// 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 { // public: // void SpawnWorker() { Worker::StartNew(AsWeakPtr()); } // void WorkComplete(const Result& result) { ... } // }; // // class Worker { // public: // static void StartNew(const WeakPtr& controller) { // Worker* worker = new Worker(controller); // // Kick off asynchronous processing... // } // private: // Worker(const WeakPtr& controller) // : controller_(controller) {} // void DidCompleteAsynchronousProcessing(const Result& result) { // if (controller_) // controller_->WorkComplete(result); // } // WeakPtr 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, public NonThreadSafe { public: Flag(Flag** handle) : handle_(handle) { } ~Flag() { if (handle_) *handle_ = NULL; } void AddRef() { DCHECK(CalledOnValidThread()); RefCounted::AddRef(); } void Release() { DCHECK(CalledOnValidThread()); RefCounted::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_; }; 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 cannot access the private members of WeakPtr, 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 class SupportsWeakPtr; template 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; // if (foo) // foo->method(); // template class WeakPtr : public internal::WeakPtrBase { public: WeakPtr() : ptr_(NULL) { } // Allow conversion from U to T provided U "is a" T. template WeakPtr(const WeakPtr& 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; friend class WeakPtrFactory; 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 SupportsWeakPtr { public: SupportsWeakPtr() {} WeakPtr AsWeakPtr() { return WeakPtr(weak_reference_owner_.GetRef(), static_cast(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 that is used to pass around a weak reference to a bool. template class WeakPtrFactory { public: explicit WeakPtrFactory(T* ptr) : ptr_(ptr) { } WeakPtr GetWeakPtr() { return WeakPtr(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_