problem
*/
PythonClassInstance* instance = reinterpret_cast<PythonClassInstance*>(pyob);
return instance->m_pycxx_object;
}
else
return static_cast<ExtObjBase_noTemplate*>( pyob );
}
My comment articulates my confusion.
And here, for completeness is us inserting a lambda-trampoline into the PyTypeObject's function pointer table, so that Python runtime can trigger it:
table->tp_setattro = [] (PyObject* self, PyObject* name, PyObject* val) -> int
{
try {
ExtObjBase_noTemplate* p = getExtObjBase( self );
return ( p -> setattro(Object{name}, Object{val}) );
}
catch( Py::Exception& ) { /* indicate error */
return -1;
}
};
(In this demonstration I'm using tp_setattro, note that there are about 30 other slots, which you can see if you look at the doc for PyTypeObject)
(in fact the major reason for working this way is that we can try{}catch{} around every trampoline. This saves the consumer from having to code repetitive error trapping.)
So, we pull out the "base type for the associated C++ object" and call its virtual setattro (just using setattro as an example here). A derived class will have overridden setattro, and this override will get called.
The old-style class provides such an override, which I've labelled MARKER1 -- it is in the top listing for this question.
The only the thing I can think of is that maybe different maintainers have used different techniques. But is there some more compelling reason why old and new style classes require different architecture?
PS for reference, I should include the following methods from new style class:
static PyObject* extension_object_new( PyTypeObject* subtype, PyObject* args, PyObject* kwds )
{
PyObject* pyob = subtype->tp_alloc(subtype,0);
PythonClassInstance* o = reinterpret_cast<PythonClassInstance *>( pyob );
o->m_pycxx_object = nullptr;
return pyob;
}
^ to me, this looks absolutely wrong.
It appears to be allocating memory, re-casting to some structure that might exceed the amount allocated, and then nulling right at the end of this.
I'm surprised it hasn't caused any crashes.
I can't see any indication anywhere in the source code that these 4 bytes are owned.
static int extension_object_init( PyObject* _self, PyObject* _args, PyObject* _kwds )
{
try
{
Object args{_args};
Object kwds{_kwds};
PythonClassInstance* self{ reinterpret_cast<PythonClassInstance*>(_self) };
if( self->m_pycxx_object )
self->m_pycxx_object->reinit( args, kwds );
else
// NOTE: observe this is where we invoke the constructor, but indirectly (i.e. through final)
self->m_pycxx_object = new FinalClass{ self, args, kwds };
}
catch( Exception & )
{
return -1;
}
return 0;
}
^ note that there is no implementation for reinit, other than the default
virtual void reinit ( Object& args , Object& kwds ) {
throw RuntimeError( "Must not call __init__ twice on this class" );
}
static void extension_object_deallocator( PyObject* _self )
{
PythonClassInstance* self{ reinterpret_cast< PythonClassInstance* >(_self) };
delete self->m_pycxx_object;
_self->ob_type->tp_free( _self );
}
EDIT: I will hazard a guess, thanks to insight from Yhg1s on the IRC channel.
Maybe it is because when you create a new old-style class, it is guaranteed it will overlap perfectly a PyObject structure.
Hence it is safe to derive from PyObject, and pass a pointer to the underlying PyObject into Python, which is what the old-style class does (MARKER2)
On the other hand, new style class creates a {PyObject + maybe something else} object.
i.e. It wouldn't be safe to do the same trick, as Python runtime would end up writing past the end of the base class allocation (which is only a PyObject).
Because of this, we need to get Python to allocate for the class, and return us a pointer which we store.
Because we are now no longer making use of the PyObject base-class for this storage, we cannot use the convenient trick of typecasting back to retrieve the associated C++ object.
Which means that we need to tag on an extra sizeof(void*) bytes to the end of the PyObject that actually does get allocated, and use this to point to our associated C++ object instance.
However, there is some contradiction here.
struct PythonClassInstance
{
PyObject_HEAD
ExtObjBase_noTemplate* m_pycxx_object;
}
^ if this is indeed the structure that accomplishes the above, then it is saying that the new style class instance is indeed fitting exactly over a PyObject, i.e. It is not overlapping into the m_pycxx_object.
And if this is the case, then surely this whole process is unnecessary.
EDIT: here are some links that are helping me learn the necessary ground work:
http://eli.thegreenplace.net/2012/04/16/python-object-creation-sequence
http://realmike.org/blog/2010/07/18/introduction-to-new-style-classes-in-python
Create an object using Python's C API
to me, this looks absolutely wrong. It appears to be allocating memory, re-casting to some structure that might exceed the amount allocated, and then nulling right at the end of this. I'm surprised it hasn't caused any crashes. I can't see any indication anywhere in the source code that these 4 bytes are owned
PyCXX does allocate enough memory, but it does so by accident. This appears to be a bug in PyCXX.
The amount of memory Python allocates for the object is determined by the first call to the following static member function of PythonClass<T>:
static PythonType &behaviors()
{
...
p = new PythonType( sizeof( T ), 0, default_name );
...
}
The constructor of PythonType sets the tp_basicsize of the python type object to sizeof(T). This way when Python allocates an object it knows to allocate at least sizeof(T) bytes. It works because sizeof(T) turns out to be larger that sizeof(PythonClassInstance) (T is derived from PythonClass<T> which derives from PythonExtensionBase, which is large enough).
However, it misses the point. It should actually allocate only sizeof(PythonClassInstance) . This appears to be a bug in PyCXX - that it allocates too much, rather than too little space for storing a PythonClassInstance object.
And this is my question, why is the new style class handling implemented in the way that it is? Why is it having to create this extra PythonClassInstance structure? Why can't it do things the same way the old-style class handling does?
Here's my theory why new style classes are different from the old style classes in PyCXX.
Before Python 2.2, where new style classes were introduced, there was no tp_init member int the type object. Instead, you needed to write a factory function that would construct the object. This is how PythonExtension<T> is supposed to work - the factory function converts the Python arguments to C++ arguments, asks Python to allocate the memory and then calls the constructor using placement new.
Python 2.2 added the new style classes and the tp_init member. Python first creates the object and then calls the tp_init method. Keeping the old way would have required that the objects would first have a dummy constructor that creates an "empty" object (e.g. initializes all members to null) and then when tp_init is called, would have had an additional initialization stage. This makes the code uglier.
It seems that the author of PyCXX wanted to avoid that. PyCXX works by first creating a dummy PythonClassInstance object and then when tp_init is called, creates the actual PythonClass<T> object using its constructor.
... does this mean it is making no use of its PyObject base type?
This appears to be correct, the PyObject base class does not seem to be used anywhere. All the interesting methods of PythonExtensionBase use the virtual self() method, which returns m_class_instance and completely ignore the PyObject base class.
I guess (only a guess, though) is that PythonClass<T> was added to an existing system and it seemed easier to just derive from PythonExtensionBase instead of cleaning up the code.

Creating a new scope with a C++ Macro?

Is this even possible? I would like to write a macro that makes it easier to use some of my classes functionality.
Lets say I have 2 member functions in my class, setup() and cleanup(), where setup() sets up parameters for some operation that needs to be executed in its own scope, and cleanup() preforms cleanup (similar to a constructor and destructor concept).
Currently, I do this:
myClassInstance.setup(); //call the setup function
{ //start scope
//CREATE LOCAL VARS
//DO STUFF IN THIS SCOPE
myClassInstance.cleanup(); //cleanup
} //end scope, destroy locals
But would like to do something like this instead:
NEWSCOPE(myClassInstance) //calls setup()
{
//CREATE LOCAL VARS
//DO STUFF IN THIS SCOPE
} // calls cleanup() and destroys locals
My thought was to write a macro class that can be instantiated when the macro is used and setup() and cleanup() could be implemented in the constructor/destructor... or something like that...
Is this the right way to think about this or is there another way to write a macro that can essentially wrap around code written by the user?
* EDIT *
I fixed the naming convention as the function names were causing come confusion.
To create a new scope just use an anonymous block.
{
Obj obj;
/*
teh codez
*/
}//obj is deallocated
So you don't need a macro
It also sounds like you startScope and endScope should actually be constructor and destructor but once again it's hard to know without knowing what they actually do
UPDATE: I tried to give you an answer but instead I'll just rant.
similar to a constructor and destructor concept
To me that sounds like they are constructors and destructors, when you have the constructor and destructor doing the setup and cleanup the operations will be performed naturally and readably with RAII.
Another thing, you say your first solution (which I sort of accidentally gave back to you) is working, why workaround with a macro, in C macros were needed to simulate features (like templates, and objects) that C++ provides. For almost every situation, especially with C++11, macros will only make things worse and harder to debug, also in your case it seems like you actually have to type more when you do the macro?
My suggestion is rethink why you need to have a macro and why setup and cleanup can't be a constructor and destructor.
You might treat this in the same way as you would acquire a mutex lock with RAII. Something like this:
class MyClassScopeBlock
{
public:
MyClassScopeBlock( MyClass & c )
: obj(c)
{
obj.startScope();
}
~MyClassScopeBlock()
{
obj.endScope();
}
private:
MyClass & obj;
};
Then instantiate that as a local variable inside a scope block:
{
MyClassScopeBlock block( myClassInstance );
//CREATE LOCAL VARS
//DO STUFF IN THIS SCOPE
}
And if you really want, you can define a macro for it, to be used inside the scope block:
#define NEWSCOPE(inst) MyClassScopeBlock block(inst)
Personally, I prefer to stay away from macros whenever possible.
I spent hours trying to figure out how to make a Macro control a scope after seeing the BOOST_FOREACH Macro. In the process of figuring it out I ran across this question hoping it held the answer! But, not quite. So, I read through all of the code for the BOOST_FOREACH and the original design for BOOST_FOREACH. Then I felt kind of dumb... A Macro essentially inserts the code directly where it is placed. This means that we can have a Macro:
#define LOOP_3() \
for(int i = 0; i < 3; ++i)
Now, let us test it out!
LOOP_3() std::cout << "Hello World!" << std::endl;
/* === Output ===
Hello World!
Hello World!
Hello World!
*/
Yay! But, how is this useful? Well, at the end of the loop what happens to i?
The destructor is called which for i is not too fancy, but the idea is there.
All we need now is a class to handle this:
class SCOPE_CONTROL {
public:
SCOPE_CONTROL(): run(1) { std::cout << "Starting Scope!" << std::endl; }
~SCOPE_CONTROL() { std::cout << "Ending Scope!" << std::endl; }
bool run;
}
Let us put that sucker to use!
#define NEWSCOPE() \
for(SCOPE_CONTROL sc = SCOPE_CONTROL(); sc.run; sc.run = 0)
...
NEWSCOPE()
std::cout << " In the Body!" << std::endl;
std::cout << "Not in body..." << std::endl;
...
/* === Output ===
Starting Scope!
In the Body!
Ending Scope!
Not in body...
*/
To use the setup and cleanup functions, just change a small bit!
class SCOPE_CONTROL {
public:
SCOPE_CONTROL(MyClass myClassInstance): control(myClassInstance), run(1) {
control.setup();
}
~SCOPE_CONTROL() { control.cleanup(); }
bool run;
MyClass & control;
}
#define NEWSCOPE(control) \
for(SCOPE_CONTROL sc = SCOPE_CONTROL(control); sc.run; sc.run = 0)
...
NEWSCOPE(myClassInstance)
{
// CREATE LOCAL VARS
// DO STUFF IN THIS SCOPE
} // end scope, destroy locals
...
To make it even better use the ENCODED_TYPE (how to make in the design for BOOST_FOREACH very simple!) to allow SCOPE_CONTROL to be a template type.
A better alternative to putting the entire scope inside the macro replacement is to use something like a finally block. I've had success encapsulating the linked solution with these macros:
#define FINALLY_NAMED( NAME, ... ) auto && NAME = \
util::finally( [&]() noexcept { __VA_ARGS__ } );
#define FINALLY( ... ) CPLUS_FINALLY_NAMED( guard, __VA_ARGS__ )
#define DO_FINALLY static_cast< void >( guard );
usage:
{
myClassInstance.setup(); //call the setup function
FINALLY ( myClassInstance.cleanup(); ) //call the cleanup function before exit
// do something
DO_FINALLY // Explicitly note that cleanup happens here. (Only a note.)
}
This is exception-safe, and cleanup executes if and only if setup completes successfully, just like a constructor/destructor pair. But the the cleanup must not throw exceptions.
But if you want to do it the old-fashioned way…
You can contain the entire scope inside the macro by using variadic macros:
#define NEWSCOPE( INSTANCE, ... ) { \
(INSTANCE).setup(); /* call the setup function */ \
{ __VA_ARGS__ } /* paste teh codez here */ \
(INSTANCE).cleanup(); /* call the cleanup function */
I would recommend against putting cleanup inside the internal scope because the point of a scope is to contain declarations and names, but you want to use the name of INSTANCE from the outer scope.
usage:
NEWSCOPE ( myClassInstance,
// Do stuff.
// Multiple declarations, anything can go here as if inside braces.
// (But no #define directives. Down, boy.)
)

Python C-API Object Allocation

I want to use the new and delete operators for creating and destroying my objects.
The problem is python seems to break it into several stages. tp_new, tp_init and tp_alloc for creation and tp_del, tp_free and tp_dealloc for destruction. However c++ just has new which allocates and fully constructs the object and delete which destructs and deallocates the object.
Which of the python tp_* methods do I need to provide and what must they do?
Also I want to be able to create the object directly in c++ eg "PyObject *obj = new MyExtensionObject(args);" Will I also need to overload the new operator in some way to support this?
I also would like to be able to subclass my extension types in python, is there anything special I need to do to support this?
I'm using python 3.0.1.
EDIT:
ok, tp_init seems to make objects a bit too mutable for what I'm doing (eg take a Texture object, changing the contents after creation is fine, but change fundamental aspects of it such as, size, bitdept, etc will break lots of existing c++ stuff that assumes those sort of things are fixed). If I dont implement it will it simply stop people calling __init__ AFTER its constructed (or at least ignore the call, like tuple does). Or should I have some flag that throws an exception or somthing if tp_init is called more than once on the same object?
Apart from that I think ive got most of the rest sorted.
extern "C"
{
//creation + destruction
PyObject* global_alloc(PyTypeObject *type, Py_ssize_t items)
{
return (PyObject*)new char[type->tp_basicsize + items*type->tp_itemsize];
}
void global_free(void *mem)
{
delete[] (char*)mem;
}
}
template<class T> class ExtensionType
{
PyTypeObject *t;
ExtensionType()
{
t = new PyTypeObject();//not sure on this one, what is the "correct" way to create an empty type object
memset((void*)t, 0, sizeof(PyTypeObject));
static PyVarObject init = {PyObject_HEAD_INIT, 0};
*((PyObject*)t) = init;
t->tp_basicsize = sizeof(T);
t->tp_itemsize = 0;
t->tp_name = "unknown";
t->tp_alloc = (allocfunc) global_alloc;
t->tp_free = (freefunc) global_free;
t->tp_new = (newfunc) T::obj_new;
t->tp_dealloc = (destructor)T::obj_dealloc;
...
}
...bunch of methods for changing stuff...
PyObject *Finalise()
{
...
}
};
template <class T> PyObjectExtension : public PyObject
{
...
extern "C" static PyObject* obj_new(PyTypeObject *subtype, PyObject *args, PyObject *kwds)
{
void *mem = (void*)subtype->tp_alloc(subtype, 0);
return (PyObject*)new(mem) T(args, kwds)
}
extern "C" static void obj_dealloc(PyObject *obj)
{
~T();
obj->ob_type->tp_free(obj);//most of the time this is global_free(obj)
}
...
};
class MyObject : PyObjectExtension<MyObject>
{
public:
static PyObject* InitType()
{
ExtensionType<MyObject> extType();
...sets other stuff...
return extType.Finalise();
}
...
};
The documentation for these is at http://docs.python.org/3.0/c-api/typeobj.html and
http://docs.python.org/3.0/extending/newtypes.html describes how to make your own type.
tp_alloc does the low-level memory allocation for the instance. This is equivalent to malloc(), plus initialize the refcnt to 1. Python has it's own allocator, PyType_GenericAlloc, but a type can implement a specialized allocator.
tp_new is the same as Python's __new__. It's usually used for immutable objects where the data is stored in the instance itself, as compared to a pointer to data. For example, strings and tuples store their data in the instance, instead of using a char * or a PyTuple *.
For this case, tp_new figures out how much memory is needed, based on the input parameters, and calls tp_alloc to get the memory, then initializes the essential fields. tp_new does not need to call tp_alloc. It can for example return a cached object.
tp_init is the same as Python's __init__. Most of your initialization should be in this function.
The distinction between __new__ and __init__ is called two-stage initialization, or two-phase initialization.
You say "c++ just has new" but that's not correct. tp_alloc corresponds a custom arena allocator in C++, __new__ corresponds to a custom type allocator (a factory function), and __init__ is more like the constructor. That last link discusses more about the parallels between C++ and Python style.
Also read http://www.python.org/download/releases/2.2/descrintro/ for details about how __new__ and __init__ interact.
You write that you want to "create the object directly in c++". That's rather difficult because at the least you'll have to convert any Python exceptions that occurred during object instantiation into a C++ exception. You might try looking at Boost::Python for some help with this task. Or you can use a two-phase initialization. ;)
I don't know the python APIs at all, but if python splits up allocation and initialization, you should be able to use placement new.
e.g.:
// tp_alloc
void *buffer = new char[sizeof(MyExtensionObject)];
// tp_init or tp_new (not sure what the distinction is there)
new (buffer) MyExtensionObject(args);
return static_cast<MyExtensionObject*>(buffer);
...
// tp_del
myExtensionObject->~MyExtensionObject(); // call dtor
// tp_dealloc (or tp_free? again I don't know the python apis)
delete [] (static_cast<char*>(static_cast<void*>(myExtensionObject)));