// Copyright (c) 2009 The Chromium Authors. All rights reserved.
// Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style license that can be
// found in the LICENSE file.
// Weak pointers help in cases where you have many objects referring back to a
// shared object and you wish for the lifetime of the shared object to not be
// bound to the lifetime of the referrers. In other words, this is useful when
// reference counting is not a good fit.
//
// A common alternative to weak pointers is to have the shared object hold a
// list of all referrers, and then when the shared object is destroyed, it
// calls a method on the referrers to tell them to drop their references. This
// approach also requires the referrers to tell the shared object when they get
// destroyed so that the shared object can remove the referrer from its list of
// referrers. Such a solution works, but it is a bit complex.
//
// EXAMPLE:
//
// class Controller : public SupportsWeakPtr<Controller> {
// public:
// void SpawnWorker() { Worker::StartNew(AsWeakPtr()); }
// void WorkComplete(const Result& result) { ... }
// };
//
// class Worker {
// public:
// static void StartNew(const WeakPtr<Controller>& controller) {
// Worker* worker = new Worker(controller);
// // Kick off asynchronous processing...
// }
// private:
// Worker(const WeakPtr<Controller>& controller)
// : controller_(controller) {}
// void DidCompleteAsynchronousProcessing(const Result& result) {
// if (controller_)
// controller_->WorkComplete(result);
// }
// WeakPtr<Controller> controller_;
// };
//
// Given the above classes, a consumer may allocate a Controller object, call
// SpawnWorker several times, and then destroy the Controller object before all
// of the workers have completed. Because the Worker class only holds a weak
// pointer to the Controller, we don't have to worry about the Worker
// dereferencing the Controller back pointer after the Controller has been
// destroyed.
//
// WARNING: weak pointers are not threadsafe!!! You must only use a WeakPtr
// instance on thread where it was created.
#ifndef BASE_WEAK_PTR_H_
#define BASE_WEAK_PTR_H_
#include "base/logging.h"
#include "base/non_thread_safe.h"
#include "base/ref_counted.h"
namespace base {
namespace internal {
// These classes are part of the WeakPtr implementation.
// DO NOT USE THESE CLASSES DIRECTLY YOURSELF.
class WeakReference {
public:
class Flag : public RefCounted<Flag>, public NonThreadSafe {
public:
Flag(Flag** handle) : handle_(handle) {
}
~Flag() {
if (handle_)
*handle_ = NULL;
}
void AddRef() {
DCHECK(CalledOnValidThread());
RefCounted<Flag>::AddRef();
}
void Release() {
DCHECK(CalledOnValidThread());
RefCounted<Flag>::Release();
}
void Invalidate() { handle_ = NULL; }
bool is_valid() const { return handle_ != NULL; }
private:
Flag** handle_;
};
WeakReference() {}
WeakReference(Flag* flag) : flag_(flag) {}
bool is_valid() const { return flag_ && flag_->is_valid(); }
private:
scoped_refptr<Flag> flag_;
};
class WeakReferenceOwner {
public:
WeakReferenceOwner() : flag_(NULL) {
}
~WeakReferenceOwner() {
Invalidate();
}
WeakReference GetRef() const {
if (!flag_)
flag_ = new WeakReference::Flag(&flag_);
return WeakReference(flag_);
}
bool HasRefs() const {
return flag_ != NULL;
}
void Invalidate() {
if (flag_) {
flag_->Invalidate();
flag_ = NULL;
}
}
private:
mutable WeakReference::Flag* flag_;
};
// This class simplifies the implementation of WeakPtr's type conversion
// constructor by avoiding the need for a public accessor for ref_. A
// WeakPtr<T> cannot access the private members of WeakPtr<U>, so this
// base class gives us a way to access ref_ in a protected fashion.
class WeakPtrBase {
public:
WeakPtrBase() {
}
protected:
WeakPtrBase(const WeakReference& ref) : ref_(ref) {
}
WeakReference ref_;
};
} // namespace internal
template <typename T> class SupportsWeakPtr;
template <typename T> class WeakPtrFactory;
// The WeakPtr class holds a weak reference to |T*|.
//
// This class is designed to be used like a normal pointer. You should always
// null-test an object of this class before using it or invoking a method that
// may result in the underlying object being destroyed.
//
// EXAMPLE:
//
// class Foo { ... };
// WeakPtr<Foo> foo;
// if (foo)
// foo->method();
//
template <typename T>
class WeakPtr : public internal::WeakPtrBase {
public:
WeakPtr() : ptr_(NULL) {
}
// Allow conversion from U to T provided U "is a" T.
template <typename U>
WeakPtr(const WeakPtr<U>& other) : WeakPtrBase(other), ptr_(other.get()) {
}
T* get() const { return ref_.is_valid() ? ptr_ : NULL; }
operator T*() const { return get(); }
T* operator*() const {
DCHECK(get() != NULL);
return *get();
}
T* operator->() const {
DCHECK(get() != NULL);
return get();
}
void reset() {
ref_ = internal::WeakReference();
ptr_ = NULL;
}
private:
friend class SupportsWeakPtr<T>;
friend class WeakPtrFactory<T>;
WeakPtr(const internal::WeakReference& ref, T* ptr)
: WeakPtrBase(ref), ptr_(ptr) {
}
// This pointer is only valid when ref_.is_valid() is true. Otherwise, its
// value is undefined (as opposed to NULL).
T* ptr_;
};
// A class may extend from SupportsWeakPtr to expose weak pointers to itself.
// This is useful in cases where you want others to be able to get a weak
// pointer to your class. It also has the property that you don't need to
// initialize it from your constructor.
template <class T>
class SupportsWeakPtr {
public:
SupportsWeakPtr() {}
WeakPtr<T> AsWeakPtr() {
return WeakPtr<T>(weak_reference_owner_.GetRef(), static_cast<T*>(this));
}
private:
internal::WeakReferenceOwner weak_reference_owner_;
DISALLOW_COPY_AND_ASSIGN(SupportsWeakPtr);
};
// A class may alternatively be composed of a WeakPtrFactory and thereby
// control how it exposes weak pointers to itself. This is helpful if you only
// need weak pointers within the implementation of a class. This class is also
// useful when working with primitive types. For example, you could have a
// WeakPtrFactory<bool> that is used to pass around a weak reference to a bool.
template <class T>
class WeakPtrFactory {
public:
explicit WeakPtrFactory(T* ptr) : ptr_(ptr) {
}
WeakPtr<T> GetWeakPtr() {
return WeakPtr<T>(weak_reference_owner_.GetRef(), ptr_);
}
// Call this method to invalidate all existing weak pointers.
void InvalidateWeakPtrs() {
weak_reference_owner_.Invalidate();
}
// Call this method to determine if any weak pointers exist.
bool HasWeakPtrs() const {
return weak_reference_owner_.HasRefs();
}
private:
internal::WeakReferenceOwner weak_reference_owner_;
T* ptr_;
DISALLOW_IMPLICIT_CONSTRUCTORS(WeakPtrFactory);
};
} // namespace base
#endif // BASE_WEAK_PTR_H_